What Unorthodox Teaches Us About Trauma | Netflix

The dictionary definition of trauma is:

Severe emotional shock and pain,

caused by an extremely
upsetting experience.

There is no set way to process trauma.

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

one in Berlin, and another in
Brooklyn,

cope with the tragedies
that have shaped them.

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

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

and her community's,
identity.

The action follows
the secretive Satmar community

of Hasidic Jews.

Established by a rabbi
who had fled Satu Mare,

in present-day Romania,
during the Holocaust.

The Satmar community
does not mix with others.

In "Unorthodox,"

at the head of the
sex-segregated table,

for Pesach dinner,

an annual commemoration
of the Jews who escaped slavery

in ancient Egypt,

Esty's grandfather
gives his reasons why.

[Grandfather] We tell ourselves

the story of Passover

to remind us of
our suffering.

[Narrator] The show celebrates

the strong bonds
of family and tradition,

within Esty's community,

where religious customs
and prayers

can take place safely,

while deadly attacks

on synagogues, and
other venues frequented by Jews,

rise, across the world.

This community defies
anti-Semitism, by living devoutly.

We also see, in this scene,

how Satmar Jews
draw on past trauma,

to make members scared
of the big, bad outside.

[Grandfather] When we trusted

our friends and neighbors,

God punished us.

When we forget who we are,

we invite God's wrath.

[Narrator] The Holocaust

caused PTSD in its survivors.

Its impact lives on.

As Auschwitz survivor,
chemist, and writer,

Primo Levi puts it:

"Auschwitz is outside of us,

but it is all around us,
in the air.

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

and it would be foolish
to deny it."

This generational trauma
grows from the roots

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

She is discouraged from
exploring passions

that contradict
the community's values.

Her piano lessons
are so frowned upon,

she must take them
in secret.

Her teacher,
Vivian Dropkin,

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

But interestingly,
though the show never mentions it,

Dropkin is a secular Jew.

Despite her faith, her choices
are not Jewish enough

for Esty's devout community.

Many Orthodox Jews
believe that the way

to undo the trauma
of the Holocaust,

is to repopulate.

2013 research for
the Pew Center

shows that Orthodox Jews
have a birth rate of 4.1,

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

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

later insisting,

"We are rebuilding
the six million lost."

Jews killed in the Holocaust.

[Grandmother] So many lost.

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

[Narrator] Six million
is no small sum.

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

and her husband, Yankee Shapiro,

well fed and in perfectly
ironed suits,

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

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

until there is a baby.
Understand me?

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

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

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

The problem with this way
of dealing with trauma,

as we see it through Esty's eyes,

is, it creates
a domino effect.

There is a field of academic study

called epigenetics,

which deals with the concept

of trans-generational trauma.