With the uprising of anti-semitism, I couldn't be prouder to spotlight Jewish Actor, Musician, and Producer Moshe Lobel who is starring in the new film SHTTL, a riveting French-Ukrainian production about a young man, during the 1941 invasion of Soviet Ukraine by Nazi Germany, who goes back to his Yiddish village, at the border of Poland, to take his love with him.

After several international premieres & festival showings, SHTTL is slated to open in US Theaters soon.

In this interview, Moshe answered my call to share:

• What made him want to be part of the movie SHTTL
• What he hopes audiences will come away with after watching the film
• Why he wanted to leave the Hasidic Community
• Working with Emmy Nominee Jackie Hoffman
• So much more

Connect with Moshe: Instagram

Moshe Lobel at the Rome Premiere of SHTTL

1. Who or what inspired you to become an actor, musician and producer? Music was my first love. My mother jokes that I came out of the womb playing the air-piano. I started teaching myself to play on tiny keyboards when I was a very young child - before my first memories. Later in childhood, I was trained as a cantor (classical singing).

Because of my Hasidic upbringing, I could not imagine being a professional actor (we weren’t allowed to watch films). But I often found opportunities to act. My neighbors and I would raid the Purim costume closet every Shabbat afternoon and perform improvised plays for the other kids.

At 11 years old, my friend and I wrote and produced a play - adapted from a Yiddish children’s book - and charged $10 for admission. About a dozen children actually showed up and paid full price!

2. You are currently starring in the new film SHTTL, which will be opening soon. SHTTL is a riveting French-Ukrainian production about a young man, during the 1941 invasion of Soviet Ukraine by Nazi Germany, who goes back to his Yiddish village, at the border of Poland, to take his love with him. What made you want to be part of this movie? When I was approached about the film, I was amazed that Ady, the director, had written the script long before knowing that I existed. Not only are there many similarities with my own life story, but many of the questions that Mendele grapples with are issues that I’d been dealing with. Of course there are also many differences, but it felt like everything in my personal and professional life so far had prepared me for this exact role. I would have been crazy not to do it.

Another important element was that Ady chose to focus on the life rather than death. All other Shoah films I’ve seen take place during or after the destruction. SHTTL takes a step back and shows us what was lost. It shows these people not just as victims, but as full, complicated human beings – with love, dreams, spirituality, doubts, even conflict.

3. What do you hope audiences come away with from watching this film? I want people to love these characters as much as we — all of us involved in creating this film — loved them. And then I want them to feel the heartbreak of this profound loss. And then I want them to remember that in every war, there are full, complicated lives that are lost. Not casualties, not statistics, not “collateral damage” - but individual people who love and are loved, who have dreams, spirituality, doubts and even inner conflict – just like Mendele and his friends.

4. What do you relate to most about your character Mendele? I remember reading the part where Mendele plays chess with Menakhem, the town “meshugene” (crazy person). I really related to that scene. I’ve always been attracted to the outcasts, those who have been abused and discarded by society. I tend to connect with those people on the subway, or the street, who might be deemed “crazy.”

Yes, they might live on another planet - but when they see me, and I see them, there’s a raw connection, a kind of mutual compassion and understanding that “normal” people are hesitant to offer. And sometimes, like Menakhem, they have something profound or prophetic to say.

5. What is one characteristic of his that you are glad you yourself do not possess? Mendele is unable to move forward. Even after escaping, he already talks about going back. He wants another life, but is unable to leave his previous life behind. If we’re to psychoanalyze him, we could say that returning home to retrieve Yuna, his love, is actually his way of trying to take the shtetl with him to Kyiv.

I’m not the same. I feel that I’ve lived many lives before getting to where I am today. And I wouldn’t be able to get here if I was stuck in the past. That’s not to say I’ve disconnected completely. I still hold onto some things, but there’s an understanding that in order to live the life I want, I needed to walk away from some things, places, and people.

6. SHTTL was filmed the summer before the start of the Ukrainian/Russian war. Once the war broke out, how did the movie take on a new meaning for you, if at all? I started working with my Ukrainian language coach in February of 2021, a few months before filming. One of my lines was “Але війна наближається” – “But war is coming.” I explained to my coach that for most of the dialogue I have a personal reference point. But I have no idea what it’s like to live in wartime. He told me, “well, war is already here.” Russia’s war on Ukraine had already been going on in the east since 2014. Some of his friends were on the front lines, and many people I met in Kyiv had participated in the Maidan Revolution...

In the following months, during pre-production for SHTTL, Putin sent over 70,000 troops to the border with Ukraine. There was a moment when we weren’t sure if we’d be able to film at all. Ultimately, tensions quieted a bit, and we were able to film… but we all know what happened 6 months later.

Many members of the cast and crew have been involved with the war since 2022 - whether on the front lines, logistics, or documentary filmmaking. One actor came to the Kyiv premiere in fatigues. So, watching the scene where I say “war is coming” feels like a prophecy – both from 1941 and from 2021.

Moshe Lobel in a scene from SHTTL

7. For the film the producers built a detailed replica of an Eastern European shtetl village (circa 1941) in which they shot the film. What was it like to inhabit this world? We’re so used to having to stretch our imaginations, in both theater and film. So, getting to actually be on location and immerse myself completely in that environment was such a treat. Every morning, I would leave my phone at the hotel in Kyiv, and be driven about an hour away to a remote area in the woods.

All day, I could really feel like I was living in the shtetl. During filming, I had so much rich detail to play with, both from the incredibly detailed production design and, of course, the wealth provided by nature. During breaks, I could go down to the bridge, and read my old Yiddish books, or write in my character journal (also in Yiddish). Extras were just hanging out, lounging in homemade hammocks, dressed in full period costume.

The set was supposed to be turned into a museum, but due to Russia’s invasion, the place has been abandoned. I’m still hoping something will come of it some day.

8. On the flip side of things, you completed a comedy series with Emmy Nominated actress Jackie Hoffman.

•  What can you tell us about this series - what it is about, where can we watch it, etc? Untold Genius exists in the form of a (fictional) documentary series made by an insane documentarian, Art Fisher. It starts off pretty silly, but things start to go haywire as Art goes to increasingly desperate and destructive lengths to find (or create) great tragic stories. I made the series with my friend, Etai Shuchatowitz, who’s an amazing writer and my longtime collaborator. It was a really fun and incredibly difficult and long process. But it’s done, and I’m very proud of this absolutely ridiculous piece of comedy. You can find all 10 (!!!) episodes on YouTube.
• What have you learned from working with comedy genius, Jackie Hoffman? I got to know Jackie when we worked together at Yiddish Fiddler. I’m so glad that she said yes to this role, even though she probably regrets it! It was really fun to work with her. But we ended up with a challenge in post-production, as she was playing the role with a bit of irony - completely opposite of the sincere, hippy character we had imagined in the writing. We ended up recontextualizing her entire character in the editing and narration process. I won’t spoil it, but in my opinion, it’s one of the funniest parts of the show. It was a great lesson in being open to collaboration, letting people give you what they do best, rather than trying to control everything. You might end up being pleasantly surprised.

Moshe Lobel, Photo Credit: Mod Schwalbe

9. One interesting fact I learned about you is that you grew up Hasidic (in Borough Park Brooklyn where I lived with my boyfriend during quarantine), but around the age of 12 you started to break away from your community. What made you want to leave the community? It’s a long, complicated story that involves an ugly, protracted divorce and difficult family dynamics. But it was clear to me that I couldn’t continue attending my school, Satmar, which was the most extremist school in Borough Park. The religious teachers were abusive, physically and emotionally; there were harsh rules covering both school and home life (and Soviet-like enforcement tactics); secular studies were almost completely disregarded; and I felt very out of place, socially, religiously, philosophically. I needed to make a change.

One morning, at 12 years old, I just refused to go to school. My father wanted me to go back, and even got a court order to enforce it, but I refused. My mother almost got arrested for child neglect because of this, but I just couldn’t go back. Eventually, after months out of school (which is when I started watching tons of movies and TV), and being disowned by my father, I finally found another, more open minded chasidic school that took me in. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

10. Did you go in search of a new community? If so, what did you look for in this new community that the Hasidic community did not provide for you? In childhood, “community” is mostly defined by schooling. In that regard, I did try to find places that would provide relief from abuse and trauma, a better education, a bit of personal freedom, and a healthy social environment. I couldn’t achieve this overnight. It was a gradual progression. I changed schools every few years, and eventually made my way to college - something unimaginable for a Satmar boy.

Unfortunately, because of my lapses in education, I was not well prepared for certain college requirements, and ended up leaving after two years. I still don’t have a bachelor’s degree, but I have a starring role in an international feature. I guess that’s good enough.

Moshe Lobel as a child in chasidic school
Photo courtesy of Moshe Lobel

11. Did you receive any resistance from your family for wanting to leave? My father didn’t want me to change, and when I wanted to interview for a more “liberal” (still ultra orthodox) school, he gave me an ultimatum. I chose to go, and he disowned me. He tried to take it back later – and that school didn’t even take me in (I looked “too religious” for them) –  but the damage was done.

I didn’t want a relationship with my father, no matter how much the courts tried to force one. We were also ostracized by most of my mother’s and father’s family. So, I haven’t really had grandparents or much of an extended family (with a few wonderful exceptions) since then.

12. If so, how did you find the strength/courage to leave?  People tell me I’m brave. But often bravery is just about not having any other choice. Once my father gave me that ultimatum, the choice was very clear. I could run towards personal freedom, or I could remain stuck in an abusive and stifling relationship. I didn’t have to be brave. It doesn’t take courage to run from a fire.

13. Do you have any contact with your family at this point in your life? If not, what do you miss most about them and have you found a chosen family?  I’m lucky to have a great relationship with my mother and three siblings, who’ve all left the community. We’ve been through a lot together. I’m also in touch with a few relatives in my extended family - some who are still in the community, some who are not, and then some other more distant relatives we’ve sought out over the years. That should be more than enough, but if I ever need more, there’s always the entire global theatre and arts community, which feels a bit like one big extended family.

14. For other Hasidim who are thinking of leaving, what advice would you give them? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Every situation is unique and complex, and what works for one person may not be the best solution for another. But I’ll say this: let your imagination run wild.

Someone once asked me, “How do you exist?” After a moment of thought, I had a striking realization: “I dreamed myself up and then came true.”

Moshe Lobel, Photo Credit: Mod Schwalbe

More on Moshe Lobel:

A native Yiddish speaker from Chasidic Brooklyn, Moshe Lobel debuted on the New York stage as the lead in New Yiddish Rep's Awake and Sing. In 2018, he joined the cast of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, directed by Oscar and Tony Award-winner Joel Grey. The show won the Drama Desk award for best revival.

Most recently, Moshe played the starting role in SHTTL, a one-shot drama filmed in Ukraine. He has also appeared on HBO's High Maintenance, Blumhouse's The Vigil, and worked on Netflix's Unorthodox.

As a filmmaker, he co-created Untold Genius, an original comedy series featuring Emmy-nominated Jackie Hoffman and Stephen Tobolowsky, as well as Leibniz's Law, a sci-fi drama.