Explaining Shtisel
Real questions, submitted by actual OU Torah followers, with their real answers. NOTE: For questions of practical halacha, please consult your own rabbi for guidance.
Q. I just watched Shtisel on Netflix. In the story, the main character has a dream about death. In the dream, a lot of men were waiting in line to cross over, but first they had to meet with ''the rabbi." They explained to the main character that if the rabbi gave them a dollar, they were accepted. Why the dollar? The main character in his confusion said, "Why do we meet with the rabbi if some Jews do not believe in him?" Does this mean that some Jews don't believe in him, yet still have the luxury of calling themselves Jewish?
A. Thanks for your question. I'm afraid I've never seen Shtisel, nor do I intend to. (Everyone always assumes that I watch all these Jewish-themed TV shows but as I once heard it put, the guy from 7-Eleven doesn't go home at night and make Slurpees.)
Generally speaking, I wouldn't put too much stock in TV shows and I wouldn't put too much stock in dreams, so I certainly wouldn't worry too much about things that characters dreamed in TV shows.
The rabbi in the dream is likely a reference to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson ztz"l, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, who used to give out dollars. The idea was that the recipient should then donate the dollar to charity. Many people did not donate that exact dollar to charity. Rather, they donated a different dollar and kept the one he gave them as a souvenir. Either way, the intention was to generate charity-giving.
Assuming that the rabbi in the dream represents the Lubavitcher Rebbe, or is just some generic Hasidic rabbi that they created, these rabbis are the leaders of their communities but they are not universal authorities over all Jewry. By way of example, you could ask someone "How do you call yourself a Christian if you don't follow the pope?" A perfectly valid response would be, "I am a Christian, I'm just not Catholic." Similarly (lehavdil), if you ask someone, "How can you call yourself Jewish if you don't follow the rebbe?" they could answer, "I am Jewish, I'm just not Lubavitch" or "I am Jewish, I'm just not Hasidic." (We say "lehavdil" when comparing Jewish and non-Jewish things.) Different communities simply have different authorities, like you and I may have different representatives in Congress.
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