Michael Aloni: "There's a Great Magic in the Ultra-Orthodox Family"

When Michael Aloni wears a long coat and places his hat on his head, even before the artificial sideburns are applied, you might mistake him for a native Jerusalem yeshiva student. The rolling Yiddish, the intonation. The body language. No wonder the actor laughingly admits, "I received quite a few matchmaking proposals while wandering around Mea Shearim."

For his audition for a television series about the life of a traditional ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem family, Aloni arrived in a long raincoat – hoping to feel a bit more Hassidic. Since then, as mentioned, he has managed to reach new heights of authentic acting. He got used to wearing Hassidic clothing, grew a beard, started chatting in Yiddish, and learned a lot about the ultra-Orthodox community.

"We did very thorough preparation work: about three months of research. They took us to Mea Shearim: we wandered there, stayed with families, participated in Shabbats. We learned laws, mitzvot, and blessings. We learned about the characteristics of different Hassidic sects," yes, Aloni can already speak knowledgeably about the Jerusalem 'Shtreimel' hat, and even the difference between Hassidim who tuck their pants into their socks and those who don't. "I can give lectures today on the ultra-Orthodox community, on different Hassidic dynasties, customs, stringencies." If that wasn't enough, Aloni, alongside his fellow cast members, also took a quick Yiddish course. In many Jerusalem families, Yiddish is the almost exclusive spoken language.

The actor Michael Aloni

To which stream of the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem community does the family in the series belong?

"The truth is we had deep discussions about this. They speak Yiddish, but they're not Hassidic. They even have a slightly cynical view of Hassidism. They're Chelmer. Yiddish speakers, but with a Lithuanian tradition."

Shabbat in Mea Shearim was a completely new experience for Aloni: the honking just before sunset, and the bustling world that halts to make way for the Shabbat Queen. This experience, he says, is something he never experienced before and won't experience in Tel Aviv. The soothing silence of Shabbat captivated his heart – as did what he found in his hosting families.

"There's a great magic in the immense strength of the family. I also enjoyed seeing how so much can be made from so little. I stayed with a family with six children – and suddenly the sofa in the living room folds up, 2 beds turn into a table and there's space for everyone. And the food! There's a lot of food, Shabbat is all about eating. All Shabbat you move from cholent to cholent. You start with a small kugel at the beginning, move on to snack at a friend's house and taste his cholent, and then you go to Yehoshua's where you seriously dig into a plate of cholent."

Did you gain weight during filming?

"What a question!"

Aloni also enjoyed the 'children's culture' of Mea Shearim. "There are children everywhere. They roam the streets like in old times, not sitting in front of the TV all day. The older kids help raise the younger ones. The high value placed on children is clear. Someone told me that before the ninth child was born, he really didn't have the money, but he believed children are a blessing and didn't worry. Indeed, as soon as the ninth child was born, a distant relative passed away and left him an inheritance."

Besides the children's culture, Aloni also extensively explored the matchmaking culture. As part of the film research, he spent long hours in the lobby of the 'Kings' Hotel, a popular meeting point for ultra-Orthodox couples, watching the meetings around him.

"I already know how to recognize when someone is meeting for the first time – the sweat and the blush are a giveaway. And I can recognize when someone is used to match dates, but is meeting this particular girl for the first time. I learned to recognize when the couple is already on their second or third date, and I'm quite sure I successfully predicted which couples would continue to meet and which wouldn't."

The cast of the series (Photo: public relations)

Besides watching, did you also listen in on the conversations between the daters?

"Definitely. The conversations really surprised me. I discovered that by the third meeting they already want to 'seal the deal' or move towards it, talking about establishing a house in Israel, how they want to raise the children. If someone had talked to me about this on the third date, I would have run away."

Despite this, he sees beauty in the ultra-Orthodox dating method. "There is a great magic in the ability to sit in front of a person and see into their soul. In the conservative way, where you really talk to the person across from you, you learn to separate between what is important and what isn't, and you get to the core. There's something very precise. A sort of maturity in love."

Is there something in the ultra-Orthodox community you would suggest for the entire Israeli society to adopt?

"The simplicity. The lack of materialism. The ability to accept life with more humility."

And there is also one thing he would be happy to change in Mea Shearim. "Yes, I would make sure to clean the streets better there."

If Jerusalem homemakers were in charge, the streets would be spotless.

"Assumably," he laughs, "all the homes I visited were very clean."