Frieda Vizel - Hasidic Brooklyn and Beyond – Details, episodes & analysis

*Note: the play discussed here contains violence*

For the video version of this interview see here.

In this long-form interview, I talk to theater director Igor Goylak about a powerful production titled 'Our Class'. It's a play that tackles timely themes of the human capacity for evil, antisemitism, and the long arc of history. I saw the play in Brooklyn and it's now playing in Manhattan. Igor is a fellow Fellow at the Mandel Institute Cultural Leadership Program Fall 2024 cohort.

**For tickets see the following websites:**
www.arlekinplayers.com
www.ourclassplay.com
www.igorgolyakstudio.com

For YouTube version see here: https://youtu.be/DQgG_Pzxazg

Baily is a character of a Hasidic woman who spends her summers in the bungalow colonies in upstate New York. In this episode, she shares the trials and tribulations of the experience. This segment is comedy, in the great tradition of the Catskills being a place for comedy. Leah Forster is a brilliant comedian who has spent years entertaining Hasidic women before she left the fold and pivoted to perform for a larger audience.

Check out my other videos on the Jewish Catskills and my earlier interview with Leah about her career.
https://youtu.be/Txi0xO-au7I?si=GI6FUWT-jXb4JcwY https://youtu.be/-PWFttncdZg?si=Z_7NNkbd9vvA7BvW https://youtu.be/1J6pNHymChE?si=R0zuBDc6o9xyLwOD

 👉 Please Find Leah Forster on the internet here:
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hellowhellowleah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leahforster/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leah.forster.10

For the video version, see here: https://youtu.be/ywWcEMPALlM

You might have heard that in Judaism, there are Hasidic sects. What do we mean by sects? What are the sects, and what’s the difference among them? In this segment, we’ll do a brief introduction to what Hasidic sects are. Please feel free to leave a comment with your questions!

The book referenced in this video is ‘Hasidism, A New History’

A candid vlog with my thoughts on appropriate dress in Hasidic Williamsburg. Discussing tourist dress, the model Marisa Papen who walked through Williamsburg without any clothes, and my own choice to wear pants as an ex-Satmar woman.

Video version: https://youtu.be/bE4mSWJzk3I

Youtube video link: https://youtu.be/2BmWbcCMW3M?si=B3yDwGD7exBuY4fc

In many of my videos, I've explored how Hasidic Jews live in the 21st century.
*But what happens to those for whom this way of life doesn't work?*

Some, like myself, leave. But not everyone who has doubts or different beliefs leaves. Some stay. And in this interview, I explore the stories of what we'll call here "the double lifers". The people who stay, despite rejecting the Orthodox Jewish core theological tenets.

Why do they stay? What's it like to live a double life? What are the moral quandaries of leaving or living a double life? Is it moral to have an affair after an arranged marriage? My wonderful guest delves into so many fascinating topics.

Ayala Fader is Professor of Anthropology at Fordham University. She is the author of the book 'Hidden Heretics, Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age', which tells the stories of a group of hidden heretics, how they lost faith and how they navigated life in the community in their new ways of understanding the world. The book also explores the impact of the internet on Hasidic Judaism, a topic which as the viewers of this channel will know, has fascinated me greatly and been the subject of several of my videos, including my major documentary on how an insular society deals with the internet Ayala also wrote the award-winning book Mitzvah Girls Bringing Up the Next Generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn.

You can get Ayala Fader's books here.

Video link: https://youtu.be/TkUS0jzJci4?si=QJJ8X5PKB_KKFNrq

This is a conversation with Dr. Howard Rosman, the longtime pediatrician serving the Williamsburg Hasidic community. When I first heard about him from his granddaughter, I spoke to some people in the community to ask them what they knew of him, and it was soon clear that he was a beloved icon in this community.

My aim in this interview was to learn how this very devout community approaches modern medicine. Do they vaccinate? Do they take all medicine - what about kosher concerns? What about genetics? There was so much to talk about. The only reason the interview wasn't longer was because we had enormous technical issues which despite my best ability, we could not solve, and Dr. Rosman had a really muffled audio reception.

I want to clarify that my aim in this interview is not to debate approaches to health and medicine. While I understand that there are now very contentious and heartfelt views on the topic, and I believe the debate is legitimate, this is not the place for that debate. My goal here was simply to hear the insights from a community doctor about the population he served. I would appreciate it if you could consider this when you leave a comment.

Video link: https://youtu.be/LpW30oZh9rY?si=Z0XV7PGhEhVpOCJD

This is a personal essay I wrote many years ago, shortly after leaving the Hasidic community. It's about my experience during the Get ceremony. A Get is a religious divorce and the ceremony involves several ancient traditions.

A little while ago, when I first tried my first live reading for the camera, I experimented by reading 'The Get'. I had not read it for many years and it was a surprisingly raw experience to go back and revisit it.

Did you know that the large Satmar Hasidic group, and the tiny Naturei Karta group, hold very different views about anti-zionism? Ideologically, the two agree up to a point. They both are anti-zionist until the Messiah comes, and both see Zionism as a secular movement. But Satmar is not the group that is seen on Iranian TV and running around with some pretty disturbing anti-semitic groups. In this segment, I go into the difference a little bit. For several reasons, including resource constraints, I have decided not to develop this segment into video. So for now I am only sharing it in podcast audio form.

Video version of this interview here. Comments are not enabled on podcasts so please leave comments on Youtube.

In this long-form interview, I talk to Eli Benedict about his life story. Eli grew up in the Hasidic community in Bnei Brak, Israel, and later left the fold. He remains deeply engaged with the Hasidic community and has a tremendous passion for Yiddish language, literature, old books and community. He is the CEO of YungYiddish and he runs the channel for the @LeagueforYiddish .

I have brought Eli to you on my channel before. Most notably, when he showed me around his hometown of Bnei Brak, just a few days before the horrific October 7 attack. That video is my only content from outside of New York City (for now!) I also shared some shorter videos with Eli, and one longer interview we did after the October 7 attack.

I went into this interview knowing that Eli has warm, complicated feelings for his community and that he was willing to speak candidly and honestly about the world he comes from. I did not know what Eli would share and it was quite a difficult interview to have and process. I thank Eli for sharing and hope you will all listen to his story with open minds.

Eli's story is another story that presents a perspective on the Hasidic education issue. My interviews on the subject create a mosaic with many different narratives. Hopefully, watching them all provides a more complicated, nuanced, and meaningful overview of the situation than one may find when reading the news.

Here are some more of my videos on #hasidiceducation

A trip down memory lane: my own Hasidic education || https://youtu.be/ZRhOovJLcBY
Gerry Albarelli, who taught English to Hasidic boys || https://youtu.be/lR7UL9b_xNU
Eli Spitzer, a Hasidic boys' school headmaster || https://youtu.be/li3y_lwwIyw
Moshe Krakowski, who studied Hasidic boys education || https://youtu.be/IjVyVP7KA8s
Pearl, a Hasidic mother who educated her son's in this system || https://youtu.be/V05SsdMGqkg?t=697
Izzy Posen, former student || https://youtu.be/SeZL920Eae8?si=-VCli1etsg4MJVtD

All my longform content is also available in podcast version.

What are the rules of expectation for Satmar Hasidic girls?

In my most recent documentary on Hasidim and the internet, I showed a few pages of the Satmar Girl's school rulebook. This is the rulebook that contains a great many rules that the school has for its students. Among them are rules on modesty, vacationing, technology, college education, and more. Some people asked to see more of it, so I am here sharing the second half.

Here is the video version of this segment: https://youtu.be/jcDFUDXa8jk