Natalie Portman's new show is even more Jewish than I thought

I wasn't prepared for all the Jewish details in Apple TV+'s "Lady in the Lake"

If you’ve read or listened to the audiobook of the thriller “Lady in the Lake” you know this book is full of Jewish details. So of course the Natalie Portman helmed show, which premiered last week on Apple TV+, had to include some Jewishness — but wow, I was not expecting the level of Jewish specificity in just the first episode (titled “Did you know seahorse are fish?”)

The uncanny thing is that even though this is a show about a Jewish housewife turned aspiring journalist (Portman) trying to solve the murder of a Black woman named Cleo Johnson (the INCREDIBLE Moses Ingram) set in 1960s Baltimore, it just gets some things about the universal Jewish experience in America so RIGHT. At the same time, you can tell the team did a lot of homework and got very specific about what it meant to be Jewish in Baltimore at the time. Let’s break down some of the finest Jewish deets from episode one:

The first scene of the show, post-opening credits, is perhaps the best representation of the Jewish experience of Christmas I’ve ever seen. Let me count the ways:

1. Young Tessie Durst (Bianca Belle) asks her observant mom how Santa knows they’re Jewish. Her mom responds that it’s thanks to the mezuzah on their door. This is literally what I tell my own kids.

2. Tessie asks her mother if she will get presents from Santa if she sleeps over at her non-Jewish friend Mary’s house. This is entrepreneurial and brilliant.

3. Tessie’s mother, realizing she’s no match for her daughter, decides to put the cards on the table and tells her Santa isn’t real because “I’m tired of lying to you like a goy.” (I hate the word goy, but accurate for a Jewish mom in the 1960s.)

4. Tessie’s father then makes her promise that she will not tell Mary that Santa isn’t real. This is a contentious issue but I have also found myself telling my kids the same thing.

5. Tessie’s mother then tells her she can ask for whatever she wants for Hanukkah which is in a few weeks. We’ve all been there.

   

At the first store, Tessie says that the only thing they learned in her Jewish day school about fish is that they were created on the 5th day. This is both basic (Genesis-basic) and deep-cut Judaism.

The scene in which Maddie Schwartz (Portman) goes to get meat for Thanksgiving dinner at the kosher butcher scene is 10/10. Here are a few reasons why:

1. First of all, the fast-talking with the Baltimore accent is on point. You must talk fast at the kosher butcher.

2. The butcher calls her husband a “mensch” (Yiddish for real good guy, if you will) for always inviting people over for Shabbos, Portman retorts that it’s because he’s a “macher” — a salesman. But the truth is that both the butcher and Milton, her hubby (Brett Gelman) are machers because butchers knowing everything about your life is their sales technique.

   

3. The butcher then praises her husband’s brilliance for marrying an “ayshes chail” (a woman of valor) — again, complimenting your clients is a macher move.

   

The synagogue gala dinner where Maddie presents awards to fellow women congregants is very grounded in the 1960s American experience but also very real. Let’s talk about that:

1. Someone on stage talks about antisemitism right from the first minute of the scene.

2. A fellow congregant, Mr. Weinstein, tries to ask Milton the macher for a favor to rent out his apartment. A macher is a macher.

3. There’s an argument about whether or not Jews should celebrate Thanksgiving and no one can agree (Milton and Maddie say yes, Maddie’s mom, Tati and Mr. Weinstein are team no).

4. Maddie calls out the misogyny in the “she lo ashani” blessings in which men thank God every morning for not being a woman. Can a show be about a Jewish feminist without mentioning this? Well, obviously lots of shows can be, but this is just foundational Jewish feminism and I live for it.

   

5. Maddie gets interrupted TWICE when she’s speaking (once by a fondly heckling Milton and once about the search for Tessie).

The Thanksgiving dinner scene at the Schwartz’s is one of the most powerful scenes in the episode, but the drama being centered on Maddie serving the lamb on dairy plates makes it even more intense. Also, Milton telling her that he thought it was Thanksgiving but apparently it’s Yom Kippur because he needs to throw out the meat after it rested on said dairy plates is BRUTAL. Brett Gelman always plays a villain so well, but here he just shattered me. Seeing an Ashkenazi Jewish man throw away perfectly good brisket just hurts. I don’t know if I can recover from this.

Are you watching “Lady in the Lake?” What do you think about it? I'm getting the sense people aren't hearing about this show (not uncommon for Apple TV+). Do you feel like this too? I’d love to know your thoughts!

And if you want more “Lady in the Lake,” you can read my interview with director Alma Har’el on Kveller — and keep your eye out there for our episode recaps as they air!