WEBVTT

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The dictionary definition of trauma is:

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Severe emotional shock and pain,

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caused by an extremely
upsetting experience.

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There is no set way to process trauma.

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But, in "Unorthodox," we see how
two different communities,

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one in Berlin, and another in
Brooklyn,

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cope with the tragedies
that have shaped them.

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And, in turn, we learn ways
to deal with our trauma.

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In Brooklyn, trauma forms
19 year old Esty's,

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and her community's,
identity.

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The action follows
the secretive Satmar community

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of Hasidic Jews.

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Established by a rabbi
who had fled Satu Mare,

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in present-day Romania,
during the Holocaust.

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The Satmar community
does not mix with others.

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In "Unorthodox,"

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at the head of the
sex-segregated table,

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for Pesach dinner,

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an annual commemoration
of the Jews who escaped slavery

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in ancient Egypt,

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Esty's grandfather
gives his reasons why.

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[Grandfather] We tell ourselves

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the story of Passover

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to remind us of
our suffering.

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[Narrator] The show celebrates

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the strong bonds
of family and tradition,

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within Esty's community,

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where religious customs 
and prayers

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can take place safely,

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while deadly attacks

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on synagogues, and 
other venues frequented by Jews,

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rise, across the world.

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This community defies
anti-Semitism, by living devoutly.

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We also see, in this scene,

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how Satmar Jews 
draw on past trauma,

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to make members scared
of the big, bad outside.

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[Grandfather] When we trusted

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our friends and neighbors,

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God punished us.

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When we forget who we are,

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we invite God's wrath.

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[Narrator] The Holocaust

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caused PTSD in its survivors.

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Its impact lives on.

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As Auschwitz survivor,
chemist, and writer,

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Primo Levi puts it:

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"Auschwitz is outside of us,

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but it is all around us,
in the air.

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The plague has died away,
but the infection still lingers,

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and it would be foolish
to deny it."

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This generational trauma
grows from the roots

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of Esty's family tree,
and shapes Esty's personal identity.

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She is discouraged from
exploring passions

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that contradict
the community's values.

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Her piano lessons
are so frowned upon,

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she must take them 
in secret.

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Her teacher,
Vivian Dropkin,

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is derided as 'a shiksa,'
or non-Jew.

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But interestingly,
though the show never mentions it,

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Dropkin is a secular Jew.

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Despite her faith, her choices
are not Jewish enough

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for Esty's devout community.

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Many Orthodox Jews
believe that the way

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to undo the trauma
of the Holocaust,

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is to repopulate.

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2013 research for
the Pew Center

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shows that Orthodox Jews
have a birth rate of 4.1,

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as opposed to the U. S.
national average of 1.8.

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Esty totally believes
what she's been taught to believe,

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later insisting,

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"We are rebuilding
the six million lost."

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Jews killed in the Holocaust.

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[Grandmother] So many lost.

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But, soon, you'll have
children of your own.

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[Narrator] Six million
is no small sum.

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So, alongside the housework
needed to keep her home tidy,

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and her husband, Yanky Shapiro,

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well fed and in perfectly
ironed suits,

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Esty's job is to have
as many children as possible.

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[Woman] You will have no leverage
in this marriage,

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until there is a baby.
Understand me?

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[Narrator] She is told that sex
will give her husband pleasure,

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which, in turn, will give her
exactly what she wants:

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what she has been told she wants...
a baby.

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The problem with this way
of dealing with trauma,

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as we see it through Esty's eyes,

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is, it creates 
a domino effect.

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There is a field of academic study

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called epigenetics,

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which deals with the concept

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of trans-generational trauma,

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or, the idea that trauma
can be inherited.

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Some study suggests that DNA

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changes in response
to horrifying experiences,

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and that, then, passes
down generations.

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Whether through epigenetics 
or not,

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in "Unorthodox," traumatized parents

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unintentionally traumatize
their children.

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Esty's grandparents are still,
understandably,

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bereft by the Holocaust.

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Their son, Mordecai,
is mentally unwell.

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As for Leah, her trauma 
comes, mainly,

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from not quite fitting the mold
that's been set for her.

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Esty is tarred by her parents' pain.

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Now that she is a bride herself,
she finds the rules troublesome.

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[Mrs. Shapiro] We shouldn't have agreed
to this marriage.

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[Yanky Shapiro] Mommy, please!

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[Mrs. Shapiro] The apple doesn't fall
far from the tree.

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[Narrator] When Esty tries
to argue the case

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for her to be pleasured,
rather than traumatized in bed,

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using scripture as evidence
of God's will for it,

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she is shut down.

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[Yanky Shapiro] Women are not 
allowed to read the Talmud!

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[Narrator] This text is for men only,
not for women's eyes,

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due to something known as

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"Kavod Hatzibur," or the dignity
of the community.

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Esty's story shows how
socially restrictive responses to trauma

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often unfairly muzzle women.

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Esty can't get away with half
of what her cousin, Moishe, can.

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Moishe is a thief, a liar, 
an aggressive lout,

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with no consideration
for others.

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Yet, his behavior seems rooted
In self-loathing.

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His moral decay,
his own trauma,

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is catching up with him,

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as he realizes, he has neither

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the commitment of one community,

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nor the tools of another.

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[Moishe cackles laughing.]

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[Narrator] Meanwhile, Yanky,

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a saint next to Moishe,

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ends up meting out trauma,

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through his childishly ignorant
commitment

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to maintaining his community,

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by any means available.