I left my Chasidic community: Schitt’s Creek helped me see what that meant

ELAD NEHORAI: A year ago, I was watching ‘Schitt’s Creek’ with my wife. It was the last season, second to last episode, so things were already emotional

THEN THERE WAS that scene: the one where David is sitting on the car with his best friend Stevie and looking at the house that his soon-to-be husband Patrick had wanted to buy for him before David had told him that they were moving to New York. Patrick, the hunky good boy that he is, had agreed to, and David was now looking at another reality he might live if he chose to stay in Schitt’s Creek. And he was crying.

It’s at this point that Stevie asks him, “What is it about New York?”

After some needling, it’s clear that David is dying to go back to prove to his former friends, the ones who can’t even come to his wedding because they had a rave to go to, that he was someone. In his words, “I want those people to know that I’m not a joke and that I’ve won.”

Stevie can hardly handle it. She points out the house and says, “David, look at this place. You’ve won.”

It was at that point that I broke down. In a moment, I went from tearing up due to the beauty of the scene to suddenly feeling completely overwhelmed with a sense of deep familiarity.

My wife, Rivka, paused the episode right as David fell into Stevie’s arms and bawled. And that was when I turned toward her and fell into her arms and cried in a way I hadn’t in ages, letting out something I had been holding onto for a very long time. I cried and cried, holding onto her, letting the snot and the tears come out, finally.

Rivka looked at me and asked what was going on.

“I’m David,” I said.

FULL STORY I left my Chasidic community. ‘Schitt’s Creek’ helped me put things in perspective (Hey Alma/JTA)