Juda is a 2017 Israeli Religious Horror television series that merrily plays Genre Roulette with touches of Film Noir, Black Comedy, crime drama, and Supernatural Soap Opera. It was created by, written by, and produced by Tzion Baruch, who also stars as the titular protagonist. Released on the HOT network in Israel, it is available internationally on Hulu.
Low-level Israeli gangsters Juda Ben-Haim (Baruch) and his Heterosexual Life-Partner and partner-in-crime Asher (Amos Tamam) have made a deal with the French mafia to take 500,000 euros to Romania and gamble it into much more. However, Juda gets much more than he bargained for when he decides to celebrate with the mysterious Tania (Anastasia Fein). And back in Israel, an enigmatic rabbi (Mike Burstyn) and his follower Menahem (Morris Cohen) recognize that a day of reckoning is at hand.
Tania is a vampire, and attracted by Juda's egotism and vanity - but when she feasts on him, she brings potential doom to her people, for vampires are forbidden to feast on Jews. When Juda wakes up with wounds on his neck and his winnings stolen, he flees back to Israel, but now the French mafia wants him and Asher dead - and the rabbi and Menahem want him for their own purposes.
This show provides examples of:
- All Jews Are Ashkenazi: Averted; like many modern Israeli shows, the characters (and cast) are a believable mix of Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sephardi, and mixed ancestry - reflecting Israel's cultural diversity.
- Anti-Hero: Juda is a compulsive gambler and womanizer, disowned by his mother for his bad behavior, and according to Orit he bled her dry financially and cheated on her numerous times.
- The Atoner: Nearly everyone, but particular emphasis goes to Asher. He had been a loan shark, but when his intimidation drove Juda's father to commit suicide, he grew disgusted with himself and turned state's evidence on his bosses. This separated him from his wife and son as he was put into witness protection, and he dedicated himself to taking care of Juda.
- Ax-Crazy: French mobster Mr. Jacques and Romanian vampire Shinko. Mr. Jacques shoots anyone who pisses him off, goes after Juda's family and threatens Asher's wife and son, and takes delight in a game of Russian Roulette. Shinko gets his kicks inflicting as much pain as possible on his victims and beats the crap out of and later kills human servant Misha.
- Badass Longcoat: Tania, while hunting Juda in Israel, switches from a black dress to an outfit consisting of a corseted blouse, trousers, and a long black coat. Later on Juda steals a long fur coat which becomes part of his trademark outfit.
- Badass Preacher: Menahem, who acts the Rabbi's muscle and preaches in the airport. He's big, handy in a fistfight, and quite proficient with firearms. The Rabbi is no slouch either.
- Being Human Sucks: Inverted. Tania prefers her newfound humanity.
- Berserk Button: Don't insult Israeli guys with any variation on Your Mom or I Banged Your Mom. The inmate who pulls this on both Avichai and Asher should know better. Truth in Television in Israel and indeed anywhere in the Middle East.
- Big Brother Instinct: Asher protects Juda, and in the past gave him a place to stay and supported him. Shinko is very protective of Tania and threatens to impale anyone who disses her.
- The Big Guy: Menahem, who is the Rabbi's muscle. He's built like a Mack truck.
- Bloody Hilarious: Juda's reaction to Tania's bite is...not what one expects from a victim of a vampire.Juda: That bitch better not have rabies!
- Broken Bird: Orit is very unhappy. Mostly because Juda drained her finances and cheated on her multiple times.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor Dotan. He's clearly a rookie cop, pukes at a crime scene, and
never gets a chance to live it down. - The Chessmaster: The Rabbi, who is orchestrating Juda's ascent as a vampire for his own purposes.
- Chubby Chaser: Moti proudly identifies as this, disparaging all the skinny women that Mr. Jacques and his entourage prefer and loudly proclaiming his preference for "broads with love handles".
- Connected All Along: The Rabbi is Jadek, the little boy turned into a vampire by Tania's father.
- It's hinted that Avichai remembers Menahem from his criminal past.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: Asher is a reformed smoker who constantly turns down Menahem's offers of a cigarette. However, just before they pull their rescue of the rabbi, he accepts one and lights up.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Since many of the characters are either gangsters or cops, both populations known for swearing a lot, there are often plenty of times when a profanity carpet-bomb gets dropped.
- Country Matters: Because of the peculiarities of Israeli profanity (kuss emek is a very popular Israeli swear, meaning "your mother's cunt"), this word gets dropped pretty often.
- Da Chief: Avichai, who runs the Yarkon precinct. At times short of temper, but very much protective of his officers.
- Daddy's Girl: Tania's father dotes on her and treats her quite gently compared to the others.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: Maybe it would if Juda and Asher were a little better at it, but now that the French mob is after them, it's not shown to be a great thing.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Juda is disowned by his mother and had his father commit suicide, Asher used to be a loan shark, Menahem is an ex-con, and the rabbi turns out to be the little boy Jadek who was chased by the Nazis and turned into a vampire.
- Distracted by the Sexy: When Juda first sees Tania at the casino in Bucharest, he is immediately distracted from his conversation with Chichi and demands to know who she is and how he can get her.
- Drives Like Crazy: Everyone, though special mention goes to Menahem trying to get Juda and Asher around without being caught by the French mob, and the Rabbi, who really enjoys taking the Cadillac for a spin.
- Ear Ache: Dracula tears off Chichi's ear.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Low-life Moti is disgusted at the idea of kidnapping the rabbi (he even asks his forgiveness), and not too thrilled when Maurice ices a police officer.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Menahem and the Rabbi both tell Juda they were expecting someone taller.
- Fair Cop: Dotan the rookie cop is handsome, and fellow officer Keren is a beautiful lady.
- French Jerk: The French mafia - especially Mr. Jacques, Mr. Georges, and Maurice - are at best sinister and Affably Evil and at worst violent and murderous.Asher: These Frenchies are crazy.
- Friend to All Living Things: Orit. Has numerous pets and loves animals.
- Freudian Excuse: Asher outright says that Juda is as screwed-up as he is because his father was a compulsive gambler who was Driven to Suicide. He knows this because he was the loan shark who pushed Juda's father over the edge.
- Gratuitous English: Justified. In general, when English is spoken, it's because it's the only language the characters speaking have in common.
- Has a Type: Amusingly, the diminutive Juda seems to have a thing for tall women.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Menahem's backstory. He's an ex-con who found religion.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Juda and Asher have No Sense of Personal Space and clearly care deeply for each other. There is a sweet scene of them spooning together on a couch because Juda is afraid and needs a cuddle. Then we find out why Asher takes care of Juda. Asher was the loan shark who drove Juda's father to suicide.
- High-Class Call Girl: Tania's guise in the casino in Bucharest. This is how she lures in her victims to feed.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Said almost word-for-word by Orit when conducting an autopsy. She points out that for the most part, animals only kill to eat, while humans kill for pleasure.
- Keet: Juda. Short, skinny, loudmouthed, and hyperactive.
- I Have Your Wife: Mr. Jacques pulls this on Asher. It's the one thing that makes him genuinely afraid.
- It's Personal: Mr. Jacques isn't just after the money. Juda offed his nephew (albeit in self-defense), and he wants revenge.
- When Maurice offs Dotan, Avichai swears to kill him. Personally.
- Kavorka Man: Juda is a loudmouthed, crude, low-class compulsive gambler. He's also short and not exactly a looker. Yet he managed to sleep with plenty of women, according to Orit, and attracted Orit herself, who is beautiful, intelligent, and accomplished. And then Tania falls for him.
- Lady in Red: We first see Tania in a slinky red dress.
- Lower-Class Lout: Juda and Asher are a fairly accurate portrait of Israeli arsim; Menahem seems to have been one in his backstory. And then there's the low-life Moti, who takes it up to eleven.
- Married to the Job: Avichai explains to Orit that his first marriage failed because he spent all his time at work and none with his wife and child.
- Mr. Fanservice: Asher is Tall, Dark, and Handsome and a frequent victim of Clothing Damage.
- Ms. Fanservice: Tania is a tall, classically beautiful redhead who gets put in revealing dresses or seen with very little clothing.
- Must Have Nicotine: Menahem, who is almost never seen without a cigarette.
- The Napoleon: Juda, who is short and hot-tempered.
- Nerves of Steel: Mr. Jacques notes that the Rabbi is completely fearless.
- Noodle Incident: Just how did Juda wind up with two women, wearing a bra and a Santa hat, as seen in episode 1? It's never revealed but it's implied that booze was involved, given that Juda shows several signs of being at least mildly hungover.
- Not So Above It All: The rabbi has a lot of fun taking the Cadillac for a joyride.
- Our Vampires Are Different: It's forbidden for vampires to drink Jewish blood. Juda, as a Jewish vampire, can't drink human blood. The rabbi provides him with the blood of animals who have been ritually slaughtered in line with kashrut.
- One Head Taller: Juda and Asher; Tzion Baruch is 5'6" and Amos Tamam 6'0". Asher and Juda often trade jokes about it, with Asher affectionately referring to Juda as "shrimp".
- Power Hair: Tania, in Season 2.
- Prison Rape: Asher is threatened with it in jail - in quite graphic terms - by Mr. Jacques. This doesn't so much faze him. Then Mr. Jacques pulls a far more effective threat.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Juda has adorable huge brown eyes. The "look" works on Asher but not so much on hired thug Michael.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Juda and Asher wear some nice suits. Mr. Georges is quite dapper as well, as is his uncle, Mr. Jacques.
- Ship Tease: Orit and Avichai. By the end of the first series, it's hinted that Avichai has fallen for Orit.
- Shout-Out: Juda hums the theme music from Israeli cult film Hagiga Besnuker when getting dressed for the poker game.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Most everyone is free with the swearing but Asher's command of creative invective is stunning. Hilariously, when Asher talks about going up their mother's cunt (as a euphamism for "none of your business"), the English subtitles translate it as "ass". Cue English-speaking Israelis making jokes about "wrong hole."Gate Agent: And where are you going, sir?
Asher: Up my mother's cunt! - Slow Transformation: Tania starts out as The Vamp, but as Juda's blood transforms her into a human, her appearance and demeanor become more and more girlish and innocent.
- Tears of Remorse: Tania cries after feeding on the hooker in Tel Aviv. This is a sign that Juda's blood is transforming her.
- Vomiting Cop: Dotan tosses his cookies when he sees what the vampires have done with the Chinese workers.
- Wham Line: Two from the Rabbi, at the end of episode 8:Rabbi: I wasn't looking for a savior. I was looking for a substitute.Rabbi: You really think Hitler killed himself?
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Avichai is a cop straight out of a police procedural who isn't equipped to deal with vampires.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Mr. Jacques says this nearly word-for-word before Moti gets offed.
- Younger Than They Look: Menahem's age isn't stated but he looks at least a decade older than Asher and Juda (though it's implied that before he found religion he was a hard living guy). Morris Cohen is one year older than Amos Tamam and three years older than Tzion Baruch.
- Your Mom: One prisoner uses this on the police inspector Avichai, who promptly socks him in the mouth.
