Precise arrow to the soft abdomen: "Jesus and rejoice" and conversion therapies in the IDF | Israel Today

It does not take too many episodes of "Jesus and His Joy" to establish the distinction that the character of the strict religious NCO, Sgt. Eliezer Langenthal (Langi), is out of place in the series' landscape.

His quiet voice is almost swallowed up in the IDF chaos, which draws most of the characters into ego struggles and intrigues. Beneath the crocheted cap, the character with the softest soul is hidden at the base of the military rabbinate, where the plot of the series takes place.

And it is precisely he who has had to deal in recent episodes with hurtful anguish that sweeps him into a shocking mental turmoil.

Because secretly, Langi is attracted to men, including a special fondness for IDF heroes in uniform, and at nights he has wet dreams about the rabbi (the chief military rabbi), who in the series is a hunk at the levels of Aki Avni.

But Langi, played by Daniel Moreshet, is determined to be "a God-fearing Jew, longing for a wife, starting a family and having children."

Whereas, he regularly visits a rabbi (Fan Knoller) and undergoes conversion therapy under his guidance.

Watching the interaction between the two and the scratching process of the treatment, shrinks the stomach and squeezes the heart among each observer - supporters of the process and its opponents, alike.

Contracts the abdomen.

Langgi's conversion treatment in "Jesus and His Joy", Photo: No credit

The series "Jesus and His Joy" made an impressive process throughout its half of the season (last night, episode 6 of 11 was broadcast).

It began as a sort of satirical parody of the military and religion, winking at the musical and flooding statements about Judaism and tradition.

The prominence of such controversial treatments in the last two episodes has made it less funny, but also shaky and meaningful.

The series presents us with a variety of manipulative methods for "fixing the problem of homosexuality."

For example, an erotic dream is translated by the therapist into a sacred message, according to which "homosexuality is a disease, deviation, distortion. A degenerative sexual disorder."

On one occasion the blame is placed on the lack of a father figure.

At another session the patient wonders if the problem may have arisen because as a child he did not study in class with girls;

"Do not blame national-religious education for your problems," the therapist immediately shrugs off.

For healing purposes Langi receives an electric shocker, and he uses it on himself whenever forbidden thoughts pass through his head.

At the same time, the therapist urges him to create a situation of sexual contact with a woman, and explains: "Whenever you lust after looking at Rabbi Wisner, you will look away from his rabbi and transfer all your passion to her."

It is easy to understand the message that the authors Sigalit Lifshitz and Shalom Hagar chose to convey when they decided to address such a controversial issue, and their clear opinion is expressed in the grinning of the procedure that Langi is undergoing.

Beyond that, the deep preoccupation between the message that the authors Sigalit Lifshitz and Shalom Hagar chose to convey when they decided to address such an issue is controversial, and their clear opinion is expressed in the ridicule of the procedure that Langi is undergoing.

Beyond that, their deep preoccupation with conversion therapy in the prime-time series of state broadcasting to them in conversion therapies in prime-time series of state broadcasting is an accurate arrow to the soft underbelly of the religious sector.

Lifshitz and Hagar, who were crowned in the media as the first religious to study at the Sam Spiegel Film School (identified as the stronghold of local industry's bohemian secularism), actually put together an extraordinary religious series.

Unlike "Stisl", "Shabnikim" or "Dance of Fire", "Jesus and His Joy" stepped into new realms of mustard and knitwear, torn between an ancient tradition and the adoption of more up-to-date worldviews. Thanks to it, issues that have been swept under the rug in the religious sector in the past — such as a discourse on conversion therapies, rules of modesty, and late bachelorhood — are finally getting a stage for serious discussion thanks to a TV series.

Jesus and His Joy - Episode 6, Here 11, 9:30 p.m.

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