Jews Mad Over TV Portrayal Of Orthodox Jews

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I noticed a few tweets that I've posted on the forum have been deleted so I guess I have to start archiving them as well.

https://archive.is/7WMi8

https://archive.is/VxT3c

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Nurses Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Achilles Heel

The main weakness was handling the plot involving the orthodox Jewish patient, Ezriel, and his father.

I understand what they were going for. Ashley comes from a religious background. She has issues with her conservative Christian home and with her conservative Christian mother.

They were trying to draw a parallel and stir up some feeling for her with this push-button topic.

However, could they not have done their research?

Could they not have consulted a Rabbi? Couldn't they have called someone from the Halachic Organ Donor Society, or the Orthodox Jewish Nurses Association, or the local Chabad, or just any Orthodox Jew at all?

Had they bothered to research it, they would have known that Orthodox Jews have no problem accepting tissue and/or organ donations.

Transplants fall under the jurisdiction of פקוח נפש, the preservation of a human life, which would take priority over honor shown to the dead. As for the concern about having a non-Jew's part in the Jew? That would be a non-issue.

Also, if, for some reason, there was a question about if the surgery was allowed, the first thing Ezriel and his father would and should have done is contact their Rabbi. Their Rabbi would have then told them to proceed, and they would have listened.

They don't contact their Rabbi. Instead, they argue with Ashley, who acts like an expert because she had a religious upbringing. Yes, Ashley was brought up religious, but she was also brought up Christian.

In First Samuel, King David was starving. He went into the temple and ate the bread of Presence off of the altar. Now, that was the holiest of bread, it belonged to God, but He understood that David had a human need that superseded devotion. God will understand this too. He heals, but He also forgives.

That's an entirely different religion, with different rules and different interpretations of texts.

For example, in the story she references, David did not steal the holy bread. He asked for it from Ahimelech, the high priest, who had the authority to give it to him in those circumstances.

Since Ashley comes from a Christian background, perhaps this plot-line would have made more sense had the patient in question been from some sect of Christianity that forbids organ donation.

However, as far as I can tell, no sect of Christianity. Jehovah's Witnesses have an issue with transfusions but would permit an organ or tissue transplant, so long as all the blood has been removed.

Accepting organs is permitted by Christianity, Islam, and, yes, even Orthodox Judaism.

Nurses presented a stereotype of an Orthodox Jew, meant to show how wrong and backward the thinking of religious Jews, and religious people in general, is.

These stereotypes lack accuracy and nuance. They are harmful and borderline antisemitic.

In the words of Orthodox Jew, Toby M,  "There's no value to publicizing this apparently erroneous sub-plot.

"The only purpose appears to be to highlight perceived 'backward' and 'ill-informed' religious practices. The result is really damaging for the targeted subgroup."

Orthodox Jew and professional patient Hanna A said, "A community is being seriously misrepresented. If this were a subplot about Mormons or Catholics, a fuss would be made."

Hanna A chimed in when I brought this issue to an Orthodox Jewish forum. A lot of people were upset, as they should be.

Ashley's religious experiences were bad, which is totally fair. She is entitled to her story and her journey. It stinks that her mom won't accept her and that she was raised to believe something was wrong with her. That's not okay.

However, putting aside that not all religious journeys are the same, not all religions are the same, and Ashley is from a completely different one.

Emphasizing a problem in Ashley's religious background by using a caricature of an Orthodox Jew is wrong. I'm very disappointed in Nurses. I expected better.