SATC comes of age, Jewish-style

And Just Like That…, HBO’s reboot of Sex and the City, has been having quite a Jewish moment lately – even if not everyone’s been a fan.

Critics recently piled onto the show over a seemingly well-intended moment that had a character angrily tell another to “get out” after he called the Holocaust “a hoax” at a dinner at Charlotte’s glamorous NYC apartment. We’re not entirely sure why that would be offensive … but it was the Internet, so nature found a way.

Will Twitter be more forgiving about the storyline where Charlotte and her family prepare for a They Mitzvah?

Yep, the season finale finds Charlotte – who has converted to Judaism –arranging a gender-neutral Jewish coming-of-age ritual for her younger child Rock (Alexa Swinton), who has recently began using “they” pronouns.

Despite the less traditional elements of the event, which include a transgender Rabbi Jen played by Hari Nef, the episode delves heavily into classic dramas that anyone who has been through a bar or bat mitzvah would be familiar with: the cost, the exhausting preparation, the stage fright.

Not to mention the pressure from Rabbi Jen, who may be liberal in some ways, but will not tolerate substandard performance – and at one point tells the parents: “Moving forward with the current plan is not realistic. They simply haven’t mastered the material.”

Ouch.

Looks like some things never change.

WITH JTA