The Frieda Vizel Podcast

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/jcz0xmkm10s

The Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel’s early days in the 1970s and 80s were anything but quiet. They were marked by infighting, lawsuits, dissidents, and a legal battle so consequential it’s still taught in American law schools today.

In this interview, I speak with lawyer Michael Sussman, the man who came to represent some of Kiryas Joel’s most outspoken internal critics during its formative years. Though he was neither Hasidic nor Orthodox, Sussman became deeply entangled in the village’s internal struggles—so much so...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/koTlTNYXoxI

This video is the extended sit-down conversation from my visit with the Bukharyan Jewish community in Forest Hills, Queens. In this segment, Abe Fuzaylov and his mother-in-law Mazal slow things down and tell their stories—about family, memory, food, and what it means to carry a Central Asian Jewish heritage into New York.

Bukharyan Jews once lived for centuries in relative isolation in Central Asia. Today, very few remain there, but the culture is alive and evolving in new places. New York is one of them.
In...

Video version here:
https://youtu.be/1j7yKcjT4K8

Follow Avrum's wonderful podcast here:
https://www.youtube.com/@avrumrosensweigshow

Follow Frieda on Youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/friedavizelbrooklyn

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Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/bY7w9icDKgU

Leah Forster is, as they say in the Hasidic community, “one in a million.” She’s funny, she sings, she’s creative, and she’s been on a spiritual journey for years. She’s an out lesbian woman from the Hasidic community who is now in no box, under no one’s label. She has one daughter. Over the last year, her daughter has been battling a terrible tumor.

Leah agreed to sit down with me to talk about her experience. In true Leah fashion, the conversati...

video link: https://youtube.com/live/OjxrGU4Ajbc

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Video link: https://youtube.com/live/8IEgx00P7OE

A livestream about the NYT op doc about the Wedding Night for Orthodox Jewish couples. Watch the opdoc here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/opinion/ultra-orthodox-jewish-wedding-night.html

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Link to video of this interview: https://youtu.be/qMKonpTHj24

A candid discussion about Orthodox Judaism and its views on abortion, infertility and loss of unborn life.

This discussion is Part 2 of a two-part interview. WATCH PART 1 HERE: https://youtu.be/jjk5K5Rp6e4

In this episode, we explore reproductive halacha: Jewish legal thought on abortion, infertility, contraception, gender identity, sexual norms, and the wider landscape of ethical questions around them. The aim is a thoughtful, free-flowing conversation that makes room for nuance, real history, and lived experience. Rabbi Katz grew up in...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/jjk5K5Rp6e4

A conversation on Orthodox Judaism and reproductive laws

Today I’m sitting down once again with Rabbi Ysoscher Katz, a guest many of you have asked to hear more from. Our earlier conversation about the Satmar Rebbe sparked such strong reactions that people stopped me on the street to talk about it. It became a real conversation starter — and this new interview opens the door to another set of complex, meaningful topics.

This discussion is Part 1 of a two-part interview. Part 2 is now...

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/1y8ejrX4Jos

In this episode, I talk with Miriam Udel, who teaches Yiddish language, literature, and culture at Emory University. Miriam has done something quite wonderful—she’s brought to life a wide range of Yiddish children’s stories, translating them into English and making them accessible again. These stories, written before and after the Holocaust, capture the worlds Jews once imagined for their children—worlds that were playful, moral, rebellious, sometimes heartbreakingly earnest.

We talk about how children’s literature works as a cultural time capsule: how it ref...

Today's episode is a repost of my most personal video as I take a bit of time to recover from the months of my mother's illness.

Link to video version of this post: https://youtu.be/GvLO9Vhid44?si=MdFJVuZnUvXPcudP

I was 25 when my husband divorced me. I was so attached to him, yet so firm in my belief that it was also time to let him go. After he left our marital home, he asked me to quickly proceed with the get. A get is a religious divorce; a ceremony with many rituals.

...

Video version: https://youtu.be/1Vzxhb9kFOk

Riki Rose grew up in the Hasidic community of Williamsburg, and in this video, she comes back for a visit. It’s a return that’s equal parts stressful, triggering, exciting, heartwarming, funny, joyous—and yes, delicious. We eat, we laugh, we talk honestly about what it means to come back after leaving, and we even ask the awkward questions (like: are we okay walking these streets in pants?).

It’s a wide-ranging, soulful, and playful conversation with the brilliant singer Riki Rose.

Follow Riki Rose:
YouTube...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/IfWm5mlQRwg

When Jewish worshippers were attacked in the UK during Yom Kippur, it struck a nerve far beyond the synagogue walls. In this wide-ranging conversation, Izzy Posen and I explore the roots and realities of antisemitism in Britain today.

Is immigration really to blame? How does Zionism complicate public attitudes toward Jews? And how has British antisemitism evolved—from old Christian tropes to new political ones?
We also get deeply personal.

Izzy, now two months away from his wedding, reflects on his own transformation—from...

Video link to this segment: https://youtu.be/87TYqw7aKbI

Step into a world where sleight of hand meets Hasidic life. In this episode, I sit down with Dovy, a young magician from the Bobov community who has built a career performing in gender-segregated, kosher spaces. Our conversation opens a window into how Hasidic youth, without traditional pathways like college or conventional careers, find creative ways to carve out livelihoods within their own community.

With Dovy, the story goes even deeper: is magic considered kosher entertainment—or dangerously close to the “dark arts”? What happen...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/IdA3uHWGEtg

In today’s video, I’m honored to share with you the remarkable story of Nelly Grussgott. This footage was originally filmed on August 12, 2020—long before I had a YouTube channel. It was part of a project by filmmaker Pearl Gluck, conducted for a documentary she was making with scholar Naomi Seidman about the Bais Yaakov girls' school movement. Naomi invited me to assist with the interview, and I was there in the room when it was recorded.

From the moment I met Nelly, I was comple...

Link to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/QWLnKjrpcuA

Join me for a fascinating conversation with documentary filmmaker Paula Eiselt, the Emmy-nominated, Peabody- and DuPont-Columbia award-winning director behind 93 Queen, Aftershock, and Under God.

In this interview, we dive into her groundbreaking film 93 Queen, which tells the story of Hasidic women in Boro Park who founded their own all-female EMS service. In a community where Hatzalah, the all-male emergency response team, is seen as the crown jewel, this move sparked intense debate and resistance. Paula’s film goes far beyond the surface narrative of women br...

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/WSYIhDbY0VY

In this conversation, I speak with Rabbi Mayer Schiller, a Hasidic Jew based in Monsey, New York, known for his deep knowledge of the Hasidic community and his rare combination of freethinking, humanist, and unflinchingly critical views. We touched on big themes like Zionism, sectarian divides, and other hot-button topics.

Outro Music selected by Rabbi Schiller Agudah Achas (feat. Yoel Blum)
https://youtu.be/u6TuUxzx8ek?si=GKkJDKlpgD1t5cWo
It's the verse ״ויעשו כולם אגודה אחת לעשות רצונך בלבב שלם from the High Holiday prayers. It's translated as "And they all formed one union to do your wil...

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/OhEuezMqyaE

In this video, I sit down with Mattel, a young YouTuber from the Hasidic community whose passion for languages is truly inspiring. Mattel creates content in many lesser-known tongues, especially Jewish languages, with a unique focus on Hasidic Yiddish. She travels the world on her own, learns constantly, and generously shares that journey with her audience. On her channel, she has opened up with deep honesty—including a moving video in Yiddish about her brother’s suicide that touched me profoundly. Her work and her journey are only just begi...

Link to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/Uj5wHch-kx4

MOVIES WE DISCUSS IN THIS VIDEO:
Yentl – https://amzn.to/3HmMZPQ
Fiddler on the Roof – https://amzn.to/4lhQbKo
Walk of Shame – https://amzn.to/3UPS0n4
Hester Street – https://amzn.to/3JdvMJ7
Crossing Delancey – https://amzn.to/4mzRvcA
Sophie’s Choice – https://amzn.to/3JdvRfT
Avalon – https://amzn.to/3HmNpFU
A Serious Man – https://amzn.to/4fto21L
Holy Rollers – https://amzn.to/45nuSRF

Join me for a lively, insightful conversation with David Akerman from the channel  ...

Video link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/1zQ1rSDUUVE

A Balcony in Kazimierz: A Candid Conversation on Jews, Poland, and Post-Holocaust Memory
In this deeply personal and thought-provoking episode, I sit with Naomi Seidman on the balcony of our apartment rental in Kazimierz—the historic Jewish district of Kraków, Poland—for an unscripted conversation about Jewish memory, return, and identity.

Together, we reflect on what it means for Jews to come back to Poland after the Holocaust. Are we tourists or pilgrims? Survivors by inheritance or outsiders looking in? How do we process the t...

Video link: https://youtu.be/5JUhkH71qUc


How Hasidic Women Dress: A Conversation with Pearl from Williamsburg
What does modest clothing mean in the Hasidic world—and how is it taught from such a young age?
In this video, I sit down with Pearl, a Hasidic woman from Williamsburg who has been dressing in this tradition for over 70 years. We talk about how Hasidic girls begin learning the rules of modesty at age 3, what kinds of clothing are considered appropriate, and how fashion trends are received within the community.
We also discuss:
– The diff...

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/aAHE9YNnxf8

What was it like to grow up in 1960s Boro Park as the daughter of survivors—and as a girl who wanted to run? In this candid and unfiltered conversation, scholar Naomi Seidman opens up about her Orthodox Jewish upbringing, her discomfort with the gender roles she was expected to fulfill, and her deep desire to escape. We talk about her path to becoming a PhD, how her parents responded, and the haunting legacy of her father’s own doctorate from the University of Warsaw—earned just as war wa...

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/UZTQRkr-rIs

Long before social media became what it is today, the internet met Rebbetzin Rivka Leah Zelwig—a charmingly extreme ultra-Orthodox rebbetzin who covered her mouth when she laughed and dispensed earnest advice with impeccable comedic timing. But who was behind this early viral sensation?

In this deeply personal interview, I sit down with Danielle Jacobs, the brilliant performer behind the character, for a conversation that moved me to tears more than once. Danielle opens up about her traumatic and unstable childhood in a home steeped in religious ex...

Link to video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/IRTvj1_4_14

In this interview, Naftuli Moster reflects on his years as the face of a controversial campaign to reform secular education in Hasidic boys’ yeshivas. As the founder of YAFFED (Young Advocates for Fair Education), Moster positioned himself as a critic of the yeshiva system in which he was raised, arguing that Hasidic schools fail to meet basic educational standards required by state law.

Over the years, he became a polarizing figure — praised by some for challenging religious insularity, and criticized by others as antagonistic to the...

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/XYPuTNOry3U

When I was Hasidic, dieting and brisk walking were part of life—but the gym? Muscle-building? Weight training? That was unheard of. Today, a new movement is emerging from within the Hasidic world: a growing culture of strength training, gym routines, and fitness—all adapted to fit the unique rhythms and values of Hasidic life.

In this interview, I talk with Shmilly Feldman (@chasidish_lifter), a young and energetic Hasidic man at the forefront of this trend. We explore how Hasidic workout culture is evolving—with its ow...

Video version of this posting: https://youtu.be/uHu_17N9GdE

I grew up in a very special place: the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel. It was beautiful and painful all at once. I don't always talk about my own experience in this channel, because I was always careful not to make this channel about me per se but about a larger anthropological project. But today I'm taking a bit of a detour to a personal narrative by reading to you an essay I wrote about what it's like to grow up in Kiryas Joel. I hope you...

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/NXpO0THnx3g

A woman who believes that Jews are prohibited by the Torah to fight, to have an army and nation, shares her theology.

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Since I did my first video with Pearl nearly three years ago, my friendship with her has deepened and become richer. Still, we have always had deep ideological differences. I am no longer Hasidic and I reject some of the beliefs of my upbringing. Pearl is a deeply believing Hasidic woman who not only lives a joyous life in the...

Video format of this interview: https://youtu.be/lzVUnyxpcEE

The most beautiful media content created about the Hasidic community is, arguably, the Israeli hit TV show Shtisel. It was co-created by Yehonatan Indursky, who grew up Haredi in Jerusalem, left the community, and is now in some sort of place of return. He calls it "living on the border," the most interesting place to be. You might have read about him in a profile in The New York Times. I was so glad he agreed to talk to me for this interview—he was charming, forthcoming, fun, and de...

Link to video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4

Martha Ross grew up Old Order Amish in Middlefield Ohio, left it, and now does YouTube videos about it on the channel  @AmishTransformed  . Please check out her fundraiser for her husband's much needed dental work here: https://gofund.me/d49b3276

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Link to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/MnFddZtaWdQ

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

This is the song to advertise the Tzohar organization, which I have referenced in the episode comparing the Netflix Unorthodox show to this song. Here is the video: https://youtu.be/78XBSSDdwjo?si=aXMAEQ4pOPnYhbwZ
I am sharing the music since it's essentially and ad and it will help create a fuller resource/reference to my commentary

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Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/78XBSSDdwjo

The stories we tell affect the ways we process events around us. How we make sense of things like someone's departure from a community. Every society has their own stories; their own mythologies, their own tropes.

In this video, I do an analysis of two different societies and their tropes, by comparing the Netflix show Unorthodox with the music video "Mein Kind, Eiku". Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Filmed by Ryan Scharfenberg / https://www.instagram.com/mmm_moire/

Edited by Lee...

Video link: https://youtu.be/28lP8j8swA0

Please support Rochel Yenty Bodek's wonderful work by donating: https://insightbeyondeyesight.org/donate Rochel Yenty Bodek is a Hasidic woman who lost her sight as a young woman due to a genetic condition. She has faced tremendous challenges as a wife and mother in the Hasidic community and has risen to the challenge with tremendous resilience. In this interview she talks with a lot of candor about the challenges and strengths of the Hasidic community and how she approaches her disability in this realm.

If you appreciate my...

Link to video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/hKN0_75EuqE

Anna Shternshis is a Professor of Yiddish studies and the director of the department of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto and the author of "Soviet and Kosher", "When Sonia Met Boris" and the forthcoming "Jews in the soviet union: post war life, hopes and fears". In this interview we talk about the fascinating history of the Jews of the Soviet Union, the oral histories Anna collected from Yiddish (and non-Yiddish) speakers born before 1929, and the Yiddish songs she recovered from during the holocaust.
<...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/pVfY5wZlPec

There's a whole emerging world of Hasidic theater, acted by men, and including a cast and stories of men only. This has been a tiny element of the Hasidic world for years - it definitely wasn't a viable career for anyone until recently. In recent years, the Hasidic theater scene has exploded. So much talent is coming to the fore. It was so much my pleasure to talk to Ari (Arye) Abromowitz, who is a veteran of this scene, who has been there from the beginning of this "...

Video version of this interview here: https://youtu.be/kMxyRkjljm8?si=hcjjD0_-izvquKxB

Today's interview is about psychedelics, Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, and one extraordinary woman's journey! Please join me for the interview with Bruchy Moskovics. Bruchy was raised in the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel. Her story is like no one's I've ever heard, and the way she tells it will take you to another world -- a world of faith, thoughtfulness, and living connected with something very alive within. Bruchy is now a child therapist and also does post-psychedelic integrative therapy, and her work often addresses a Yiddish-speaking...

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/ctuFi83643E


Antonia Lassar is a Jewish comedian who grew up with very little Judaism. She later became interested in various forms of religion, going on a seeker's journey for community with soulful musical connection. She loves singing and is a professional comedian. Our journeys couldn't be more different, yet we have so much in common in our appreciation of religious Judaism that doesn't always work for us. In our long form interview we talked about Antonia's background, about the Chabad sect, about the ritual of mikvah immersion, and...

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/blLciT0egb4

Jessica Roda just published the book "For Women and Girls Only" on Orthodox Jewish women's performances. You can find her book here: https://amzn.to/4jKRJgj

In this long form discussion we talk about what's happening in the scene of Orthodox Jewish women's performances. Because of modesty rules, women are not allowed to perform in front of men. So oftentimes their reach is limited. In Roda's work, she charts how women's perfomances has become a whole economy thanks to the internet and women's creative ways of...

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/HoTzWaF7dU8

So many stories about the Hasidic Jews of the village of Kiryas Joel come from people who have left it. Or, often it will come from village official PR people who tell a very rosy story. In this interview, we get an exclusive peak into an everyday woman walking an exceptional line; risking everything in her community to express her voice. Fradel's story is compelling, fascinating and yet to get very interesting as she finds her place in the world, negotiating faith and individualization in a very communal...

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/dlp7-4Aq1tM

Modi Rosenfeld is a brilliant and wonderful Jewish comedian whose work I've long been a huge fan of. He is able to talk to any audience, a skill that few have. It's incredible to me that his audience spans from the very secular to the very religious, including Hasidic Jews, which is part of his bit. In my latest interview I talk to Modi for a bit of a behind the scenes discussion about his amazing work. C

heck out Modi here on Youtube...

Video link: https://youtu.be/J1XGAMK4wng

Happy Chanukah! This Chanukah I want to share some of my childhood memories by reading to you an unpublished essay about my childhood memories of Chanukah in the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel. Wishing all who celebrate the holidays very happy holidays!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video version of this posting: https://youtu.be/Gk917OpgS_Q

It is the tradition that before a Hasidic young man gets married, he attends a private session with an older rabbi who guides him in matters of sex and intimacy. Since sex is not a topic openly discussed in this society as it is considered immodest, this one lesson is potentially the first time the young groom learns about sex and the opposite gender. That one lesson could be beautiful, painful, shocking, exhilarating, and so many other things.

Since I myself went through this on...

Video version here: https://youtu.be/AUdw8W71Gv8

*Sensitive content warning. This conversation contains adult themes.*

Peggy Greenfield is a certified relationship and intimacy coach who grew up in the Satmar Hasidic community of Williamsburg, and now serves this population. Peggy is not in the community herself anymore, which gives her a unique vantage point from which to tackle challenges of sex and imtimacy, topics that are difficult and complicated anywhere, but which pose a unique challenge in a community of so many rules restricting sex and the body. Peggy is outside of the community's...

Video link: https://youtu.be/Ovl9HbcTuUI

This is a discussion about the documentary 'City of Joel', with the filmmaker Jesse Sweet. It's a documentary about a turf war in the insular Hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel. Kiryas Joel is a Satmar village in Orange County New York, and it's where I lived for the first twenty-five years of my life. The documentary includes amazing footage of the village I grew up in, with shots of several very close male contacts. It was a fun experience to watch it and to discuss the film with the filmmaker.
<...

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/vbwZcttuNOQ

Miriam Anzovin is a Jewish content creator who does videos about the Talmud, Jewish lore reactions and even holiday themed makeup tutorials. She is a warm, funny and witty Jewish woman and I find a friend in her in the content creation journey. Join me for a discussion with the wonderful Miriam about her background, about her relationship to her orthodox mother, about her creative process, about trolls and the Talmud and so much more.

Follow Miriam on a bunch of platforms!
Youtube  @MiriamAnzovin 
Instagram: htt...

Video version of this interview here: https://youtu.be/5-RsTIrIbmo

Lea Kalisch has a dream to sing at the Superbowl, in Yiddish, with a shtreimel. She is a singer of many genres, but some of her Yiddish songs reflect a longing for a simple, religious world. "I am a shtetel Neshama (soul), a Jew from yesterday. I should have been a fruma, my hashtag is 'oyvey'." We hear so many stories of people from the religious community longing for the secular world, what does it mean to grow up secular and express a longing for the religious world...

Youtube video: https://youtu.be/aTkJpC3h7cg

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Join me for an interview with the Hasidic Yiddish influencer Raizy Fried. Please check out the youtube version of this video here:
https://youtu.be/oycLsS4ulyg

In my work documenting the Hasidic community, I've gone to great lengths to bring out of the shadows the story of women in this world and their voices. It has been incredibly difficult, as much of the female sphere is modesty and behind a curtain. Still, I've felt it's important to share this world with you all, as I feel that otherwise, the female experience is invisible, as if erased...

Link to video version of this conversation:
https://youtu.be/O-ov6vTAAqQ?si=uqY1x8Yt-8woN-TD

In this video I talk to Hasidic Jew Rabbi Mendel Hersh Paneth about the community's complicated relationship to animals. People's fear of dogs, the way that animals are slaughtered for kosher purposes and the ritual of kapores. Stay tuned for additional discussions with Rabbi MH Paneth. 


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*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<...

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...

Andrew Jacobs directed the beautiful documentary 'Four Seasons Lodge' about holocaust survivors who spent every summer in the Catskills in a bungalow colony, connecting and loving life. The documentary follows them during their last years, as they are in their 80s, navigating the end of their time together. They are full of laughter, love, humor, sorrow, and memories of the horrors they went through. When I talked to Jacobs about his work on the documentary, and then so many of the subjects passing away, he welled up as he talked about what the survivors went through and how despite all...

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/311WBTY7mrs

Tuvia Tenonbom is a character! He grew up in the Haredi enclave of Bnei Brak, which I've introduced you to in another video. He left the fold in his early twenties and became a bestselling author and journalist in Germany - with oft-hilarious, oft-controversial views. During covid, he was sent on an assignment to the insular Haredi enclaves of Israel, to the world of his childhood, to write about the experience. He was warned by many people that he'd be kicked out as soon as he arrived. But...

Video interview: https://youtu.be/2saQ0LEwZXQ

Gita Katz is a larger-than-life character. I got to know her through Pearl, the famous Hasidic woman whom I have had the honor of having on this program before. In this interview, she shares what it was like to grow up in Hasidic Williamsburg in the shadow of the Holocaust.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

For the video version of this segment, click here: https://youtu.be/jiE9cTn6Yi0

Riki Rose grew up in Hasidic Williamsburg, in a very conservative family. From when she was young, she had that star celebrity quality to her. But as a woman, her ability to fully express her talents was significantly limited by the religious laws on Kol Isha, which prohibits women from performing to male audiences. Still, Riki's life has been full of joys, good humor, and great moments to shine. In this long-form interview, I talk to Riki about her amazing life story. And...

Video version of this segment: https://youtu.be/tq8y3KkAWTk

As many of you know, my first language is Yiddish. It is the language of the Satmar Hasidic community I come from. The story of why I grew up speaking Yiddish, and not Hebrew, is intimately tied to the story of the birth of Israel, Zionism and Jewish language. And so, today I want to delve into the history of how two Jewish languages came to represent contrasting Jewish ideologies. 

I was inspired to do this segment after visiting the wonderful YIVO exhibit in Manhattan t...

For the video version of this discussion, see here: https://youtu.be/S2LMqtNjg6c

The Hasidic community has been the subject of great, lurid fascination. People love to hear the stories of its unusual customs and darker sides. I see this fascination as part of a larger fascination with subcultures and cults. For instance, Youtube is full of channels that tell ex-Hasidic, ex-Mormon, ex-Amish and ex-Cult stories and these videos draw hundreds of thousands of views. 

Guinevere Turner grew up in a cult. In the Lyman Family cult. What's unique about her is that she d...

Video version of this segment here: https://youtu.be/_H1hjrS2MLo

A chained wife is a woman who is chained to a man in marriage, even after the relationship ends. This can happen in Jewish marriages when one partner refuses to give or accept the Get, the religious divorce. Malky is a Hasidic woman in Kiryas Joel who has been a chained wife for 4 years. In recent weeks the activist Flatbush Girl has spearheaded a campaign to pressure Malky’s husband to give a Get, by protesting in the strict and insular village of Kiryas Joel, by en...

Link to video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/8oVcC5z24c4

The Satmar Rabbi is one of Hasidic Jewry's great figures, yet his legacy is mired in deep controversy. He is credited with much of the revival of Hungarian Hasidism post-holocaust. Still, his anti-zionism draws deep criticism, especially since he was rescued during the holocaust by the Kastner train, a special rescue train that was negotiated by the zionists.

In this episode, I bring you a conversation with Rabbi Ysoscher Katz on the life and controversies of the Satmar Rabbi. Rabbi Katz was raised...

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’

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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

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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...

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...

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.

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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...

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...

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

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An episode discussing Hasidic/Orthodox Anti-Zionism in depth, with historian David Biale.

There has been quite a bit of public conversation about Hasidic Anti-zionism. In one well-circulated tweet, critics of Zionism touted a gathering of 40,000 Satmar Hasidim as an event that proved the Jewish solidarity with the secular anti-zionist movement. But Satmar was quick to tweet back that they were in no way expressing any kind of collaboration or sympathies with the secular anti-zionist movement. You can see the tweet here:
https://friedavizel.com/2023/12/15/satmar-anti-zionism-vs-secular-anti-zionism/

While there is a lot of controversy and...

For the YouTube version click here: https://youtu.be/_uxPKgA6hVU

You might have heard a bit about the Hasidic Jewish music scene from my previous videos or from browsing YouTube. It’s a wonderful world, and Yossi Desser is a wonderful part of it. He’s a Satmar Kiryas Joel native (like me) who has a deep love for special kinds of Jewish songs like Rabbi Yomtov Ehrlich songs, old Yiddish theater songs, the stories around Hasidic niggun and the adaptations of Christmas carols to Yiddish Chanukah Carols.

In this segment, Yossi and I sit down...

Here's the link to the youtube video version: https://youtu.be/9GcRIbVEt8c?si=2TmJgN8QtvUvVa6y

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This is a very, very special episode of a never before seen, very candid conversation about the marriage customs of the insular Jewish Hasidic Jews of the Satmar sect.

Pearl is a Satmar Hasidic woman who has been married for fifty-six years. Her marriage, and the marriage of her children and grandchildren, were set up according to Hasidic customs.
Pearl shared very candidly how her marriage was organized and graciously answered all of my questions about dating, attraction, sex education, matchmaking, and so much more.

This is a very very special interview, and I am...

You might have heard that Hasidic women shave their heads. You might also have heard that when someone leaves the faith, their family shuns them. I asked the lovely Pearl, a Satmar Hasidic woman, to speak about these topics.

Pearl practices the custom of shaving the head - as is common in the Hasidic community. In this video, she talked about what it meant to her and what she thought of the portrayal of the custom in the show Unorthodox.

Pearl also has a son who left the faith. I asked her to tell her side...

For the video version of this conversation, see here.

*UPDATE:* After we filmed this segment, as I was about to share it, Izzy's young mother passed away in a tragic car accident. I am so heartbroken for Izzy and his terrible loss. He has been writing on his Twitter and his website about his grief for his mother and he shared a few words about her in this updated version. She was such a loving and wonderful woman. If you'd like to read more of Izzy's writing on grief and his complicated family relationship, go here: https://izzyposen...

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 first half. I hope to share the second half whenever I can.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com...

This is the story of the Hasidic Jews and the internet. In this documentary, I chart the dramatic saga of how different people in the Hasidic community first reacted to the internet, and how the community slowly coalesced on a solution for dealing with the web. Yes, many Hasidic Jews have now accepted the inevitability of the web, and many of them are online. But this is not without caveats and the community's own inventions. Join me for this long-form documentary to learn more. How are standards enforced? What are the standards? What's my personal connection to all of this...

Leah Forster spent many years delighting Orthodox female audiences with her comedy. It is hard to overstate her success: she produced CDs, musicals, a ton of live acts, and was a household name among all Hasidic women. She was not only very funny and booked for major women's events, she was also an English teacher in Bais Yaakov for ears. In the last few years, Leah has been on a different path, as she was outed as gay and her place in the community fell apart. In this video, I ask her about her experience as a comedienne, and we...

Last week, I traveled to Israel to meet with Eli Benedict for a tour of his Hasidic hometown in Bnei Brak, Israel. Our time together was wonderful. And then the vicious, shocking attacks came, just after I got home. In this spontaneous interview, I check in with Eli to hear what's going on with him, with his community, and of course, with the larger situation in Israel. Eli had to leave the call suddenly when a siren went off, but he's fine. Stay tuned for more content with Eli.

עם ישראל חי

Eli Benedict is a researcher in Yiddish, he co-run...

Moshe Krakowski American Haredi education and culture, focusing on the relationship between communal worldview, identity, and education. He also works on curriculum, cognition, and inquiry learning in Jewish educational settings. He has written extensively about the Hasidic boys' education controversy, often representing the community from a more favorable perspective. He visited many Hasidic boys' schools for his research, so I invited him on to share with us what he saw.

For Youtube video see here.

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The book "Hasidism, A New History" is a five-pound tome, but it's an excellent tome. It tells the amazing story of the formation of the Hasidic movement in a way that I found gripping. It is a thoroughly scholarly book, representing the works of eight scholars who are among the foremost important scholars in contemporary Judaism. The book looks not only at the story of Hasidism but also the many histories that have been told in the past and how they might not represent the story as it can be pieced together from contemporary archival material and from evaluating what...

QUESTIONS:

01:33 || How can someone visit the Hasidic community respectfully?
02:17 || What do you think of cursing?

Hard Questions
04:15 || Are convert Jews discriminated against?
05:56 Pearl first told the story in this video here Video
08:32 || What if someone wants to join the insular Satmar community?
11:38 || Why is schooling not a priority for Hasidic boys?
12:23 || Why aren't the boys prepared to earn a living?
14:02 || Were you worried about your sons not being able to speak English?
14:45 || How much Secular education did your Hasidic sons get?
15:30 || Do you agree that this way...

QUESTIONS:
0:01:10 What do you think of all the questions we got?

On Women and Motherhood in Satmar Hasidism
0:02:00 || Are women LOOKED DOWN in Judaism?
0:04:54 || What is your perspective on women in leadership positions?
0:06:34 || Are there instances when women take on leadership positions?
0:07:20 || What do you think of Hasidic women who have big career accomplishments?
0:08:38 || Do Hasidic women celebrate Mother's Day?
0:09:58 || Would you say respect for the elders is more prevalent here?
0:09:57 || What about women who struggle with infertility?
0:10:56 || Is infertility intervention a contradiction with accepting God's fate?
0:11:35 || Is...

Most Hasidim don't have pets. Many of us who leave the Hasidic community, like myself and Naomi Seidman, adopt animals and come to love - deeply! - our furry friends. In this long-form conversation, I talk to Naomi about why we grew up without pets, our attitudes towards animals in the past, and how that has changed. Naomi draws from her recent research into Freud and Max Weinreich to look at the historical relationship between Jews and dogs, and how that might shed light on our own pet journeys.

We also talk about the grief of losing an...

You might have wondered: do Hasidic Jews get shunned if they leave the faith? Does their family sit "shiva" for them -- meaning, does their Hasidic family consider them as if they are dead, and perform the rituals of mourning?

In this long-form interview, I talk to Zalman Newfield. Zalman is a professor, researcher, and fellow exiter from Hasidism. For his research, he set out to answer the above questions and many others. Zalman interviewed 74 people who left the fold and his findings tell a complex, yet universal, story. He published his findings in his wonderful book 'Degrees...

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This conversation for my long-form series is with my video editor Steve Milligan. We had a good time chatting about the behind-the-scenes, the making of, and a bit of an introduction to Steve, who has done such wonderful work to make this project come to life.
Steve's website is https://www.cliquemojo.com/ and you can follow his youtube work at @shootitsteve or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shootitsteve/.

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In this long-form conversation, I talk to Sara about her life journey, from secular Holland to NYC, where she became deeply involved in religious life. She was drawn to the insular Hasidic sects like Satmar, became close friends with families in Kiryas Joel, and her wedding was attended by, among other dignitaries, the Satmar Grand Rabbi's wife Sosha Teitelbaum. Sara was extremely forthcoming in sharing what drew her to the community, the challenges and joys, and how her family reacted to her journey.

Sara Braun's book on her life journey as a Hasidic woman can be found here...

Eli Spitzer is a headmaster of a Hasidic boys' school and a columnist for Mosiac Magazine. In this long-form interview, we talk about the Hasidic boys' controversy, which was recently covered extensively in the New York Times. The issue relates to the very limited secular education Hasidic boys receive. I talked to Spitzer about these big questions and on some other topics in our lengthy Thursday night talk.

I know that this topic ignites a lot of intense and animated debate, and I invite your respectful opinions. Let's have an interesting debate in the comments!

For...

In this long-form (podcast-style) interview, I talk to Steve Nolt about Amish life. So many people compare Hasidim to the Amish, and I've known so little about the Amish. This conversation brought so many differences into sharp contrast and left me with a sense that these two insular societies are different in very profound ways. There are also some interesting similarities in regards to modifying how modern society is negotiated and more. It left me hungry to visit the Amish world and learn much more.

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This is a long-form zoom conversation with Naomi Seidman, host of the wonderful "Heretic in the House" podcast.
You can find the podcast here: https://www.hartman.org.il/program/heretic-in-the-house/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Gerry Albarelli wrote one of the most unique books on the contemporary Hasidic community. It's on the subject of his experience as a secular studies teacher in the Satmar Hasidic boys' school. His book tells the story of how Gerry, as an outsider, navigated the chaos and challenges of teaching Hasidic boys' a bit of math and spelling. Unlike most conversations on Hasidic boys' education, his book isn't a commentary on the moral question of the state of Hasidic boys' education (which is perhaps a conversation for another day!) but simply a reflection filled with lovely insight, humor, and terrific...

Williamsburg, Brooklyn has a rich immigrant history. Before the South Side became the Hasidic enclave that it is today, it was a much more eclectic immigrant neighborhood. Among its former residents is the writer Phillip Lopate, who grew up in what's now the heart of the Hasidic "shtetle".

Phillip lived in Williamsburg from age 4 in 1947, until he reached about high school, but after his family moved out of Williamsburg, he returned daily to attend high school at Eastern District High.

Phillip generously joined me in Williamsburg for a visit to his old haunts. We first stopped...

I had the great pleasure of doing a live zoom conversation with fellow former-Hasid [OTD] and professional thinker Izzy Posen. Izzy is a prolific personality on Twitter, where he is eager to encourage nuanced, honest dialog among us ex-Haredim as well as with the communities we were raised in. This live zoom was an opportunity to ask what we need to leave behind when we leave, what obligations we have to our former worlds, and what we can understand about each others' journeys.

If you were on the call, thanks for joining! If you missed it, here's the...

I'm delighted to be posting another video conversation with a Jewish Williamsburg "old-timer", this one with Harry/Chaim Weiss.

Harry Weiss was born September 24, 1949, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, and he lived there until 1960. Harry's parents, who were from Hungary, survived Auschwitz and the Holocaust. His father opened up a furniture-making factory on Marcy ave and Keap St. in 1955 and then moved the factory to Flushing Ave. Harry joined the furniture business in 1968 and stayed in the Flushing location until 1991. Many of his clients were of the Hasidic community. Harry has many colorful memories of those transformative 50...

In this video post, I explore a very interesting part of Hasidic clothing: the silver decorative strip found on the men's prayer shawls. I talk to Elena Solomon, who, together with Lilly Homer is writing an encyclopedia entry on the special craft involved in making these decorative garments. It's an art style unique to Ashkenazi Jews, and it's called 'shpanyer arbet'.

For the video version of this episode see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

I had the pleasure to talk to Nathaniel Deutsch about his new book on Hasidic Williamsburg.

Nathaniel Deutsch is a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he holds the Baumgarten Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies. He is the author of a number of books related to Hasidic history and culture, including The Maiden of Ludmir: A Jewish Holy Woman and Her World, The Jewish Dark Continent: Life and Death in the Russian Pale of Settlement, and most recently (with Michael Casper), A Fortress in Brooklyn: Race, Real Estate, and the Making of Hasidic...

This video is part of a research project to document the way Hasidim came to America after the war and turned Williamsburg into an insular religious enclave.

Nelly Grussgott was born in 1930 in Berlin. In 1940, she and her mother fled nazi Germany for NYC, but her father could not make it out. Although Nelly and her mother were relatively modern, in 1946 her mother remarried a very pious Hasidic man, Moshe Nigreshel. The couple, along with Nelly, moved to the Williamsburg part of Brooklyn. There, Nelly's mother was expected to adopt rigid Hasidic customs like shaving her golden locks...