HaMidrasha

As far as Israeli shows not named Fauda, this one is pretty good. However, this show about the world's most daring spy organization is essentially a soap opera more so than anything resembling an action show. An enjoyable show if you look past the sheer improbability of many, many details

In the first season of this Israeli drama we see a group of recruits being put through their paces as they vie to join the Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence Agency. They must pass a succession of tests; any failure, for whatever reason, will lead to that trainee being immediately dropped. The recruits are a mixed group; one is an expert on reading people's body language; two American brothers; and another is hoping that by joining she will learn how her husband died while on a Mossad operation overseas; the rest are similarly varied. The course is led by Yona Harari; an experienced agent who doesn't appear to be too bothered by rules; unlike his ex-wife who is the Psychologist monitoring the course.

The second season sees Yona with another group of trainees; officially they are taking part in a training exercise on Kiev, in reality Yona is running an unofficial operation that will see them dealing with a group of Israeli criminals and facing ISIS terrorists who would like nothing more than killing a group of Israelis; especially Mossad agents.

If you are looking for something gritty like 'Fauda' you may be disappointed. This does have its thrilling moments but there isn't the consistent level of extremely high tension... and deliberately so. There are comic moments; some action, even deaths of main characters; and quite a lot of character led drama; notably between Yona and ex-wife Avigail. The two seasons have a very different feel; the first is all about their training programme and seeing who will get eliminated while the second is about one specific mission. In both questions are raised about the motives of characters who should be trusted. The characters are a good mix and the way they are introduced means that by the time dangers arise we care about what happens to them. The cast is solid making the characters believable even in some of the more unlikely situations. I don't imagine many viewers will believe this gives a realistic insight into the Mossad; it clearly doesn't intend to be; it is a lot of fun though. Overall I'd recommend this viewers looking for a somewhat lighter spy series; if we get a third season I'd continue to watch.

These comments are based on watching the series in Hebrew with English subtitles.

I do not know why the rating is so low for this series. Overall it is very easy to get lost in and very entertaining. Maybe it is because you have to follow along with the subtitles for the most part or maybe it is because some people do not get the combination of grittiness and dark humor. Either way, if you are a fan of intrigue you should not sleep on this one-it is very good.

From time to time, I try to widen my horizons apart from UK and Scandinavian crime/thriller series, and have come across several good Israeli ones as well... The Season 1 of HaMidrasha, began to my liking, but then I realised that the trainees are not sent to their separate real assignments and I even thought of breaking off (very unusual for me); but then, the relationships and parallel stories became interesting, and the final episode became a nicely creamy mess, paving the way for Season 2 which was more versatile and interesting... Well, I am unable to judge the credibility of the events and relations, but as Mossad is of the most efficient secret services in the world, it may well so that the principle "The end justifies the means" is used very often.

The role and depiction of characters, however, is rather uneven, and many members of course are not so memorable. To me, the most interesting were Yehuda Levi as Yonna, Hana Laszlo as Doris Levi, Tzachi Halevy as Liron Hariri - apart from distinct performances, the viewers obtain a picture of their past as well, and they tend to offer most twists in the plot.

All in all, I liked it - Season 2 a bit more than 1 - almost equal to Bnei aruba and Fauda.

I started watching this after watching other Israeli shows such as Fauda and Tehran. Upon watching the first season, I did find it a little corny and humorous, but still enjoyed it non the less. The second season, as someone else also mentioned is totally different, and in turn the entire ambience, style of writing, realism is totally different. It's much more realistic, gritty and mature. It's really important that you watch the first season in order to understand the characters of season 2, but when you do get to season 2, you'll be very glad that you persisted through the lesser superior season 1.