Have You Seen Shalom in the Home?
I’m not a big fan of reality television, but I’m actually liking Rabbi Shmuley and his new show, Shalom in the Home. The TV show and the Rabbi are actually kind of intelligent. He takes these dysfunctional couples and dissects their problematic, twisted, and complicated psychologies with incisive points that tend to be dead on. Then he takes the couple on various bonding adventures that are meant to bring them closer together. The show ends with the happy couple gushing over how much closer they’ve gotten and how much they love each other. It is the perfect Hollywood formula, but it takes a little intelligence, a quirky rabbi, and some truly messed up couples to bring it all together.
The most recent show dealt with the issues of a Turkish woman, Tishan, and a formerly Jewish guy, Alli, who converted to Islam before they married. They are raising their family in Hershey, PA and they’ve totally disconnected with each other due to the stresses of work and raising kids. Minus the stark religious and cultural differences, it’s a situation pretty much anyone can identify with. In the beginning Alli says that it is the cultural differences that are driving them apart, but Shmuley immediately tells him that the cultural differences have very little to do with their issues. They loved each other before, enough for Alli to convert to Islam, and they are just using their cultural differences as an scapegoat for their frustrations.
Shmuley takes them on an exciting trip to a Pennsylvannia diary farm. I grew up in PA, so I can tell you that this is about as exciting as clipping your toenails. Anyway, massage lessons for Alli on Tishan prove to be much more stimulating.
Yeah, it is totally cheesy, but it’s something to see that you oherwise might have missed.
