Cows Spared From Reality TV
Image by iStockphoto
It’s the ultimate guilty pleasure here in Israel: “Big Brother.” As always, the contestants are having a ball, but the current season seems to be arriving upon increasingly bizarre situations.
Keen to set increasingly off-the-wall “challenges” for contestants, the producers wanted to bring a cow in to the contestants’ house. But it seems that the Agriculture Ministry has come to the same conclusion that many Israeli viewers (and maybe the cows) reached, too: Reality TV stars are okay from a distance, but don’t let them get too close.
“On the program, the cow was supposed to be milked by hand, by persons who are not experienced; and it was to be surrounded by a large number of participants,” ministry official Nurit Zippori-Barak told Haaretz, explaining why the officials blocked the bovine plan.
This comes less than a week after officials in one of the largest West Bank settlements, Ariel, turned their attentions to the program. Contestant Saar Szekely, an artist from Tel Aviv, was highly critical of Israeli settlement policy, and the Ariel municipality was quoted in the Hebrew press strongly criticizing the program for enabling him to air his views.
Meanwhile, in an ongoing court case concerning an earlier series,, the program is being sued, believe it or not, for letting a contestant take a Bible in to the bathroom. The plaintiffs argued that “the Bible is the holiest book in Judaism, and reading it in the bathroom insults and demeans the faith and feelings of many Jews.”
With government officials, settler leaders and religious activists evidently glued to “Big Brother,” it’s amazing the country continues to run.
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
That’s why I’m paying it Forward, by matching $36,000 of reader gifts. It’s an investment in the Forward’s newsroom, to continue telling the American Jewish story with truth and independence.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
