HaYehudim Ba’im

A Guide to the Collection

INTRODUCTION

HaYehudim Ba’im (The Jews are Coming) is an Israeli satirical television series created by Asaf Beiser and Natalie Marcus. Episodes are comprised of sketches that range in content from Biblical stories to Jewish communities around the world, the Holocaust, Zionism, and modern Israeli politics and culture. The show’s cutting humor uses satire as a way to hold a mirror up to Israeli society and Jewish life, draw our attention to our “blind spots,” and present a critique of current events in Israel, Jewish tradition, and history. Israeli humor is generally brash, unapologetic, and sophisticated. HaYehudim Ba’im embodies this comedic tradition.

HUMOR IN ISRAEL

The cultural standards of humor in Israel are different from those of North America. Instead of simplifying or sanitizing taboo issues to make them more accessible to learners, the style of HaYehudim Ba’im and Israeli society at large is to use jarring materials. For subjects that seem too daunting, boring, or unfamiliar, the brashness of these sketches opens the door to topics that might, otherwise, be kept off the table. Not every sketch in this collection will be suitable for your setting, but even so, their tactics can help guide your pedagogies and practices.

HOW HAS THE SHOW BEEN RECEIVED?

In Israel, HaYehudim Ba’im has elicited criticism from some who accuse the show of displaying contempt for Jewish tradition and practice, especially on account of its Biblical criticism. Knesset Member Betzalel Smotrich wrote that the show has “no place in the world,” and called to end government funding of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation which airs the program.¹ Members of the Knesset, including Smotrich, also wrote to Israel’s attorney general calling for the show’s removal, with MK Moshe Arbel accusing it of causing “severe damage to the religious feelings of many” within Israeli society.²

To the contrary, according to the show’s creators: “We believe that secular criticism of the Bible is not an ‘external’ critique about the legacy of the other, but a part of an inner dialogue. We listened to stories from the Bible even before we could speak. We studied the Bible for ten years at school and celebrated Israel’s holidays even before we turned one. The protagonists of the Bible constitute a foundational part of our identity. This dialogue with them today is our dialogue with our forefathers and our identities.”

In 2022, a group of around 1,500 (mostly Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox) demonstrators protested outside the Kan public broadcasting headquarters in Jerusalem. In spite of public outcry like this, the show has continued to be wildly popular in Israel and released its sixth season in 2024.

SUGGESTED USES

Each sketch can be seen through at least two lenses: the subject matter of the sketch (i.e. a story in the Bible or a moment in Jewish history); and the thematic commentary (i.e. a response to political correctness or the desire to fit into society). When choosing sketches to show your learners, find different ways to group them. What are all the layers that can be discovered by putting different sketches in conversation with one another?

Invite your learners to reflect on what makes these sketches funny:

- - Who and what is being mocked? What is the purpose of making fun of them?
  - When is humor an acceptable tool to use (consider the passage of time, being “in” on the joke, cultural norms, etc.)?
  - Is there anything/anyone that is off limits?
  - Are you surprised by the subject matter of any of these sketches?

Write and perform your own skits in the style of the show.

- - For skits that offer social/political commentary, what moments in Jewish history or Jewish life could be used as a context for the commentary?
  - The writers of HaYehudim Ba’im often look at a story from a different point of view than we are used to seeing it. What themes or moments in Jewish history could lend themselves from a retelling from another point of view? For instance, how could you use the show’s methodology to tell the story of David and Goliath from the point of view of Goliath? Or the story of Noah’s Ark from the perspective of a pair of animals boarding the ark?