‘Apprentice’: You’re Frum!

Staff Report

Whatever else you can say about Donald Trump, no one can accuse him of discrimination against Orthodox Jews.

Two of the18 contestants on his top-rated NBC reality show, “The Apprentice,” which debuted its fifth season Monday, are observant yeshiva graduates.

Daniel Brody, 33, a Teaneck, N.J., resident, is a graduate of the Hebrew Academy of Greater Miami and Yeshiva University, and studied for a year after high school at a yeshiva in Israel. Lee Bienstock, 22, was born in Brooklyn and graduated the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaways before earning a bachelor’s at Cornell.

The show follows candidates through a grueling, weeks-long competition for the chance to work in Trump’s empire. Each show culminates in the billionaire realtor assailing a hapless contestant with his trademark “You’re fired.”

Bienstock, the youngest of the candidates this season, was prominently featured on Monday’s episode, when he was called into the boardroom by his team leader, Tarek, as one of three people facing the ax.

Prior to the showdown, during a discussion with teammates about which candidate should be sacrificed, Bienstock indirectly references the Jewish principle of lashon hara, saying he’s uncomfortable speaking ill of people behind their backs. Later, when Trump assails the eventual loser, Summer, for interrupting him, Bienstock tries to calm things down by urging her to apologize. He is later less charitable in sparring over Tarek’s intelligence when the leader suggests Bienstock be fired.

Citing confidentiality agreements, Bienstock declined to comment about his appearance on the show.

Brody, who is married and the father of two, told The Jewish Week on Monday that while he chose not to wear a kipa on the show — “I didn’t want my Judaism to be a side show” — he did not hide his affiliation and discussed his observance with the show’s producers in order to avoid filming on Shabbat or holidays. “From day one, they were very understanding,” he said. “I always say, ‘Be who you are and if other people have a problem, they’ll adjust.’”

He added that his observance “absolutely comes into play” during the show, though he noted that he had not seen the edited version and did not know how it would be portrayed.

Source: The Jewish Week