Reformed is a gem of a show currently streaming on HBO Max. Released in March from France, it follows the life of a 28-year-old French Libéral (aka Reform) rabbi named Léa Schmoll, played by Elsa Guedj, and is based on the real-life French rabbi Delphine Horvilleur.

 The Show

Each episode alternates between a problem Léa must assist a congregant with and challenges in her personal life. All are handled compassionately and intelligently, and ultimately with a sense of optimism.

The issues Léa faces with members of the Jewish community can be multilayered and realistic-the boy refusing to have a Bar Mitzvah because he’s overwhelmed by the threat of climate change, or the mixed-faith couple who fight over their baby being circumcised. Léa steps into these problems when individuals and families who are already deadlocked in moral and familial quandaries, and helps to find a solution. By the end of each show, she has done so, and the solution is openhearted and honest, never demanding obedience from the congregants, only that they listen and decide on their own. The show is also refreshingly Jewish in the sense that it does not shy away from teaching Torah, Midrash, and Talmud; at no point does one feel that the content has been watered down to the point it is not recognizable as Jewish.

Léa’s path as a female rabbi in a country that has not been open to allowing women in this role is difficult; she struggles for legitimacy and often comes across people who are at a loss in how to interact with a female rabbi.

In her personal life, her secular father is unhappy with his daughter’s choice to be a rabbi, yet at times is supportive in his own way. The father, played by Eric Elmosnino, is experiencing age-related issues that concern Léa enough to decide to turn down an opportunity to buy her own home and live with him instead. It is yet another example of the quality, multilayered writing found in the show.

The Country

In the United States, and particularly the Cincinnati area, we have a rich history of Reform Judaism and a vibrant contemporary community as well. And while France, with the third largest Jewish population in the world, also has a strong Libéral Jewish community spanning over 100 years, it is very small in comparison to the French Orthodox community.

Also, and more pertinent to the TV show, there are currently just seven female rabbis in all of France, and they are not recognized by the Israelite Central Consistory of France, an Orthodox organization founded in 1808 that oversees French Jewish life.

While the vast majority of French Jews are Orthodox, the Libéral sect is steadily growing and is welcoming of LGBTQ+ Jews and mixed faith families. Most of the Libéral Jews and their synagogues are found in Paris and are, by all accounts, a thriving community with leaders continually working to advance ideas of inclusion.

The Rabbi

 The rabbi that Reformed is based on is 51-year-old Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur. Not allowed to study Talmud in France, Horvilleur attended HUC-NY for her rabbinical ordination and became the third female rabbi in France. She currently lives in Paris with her husband, Ariel Weil, who is the mayor of Central Paris, and their three children.

Rabbi Delphine is the rabbi of Beaugrenelle synagogue in Paris, a congregation of 1,000 families, and provides leadership to the Libéral Jewish Movement of France. She is also widely recognized in France and beyond as the author of several books and is the editor of Tenou’a, a magazine of Jewish thought and culture. A prominent figure bordering on a celebrity in France, she is often interviewed for her views on a variety of topics important to Jewish people, not least of which, life since October 7, sometimes causing controversy with more traditional Jews, and even among the most liberal.

The Inspiration

Her book, Living with Our Dead: On Loss and Consolation, is the inspiration for Reformed. The creators of the show, Noé Debré and Benjamin Charbit, were not faithful to the book nor the rabbi when writing the scripts but they seem to have stayed true to Horvilleur’s teachings, including her belief that there are no certainties in life, and that the teachings of Judaism can take this into account without losing its value.