CNN
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While it's nothing new for Netflix to capture the zeitgeist with an original series, the mood of “Nobody Wants This” – a sweet and firmly Los Angeles hipster-style romantic comedy – is far from the genre trappings of scary titles like “Squid Game” removed” and “Stranger Things”.

However, the discourse surrounding this hit series, in which Adam Brody and Kristen Bell play a new couple dealing with friends, family and religion, was swift and pervasive, with people sharing their views on the show's depictions of Jewish women, Conversions and “Shiksas”.

A quick addition in case you somehow missed the (current) number. 1 show on the streamer (which was also confirmed to be getting a second season just this week) – Bell plays Joanne, a sex-happy podcaster with no particular religious affiliation who falls in love with Brody's Noah, a “hot rabbi” (see the words of the show). ), who is an important figure in his progressive community and comes from a traditional Jewish family. The undeniable chemistry between the two soon causes tension in their respective circles, which include Joanne's bitter sister Morgan (Justine Lupe) and Noah's brother Sasha (Timothy Simons), as well as sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn), who is still with Noah's heartbroken ex is friends – and mother Bina (Tovah Feldshuh).

In the pilot episode, Joanne decides to visit Noah at his temple, where he is inundated with parishioners who hound him with questions and requests to place their daughters with him after he is no longer with his ex Rebecca (Emily Arlook). At the very last moment, various spectators in the synagogue – including the experienced actor Feldshuh – can be seen full of excitement as Noah warmly greets Joanne. When Esther Feldshuh's Bina asks who her son is talking to, she simply replies: “A shiksa” (a somewhat derogatory term for a non-Jewish woman, especially in a relationship with a Jewish partner), which ends the show.

This and other moments sparked reactions about how certain Jewish themes and tropes were treated in the series. To Rabbi Amanda Greene, a senior rabbi at Chicago Sinai Reform Congregation in Chicago, some of this — even the parts that may have seemed a little extreme — rang quite true.

“There's a word 'Yenta' out there, isn't there?” Greene said with a laugh during a recent interview with CNN. “Is this the best of us?” Maybe not. But is this the reality of some of us? Perhaps.”

She also reminded that it is just a television show for entertainment purposes.

“I would imagine the same would apply if you were interviewing people from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, right? It’s kind of an exaggeration of personalities.”

And while Rabbi Adina Allen, a non-denominational rabbi who founded the nonprofit Jewish Studio Project, acknowledged that some of the Jewish female characters in the comedy were portrayed “as manipulative, controlling, tough and cliquey,” she noted that they were not the case was only those that sometimes cast a not so flattering light.

“Honestly, the non-Jewish women don’t look that good either,” she said. “The show seems to portray her as bland, unfocused, self-centered and superficial. And at the same time I liked all women. Esther, for example, the epitome of the Jewish woman stereotype, is controlling and mean, but she is also loyal and loving.”

Rabbi Greene also pointed out that not all depictions of Jewish women are immediately demeaning or cartoonish.

“I think the rabbi in the camp is great. I think that's a good representation. She hugs Joanne. She's an interesting character,” she said, alluding to a hilarious later episode in the season in which Noah introduces Joanne to a fellow rabbi, charmingly played by Leslie Grossman.

“Maybe that's the great thing about the show, there are so many interesting characters,” Greene added, before defending the character Esther, “because she's destined to be hated, but also when your best friend's ex-fiancée would be… She (Esther) is human too!”

Other moments felt quite authentic to both real-life rabbis, which they found refreshing.

“When I started at Sinai, there were a lot of people who wanted to accommodate me,” Greene said. “There is some truth in the community wanting to know what is going on in the rabbi’s personal life,” she added.

Rabbi Allen said the show “showed exactly how invasive it can feel, especially when you are a pulpit rabbi, and especially as a young, single pulpit rabbi (as I know from my friends’ experiences),” adding, “In the synagogue scene when…”all the women crowding around him to introduce their daughters, it felt real.”

Both Allen and Greene viewed Brody's Noah as a sympathetic figure on a spiritual path, as opposed to a sanctimonious figurehead or any other number of preconceived portraits of what a rabbi might be.

“He was a person, a person in a bar (or at a party) who maybe didn't look like the rabbi that Joanne thought a rabbi should look like,” Greene said. “Rabbis look like people. We are humans, we are people and I think sometimes people assume or expect a rabbi to look a certain way, act a certain way, only talk about Torah, only keep kosher, everywhere only wearing a yarmulke,…Wear a tallit (prayer shawl) only with whatever the 'only' may be, but we are human and I appreciate this way of portraying the rabbi.”

A scene later in the series where Noah celebrates Shabbat at a bar is something Greene also relates to, having experienced something similar herself. “When I first moved to Chicago, I tried celebrating Shabbat at a bar for young professionals,” she remembers.

“Noah is cool,” Allen remarked. “(He) lives in the world, goes to parties, is funny, wears fashionable clothes (without basketball gear), plays sports, has friends and a social life. It felt really good to see all of that portrayed on TV.”

As the first season of Nobody Wants This continues, Noah and Joanne imagine a possible future together. As the show says, it quickly becomes clear: If Noah ever became chief rabbi of his community, it would be problematic for him to have a non-Jewish partner. This brings with it the prospect of conversion for Joanne, something she struggles with by the end of the season. Noah also struggles with the prospect of having to decide whether to advance his rabbinic career or become more involved with Joanne, even if she is not ready to convert.

Rabbi Greene had conflicting feelings about the ending and is confident that Noah's oversimplified choice is just an excuse to continue the story next season.

“I loved the show, I hated the ending. I think it’s a false dichotomy,” she said. “I hope that the second season will be different and that he won’t have to choose between his personal and professional life.”

“Of course there are times when you have to choose those things, but I prefer both/and so my prediction, and maybe it's just a hope, is that in the second season he'll be able to do both somehow cope… Maybe that's it. “Just this cliffhanger for next season.”