Forget the Hot Rabbi — I’m Here for His Mother

Editorial Note: Spoilers ahead for season three of “Nobody Wants This.”

Many viewers may tune in to season three of “Nobody Wants This” for the Hot Rabbi, but I’m here for his mother.

With her perfectly timed one-liners, disapproving looks and larger-than-life personality, Bina Roklov, played by Tovah Feldshuh, steals just about every scene. Sure, she’s an overbearing Jewish mother stereotype at times, but Feldshuh makes Bina so gloriously unapologetic that I find her, dare I say, aspirational.

Feldshuh’s career is remarkable. She originated the role of Yentl on Broadway in 1975, eight years before Barbra Streisand brought the character to the big screen. She also portrayed Golda Meir in “Golda’s Balcony” and played Jewish mothers in “Kissing Jessica Stein” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”

In “Nobody Wants This,” Bina is a Soviet Jewish immigrant with a thick Russian accent, married to Ilan (Paul Ben-Victor) and mother to Noah (Adam Brody) and Sasha (Timothy Simons). We know little about Bina’s immigration story, but Feldshuh gives her the weight of decades of Jewish experiences and family traditions.

To celebrate the show’s return, here are six of my favorite Bina moments from across all three seasons.

1. “A shiksa.” (Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot”)

Courtesy of Netflix

Sometimes an actress needs an entire episode to establish her character. Feldshuh needed two words.

When Joanne (Kristen Bell), Rabbi Noah’s new non-Jewish love interest, unexpectedly shows up at his synagogue, his sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn) asks who she is. Bina delivers her immediate assessment: “A shiksa.”

It’s not just what Feldshuh says, but how she says it. Somehow, she manages to convey an entire range of emotions, from shock and suspicion to maternal disapproval, all at once.

2. Bina’s Secret Prosciutto Snack (Season 1, Episode 9: “My Girl Bina”)

Courtesy of Netflix

Joanne arrives at Bina’s home with a fancy charcuterie board featuring prosciutto (which, as a rabbi, I had to Google: it’s dry-cured ham). Bina is horrified. Pork in her home?!

The entire platter is declared tainted and sentenced to the trash.

Then Joanne catches Bina secretly eating the very prosciutto she condemned. Suddenly, Joanne has the upper hand over the woman who’s made no secret of disliking her.

But by the end of the episode, Bina smiles and tells Joanne, “To be honest, I like you so much more than I thought I would.” Then, without missing a beat, she whispers, “But you’re never gonna end up with my son.”

And just like that, Bina gets the last word.

3. Bina’s Basketball-Game Entrance (Season 2, Episode 2: “Leave It at the Tree”)

Courtesy of Netflix

If there were an award for the most iconic entrance in season two, Feldshuh would win it.

Bina shows up at Noah and Sasha’s “Matzah Ballers” basketball game (love the team name!) with dramatic sunglasses, a popped collar and a walk that turns every head. All of this is set to Fergie’s “London Bridge.”

Noah and Sasha’s reactions make the scene even better: two grown men who seem genuinely terrified by their mother’s mere presence. Bina doesn’t even need to say a word to command the entire court.

4. Bina’s Hamotzi (Season 2, Episode 3: “The Unethical Therapist”)

Courtesy of Netflix

At a Shabbat dinner in the Roklov home, Bina is in her element. Dressed in a bold outfit, with every hair in place, she leads the Hamotzi blessing with gusto, her voice rising above everyone else’s. Her sing-song rendition gives me major Hebrew school vibes.

She’s the first to wish everyone “Good Shabbos,” tearing off pieces of challah to pass around. She even directs Joanne to her proper seat and reminds her that phones aren’t allowed at the table.

The scene captures Bina in all her glory: the undisputed Jewish matriarch. Feldshuh makes this feel like second nature. It’s fitting that she grew up in Scarsdale, New York, where Friday night Shabbat dinners were a fixture of her family life.

5. Bina’s Rebbetzin Makeover (Season 3, Episode 2: “Daddy’s Home”)

Courtesy of Netflix

Worried about being seen as a liability to Noah’s career, Joanne knows exactly who to turn to for help: Bina.

When Joanne arrives at Bina’s stately home, we get a rare glimpse of the queen before she’s fully dressed for the part. She’s putting on her own makeup, wearing a champagne-colored satin blouse, with her usual elaborate brooches nowhere in sight.

Joanne asks for her help, and Bina turns toward her as though she’s just been handed the assignment of a lifetime.

She boldly declares, “Let me make you into a rebbetzin.”

It’s the twinkle in Bina’s eye as she delivers that final word that makes the moment. She’s practically kvelling at the prospect of taking Joanne under her wing.

6. Bina’s Hamster Guilt Trip (Season 3, Episode 8: “One in a Million”)

Courtesy of Netflix

Standing near the family’s backyard basketball court, Bina reminisces about Noah’s childhood hamster, who naturally had a Hebrew name. As someone who grew up giving my guinea pigs Hebrew names and now has three very Jewish ones of my own, I particularly appreciated this detail.

Apparently, the hamster went everywhere with young Noah. When he died, Bina buried him nearby so he could always watch Noah play. It’s a surprisingly sweet story, until you realize Bina is using it to tug at Noah’s heartstrings and get him on her side.

Leave it to Bina to weaponize the memory of a childhood hamster.

By now, one thing is clear: We need more Bina.

There are so many questions I’d love answered about Bina herself. How did she and Ilan meet? What was their life like before coming to America? And how did they raise two sons who turned out so differently?

Whatever happens next for “Nobody Wants This,” Feldshuh certainly doesn’t seem to be slowing down, and I hope Bina doesn’t either.

Forget another season. Give me a Bina spinoff.

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