By Donald H. Harrison 

I am not a fan of award shows—be they the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Grammys, or, as was the case last night, the Golden Globe Awards.  Too much hype and glitz, too little substance, too much repetition for my tastes. Nancy, feeling similarly, suggested that we catch up on some other television shows that we had not seen, but had videotaped, over the last few days.  

One of them was an episode of Lifetime's "Strong Medicine" that was quite good. It was titled "Unorthodox Treatment," an interesting title because it referred to using Viagra to increase the blood flow of a little girl who had difficulty breathing.  But another subplot in the show was a psychodrama involving an Orthodox Jewish family—and I felt the story was exceptionally well-told by writers James Stanley and Dianne Messina Stanley and well acted by series co-star Rick Shroder, who plays Dr. Dylan West, and by guest performer, Michelle Azar , who portrayed Rachel Levy.

I think, but can't swear, that it was Michelle Azar, because acting credits that flash on the screen don't tell us which actor plays which character.  I think, but am far from certain, that Rachel's husband, Chaim, was portrayed by Kip Gilman. I wish credits would read: "Michelle Azar as Rachel Levy," but they don't.  Unless you are familiar with the actors, you have to guess who is playing whom.

Be that as it may, Rachel is brought to Rittenhouse Hospital complaining of abdominal cramps.  Although she had been having lunch at a local deli, it was not indigestion. Interviewed by Dr. West, she admitted it had been years since her last gynecological examination.  And why?  Because her previous gynecologist had been “disrespectful”—he was always shaking Rachel’s hand.

A joke? Not really. It’s okay for the gynecologist to examine her most intimate private parts, but not to shake her hand.  If you think about it for a second, it is perfectly reasonable.  A gynecological examination is “professional” whereas shaking hands is “social.”  Strictly Orthodox believe they should avoid such social physical contact with members of the opposite gender.

Had Rachel always been so observant, there would have been no plot.  But it turns out that she once had an affair with her children’s piano teacher, a  gentle man who gave her a sexually transmitted disease—HPV (human papilloma virus)—along with the tenderness that she never received from her husband in an arranged marriage, Chaim. 

As a result of the untreated HPV, Rachel developed  cervical cancer.  Guilt-ridden, she now concludes that the disease is God’s punishment for her adultery; that God wants her to die. Her angry husband agrees with this. They decide to refuse surgery for her.

In more pain, she returns to Rittenhouse Hospital with her husband. Asked about her pain, she suggests that perhaps God has added another "affliction," a joke of which her husband does not approve. Dr. West compounds Chaim's religious discomfort by joking that a new affliction  is possible, that if people read the "Old Testament," they can see that sometimes "God goes over the top."  Chaim turns away in disgust. In an attempt at explanation, West says laughter is sometimes the best medicine. "Sometimes not," responds Chaim. 

It's true, religious humor can be very dicey, and is best explored by people who trust each other, not by strangers.  There is an undertext here as well, by calling Hebrew Scriptures, "The Old Testament," West unwittingly has subscribed to "replacement theology" of Christians, in which the Scriptures of the Jews has been replaced by the New (and, so they think,  Improved) Scripture of the Christians.  So Chaim has even less reason to trust Dr. West.

But West is not to be deterred, because what he sometimes lacks in manners, he makes up for with sincerity. Although Chaim refers to Rachel as a "whore," West keeps working on him to forgive.  

In one scene, Chaim tries to tell the old joke about why he prefers reading  anti-Semitic newspapers rather than the Jewish ones—because in the anti-Semitic screeds, Jews are all rich, successful, even controlling the world. By contrast, the Jewish papers are filled with nothing but our people's tsuris.  The joke falls flat. He has to explain to Dr. West that this is a joke.

Chaim also says that he is not a man incapable of affection; that previously he anxiously awaited the end of niddah, the time after menstruation when sexual relations are forbidden, to lie with Rachel  in bed—a time, for him, of bliss.  Dr. West  wisely responds that it is often what occurs outside the bedroom that determines how romantic a woman feels.

Although Rachel has condemned herself, West doesn't give up attempting to persuade her to undergo surgery. Yes adultery is a sin, he says, but so is suicide—and that is what leaving a disease untreated is, slow suicide!  If God wants her to die, why does Judaism teach that one should seek atonement?, he asks.  Why is there the concept of teshuvah—returning to righteousness?  Rachel suggests that he, as a Gentile, can't understand these things.  He responds that Judaism has no monopoly on sin—or repentance. 

He then reveals that he once "killed a woman" not intentionally but by driving himself too hard, becoming fatigued, all in an effort to be a great surgeon.  The woman, his fiancee, was killed in a traffic accident while he was driving—his fault, he believed. She had been a promising second-year resident specializing  in the field of women's health.  Now her life—and the lives of women that she could have saved—were snuffed out.  He dropped out of surgery, almost gave up medicine entirely. But in a process that brought him closer to God, he realized that he could do his own kind of teshuvah, that he could devote himself to his fiancee's  specialty, and —

"Pick up the torch?" Rachel responds, with understanding. But, she said, West is a doctor, with training, one who helps patients.  She is just a housewife.  West points out that she has four children who need her.  At last, she agrees to the operation.

The plot was not so pollyannish that Chaim decides to take Rachel back.  But in presenting the situation, "Strong Medicine" taught us not only about the risk women take by skipping their gynecological examinations, but also provided insights into the psychological stresses in some arranged Orthodox marriages.