Lili Rosen

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Lili Rosen
מלכה ליבא ראזען
Lili Rosen headshot.jpg
Rosen in 2024
Born
Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, cultural consultant, translator
Years active2017–present
Known forWork on Unorthodox, Yiddish translation, LGBTQ advocacy
Notable workThe Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen, The Binding of Itzik
TelevisionUnorthodox (2020)
Awards AFI Award for Best Television Series (2020), SFFILM Rainin Development Grant (2023)

Lili Rosen is an American transgender actress and cultural consultant. She is best known for her work on the Netflix series Unorthodox, which garnered her the AFI award for best television series in 2020. She made headlines when she came out as transgender after playing the Rabbi in Unorthodox, and published the first LGBTQ resource in Yiddish translation. In another first, in 2024, she developed and performed The Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen, the first theatrical show by a "trans woman of Hasidic experience."

Contents

Acting career

Theater

In 2017, Rosen made her stage debut in a production of Sholem Asch's Yiddish classic God of Vengeance . [1] [2] Rosen also played the role of Jean in Rhinoceros and the role of Vladimir in Waiting for Godot in Yiddish. [3]

The show poster for the premiere of The Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen on October 25, 2024, in NYC. The Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen poster.jpg
The show poster for the premiere of The Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen on October 25, 2024, in NYC.

In 2024, Rosen debuted a one-woman-show called "The Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen" at the 14th Street Y Theater in the East Village, Manhattan. [4] In her show, Rosen tells the story of her Hasidic upbringing, her gender transition, and coming out to her Hasidic family. [4] [5]

Film

Rosen played the title character in the short film The Binding of Itzik, which was nominated with the Iris Prize, and won numerous awards, including the JFI Film Completion Grant, Film Movement Best Narrative Short Award at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Best Film Award (Berlin Underground Film Festival), Jury Award (International Women's Film Festival), and Audience Choice Award (YoFiFest). [6]

In 2023, Rosen won the SFFILM Rainin Development Grant for The Binding of Itzik. [7] [8]

Other film roles include "Zishe" in SHTTL , "Principal Rabbi" in Minyan , and "Shulem" in Tzadeikis. [9]

Television

Rosen had a recurring role in the 2020 German miniseries Unorthodox, in which she played the Rabbi. [10]

Consulting

Dubbed by Air Mail as "Hollywood's Yiddish Consultant", Rosen is a Yiddish specialist who consulted on shows including Shttl , [11] Unorthodox, [12] Little America (TV series), An American Pickle [13] and Minyan (film). [9]

Lili Rosen consulting on the set of Unorthodox in Berlin with director Maria Schrader. On set of Unorthodox with Maria Schrader.jpg
Lili Rosen consulting on the set of Unorthodox in Berlin with director Maria Schrader.

Unorthodox

Unorthodox was the first Netflix series to be filmed primarily in Yiddish. [14] Rosen was "the first person hired" on the series to ensure the authentic portrayal of the Hasidic Yiddish-speaking community. [15] Rosen was brought in early to translate the script into Yiddish, coach the actors, consult on cultural details, and play the rabbi. Shira Haas, the Emmy-nominated star of Unorthodox (miniseries), credited Rosen with her ability to speak Yiddish in the series, calling her "an amazing teacher." [16] Emmy-winning director Maria Schrader said that she "would've been lost without [Rosen's] advice." Rosen acted as the "backstage rabbi" on set, working on set every day, conferring with Maria Schrader, offering technical and emotional support, and was involved in writing many of the scenes. [17] [10] In recognition of her influential work, Rosen was awarded the Best Screen Stories award by the American Film Institute in 2020. [18]

Translation

In addition to translating TV and film scripts into Yiddish, Rosen translated "You Be You: The Kid's Guide to Gender, Sexuality and Family" into Yiddish—the first LGBTQ youth guide in Yiddish. [19] In her translation, she had to decide on appropriate Yiddish language terminology for many LGBTQ+ terms and related concepts that did not previously exist, at least in print. [19] [20]

She also translated several theatrical plays into Yiddish, including Eugène Ionesco's Rhinoceros, [21] [22] and two plays by Hanoch Levin. [23]

Personal life

Rosen was born and raised in the Hasidic community of Borough Park, Brooklyn. [24] She was a cantor and an attorney before she got divorced and left the Hasidic community. [25]

In 2022, Rosen came out as trans during an interview about an upcoming release of a book. The story was first reported by The Jerusalem Post in a headline reading "Ex-Hasid who advised 'Unorthodox' comes out as trans." [24] This story was syndicated appearing in other Jewish newspapers worldwide. [26] [27] [28] Since coming out, she is largely estranged from her family. [4]

In a recent interview, she said that she felt an obligation or a calling to use her voice on behalf of her trans siblings. [4]

In 2024, Rosen was featured on the cover of Crain's New York Business. [29] [30] In the interview, she talks candidly about her medical transition and her experience with the health care system experience, while calling for universal access to trans health care. [29]

References

  1. ↑ Horwitz, Simi (2016-12-21). "But Is 'God of Vengeance' Good for the Jews?". AMERICAN THEATRE. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  2. ↑ Ordin, Victoria. "Review: New Yiddish Rep's Masterful Revival of Sholem Asch's Look At Eastern European Jewish Culture in GOD OF VENGEANCE". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  3. ↑ Musbach, Julie. "Eli Rosen Steps Into WAITING FOR GODOT In Yiddish, Replacing Rafael Goldwaser". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Grisar, P. J. (2024-10-17). "Ex-hasidic, trans and brutally honest, Lili Rosen invites you to her 'Second Circumcision'". The Forward. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  5. ↑ Rosen, Lili (2024-10-24). "Excerpt: "The Second Circumcision of Lili Rosen"". Lilith Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  6. ↑ "'The Binding of Itzik' by Student Anika Benkov Performs on Festival Circuit | School of the Arts". arts.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
  7. ↑ "Announcing the 2023 SFFILM Rainin Grant Recipients". SFFILM. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  8. ↑ Staff, Filmmaker (2023-11-21). "2023 SFFILM Rainin Grant Recipients Include Lily Gladstone and Nijla Mu'min". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  9. 1 2 Ben Porat, Ido (April 5, 2020). "How do you teach actors to speak Yiddish?". Israel National News. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  10. 1 2 "Netflix's 'Unorthodox' went to remarkable lengths to get Hasidic Jewish customs right". Los Angeles Times. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  11. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (2021-09-01). "'SHTTL': Single-Shot Shoah Feature With Saul Rubinek Wraps In Ukraine; Sets To Be Maintained As Open-Air Museum". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  12. ↑ Cardiel, Mateo Sancho (2020-07-19). "'Unorthodox' en la vida real". El País (in Spanish). ISSN   1134-6582 . Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  13. ↑ Hanau, Shira (2022-01-26). "Ex-Hasid who advised 'Unorthodox' comes out as trans while translating children's sexuality guide into Yiddish". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  14. ↑ Saval, Malina (2020-03-26). "'Unorthodox' Star Shira Haas Brings Yiddish, Hassidic Judaism and Contemporary German Culture to Netflix". Variety. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  15. ↑ Bramesco, Charles (2020-03-26). "Unorthodox: behind the Deutschland 83 co-creator's new Netflix series". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  16. ↑ Neophytou, Nadia (2020-07-08). "Shira Haas On The "Enormous, Amazing" Reaction To 'Unorthodox': "I Always Believed In The Show"". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  17. ↑ Goldfarb, Karen (2020-05-27). "From Shtreimels to Sex, This Former Hasid Made Sure 'Unorthodox' Was Accurate". Kveller. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  18. ↑ "lili rosen". lili rosen. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  19. 1 2 Branfman, Jonathan; Rosen, Lili (October 5, 2021). "Be Yourself! (with a little help): Creating the First Yiddish LGBTQ Youth Guide". In Geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies.
  20. ↑ Grisar, PJ (2022-01-24). "A kids' guide to gender and sexuality is now in Yiddish". The Forward. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  21. ↑ Soloski, Alexis (September 14, 2017). "Review: The Beasts Have Arrived, in a Yiddish 'Rhinoceros'". The New York Times .
  22. ↑ Benjamin, Tova (September 2017). "Remedy Before the Sickness: Eli Rosen on Translating Rhinoceros into Yiddish". In Geveb.
  23. ↑ Durell, Sandi (2018-03-30). "Theater Review: New Yiddish Rep - Hanoch Levin Squared". Theater Pizzazz. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  24. 1 2 "Ex-Hassid who advised 'Unorthodox' comes out as trans". 27 January 2022.
  25. ↑ Kilgannon, Corey (March 12, 2017). "An Incisive Play About Hasidism, With Actors Who Lived It". The New York Times .
  26. ↑ Hanau, Shira (January 29, 2022). "Ex-Hasid comes out as trans while translating kids' book on sexuality into Yiddish". The Times of Israel.
  27. ↑ Stern, Sigmund (February 23, 2022). "'Unorthodox' rabbi comes out as trans". New Jersey Jewish News.
  28. ↑ Stern, Sigmund. "Unorthodox rabbi comes out as trans". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  29. 1 2 "Transgender patients have more opportunities for care in New York, but getting it isn't easy". Crain's New York Business. 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  30. ↑ "Crain's New York Business, June 5, 2023 by crains-new-york-business - Issuu". issuu.com. 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
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