Shababniks

Their morning starts at 9:00 AM, at a luxurious mikveh, or ritual bath. Four baths: hot, steaming hot, lukewarm and cold. Cappuccino and an almond croissant at Bezalel Café. Later, they put in an appearance at the yeshiva’s beit midrash. They study and even enjoy it. They start their evening shopping at Zara at the shopping mall, and continue to a barbecue at Sacher Park, an arranged date at the Hilton Hotel’s lobby and a ride on Avinoam’s dad’s 4WD, until they run out of gas. They finish with a mixed grill at a midnight steakhouse. They always go back together to sleep at the boarding school. But everything changes when a strict new supervisor arrives at the yeshiva, and shuts off the outside world.

There are no tortured heroes or heartbreaking scenes in Shababniks.

What you will find in Shababniks is fun, and a lot of it.

Avinoam, Meir, Gedalia and Dov know that the general public can’t stand the ultraorthodox, and even more so the shababniks – the ultraorthodox dropouts. But still they persist: “We are not like you. We don’t like you. We don’t need you. We are just shababniks.”