Laurie will have to get used to some major changes if she wants to make it through her conversion to Orthodox Judaism for husband Eli. In a PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Sunday’s all-new episode of the TLC show, Laurie and Eli prepare for Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, as she admits the extent of their preparations seem “insane” to her still.
At the start of the preview, Eli shows Laurie how to use tape on the switch inside of their refrigerator to keep the light from going on and off as the door opens. “Learning about Shabbat for the first time, I was like, ‘What the f-k? No, I would never do that. This is weird,’” she confesses. “Opening the fridge, you have to tape the light and like, you know, shut it off.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Eli explains, “You can use lights and stuff – you leave them on, put them on a timer – but after Shabbat starts, you can’t turn anything on or off because it’s going to change its form.” He continues of the tradition, “So you’re essentially creating something on Saturday, and technically that’s doing work, so it’s forbidden.”
Laurie’s suggestion that she now moves on to the pre-ripping of toilet paper impresses Eli, who offers to show Laurie “the trick” to rip the toilet paper without going square by square, but she insists she can handle the task solo. Privately, however, Laurie admits that all of these preparations still seem a bit much to her. “You can’t even rip your toilet paper because that’s considered working,” she says to the camera. “I don’t even know how to express it. It’s insane to me.”
It’s an important step to Eli though. “If you forget to tear the toilet paper, you better have a bidet because yeah, you don’t want to walk around with f-king mudbutt all day, bro,” he jokes to a producer who inquires.
Shabbat is “not only restrictions,” Eli clarifies. “It’s a day of reflection,” he says. “It’s a day of prayers to connect to God and also connect with your family. And for married couples, it’s actually a good deed to make love to your wife on Friday night – of course, if she wants to.”
Forbidden Love airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
