Original subtitles

I don't know when Father will be back. I don't know if he's ever coming back.

PREVIOUSLY ON SHTISEL...

-I want to work for you. -Your husband is the one

who works in Argentina.

Give me the money and refer the customers to me.

I'll do the rest.

Maybe rushing into marriage isn't the right thing for me.

Rushing into marriage?

We've set the wedding date.

Are you looking for someone to tell you to call off the wedding?

I wanted another woman, not her.

-Your heart is not into it? -Forget about it.

My daughter is no man's consolation prize.

Go on, dig my grave.

At least, this way you won't be alone.

I don't want you to be here.

Abot Barkai Productions

Talisma Productions

Created by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky

Dov Glickman

Michael Aloni

Ayelet Zurer

Neta Riskin

Shira Hass

Casting Hila Yuval

Executive Producer Eitan Abot

Line Producer Isca Gur-Luzon

Art Director Tamar Gadish

Music Avi Belleli

Cinematography Roey Roth

Editor Gilad Ariel

Screenplay Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky

Executive Producer Dikla Barkai

Executive Producer Jonathan Aroch

Director Alon Zingman

SHTISEL

I tried to get my Father to eat cereal with milk for breakfast.

He wouldn't even taste it.

I'm sorry, Akiva.

I'm not used to eating with a pair of eyes staring at me.

Sure.

Maybe you should go back home.

Don't worry, I'm not going to stay here.

In fact, I'm going to pack my things and move on.

-Where will you go? -I have many options.

I'm ashamed, Akiva.

On account of Dvora, of her blessed memory.

It's just that I'm used to living on my own.

Sleeping alone, getting up alone, eating alone.

This isn't easy for me.

Don't feel bad.

Can you lend me a large bag or a backpack?

A large bag?

Cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.

A father scolds his daughter.

He wants her to stop drinking three cups of coffee a day.

What does his daughter say?

The sweet coffee is more delectable than 1000 kisses.

Kive, we're late.

Call home every night

and tell me how your day was.

Call once a week before Shabbat. That's enough. Come.

-Every night, Kive. What do you care? -It will distract him.

His soul won't be elevated if he's constantly calling his mother.

My Yeshiva boy.

May God and Man find you favorable and wise.

-Say Amen. -Amen.

-Goodbye, Mother. -Goodbye, sweetheart.

Don't forget, I'm expecting a call tonight.

Ruchami, can you get that?

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

-Who was it? -No one.

-Wrong number? -No, I couldn't hear anything.

-Was anyone on the line? -I don't know.

Do you think it was him?

If it was, I would have hung up on him.

Don't be silly.

Don't you dare.

-He deserves it for leaving us. -That's enough!

I know that in your heart you pray for his return.

Just like me.

-We're ready. -Great, my darlings.

We're out of chocolate, Yosa'le, Yours has cream cheese instead.

I hate cheese. Give me something else.

I did, and you can say thank you.

Go on, children, you'll be late for the bus.

-Goodbye, my darlings. -Goodbye, Mother.

-Yosa'le? Goodbye? -Goodbye.

He's getting on my nerves.

Don't judge him. He's going through a hard time.

-So am I. -It's not what you think.

-He's wetting his bed at night. -What?

He's almost 12.

It's not funny. He's miserable.

In two weeks, it's Shabbas at his Yeshiva.

All his friends are going, he's not.

He says he doesn't feel like it but I know it's because of this.

-Why now all of a sudden? -Troubles are always sudden.

Mother, I have to go or I'll miss the eight o'clock bus.

Wait.

I have something for Erblich.

-Hello, Yuta. -Good morning, Ruchami.

What's this?

Middlemarch? I got it just last week.

-You're a fast reader. -It's very interesting.

-Do you have other books by him? -By her? George Eliot?

Let's look in my stash,

maybe I have something for you.

-Make sure no one is coming. -Okay.

When I was your age, we didn't have to hide any books.

They were all on the shelves.

Right here, in this library.

Sorry, young lady. You've read all the books that I have.

I'll bring you a good book from home.

-Thank you, Yuta. I'll be back tomorrow. -All right.

Just a second.

I was just about to go to Feldheim.

Can you stay here for a few minutes until I get back?

-Of course. -Thank you.

I'll be back in 15 minutes.

"Yosa'le, my dear son, how are you?

You'll be 13 years old soon, a Bar Mitzvah boy.

You must be so excited, I am too.

I beseech you, Yosa'le, that despite the distance between us,

to share with me whatever is on your mind.

Your moments of joy as well as your fears and your failures.

For a righteous man falleth seven times and riseth up again

and you can feel at ease to tell me anything.

So I'll know how you're feeling and I'll be able to give you advice.

Sometimes we are embarrassed to say things out loud,

and it's easier to write them down.

Write me what is in your heart.

Do not be afraid.

Do not hesitate."

The Gemarah asks

what happens if someone is walking on the beach,

right next to the water and ties his boat

to a fish, so that it will pull the boat

and ties it to a goat

that is walking on the shore,

so that it pulls the boat together with the fish.

Yes, Abudi.

Has the Rabbi ever seen a fish pulling a boat?

I never have, but I guess it's possible.

Yes, Kirshenboim.

Why does the Rabbi have a military bag?

Is that relevant to what we're discussing?

I can't focus on the Gemarah,

I'm trying to figure out what the Rabbi has in the bag.

Is that what's bothering you, Kirshenboim?

The Gemarah says--

Is it true that the Rabbi called off his engagement?

Let me tell you how things stand, Kirshenboim.

Your rabbi did indeed call off his engagement.

That's why

he has this army bag full of rocks.

Understood?

Now, back to the Gemarah,

anyone who interrupts me will be kicked out of class.

I want to come home.

What do you want? Tell me.

I'm coming home today whether you like it or not. I have no other home.

TALMUD TORA GATES TO TORA

PARENTS HOME AND HOSPICE FOR THE ELDERLY

Hello, how are you? This is from Mother.

When's the last time you were here?

Two weeks ago, Rebbetzin Erblich.

No matter how many times I've said

to stop calling me Rebbetzin Erblich,

-it doesn't help. -Yes.

These are the proceeds for two weeks?

Tell your Mother,

if you want to milk the cow, start working hard.

Say it, let's see if you remember.

If you want to milk the cow, start working hard.

-What does it mean? -Your mother will understand.

So, it isn't easy, is it? The shame.

What shame?

Your uncle called off the engagement with Gottlieb.

That's slander.

Excuse me?

God help me, did you say what I think you said?

A pipsqueak like you trying to educate Rebbetzin Erblich?

Come in.

Ruchami, sweetheart.

-How are you, Grandmother? -Great.

Come, sit by me.

I'm watching an interesting show.

Do you see that man in the Czech hat,

with the crease in the back like a Hebroner?

Don't let him fool you, he's a Gentile.

He's evil.

Oh come on.

I don't believe this.

Father.

Open up.

Father!

Father.

Father!

Open up!

You know what, Kive,

when I was your age

and your grandfather took me to town,

he used to do this thing to help me.

He would remove his glasses and put them on me.

That way he couldn't see well and neither could I.

Shall we try it?

It hurts my eyes. Won't it ruin my eyes?

Do you know what ruins the eyes?

Looking at things you shouldn't be looking at.

That's what ruins the eyes.

You're a Yeshiva boy now.

Your eyes are not the eyes of just any boy.

Everything you see is etched on your brain, never to be erased.

You must protect your eyes.

This is a gift for you.

For the times you take this bus without me

and you don't have my glasses to help you.

Always take this book, or any book, it doesn't matter.

Keep your eyes glued to it.

Don't take your eyes off the pages.

That way you'll control your eyes,

they won't control you.

Do you understand?

What is it, Kive?

Why so uptight?

-Tell me how you are, what's new... -Thank God.

It's just that I told the guys I'd be back in two minutes.

-Is something wrong? -Yes, Father threw me out of the house.

I know. I hear you're staying with Sucher.

-No, that didn't work out. -I see...

You can stay with us for a few days.

Thank you. I'd like that.

He changed the lock so I couldn't get in.

-You can't blame him. -Sure I can.

-He forced me to get engaged to her. -You got engaged?

You don't call off an engagement.

Jewish law says, "better to get married and divorced

than to call off an engagement."

My Jewish law says nothing of the kind.

You have no idea how deeply you disgraced him.

How you disgraced all of us. I'm ashamed to show my face in public.

But you don't care.

You only care about yourself, like a little boy.

Take care. Go back to your studies.

Kive, stop it. Stay with us until you make up, okay?

That's okay, I'll manage.

What's the surprise? Tell us.

Finish your salad first.

Tell us.

Okay.

Father sent letters, one for each of you.

Yeah!

Only little Yehoshua didn't get one.

Because you're the only one who can't read.

I'm done. I want my letter.

Haim'ke.

Binyamin.

Yosa'le.

What about Ruchami? Didn't Father write to you?

No, because...

I'm a big girl, I can get over the longing.

Exactly.

Mother, can I write Father back if I want to?

Of course, sweetheart.

Father, open up, it's me.

You actually changed the lock.

Smell this. Let's see if you know what it is.

-Blueberries. -No.

-Lemon? -Lemon? It's bergamot.

It smells good.

Father, when will you and Kive stop playing this game?

Do I look like I'm playing? Let him suffer at Sucher's.

It'll do him good.

-He's not at Sucher's, it didn't work out. -What?

The nerve. He's his sister's son.

Is he at your place?

I asked him to stay over but he turned me down.

Father, you have to take him back so he doesn't sleep in the streets.

Right, that spoiled kid sleeping on the street.

Father, look at what you're eating while he's not here.

This is beneath you.

Everything's fine.

You can go back to the Yeshiva, Zvi Arye.

I can't be there when you two are like this.

-It's my responsibility too. -Your responsibility? Why?

If my father and brother aren't talking,

then I'm at fault too.

Don't be so humble. You're not that important.

Levi Itzhak, can I stay with you for a few days?

I don't recommend it.

Stay with me, I'll give you my mattress.

Where will you sleep?

I'll put a pillow in the bathtub. I'll sleep in the bathtub.

Out of the question.

-Don't you have another mattress? -No mattress, no room for a mattress.

-Farschlufen brought... -What happened?

-Is something wrong? -No, no.

I'm just telling Shtisel

that Farschlufen brought his friends home from Safed,

they never leave the house, they watch movies all day long.

The Bookbinder is fed up too, isn't that right, Levi Itzhak?

If it's only for a night or two,

you can stay in the synagogue's basement , near the kitchen,

-outside the Golem's room. -No, I'm not that desperate.

Haim'ke, Binyamin, did you brush your teeth? I want to begin.

Wait for me, Ruchami.

Okay, five minutes.

If you want me to read "Hannah Karenina," hurry up, it's late.

-How was school today? -What?

-How was school? -Okay.

Okay? Was it good, bad? Tell me.

-It was fine. -Okay.

Go ahead, we're ready.

"Hannah stood in front of the mirror in the top compartment

fastening the final bow to her dress with the help of her friend.

Just then she heard wheels on gravel at the gate."

-Do you think he's okay? -Why are you so worried?

-Why isn't he calling? -That's a good sign.

I'm going to look up the number in the phone book.

No, no, no. I'm telling you, it's a good sign.

He's probably focused on his studies. Why bother him?

-Studying at this hour? -Of course.

It's a yeshiva, not a summer camp.

-None of you understand. -Who is none of us?

You have no idea what it's like to carry a baby in your womb,

nurse him, be one with him,

then see him grow and become distant.

Thank God.

-I'm going to bed. -Good.

-Aren't you coming? -In a few minutes.

Let me just finish this page.

-Good night. -Good night.

Shtisel, I'm closing up.

Anshin, can I stay?

-Stay until what? -Until...

Never mind.

Good night.

Explain this to me, dad. How could they end it with 4:4, if they're leading 4:0?

I don't know how they're losing.

No, first half they're playing like gods, second half like idiots.

What a question! What's going on dad? Did you drink?

From 4:0 it's a little difficult, no?

I'll be back, dad. Someone's at the door.

Hello, I'm Akiva Shtisel.

I'd like to sleep in that room.

Is that okay?

Shmelke's in charge, not me.

I see. I'll talk to Shmelke.

-Okay. -Okay.

Goodnight then.

-Okay. -Okay.

Hey.

You like beer?

What does Golem mean? An idiot?

No, no, no, it's...

It's...

-You're from Prague, right? -No.

Oh...

Never mind.

In Prague,

500 years ago

there was a great rabbi.

Rabbi Loew from Prague.

He made a man out of mud,

he lived in the synagogue and helped the Jews.

-Like you. -Okay.

Look.

It's nice.

You're a real artist.

Thank you, Rabbi Golem.

Oliver. That's my name.

Shtisel. Akiva Shtisel.

Yosa'le, are you coming? Raise your hands.

What a big boy.

-What's this? -A letter to Father.

Lippe Weiss, Argentina

Yosa'le

-You put a lot of glue. -So it won't open.

That's nice, dear, I'll send it to him. Come on, it's late.

Have a good day.

"Dear Yosa'le,

I can't describe my joy at your trust in me

and for agreeing to share your troubles with me.

Let me tell you that I too

suffered from the same problem as you,

even until I was older than you.

I remember changing the sheets in the morning

before anyone would notice.

I want you to know there's nothing to be ashamed of.

I don't want you to miss the Shabbat at Tiferet Torah.

I also want to suggest, my dear, wise pet,

a few techniques to overcome this."

LOTTERY

-Hello. -Hello? Sucher?

If you're looking for Akiva, he's not staying with me anymore.

I know.

Aren't you ashamed, kicking him out like that?

-I didn't kick him out. -Don't try to fool me.

He's a good boy, Akiva. A very good boy.

Don't try to console me.

If he comes back, I'll tell him you're looking for him.

Don't tell him anything.

Don't tell him a thing.

-How old are you, boy? -Thirteen.

-How long have you had trouble seeing? -A few weeks, I guess.

He says he doesn't see so well since he's been studying in the yeshiva.

-He thinks he needs glasses. -Let's see.

Look at the board, read the numbers from top to bottom.

Two, nine, three,

seven,

four.

-I can't see. -Okay.

How about now?

Is it better with or without?

Look again.

-With or without? -With.

And now?

With or without?

With. -With.

And now?

With or without?

Without.

You have to be precise.

-Tell me the truth, okay? -Okay.

Again.

With or without?

With.

Ma'am, your son might be confused, but he doesn't need glasses.

Yosa'le, I thought you're sleeping. Go to bed.

I want to tell you something. It won't take long.

What is it?

Maybe you should put a nylon sheet

on my bed, under my regular sheet.

And I should drink less juice at dinner time,

and I need an alarm clock to get up in middle of the night. I've...

been wetting my bed. It happens to a lot of people.

Even people who have had their Bar Mitzvah, who go to the yeshiva.

It's nothing to be ashamed of, it'll pass.

Of course, sweetheart. Come here.

I'll buy you a sheet and an alarm clock. I promise.

My boy is so big and smart.

Get that.

Hello, who is this?

-Ruchami. -Who is this?

Ruchami, it's your father.

Who was it?

-Hello. -Hello, Giti, it's me.

-What do you want? -I was wrong,

but you must understand, it's not all my fault and--

-What do you want? -Who knows that I left?

No one.

-What do you want? -I want to come back.

Giti, what do you say?

When do you want to come back?

It could take two months, maybe more.

-Why two months? -Until my beard grows back.

-Why did you shave off your beard? -It's a long story.

-What about your sidelocks? -Them too.

Lippe, it will soon be Shabbat.

-Call me after Shabbat. -Okay, I will.

-Good Shabbas. -Goodbye, good Shabbas.

Put this back.

"Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the universe,

who has sanctified us with commandments

and commanded us to light Shabbat candles." Amen.

"May it be Your will, God of our Fathers

that You favor my husband, my son, my father, my relatives

and grant us a good, long life

that You remember us with beneficent memory and blessing

that You consider us with salvation and compassion..."

"You bless us with great blessings,

As a reminder of the Creation, a remembrance of the Exodus out of Egypt

You have chosen us and set us apart from all the people..."

A woman of valor who can find

For her price is far above rubies

A woman of valor

Who can find

-I went to the optometrist with Kive. -And?

-What was he prescribed? -He doesn't need glasses.

-What do you mean? -He lied about not seeing well.

He lied to the optometrist too.

-That's odd. -Yes, that's odd.

-I'll tell you something else that's odd. -Yes?

He told me that he's been trying to call home for several days now,

between 8:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., before lights out,

but there's no answer.

That is odd.

I guess we didn't hear the phone.

We have to buy a phone that rings louder.

Goodnight.

Shame on you.

Shame on you.

All right.

I disconnected the phone.

But I didn't tell him to lie.

That has nothing to do with me.

It beats me why he's making up stories.

Stop.

Shame on you.

Let's see you now.

Who is it?

Akiva's father. Can I come in?

Kive, come home.

-Now you want me to come home? -That's not how it is.

I ordered too much food from Anshin. I don't want it to go to waste.

Why are you standing there like a Golem?

Come on.

Good Shabbas, Oliver.

Good Shabbas.

-Bergamot? -That's right, Bergamot.

Do something!

Don't just stand there laughing.

Draw your gun.

Do something!