Producer plans Orthodox reality show

NEW YORK’S strictly-orthodox community could go under the microscope if a television producer succeeds in her plan for a reality show about their lives.

However, Noah Scheinmann, executive producer at No Regrets Entertainment, wants the series to focus on those members who opt out of the insular community.

He has already attracted Pearlperry Reich and her boyfriend Shauli Grossman to the roster. Ms Reich, a mother of four, made waves earlier this year after going to the media with her decision to reject her Chasidic roots and her custody battle with her still-religious husband. The rabbi’s daughter, who was pushed into an arranged marriage at the age of 18, has said she plans to pursue a career in acting and modelling.

If a network agrees to broadcast Shunned, Ms Reich and three others will get their star turns.

She told the New York Post: “My main purpose is to create a positive Judaism. And it would be a really good opportu- nity for me to get my face out there.”

Luzer Twersky, who has been named as the third cast member, also had an arranged marriage as a teenager. Now working in fashion, he said: “A lot of things are new to me. I saw Star Wars for the first time last year.”

If the series goes ahead, it is likely to cause dismay to the tight-knit Jewish population of New York. Earlier this year a tell-all memoir by former Orthodox Jew Deborah Feldman was heavily criticised as misleading and even fabricated.