| Native Name: | החיים הם תקופה קשה |
| Genre: | Comedy drama |
| Country: | Israel |
| Language: | Hebrew |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 4 |
| Network: | Keshet 12 |
| Last Aired: | present |
Life is a Tough Period is an Israeli comedy-drama series based on a book of the same name by Hanoch Daum, who created and wrote the series together with Omri Amit and Adar Mirom. The series focuses on Daum's life and his family in the settlement of Avindav and the complexities he faces. The series has been airing since September 23, 2024 on Keshet 12.[1]
The series follows the life of Hanoch Daum, who lives with his wife Efrat and their three children in the settlement of Avindav, located in the Gush Etzion area. The series deals with situations from Hanoch's life where he grapples with the complexities between religious and secular, right and left, being a settler and a media personality and stand-up comedian.[2]
In July 2020, Hanoch Daum's autobiographical book "Life is a Tough Period" was published, achieving success with about 100,000 copies sold. On February 23, 2022, it was announced that following the book's success, Daum decided to develop a series based on the book, together with Omri Amit and Adar Mirom, produced by "Coda Communications".[4]
On August 28, 2023, it was announced that Alma Zack was cast as Daum's wife and Neta Roth as his daughter Talia.[5] In September 2023, it was announced that Oshrit Sarusy would play Daum's wife's cousin and Omer Etzion would play her husband. Later, it was announced that Tzachi Grad was cast as Daum's father, and Gal Shalhav Ahronovich and Nevo Elmaliah were cast as his sons, and Angel Bonanni as the commander of the settlement's emergency response team. Additionally, it was announced that Shai Avivi would play the settlement's rabbi and Hanoch's neighbor.[6] On January 17, 2024, it was announced that Amir Daddon would replace Angel Bonanni in the role of the emergency response team commander.
Filming of the series began in late September 2023 but was halted following the October 7 attack. Later, filming resumed and the series was fully shot.