Shababnikim

Shababnikim
שבאבניקים
Genre	Comedy-drama
Created by	Eliran Malka Danny Paran
Starring	Daniel Gad Ori Laizerouvich Omer Perelman Striks Israel Atias
Country of origin	Israel
Original language	Hebrew
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	12
Original release
Network	HOT
Release	December 24, 2017 (2017-12-24)

Shababnikim (Hebrew: שבאבניקים) is an Israeli television comedy series that aired on HOT in 2017 and 2018. The show includes 28 episodes, each around 30 minutes, focused on lives of four Haredi Jewish Yeshiva students. In January 2021, the first season began streaming internationally with English subtitles under the title The New Black. As of May 2023, the series airs on Streaming television service ChaiFlicks.

It is named after the Hebrew term shababnik, which is used in Israel to describe a "trouble maker yeshiva boy".

A second season aired in North America in 2022 and a third season is in the works.

Premise

The show follows four Haredi yeshiva students in Jerusalem: Avinoam (Daniel Gad), who is the son of a Knesset member; Dov, nicknamed Lazer (Omer Perelman Striks), who comes from a wealthy family that primarily lives in New York City; Meir (Israel Attias), who comes from a poor Mizrahi/Sephardi family; and Gedaliah (Ori Laizerouvich), a nerdy and pious Torah scholar who joins the group. The show also includes Maya Wertheimer as Devorah, who is Lazer's sister and Gedaliah's love interest and--in season two--fiancee.

Story Plot

The series follows the lives of four students at the ultra-Orthodox yeshiva "Netivot Avraham," where they study in a boarding school setting:

Season 1:

The story begins when Gedalya moves into their shared dorm room, as requested by Rabbi Bloch, the yeshiva’s supervisor, who hopes the group will help Gedalya open up. When their head rabbi, Rabbi Mordechai Bloch, dies in a tragic accident, his son inherits his position, but his educational approach clashes with the board’s. They appoint Rabbi Ashi Spitzer as a strict administrator, and after the friends inadvertently disrupt Spitzer’s relationship with donors, Spitzer expels Meir. In protest, the remaining trio launches a media campaign, which eventually leads Spitzer to reinstate Meir, though with conditions.

In parallel, the friends seek matches through matchmaker Shlomi Zaks, who encourages them to appear as learned as possible. However, Avinoam dates Shira, a secular waitress, and Meir becomes involved with Ruth, the daughter of donors, despite a failed match attempt with Dov. Gedalya is courted by Dov’s sister, Deborah.

At the season’s end, an intense conflict arises between Rabbi Bloch and Rabbi Spitzer, resulting in Spitzer firing Bloch, who then collapses from stress. Spitzer takes control of the yeshiva, but the four friends lead a rebellion that escalates to a tribunal with Rabbi Alter Cooper, who rules in their favor and reinstates Rabbi Bloch. However, to their surprise, Rabbi Bloch urges the group to leave the yeshiva for their own and the institution’s benefit.

Season 2:

Now expelled, the friends face a dilemma: they wish to find good matches and enjoy life, but no yeshiva will accept them. They find a loophole to create a “fictitious” yeshiva to avoid military draft and continue living comfortably. They establish this yeshiva in the secular Rehavia neighborhood, which angers the local residents.

Throughout the season, Gedalya becomes the head of the new yeshiva and grows closer to Deborah, eventually becoming engaged despite their differences. Lazer becomes involved with Abigail, a divorced single mother, ending in heartbreak. Meir, ignoring Shlomi’s advice, becomes engaged to Ruth after she returns following an accident but struggles with their relationship. Meanwhile, Avinoam attempts to embrace a “modern” ultra-Orthodox identity.

In the season finale, Ruth becomes engaged to someone else, Gedalya and Deborah split, and Avinoam, feeling rejected by the secular yeshiva, drunkenly joins Gedalya in bringing explosives to a secular yeshiva party, which lands them in jail. Avinoam gains online fame, but local residents file a petition to close their yeshiva. In court, Avinoam regrets his role, and Deborah confronts Gedalya. The two reconcile and re-engage.

The friends eventually agree with the neighbors to close the yeshiva, though two students stay on with the remaining group. The season closes as the four, carrying their suitcases, head toward the Western Wall together.

Cast and characters

Main

• Daniel Gad as Avinoam Lasri
• Ori Laizerouvich as Gedaliah
• Omer Perelman Striks as Dov Laser
• Israel Atias as Meir Sabag
• Maya Wertheimer as Debora Laser (recurring S1, main S2)
• Guri Alfi as Shlomi Zacks (recurring S1, main S2)

Recurring

• Dov Nalon as Rabbi Bloch
• Rotem Keinan as Rabbi Ashi Spitzer
• Golan Azulai as Eliyahu Lasri
• Shira Naor as Shira
• Shely Ben Josheph as Ruth Gottlieb
• Zohar Strauss as Ehud Stern

Notable guest stars

• Yehuda Levi as Yehuda Levi (S1)

Reception

Critical response

The show was nominated for awards in eight categories by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television, winning four, including Best Comedy, Best Comedy Script, and Best Comedy Actor.

Tablet magazine described the show as "funny, whimsical, and cutting" continuing "Stylistically, Malka [creator] trades soft-lens nostalgia for Tarantinoesque dark, even violent, comedy." The show was also praised by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as a "wacky, stylized comedy with an excellent soundtrack and a whole new way of depicting the world of the yeshiva." The review continued: "But if fast-paced, laugh-out-loud “Shababnikim” distinguishes itself from the likes of “Shtisel,” full of melancholic plotlines and dreary music, it also stands apart because of the in-depth way it explores fault lines of race within haredi communities."

See also

• The Chosen (1981)