http://youtube.com/friedavizelbrooklyn
This podcast is hosted by popular Youtuber Frieda Vizel, who has been studying the Hasidic community for more than ten years.

This is the podcast version of the video conversations which are also published on Youtube. Please reach out with feedback.

Here's the youtube channel if you prefer to see the host and guests! :)

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>enJudaismFrieda Vizelhttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/1524b04f406bd0c34def809125fae770.jpghttp://youtube.com/friedavizelbrooklynSun, 12 Jul 2026 11:15:07 +0000Frieda VizelFrieda Vizelmail@friedavizel.comWelcome to in-depth conversations on Hasidism, Judaism, NYC, culture, education, religion and more! This podcast is hosted by popular Youtuber Frieda Vizel, who has been studying the Hasidic community for more than ten years. This is the podcast...
This podcast is hosted by popular Youtuber Frieda Vizel, who has been studying the Hasidic community for more than ten years.

This is the podcast version of the video conversations which are also published on Youtube. Please reach out with feedback.

Here's the youtube channel if you prefer to see the host and guests! :)

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>falseepisodicSupport the podcast!https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-national-desertion-bureau-eddy-portnoy--72069832
Eddy Portnoy is back by popular demand, after our wonderful discussion on the history of Yiddish language. Eddy is the exhibit curator at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and does amazing Yiddish/Jewish curations.

Today’s subject is juicy but educational, eye-opening, and enlightening.
We are diving into the shocking and largely forgotten story of the National Desertion Bureau, a real organization founded in New York in 1911 to track down runaway Jewish husbands who abandoned their wives and children during the great wave of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe to North America.

For more on this below.

Here are some links:
-My previous interview with Eddy: https://youtu.be/tq8y3KkAWTk?si=-KdfW3UJBkiMdrh_
-The Yivo Exhibit: https://www.yivo.org/National-Desertion-Bureau
-📘 THE BOOK ON THIS: Wives without Husbands: Marriage, Desertion, and Welfare in New York, 1900–1935 by Anna R. Igra https://amzn.to/4tGvhbZ

Popular stereotypes about Jewish husbands tend to be flattering: loyal, hardworking, stable, family-oriented. Which is exactly why so many people have never heard of this dark social crisis that unfolded inside immigrant Jewish communities during the early 20th century. Behind the romanticized image of the immigrant success story was another reality entirely: crushing poverty, overcrowded tenements, fractured families, emotional collapse, and men disappearing without a trace.

The problem became so widespread that Yiddish newspapers like the legendary The Forward published daily columns called “The Gallery of Missing Husbands,” complete with mugshots and descriptions of men who vanished and left their families destitute. There were even Lower East Side psychics who specialized in helping women locate missing husbands.
From 1905 through the 1960s, the National Desertion Bureau investigated more than 18,000 cases, working with courts, police departments, charities, and governments to track down deserters, force support payments, and sometimes even jail offenders. The surviving files read like tragic little novellas filled with betrayal, desperation, ruined finances, abandoned children, and impossible choices made during an era of massive upheaval.

The archives at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research contain roughly 17,000 surviving case files from the Bureau, many of which formed the basis for the exhibition *Runaway Husbands, Desperate Families: The Story of the National Desertion Bureau*, curated by Eddy himself.
In this episode, Eddy walks us through this extraordinary hidden chapter of Jewish history and helps unpack what these stories reveal about immigration, masculinity, poverty, shame, survival, and the fragile reality behind nostalgic immigrant mythology.

Before we begin, I want to thank those of you who are channel members and help make this work possible. Members get early access to videos before they are released publicly. I deeply appreciate all of you, members, subscribers, commenters, and everyone who participates in these conversations and helps keep this channel alive.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72069832Sun, 12 Jul 2026 11:00:04 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/ixZOxV5BuCI Eddy Portnoy is back by popular demand, after our wonderful discussion on the history of Yiddish language. Eddy is the exhibit curator at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and does amazing...
Eddy Portnoy is back by popular demand, after our wonderful discussion on the history of Yiddish language. Eddy is the exhibit curator at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and does amazing Yiddish/Jewish curations.

Today’s subject is juicy but educational, eye-opening, and enlightening.
We are diving into the shocking and largely forgotten story of the National Desertion Bureau, a real organization founded in New York in 1911 to track down runaway Jewish husbands who abandoned their wives and children during the great wave of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe to North America.

For more on this below.

Here are some links:
-My previous interview with Eddy: https://youtu.be/tq8y3KkAWTk?si=-KdfW3UJBkiMdrh_
-The Yivo Exhibit: https://www.yivo.org/National-Desertion-Bureau
-📘 THE BOOK ON THIS: Wives without Husbands: Marriage, Desertion, and Welfare in New York, 1900–1935 by Anna R. Igra https://amzn.to/4tGvhbZ

Popular stereotypes about Jewish husbands tend to be flattering: loyal, hardworking, stable, family-oriented. Which is exactly why so many people have never heard of this dark social crisis that unfolded inside immigrant Jewish communities during the early 20th century. Behind the romanticized image of the immigrant success story was another reality entirely: crushing poverty, overcrowded tenements, fractured families, emotional collapse, and men disappearing without a trace.

The problem became so widespread that Yiddish newspapers like the legendary The Forward published daily columns called “The Gallery of Missing Husbands,” complete with mugshots and descriptions of men who vanished and left their families destitute. There were even Lower East Side psychics who specialized in helping women locate missing husbands.
From 1905 through the 1960s, the National Desertion Bureau investigated more than 18,000 cases, working with courts, police departments, charities, and governments to track down deserters, force support payments, and sometimes even jail offenders. The surviving files read like tragic little novellas filled with betrayal, desperation, ruined finances, abandoned children, and impossible choices made during an era of massive upheaval.

The archives at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research contain roughly 17,000 surviving case files from the Bureau, many of which formed the basis for the exhibition *Runaway Husbands, Desperate Families: The Story of the National Desertion Bureau*, curated by Eddy himself.
In this episode, Eddy walks us through this extraordinary hidden chapter of Jewish history and helps unpack what these stories reveal about immigration, masculinity, poverty, shame, survival, and the fragile reality behind nostalgic immigrant mythology.

Before we begin, I want to thank those of you who are channel members and help make this work possible. Members get early access to videos before they are released publicly. I deeply appreciate all of you, members, subscribers, commenters, and everyone who participates in these conversations and helps keep this channel alive.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3136false529fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/jews-and-poland-how-we-tell-polish-jewish-history-barbara-kirshenblatt-gimblett--72512743
How do you tell the history of Jews in Poland? Why is there so much debate about this from Polish people? I ask the curator of the Polin museum about her work at the crux of this debate: when telling the story of Polish Jewish history for the museum. 

Watch part 1 for Barbara's life story here: https://youtu.be/xXqmG4rI-sE


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72512743Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:00:03 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/KCS9vAundms How do you tell the history of Jews in Poland? Why is there so much debate about this from Polish people? I ask the curator of the Polin museum about her work at the crux of this debate:...
How do you tell the history of Jews in Poland? Why is there so much debate about this from Polish people? I ask the curator of the Polin museum about her work at the crux of this debate: when telling the story of Polish Jewish history for the museum. 

Watch part 1 for Barbara's life story here: https://youtu.be/xXqmG4rI-sE


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>900false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/at-83-this-jewish-icon-has-a-story-to-tell-barbara-kirshenblatt-gimblett--72512948
Today I have the great honor and pleasure of speaking with Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a renowned scholar of Jewish culture, folklore, and performance studies. She is best known for her work exploring how Jewish history and heritage are presented in museums and public culture, and she served as the chief curator of the core exhibition at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the landmark institution that tells the thousand-year history of Jews in Poland.

Barbara's own story, and her relationship with her father, is part of the Polish Jewish story. For many years, her father shared memories of his life in Poland with his Canadian-born daughter. Later, during a period of depression, he began illustrating those memories in a remarkable series of paintings. Those paintings became the foundation for a book Barbara created, preserving both his experiences and a vanished world.

Please check out part 2 where we talk about Barbara's work in Poland as the chief curator of the Polin musuem. https://youtu.be/KCS9vAundms

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72512948Sun, 05 Jul 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link: https://youtu.be/qdQi26lBQ7Q Today I have the great honor and pleasure of speaking with Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a renowned scholar of Jewish culture, folklore, and performance studies. She is best known for her work exploring how...
Today I have the great honor and pleasure of speaking with Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a renowned scholar of Jewish culture, folklore, and performance studies. She is best known for her work exploring how Jewish history and heritage are presented in museums and public culture, and she served as the chief curator of the core exhibition at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the landmark institution that tells the thousand-year history of Jews in Poland.

Barbara's own story, and her relationship with her father, is part of the Polish Jewish story. For many years, her father shared memories of his life in Poland with his Canadian-born daughter. Later, during a period of depression, he began illustrating those memories in a remarkable series of paintings. Those paintings became the foundation for a book Barbara created, preserving both his experiences and a vanished world.

Please check out part 2 where we talk about Barbara's work in Poland as the chief curator of the Polin musuem. https://youtu.be/KCS9vAundms

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3262false528fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-is-anti-semitism-doran-shafrir--72245310https://youtu.be/gwCyNjr2vU0

Today I am talking to Doran from the channel  @TheEasyWayDMS  about philosophical subjects. What is antisemitism? How does it form and change? What are the guises it comes in? In a world in which there's so much muddled dialogue about antisemitism, I thought it was important to have a nuanced, thoughtful conversation. I invite your comments and thoughts.

For more on this subject, see these videos:
Everyone is talking about Jews: https://youtu.be/A1aOTCsYQfM
My experience with antisemitism as a Jewish content creator: https://youtube.com/live/IZuSqgQGDBU
Antisemitic attack in the UK with Izzy Posen https://youtu.be/IfWm5mlQRwg
He lived through the Bondi Beach attack: https://youtu.be/css7bPGITTE

Also, check out my conversation with Doran for his channel.
https://youtu.be/utFUQCFnqdc?si=UEUJJjqYDNKhdoie


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72245310Sun, 28 Jun 2026 11:00:04 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/gwCyNjr2vU0 Today I am talking to Doran from the channel  @TheEasyWayDMS  about philosophical subjects. What is antisemitism? How does it form and change? What are the guises it comes in? In a world in...https://youtu.be/gwCyNjr2vU0

Today I am talking to Doran from the channel  @TheEasyWayDMS  about philosophical subjects. What is antisemitism? How does it form and change? What are the guises it comes in? In a world in which there's so much muddled dialogue about antisemitism, I thought it was important to have a nuanced, thoughtful conversation. I invite your comments and thoughts.

For more on this subject, see these videos:
Everyone is talking about Jews: https://youtu.be/A1aOTCsYQfM
My experience with antisemitism as a Jewish content creator: https://youtube.com/live/IZuSqgQGDBU
Antisemitic attack in the UK with Izzy Posen https://youtu.be/IfWm5mlQRwg
He lived through the Bondi Beach attack: https://youtu.be/css7bPGITTE

Also, check out my conversation with Doran for his channel.
https://youtu.be/utFUQCFnqdc?si=UEUJJjqYDNKhdoie


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4368false527fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/hasidic-bubby-shares-their-wedding-traditions--72513426
📸 Videography: Upperdeck Film / https://www.instagram.com/upperdeck_film/ 
✂️ Edited: Lee Kupac / @mayo.nap 
👰 Wedding footage: Shmilly Feldman / https://www.instagram.com/chasidish_lifter/
More content with Pearl: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycylVdMte0xOgmKWkyksKzyv&si=hOy-eozSCg2cWErr

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72513426Sun, 21 Jun 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/uQ8YqHA_id8 📸 Videography: Upperdeck Film / https://www.instagram.com/upperdeck_film/  ✂️ Edited: Lee Kupac / @mayo.nap  👰 Wedding footage: Shmilly Feldman /...
📸 Videography: Upperdeck Film / https://www.instagram.com/upperdeck_film/ 
✂️ Edited: Lee Kupac / @mayo.nap 
👰 Wedding footage: Shmilly Feldman / https://www.instagram.com/chasidish_lifter/
More content with Pearl: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycylVdMte0xOgmKWkyksKzyv&si=hOy-eozSCg2cWErr

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4397false526fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/everyone-is-talking-about-jews--72506918
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72506918Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:00:03 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this monologue: https://youtu.be/A1aOTCsYQfM
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2582false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/she-doesn-t-regret-her-comments-satmar-anti-zionist-pearl--72385654
A year ago, Pearl sparked one of the most heated discussions on this channel.
As a Satmar Hasidic woman, she shared her views on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, Israel, and Zionism—views that many viewers strongly disagreed with. The response was intense.
In this conversation, I sit down with Pearl again and ask her how she feels about the backlash, whether she regrets speaking so openly, and why she continues to stand by her beliefs.
This interview is not about agreeing or disagreeing. It is an opportunity to hear, in Pearl's own words, how a deeply religious Hasidic woman understands Jewish history, suffering, faith, anti-Semitism, and the role of Israel in the modern world.

Whatever your perspective, I hope this conversation helps illuminate a worldview that is rarely heard and often misunderstood.

As always, please keep the discussion respectful.

You can find many of my other podcasts with Pearl on podcast apps or on Youtube through this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycylVdMte0xOgmKWkyksKzyv

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72385654Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/92Q4LAxh_Ug A year ago, Pearl sparked one of the most heated discussions on this channel. As a Satmar Hasidic woman, she shared her views on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, Israel, and Zionism—views...
A year ago, Pearl sparked one of the most heated discussions on this channel.
As a Satmar Hasidic woman, she shared her views on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, Israel, and Zionism—views that many viewers strongly disagreed with. The response was intense.
In this conversation, I sit down with Pearl again and ask her how she feels about the backlash, whether she regrets speaking so openly, and why she continues to stand by her beliefs.
This interview is not about agreeing or disagreeing. It is an opportunity to hear, in Pearl's own words, how a deeply religious Hasidic woman understands Jewish history, suffering, faith, anti-Semitism, and the role of Israel in the modern world.

Whatever your perspective, I hope this conversation helps illuminate a worldview that is rarely heard and often misunderstood.

As always, please keep the discussion respectful.

You can find many of my other podcasts with Pearl on podcast apps or on Youtube through this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycylVdMte0xOgmKWkyksKzyv

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>880false525fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/when-life-is-like-weaving-a-quilt-dovid-bashevkin--72032463
The tables have turned! The wonderful, renowned Orthodox Jewish podcaster Dovid Bashevkin, host of 18forty, who interviewed me for his podcast, returned the favor and joined me for a candid conversation about the inside-outside perspectives. He inside, I outside, together we have an interest in the same thing from different angles.

Bashevkin is one of the most thoughtful voices in the Orthodox Jewish world, for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, doubt, Shabbos, Jewish identity, community, America, Israel, assimilation, spirituality, and what it means to build a meaningful Jewish life in 2026.
What makes this conversation especially interesting to me is that Dovid and I approach many of the same questions from different locations. He speaks from deep inside Orthodox communal life; I often speak from the margins, or from outside looking in. And yet we share a fascination with how people search for meaning, belonging, transcendence, and authenticity.

Links:
• Dovid Bashevkin on Twitter/X: [@DBashIdeas](https://x.com/DBashIdeas?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• 18Forty podcast: [18Forty](https://18forty.org/podcasts/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• My appearance on his podcast: [My conversation with Dovid Bashevkin on 18Forty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEaI-Paltfc&t=1s&utm_source=chatgpt.com)

We talked about:
• why he created the 18Forty podcast
• the “institutional scaffolding” of modern Jewish life
• why younger Jews are restless even inside successful communities
• Shabbos as both beautiful and difficult
• assimilation, identity, and the pressure to “earn” love
• celebrity culture and existential longing
• the future of American Orthodoxy
• why so many young Orthodox Jews are drawn to Israel
• cultural translation between Jewish worlds
• gum as contraband in Hasidic childhoods 😭

Thank you to all channel members, subscribers, viewers, and commenters who make these conversations possible.
Frieda

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72032463Sun, 07 Jun 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelLink to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/aeVekOqP7-Y The tables have turned! The wonderful, renowned Orthodox Jewish podcaster Dovid Bashevkin, host of 18forty, who interviewed me for his podcast, returned the favor and joined me for a...
The tables have turned! The wonderful, renowned Orthodox Jewish podcaster Dovid Bashevkin, host of 18forty, who interviewed me for his podcast, returned the favor and joined me for a candid conversation about the inside-outside perspectives. He inside, I outside, together we have an interest in the same thing from different angles.

Bashevkin is one of the most thoughtful voices in the Orthodox Jewish world, for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, doubt, Shabbos, Jewish identity, community, America, Israel, assimilation, spirituality, and what it means to build a meaningful Jewish life in 2026.
What makes this conversation especially interesting to me is that Dovid and I approach many of the same questions from different locations. He speaks from deep inside Orthodox communal life; I often speak from the margins, or from outside looking in. And yet we share a fascination with how people search for meaning, belonging, transcendence, and authenticity.

Links:
• Dovid Bashevkin on Twitter/X: [@DBashIdeas](https://x.com/DBashIdeas?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• 18Forty podcast: [18Forty](https://18forty.org/podcasts/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• My appearance on his podcast: [My conversation with Dovid Bashevkin on 18Forty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEaI-Paltfc&t=1s&utm_source=chatgpt.com)

We talked about:
• why he created the 18Forty podcast
• the “institutional scaffolding” of modern Jewish life
• why younger Jews are restless even inside successful communities
• Shabbos as both beautiful and difficult
• assimilation, identity, and the pressure to “earn” love
• celebrity culture and existential longing
• the future of American Orthodoxy
• why so many young Orthodox Jews are drawn to Israel
• cultural translation between Jewish worlds
• gum as contraband in Hasidic childhoods 😭

Thank you to all channel members, subscribers, viewers, and commenters who make these conversations possible.
Frieda

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4455false524fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-orthodox-in-israel-to-an-academic-studying-the-community-yossi-david--69950196
Join us for an insightful conversation with Dr. Yossi David, a leading researcher in social biases, migration trauma, and media influence. We delve into how leaving insular communities mirrors migration challenges, the impact of fiction and AI on perception, and the importance of trust and skepticism in society today.

Key topics discussed:
-The psychological challenges faced by individuals leaving ultra-Orthodox communities, compared to immigration trauma 
-Language barriers and cultural transitions when integrating into secular society
-The influence of fiction, media, and AI technologies on shaping perceptions and biases
-Trust in science versus authority and the role of scientific methodology in building credibility
-The importance of a society that balances trust and skepticism for healthy self-correction
-Strategies for raising awareness about fiction, misinformation, and fake content
-Personal experiences of transition, identity, and resilience amid societal change
-The role of education in developing critical thinking from a young age
-The significance of physical challenges and community support in personal transformation

Research that inspired this conversation:
📄 “The Search for Meaning and Belonging After Leaving a High-Cost Religion” PDF: https://app.luminpdf.com/viewer/698b43ca5896b082df3e537b Journal link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10508619.2025.2553407#abstract Former

Haredi? Consider participating in Yossi’s current research: 
📝 2026 Annual Survey for Former Haredi Individuals https://bgupsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_elMDRXhMsMVr23c Follow me: Instagram / X / TikTok: @FriedaVizel

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69950196Sun, 31 May 2026 11:00:01 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this interview: https://youtu.be/fV8LeAiQQe8 Join us for an insightful conversation with Dr. Yossi David, a leading researcher in social biases, migration trauma, and media influence. We delve into how leaving insular communities...
Join us for an insightful conversation with Dr. Yossi David, a leading researcher in social biases, migration trauma, and media influence. We delve into how leaving insular communities mirrors migration challenges, the impact of fiction and AI on perception, and the importance of trust and skepticism in society today.

Key topics discussed:
-The psychological challenges faced by individuals leaving ultra-Orthodox communities, compared to immigration trauma 
-Language barriers and cultural transitions when integrating into secular society
-The influence of fiction, media, and AI technologies on shaping perceptions and biases
-Trust in science versus authority and the role of scientific methodology in building credibility
-The importance of a society that balances trust and skepticism for healthy self-correction
-Strategies for raising awareness about fiction, misinformation, and fake content
-Personal experiences of transition, identity, and resilience amid societal change
-The role of education in developing critical thinking from a young age
-The significance of physical challenges and community support in personal transformation

Research that inspired this conversation:
📄 “The Search for Meaning and Belonging After Leaving a High-Cost Religion” PDF: https://app.luminpdf.com/viewer/698b43ca5896b082df3e537b Journal link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10508619.2025.2553407#abstract Former

Haredi? Consider participating in Yossi’s current research: 
📝 2026 Annual Survey for Former Haredi Individuals https://bgupsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_elMDRXhMsMVr23c Follow me: Instagram / X / TikTok: @FriedaVizel

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>6118false523fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/inside-an-amish-school-day-lovina-zook--70137952Lovina's personal story: https://youtu.be/GHF0lQS2CHs

Former Swartzentruber Amish teacher Lovina Zook takes us inside the world of Amish education, sharing detailed insights into what a typical school day looks like in one of America's most closed communities. From the one-room schoolhouse structure to the daily routines, strict dress codes, and teaching methods, Lovina offers a rare glimpse into this traditional education system.

Lovina speaks with genuine enthusiasm about her experiences as both a student and teacher in the Amish school system, which she describes as the highlight of her teenage years. She explains the challenges of 5 a.m. mornings, preparing breakfast and lunches for siblings, and the deep bonds formed in the close-knit classroom environment.

This video is for anyone interested in closed subcultures, sociology, and understanding how traditional communities maintain their way of life through education. Lovina's firsthand account provides an authentic look at the simplicity, discipline, and community connection that define Amish schooling.

Follow Lovina Zook:
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lovina_zook
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovina_zook/
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovina_zook
🌐 Website & Cookbook: https://socialsbylovina.com/

More of my Amish content:
📺 Interview with Martha Ross: https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4
📺 Academic perspective with Steven Nolt: https://youtu.be/5OnDYM2jymk
📺 Ex-Amish man on tour: https://youtube.com/shorts/x_qOijQpPnY
📺 Hasidic and Amish together: https://youtu.be/fAp1QPGNb5w

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70137952Sun, 24 May 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version of this episode: https://youtu.be/vUl5DjWhCBk Lovina's personal story: https://youtu.be/GHF0lQS2CHs Former Swartzentruber Amish teacher Lovina Zook takes us inside the world of Amish education, sharing detailed insights into what a...Lovina's personal story: https://youtu.be/GHF0lQS2CHs

Former Swartzentruber Amish teacher Lovina Zook takes us inside the world of Amish education, sharing detailed insights into what a typical school day looks like in one of America's most closed communities. From the one-room schoolhouse structure to the daily routines, strict dress codes, and teaching methods, Lovina offers a rare glimpse into this traditional education system.

Lovina speaks with genuine enthusiasm about her experiences as both a student and teacher in the Amish school system, which she describes as the highlight of her teenage years. She explains the challenges of 5 a.m. mornings, preparing breakfast and lunches for siblings, and the deep bonds formed in the close-knit classroom environment.

This video is for anyone interested in closed subcultures, sociology, and understanding how traditional communities maintain their way of life through education. Lovina's firsthand account provides an authentic look at the simplicity, discipline, and community connection that define Amish schooling.

Follow Lovina Zook:
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lovina_zook
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovina_zook/
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovina_zook
🌐 Website & Cookbook: https://socialsbylovina.com/

More of my Amish content:
📺 Interview with Martha Ross: https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4
📺 Academic perspective with Steven Nolt: https://youtu.be/5OnDYM2jymk
📺 Ex-Amish man on tour: https://youtube.com/shorts/x_qOijQpPnY
📺 Hasidic and Amish together: https://youtu.be/fAp1QPGNb5w

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1474false522fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-amish-life-to-millions-of-followers-on-social-media-lovina-zook--70137881
Lovina Zook, a former Swartzentruber Amish woman who left her community at age 18 with only $24 to her name. Lovina shares her compelling story of growing up in one of the strictest Amish settlements, without electricity, running water, or any exposure to technology, where she raised her 12 younger siblings as the oldest girl.

She opens up about the difficult decision to leave her family and community behind to pursue a different life, and the challenges of adapting to the modern world. Today, Lovina has built a following of millions, sharing authentic Amish cooking and baking recipes while educating people about her former way of life. Her story is one of courage, sacrifice, and resilience.

Follow Lovina Zook: 
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lovina_zook 
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovina_zook/ 
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovina_zook 
🌐 Website & Cookbook: https://socialsbylovina.com/

More of my Amish content: 
📺 Interview with Martha Ross: https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4 
📺 Academic perspective with Steven Nolt: https://youtu.be/5OnDYM2jymk 📺 Ex-Amish man on tour: https://youtube.com/shorts/x_qOijQpPnY 
📺 Hasidic and Amish together: https://youtu.be/fAp1QPGNb5w

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70137881Sun, 17 May 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelLink to the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/GHF0lQS2CHs Lovina Zook, a former Swartzentruber Amish woman who left her community at age 18 with only $24 to her name. Lovina shares her compelling story of growing up in one of the...
Lovina Zook, a former Swartzentruber Amish woman who left her community at age 18 with only $24 to her name. Lovina shares her compelling story of growing up in one of the strictest Amish settlements, without electricity, running water, or any exposure to technology, where she raised her 12 younger siblings as the oldest girl.

She opens up about the difficult decision to leave her family and community behind to pursue a different life, and the challenges of adapting to the modern world. Today, Lovina has built a following of millions, sharing authentic Amish cooking and baking recipes while educating people about her former way of life. Her story is one of courage, sacrifice, and resilience.

Follow Lovina Zook: 
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lovina_zook 
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovina_zook/ 
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lovina_zook 
🌐 Website & Cookbook: https://socialsbylovina.com/

More of my Amish content: 
📺 Interview with Martha Ross: https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4 
📺 Academic perspective with Steven Nolt: https://youtu.be/5OnDYM2jymk 📺 Ex-Amish man on tour: https://youtube.com/shorts/x_qOijQpPnY 
📺 Hasidic and Amish together: https://youtu.be/fAp1QPGNb5w

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2581false521fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/raw-thoughts-while-sitting-in-my-car-in-kiryas-joel-on-mother-s-day--71942303
I feel I am completely incoherent here but also raw in a way I felt I wanted to share anyway. I’ve organized my thoughts in many videos in ways that I think (hope) is clear and accessible. Here’s where you see a bit of the me behind the analysis. The personal and analytical as I sit and reflect and process a story that I think is exceptional and beautiful and imperfect and problematic but also to me, so very precious.

Meanwhile, to all of you who celebrate mother's day - wishing you a wonderful Mother's Day!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71942303Sun, 10 May 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda Vizelvideo link:  I feel I am completely incoherent here but also raw in a way I felt I wanted to share anyway. I’ve organized my thoughts in many videos in ways that I think (hope) is clear and accessible. Here’s where you see a bit of the me behind the...
I feel I am completely incoherent here but also raw in a way I felt I wanted to share anyway. I’ve organized my thoughts in many videos in ways that I think (hope) is clear and accessible. Here’s where you see a bit of the me behind the analysis. The personal and analytical as I sit and reflect and process a story that I think is exceptional and beautiful and imperfect and problematic but also to me, so very precious.

Meanwhile, to all of you who celebrate mother's day - wishing you a wonderful Mother's Day!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>743false520fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/riki-rose-on-the-frieda-vizel-podcast-live-5-5-26-5pm-et--71899476
Riki and I recently talked children's games and had fun on my living room floor:
https://youtu.be/uvwSkTZbjOo

She will come over to my place, hopefully on May 5 and at 5pm we will go live together from my computer. Please chat with us in the comments, or watch it later if you can't make it!
Follow the brilliant performer  @riki_rose  on Youtube and on instagram.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71899476Wed, 06 May 2026 23:31:29 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link: https://youtube.com/live/XDNed30Yqng?feature=share Riki and I recently talked children's games and had fun on my living room floor: https://youtu.be/uvwSkTZbjOo She will come over to my place, hopefully on May 5 and at 5pm we will go...
Riki and I recently talked children's games and had fun on my living room floor:
https://youtu.be/uvwSkTZbjOo

She will come over to my place, hopefully on May 5 and at 5pm we will go live together from my computer. Please chat with us in the comments, or watch it later if you can't make it!
Follow the brilliant performer  @riki_rose  on Youtube and on instagram.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4029false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/riki-rose-and-frieda-vizel-play-nostalgic-hasidic-children-s-games--71780551
You can buy kugelech here:
https://amzn.to/3YbJPTH
Can you play this game? Do you know these chants?
In this video, I explore kugela (plural: kugelach)—a simple game of five stones that carries centuries of history. With Yiddish singer Riki Rose, we try to play, reminisce about childhood games, and uncover a whole world of “oldies” that once shaped how children everywhere played.
Before toy stores, before screens, children made their own fun—on stoops, in streets, with whatever they could find. Many of those games have faded from mainstream culture. But in Hasidic Brooklyn, they’re still alive.
We talk about:
– How kugela (five stones/knucklebones) is played
– The culture of homemade play before modern toys
– Street games, chants, and clapping rhymes
– Why Hasidic communities preserved these traditions
– The strange, funny, and sometimes dark songs we all grew up with
This is part nostalgia, part cultural anthropology, and part me failing at a children’s game.
Watch more videos with Riki Rose:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycwpngXudOzA5as9MfS4Ss6A
Riki Rose:
--} YouTube:  @riki_rose  
--} Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riki_rose/
If you grew up with any of these games or chants, tell me in the comments—I’m collecting them.
Frieda


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71780551Sun, 03 May 2026 11:00:03 +0000Frieda VizelLink to the video version: https://youtu.be/uvwSkTZbjOo You can buy kugelech here: https://amzn.to/3YbJPTH Can you play this game? Do you know these chants? In this video, I explore kugela (plural: kugelach)—a simple game of five stones that carries...
You can buy kugelech here:
https://amzn.to/3YbJPTH
Can you play this game? Do you know these chants?
In this video, I explore kugela (plural: kugelach)—a simple game of five stones that carries centuries of history. With Yiddish singer Riki Rose, we try to play, reminisce about childhood games, and uncover a whole world of “oldies” that once shaped how children everywhere played.
Before toy stores, before screens, children made their own fun—on stoops, in streets, with whatever they could find. Many of those games have faded from mainstream culture. But in Hasidic Brooklyn, they’re still alive.
We talk about:
– How kugela (five stones/knucklebones) is played
– The culture of homemade play before modern toys
– Street games, chants, and clapping rhymes
– Why Hasidic communities preserved these traditions
– The strange, funny, and sometimes dark songs we all grew up with
This is part nostalgia, part cultural anthropology, and part me failing at a children’s game.
Watch more videos with Riki Rose:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycwpngXudOzA5as9MfS4Ss6A
Riki Rose:
--} YouTube:  @riki_rose  
--} Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riki_rose/
If you grew up with any of these games or chants, tell me in the comments—I’m collecting them.
Frieda


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1274false519fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/naomi-seidman-on-frieda-vizel-podcast-live-4-29-26-3pm-et--71781552
Naomi Seidman shares about her research on Jewish love and romance, her own marriage and the loss of her beloved pet. We discuss her book "The Marriage Plot" which you can get here:
https://amzn.to/4vIkgtb

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71781552Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:44:24 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version of this segment: https://youtube.com/live/_5ZJi2noZOg?feature=share Naomi Seidman shares about her research on Jewish love and romance, her own marriage and the loss of her beloved pet. We discuss her book "The Marriage Plot" which you...
Naomi Seidman shares about her research on Jewish love and romance, her own marriage and the loss of her beloved pet. We discuss her book "The Marriage Plot" which you can get here:
https://amzn.to/4vIkgtb

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4281false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/an-amazing-collection-of-rare-talmuds-samuel-marks--69861964

In this video, Samuel Marks takes us through his personal collection of Talmuds from different eras, using each volume to tell a larger story about how the Talmud was printed, censored, altered, and preserved under extraordinary historical pressure. Samuel is a self-taught collector whose engagement with Jewish texts grew out of immersive learning in Hasidic spaces, particularly within the Satmar community in Williamsburg.

Raised in a secular Jewish family in Boston, Samuel later reconnected deeply with Jewish learning and history. He is currently a student at the University of Michigan Law School and is not a professional academic, historian, or dealer. His knowledge comes from close study of primary texts, printing history, and the material culture of postwar Hasidic life in America.

This Talmud tour explores not only rare editions, but the human, political, and emotional forces that shaped them. Among the stories discussed:


• How expensive and technically complex it once was to print the Talmud, including the challenges of typesetting its dense, layered layout
• How Jewish owners signed their Talmuds, turning them into personal historical documents
• The dramatic saga of Christian censorship, which led to missing passages, partially removed pages, and forced insertions of Christian propaganda
• Copyright disputes that shaped competing editions and caused the text to evolve differently across printings
• The forgery of the so-called lost Yerushalmi Talmuds
• The story of a young girl named Ella who helped typeset a Talmud and signed her name inside, noting that she was looking for a husband
• Talmuds printed in the Shanghai Ghetto during World War II
• Talmuds produced in displaced persons camps in Germany immediately after the war, often on discarded or reused paper
• Which tractates were printed most, when, and why, including postwar demand for laws dealing with loss of a spouse and the special status of Bechorot
• How printing errors entered the Talmud, were copied forward, and later identified and addressed
• Why Talmuds ended up so oversized

For more on Samuel’s background as a collector, watch our first interview:
https://youtu.be/qjtlgrLe92w


You can also find a related playlist where I read a 1977 Yiddish book that Samuel scanned for me:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54yczFq9JWHjYsS9xMpgmK7GiS

Thank you to the Youtube channel members for supporting this work and helping make these in-depth projects possible.


Find me here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toursbyfrieda/
Website: friedavizel.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69861964Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelA 26-year-old collector opens his personal library to reveal the dramatic, human stories hidden inside antique Jewish Talmuds. In this video, Samuel Marks takes us through his personal collection of Talmuds from different eras, using each volume to...

In this video, Samuel Marks takes us through his personal collection of Talmuds from different eras, using each volume to tell a larger story about how the Talmud was printed, censored, altered, and preserved under extraordinary historical pressure. Samuel is a self-taught collector whose engagement with Jewish texts grew out of immersive learning in Hasidic spaces, particularly within the Satmar community in Williamsburg.

Raised in a secular Jewish family in Boston, Samuel later reconnected deeply with Jewish learning and history. He is currently a student at the University of Michigan Law School and is not a professional academic, historian, or dealer. His knowledge comes from close study of primary texts, printing history, and the material culture of postwar Hasidic life in America.

This Talmud tour explores not only rare editions, but the human, political, and emotional forces that shaped them. Among the stories discussed:


• How expensive and technically complex it once was to print the Talmud, including the challenges of typesetting its dense, layered layout
• How Jewish owners signed their Talmuds, turning them into personal historical documents
• The dramatic saga of Christian censorship, which led to missing passages, partially removed pages, and forced insertions of Christian propaganda
• Copyright disputes that shaped competing editions and caused the text to evolve differently across printings
• The forgery of the so-called lost Yerushalmi Talmuds
• The story of a young girl named Ella who helped typeset a Talmud and signed her name inside, noting that she was looking for a husband
• Talmuds printed in the Shanghai Ghetto during World War II
• Talmuds produced in displaced persons camps in Germany immediately after the war, often on discarded or reused paper
• Which tractates were printed most, when, and why, including postwar demand for laws dealing with loss of a spouse and the special status of Bechorot
• How printing errors entered the Talmud, were copied forward, and later identified and addressed
• Why Talmuds ended up so oversized

For more on Samuel’s background as a collector, watch our first interview:
https://youtu.be/qjtlgrLe92w


You can also find a related playlist where I read a 1977 Yiddish book that Samuel scanned for me:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54yczFq9JWHjYsS9xMpgmK7GiS

Thank you to the Youtube channel members for supporting this work and helping make these in-depth projects possible.


Find me here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toursbyfrieda/
Website: friedavizel.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5607false518fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/meet-this-incredible-young-jewish-collector-samuel-marks--69861962
Meet Samuel Marks, a young collector whose passion for rare Judaica brings overlooked corners of postwar Hasidic history vividly to life.

In this first interview, we get to know Samuel through the objects he studies, preserves, and loves. Raised in a secular Jewish family and now a law student, Samuel has built a remarkable collection of Judaica, with a particular focus on postwar Hasidic materials. His collection includes rare texts and objects related to the Satmar Rebbe - Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, postwar intra-Hasidic disputes, broadsides, early American Hasidic publications, prewar Talmuds, and clothing from before the war.

Because Samuel is currently a student and only has a limited portion of his collection with him, this conversation offers a taste rather than a full survey. Among the items he shares is an old Hasidic hat, which he uses to compare earlier styles with contemporary Hasidic fashion, showing how tradition both holds and shifts over time.

We also discuss a unique Yiddish book from 1977 that Samuel found inexpensively and later scanned in high resolution to preserve it for posterity. One striking page depicts a television labeled “not allowed,” a small but revealing snapshot of a moment before the internet, when communal anxieties centered on large, stationary media rather than the constant, portable screens of today.

Through these objects and stories, we come to understand Samuel’s eye as a collector, the joy he takes in rare finds, and the quiet urgency he feels to rescue fragile materials from being forgotten.

In the following segment, Samuel walks us through his favorite collection of antique Talmuds and explains which editions he deliberately refuses to collect. You can watch that discussion here:
https://youtu.be/jt_AwGwu-_4
Find me here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toursbyfrieda/
Website: friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69861962Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/qjtlgrLe92w Meet Samuel Marks, a young collector whose passion for rare Judaica brings overlooked corners of postwar Hasidic history vividly to life. In this first interview, we get to know Samuel...
Meet Samuel Marks, a young collector whose passion for rare Judaica brings overlooked corners of postwar Hasidic history vividly to life.

In this first interview, we get to know Samuel through the objects he studies, preserves, and loves. Raised in a secular Jewish family and now a law student, Samuel has built a remarkable collection of Judaica, with a particular focus on postwar Hasidic materials. His collection includes rare texts and objects related to the Satmar Rebbe - Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, postwar intra-Hasidic disputes, broadsides, early American Hasidic publications, prewar Talmuds, and clothing from before the war.

Because Samuel is currently a student and only has a limited portion of his collection with him, this conversation offers a taste rather than a full survey. Among the items he shares is an old Hasidic hat, which he uses to compare earlier styles with contemporary Hasidic fashion, showing how tradition both holds and shifts over time.

We also discuss a unique Yiddish book from 1977 that Samuel found inexpensively and later scanned in high resolution to preserve it for posterity. One striking page depicts a television labeled “not allowed,” a small but revealing snapshot of a moment before the internet, when communal anxieties centered on large, stationary media rather than the constant, portable screens of today.

Through these objects and stories, we come to understand Samuel’s eye as a collector, the joy he takes in rare finds, and the quiet urgency he feels to rescue fragile materials from being forgotten.

In the following segment, Samuel walks us through his favorite collection of antique Talmuds and explains which editions he deliberately refuses to collect. You can watch that discussion here:
https://youtu.be/jt_AwGwu-_4
Find me here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toursbyfrieda/
Website: friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2750false517fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/she-left-hasidic-boro-park-melissa-weisz-s-story--71377915
Melissa Weisz grew up in Hasidic, Yiddish-speaking Boro Park and left the fold well before the OTD phenomenon became famous. I believe she left the fold before me, and I'm of the old timers now! I have been waiting for the opportunity to share her story with my viewers. Here, we finally get Melissa's story live. Please come if you would like to see this live and ask questions. It will also be available for view later.

Follow Melissa on her socials! https://www.instagram.com/melissaweisz/ https://www.melissaweisz.com/about Here's a trailer to this interview: https://youtube.com/shorts/oiWlef1AHVk?feature=share

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/71377915Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:22:22 +0000Frieda VizelVideo of this interview: Melissa Weisz grew up in Hasidic, Yiddish-speaking Boro Park and left the fold well before the OTD phenomenon became famous. I believe she left the fold before me, and I'm of the old timers now! I have been waiting for the...
Melissa Weisz grew up in Hasidic, Yiddish-speaking Boro Park and left the fold well before the OTD phenomenon became famous. I believe she left the fold before me, and I'm of the old timers now! I have been waiting for the opportunity to share her story with my viewers. Here, we finally get Melissa's story live. Please come if you would like to see this live and ask questions. It will also be available for view later.

Follow Melissa on her socials! https://www.instagram.com/melissaweisz/ https://www.melissaweisz.com/about Here's a trailer to this interview: https://youtube.com/shorts/oiWlef1AHVk?feature=share

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5651false516fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/being-a-lefty-lesbian-jewish-comic-in-2026-is-crazy-judy-gold--69972658
"You're not shutting me up." - Jewish comedy icon Judy Gold, 2026

Judy Gold is a lot of things. She's an icon, she's a comic, a writer, a gay woman who was at the forefront of fighting for LGBT rights. But one of the things that is her foremost descriptor is: Jewish. She was never a comic who was also Jewish. But always a Jewish comic. Her comedy is deeply Jewish. 

Yet since October 7, this has made her work surprisingly difficult. She gets heckled on stage and has lost a lot of the allies she stood side by side with in the fight for marriage equality and her left-leaning politics (including a fierce dislike of Trump). She has continued to be foremost a Jewish comedian anyway. Her style is deeply Jewish, with lots of neurotic mom jokes, a role her own Jewish mother loved to play. "How did we do?" Mom would ask Judy after a show. It was a "we" for mom. 
It's all so Jewish.

In this engaging conversation, I talk to Judy about her values, work, life story, and more.

Check out Judy Gold's website here:
https://judygold.com/
Upcoming show dates here:
https://judygold.com/#timely 
Judy's book here:
https://amzn.to/462Ldwq
Judy on Instagram:
  / jewdygold  

Some parts of the discussion:
-Judy Gold emphasizes the significance of humor in Jewish culture as a means of survival.
Comedy serves as a tool for storytelling and coping with adversity.
-The landscape of comedy has changed, with audiences becoming more sensitive to certain topics.
-Judy's identity as a Jewish comedian is central to her work and personal life.
-She believes in the importance of being unabashedly Jewish in her comedy.
-The challenges of being a Jewish comedian have intensified in recent times.
-Family dynamics play a crucial role in shaping a comedian's material and perspective.
-Judy's early experiences in comedy were influenced by iconic Jewish female comedians.
-Representation in comedy is vital for both the performer and the audience.
-Judy advocates for open dialogue and understanding in the face of political and social issues.

Sound Bites
"I am a proud Jew."
"You're not shutting me up."
"It's important to talk about it."
Follow me on socials
Instagram:   / friedavizel  
Website: friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69972658Sun, 12 Apr 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this interview: https://youtu.be/bk6Q2RIN_mE "You're not shutting me up." - Jewish comedy icon Judy Gold, 2026 Judy Gold is a lot of things. She's an icon, she's a comic, a writer, a gay woman who was at the forefront of fighting for...
"You're not shutting me up." - Jewish comedy icon Judy Gold, 2026

Judy Gold is a lot of things. She's an icon, she's a comic, a writer, a gay woman who was at the forefront of fighting for LGBT rights. But one of the things that is her foremost descriptor is: Jewish. She was never a comic who was also Jewish. But always a Jewish comic. Her comedy is deeply Jewish. 

Yet since October 7, this has made her work surprisingly difficult. She gets heckled on stage and has lost a lot of the allies she stood side by side with in the fight for marriage equality and her left-leaning politics (including a fierce dislike of Trump). She has continued to be foremost a Jewish comedian anyway. Her style is deeply Jewish, with lots of neurotic mom jokes, a role her own Jewish mother loved to play. "How did we do?" Mom would ask Judy after a show. It was a "we" for mom. 
It's all so Jewish.

In this engaging conversation, I talk to Judy about her values, work, life story, and more.

Check out Judy Gold's website here:
https://judygold.com/
Upcoming show dates here:
https://judygold.com/#timely 
Judy's book here:
https://amzn.to/462Ldwq
Judy on Instagram:
  / jewdygold  

Some parts of the discussion:
-Judy Gold emphasizes the significance of humor in Jewish culture as a means of survival.
Comedy serves as a tool for storytelling and coping with adversity.
-The landscape of comedy has changed, with audiences becoming more sensitive to certain topics.
-Judy's identity as a Jewish comedian is central to her work and personal life.
-She believes in the importance of being unabashedly Jewish in her comedy.
-The challenges of being a Jewish comedian have intensified in recent times.
-Family dynamics play a crucial role in shaping a comedian's material and perspective.
-Judy's early experiences in comedy were influenced by iconic Jewish female comedians.
-Representation in comedy is vital for both the performer and the audience.
-Judy advocates for open dialogue and understanding in the face of political and social issues.

Sound Bites
"I am a proud Jew."
"You're not shutting me up."
"It's important to talk about it."
Follow me on socials
Instagram:   / friedavizel  
Website: friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2881false515fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/hasidic-jews-once-thrived-in-poland-historian-glenn-dynner--69664528
In this episode, I’m joined by historian Glenn Dynner, who was my professor years ago and played a pivotal role in getting me started as a tour guide. Our conversation focuses on Polish Jewish history, Hasidism, and how Jewish life in Poland developed under pressure, change, and violence.

Before we begin, here are Glenn’s books, which come up throughout the interview:

• The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust / https://amzn.to/3LNJYdu
• Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the Kingdom of Poland /https://amzn.to/4qogrpM
• Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society / https://amzn.to/3ZdZJ0j

We talk about Polish Jewish society as a lived world rather than a static prelude to the Holocaust. Topics include the development of Hasidism, the social and economic role of tavernkeeping, responses to antisemitism, and how violence shaped religious and cultural life. We also discuss women in Hasidic communities, underground Torah study during the Holocaust, and the networks that helped preserve religious leadership and scholarship.

The conversation also touches on Glenn’s research trajectory, how historians approach Polish Jewish history, and why earlier frameworks sometimes fall short when trying to understand how these communities functioned over time.

As with all of my interviews, an audio-only version of this conversation is available on the podcast platform of your choosing.

Thanks for watching and listening.




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69664528Sun, 05 Apr 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelLink to video version of this episode: In this episode, I’m joined by historian Glenn Dynner, who was my professor years ago and played a pivotal role in getting me started as a tour guide. Our conversation focuses on Polish Jewish history, Hasidism,...
In this episode, I’m joined by historian Glenn Dynner, who was my professor years ago and played a pivotal role in getting me started as a tour guide. Our conversation focuses on Polish Jewish history, Hasidism, and how Jewish life in Poland developed under pressure, change, and violence.

Before we begin, here are Glenn’s books, which come up throughout the interview:

• The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust / https://amzn.to/3LNJYdu
• Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the Kingdom of Poland /https://amzn.to/4qogrpM
• Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society / https://amzn.to/3ZdZJ0j

We talk about Polish Jewish society as a lived world rather than a static prelude to the Holocaust. Topics include the development of Hasidism, the social and economic role of tavernkeeping, responses to antisemitism, and how violence shaped religious and cultural life. We also discuss women in Hasidic communities, underground Torah study during the Holocaust, and the networks that helped preserve religious leadership and scholarship.

The conversation also touches on Glenn’s research trajectory, how historians approach Polish Jewish history, and why earlier frameworks sometimes fall short when trying to understand how these communities functioned over time.

As with all of my interviews, an audio-only version of this conversation is available on the podcast platform of your choosing.

Thanks for watching and listening.




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3427false514fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-the-oldest-hagaddahs-to-a-hasidic-sedar-that-ends-4am-david-akerman-yiddishkeit--70962135
Frieda and  @_yiddishkeit  discuss the seder with a mix of amazing haggadah illustrations and childhood memories.
 
CHAPTERS 
0:00 intro
2:51 illustrated haggadah 
5:49 the opening rituals of the seder 
10:33 the steps of the seder
14:14 the symbolism of the matzah, maror, wine 
16:37 instructions in Yiddish 
21:04 the story of the Exodus 
23:41 David's childhood Haggadahs 
25:12 the literal-ness of the Sarajevo Haggadah 
30:36 Bird's Head Haggadah 
34:04 Washington Haggadah 
37:15 The white Kittel 
38:20 messianic images 
42:53 the four sons throughout history 
51:26 Hasidic depiction of The Exodus 
53:17 closing rituals of the seder
58:29 David's film about the haggadah


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70962135Sun, 29 Mar 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/QuMAGZuI5J0 Frieda and  @_yiddishkeit  discuss the seder with a mix of amazing haggadah illustrations and childhood memories.   CHAPTERS  0:00 intro 2:51 illustrated haggadah  5:49 the opening rituals of...
Frieda and  @_yiddishkeit  discuss the seder with a mix of amazing haggadah illustrations and childhood memories.
 
CHAPTERS 
0:00 intro
2:51 illustrated haggadah 
5:49 the opening rituals of the seder 
10:33 the steps of the seder
14:14 the symbolism of the matzah, maror, wine 
16:37 instructions in Yiddish 
21:04 the story of the Exodus 
23:41 David's childhood Haggadahs 
25:12 the literal-ness of the Sarajevo Haggadah 
30:36 Bird's Head Haggadah 
34:04 Washington Haggadah 
37:15 The white Kittel 
38:20 messianic images 
42:53 the four sons throughout history 
51:26 Hasidic depiction of The Exodus 
53:17 closing rituals of the seder
58:29 David's film about the haggadah


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3600false513fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-hasidic-passover-memories--70777473
Hasidic Jews go hard for Passover. The goal is not to come into any contact with bread. But this has turned into a full half-year operation for some, like my family. Here I talk about my childhood memories in Kiryas Joel, preparing for Passover. The methodical cleaning, then opening the Passover kitchen, then cooking everything from scratch for the holiday. It was a lot! My favorite part was definitely the cooking, the moment everything was done, and the fresh, hot, half-raw, piping bread after it was all over!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70777473Wed, 25 Mar 2026 11:00:05 +0000Frieda Vizelvideo link to this trip down memory lane: https://youtu.be/S3c7Px2jMRo Hasidic Jews go hard for Passover. The goal is not to come into any contact with bread. But this has turned into a full half-year operation for some, like my family. Here I talk...
Hasidic Jews go hard for Passover. The goal is not to come into any contact with bread. But this has turned into a full half-year operation for some, like my family. Here I talk about my childhood memories in Kiryas Joel, preparing for Passover. The methodical cleaning, then opening the Passover kitchen, then cooking everything from scratch for the holiday. It was a lot! My favorite part was definitely the cooking, the moment everything was done, and the fresh, hot, half-raw, piping bread after it was all over!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2370false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/baily-prepares-for-passover-comedian-leah-forster--70777572
This is comedy.

Baily is the character of the famous Jewish comedian Leah Forster.

I love Baily. She is very kind to me and will help me find a husband soon. She also very willingly shares about her Hasidic life. She's now extremely busy preparing for passover. Hasidic Jews go all out cleaning, cooking, shopping for Passover. To make things easier, Baily went glutton free for a whole year. She has a lot of ideas of how to cut corners and make things easier while she juggles her busy household. She also has very particular ideas about what marriage should be about, and her approach to Passover is not conventional either.

All of this is comedy. For a more serious take on Passover, I have done a video where I reflect on my Passover memories. Check that out here:

https://youtu.be/S3c7Px2jMRo

For more from Baily, see my 3 other interviews with Leah Forster here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycwOheypSNe9u6-MgzdEXO2A

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70777572Sun, 22 Mar 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda Vizelvideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/XLDwhIRumwU This is comedy. Baily is the character of the famous Jewish comedian Leah Forster. I love Baily. She is very kind to me and will help me find a husband soon. She also very willingly shares...
This is comedy.

Baily is the character of the famous Jewish comedian Leah Forster.

I love Baily. She is very kind to me and will help me find a husband soon. She also very willingly shares about her Hasidic life. She's now extremely busy preparing for passover. Hasidic Jews go all out cleaning, cooking, shopping for Passover. To make things easier, Baily went glutton free for a whole year. She has a lot of ideas of how to cut corners and make things easier while she juggles her busy household. She also has very particular ideas about what marriage should be about, and her approach to Passover is not conventional either.

All of this is comedy. For a more serious take on Passover, I have done a video where I reflect on my Passover memories. Check that out here:

https://youtu.be/S3c7Px2jMRo

For more from Baily, see my 3 other interviews with Leah Forster here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycwOheypSNe9u6-MgzdEXO2A

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2730false512fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-experience-as-a-pediatric-pulminologist-with-the-hasidic-population-dr-lynne-quittel--69950132
What happens when modern medicine meets a tight-knit Hasidic world?
In this long-form conversation, Frieda Vizel speaks with Dr. Lynne Quittell, a pediatric pulmonologist with more than 40 years of experience and decades of close work with Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish families. Dr. Quittell has practiced at world-renowned institutions, including Children’s Hospital of New York and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and brings rare insight into how medical care unfolds inside insular religious communities.

Much of the discussion centers on Dr. Quittell’s experience treating Hasidic patients and navigating the cultural realities that shape medical decisions. She reflects on what she deeply appreciated about the community, including its extraordinary sense of responsibility, mutual aid, and care for vulnerable children. At the same time, she speaks honestly about the challenges: stigma around genetic disease, tensions between medical transparency and communal norms, and the frustrations physicians face when science collides with deeply held cultural expectations. Dr. Quittell emphasizes that effective care requires humility, cultural literacy, and respect for patient autonomy rather than coercion.

The conversation covers cystic fibrosis (CF), Dr. Quittell’s medical specialty and an area where she has seen enormous change over the course of her career. She explains how advances in treatment have dramatically improved life expectancy and quality of life for patients, while also exploring the social and emotional dimensions of living with CF. Particular attention is given to dating, marriage, fertility, and family planning, especially within Orthodox communities where childbearing is central to adult life. Dr. Quittell discusses the reality that most men with CF are infertile, the complexities surrounding IVF, and the heavy emotional burden young people carry when deciding whether and how to disclose a life-threatening illness.

Throughout the interview, Dr. Quittell reflects on long-term relationships with patients and families, some spanning decades, and the emotional weight of caring for children with chronic illness. She shares how community support often functions as a form of medicine itself, while also acknowledging the toll such work takes on physicians. The discussion concludes with reflections on end-of-life decision-making, evolving physician-patient dynamics, and the ethical responsibility to meet patients where they are.
Referenced in this interview:

Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus on end-of-life decision-making
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTfxxSyDfzc/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Interview with pediatrician Dr. Howard Rosman
https://youtu.be/TkUS0jzJci4?si=5DYx-4FTzSCBeXyP

Sound Bites:
“Community is its own medicine.”
“Most men with CF are infertile.”
“It taught me to be really accepting.”

Keywords:
Hasidic community, Orthodox Judaism, pediatric pulmonology, cystic fibrosis, genetic disease, cultural sensitivity, chronic illness, infertility, IVF, medical ethics, community support, physician-patient relationship

Notable takeaways:
-Cultural norms heavily influence medical decisions
-The Hasidic community often provides extraordinary support for vulnerable children
-Life expectancy for CF patients is now in the mid-50s
-Dating and disclosure are major challenges for people living with CF
-Long-term physician-patient relationships create deep emotional bonds
Follow Frieda Vizel:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/FriedaVizel
Website: friedavizel.com
An audio-only version of this interview is available on podcast platforms.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69950132Sun, 15 Mar 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelLink to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/kP_NgV7y_Cs What happens when modern medicine meets a tight-knit Hasidic world? In this long-form conversation, Frieda Vizel speaks with Dr. Lynne Quittell, a pediatric pulmonologist with more...
What happens when modern medicine meets a tight-knit Hasidic world?
In this long-form conversation, Frieda Vizel speaks with Dr. Lynne Quittell, a pediatric pulmonologist with more than 40 years of experience and decades of close work with Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish families. Dr. Quittell has practiced at world-renowned institutions, including Children’s Hospital of New York and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and brings rare insight into how medical care unfolds inside insular religious communities.

Much of the discussion centers on Dr. Quittell’s experience treating Hasidic patients and navigating the cultural realities that shape medical decisions. She reflects on what she deeply appreciated about the community, including its extraordinary sense of responsibility, mutual aid, and care for vulnerable children. At the same time, she speaks honestly about the challenges: stigma around genetic disease, tensions between medical transparency and communal norms, and the frustrations physicians face when science collides with deeply held cultural expectations. Dr. Quittell emphasizes that effective care requires humility, cultural literacy, and respect for patient autonomy rather than coercion.

The conversation covers cystic fibrosis (CF), Dr. Quittell’s medical specialty and an area where she has seen enormous change over the course of her career. She explains how advances in treatment have dramatically improved life expectancy and quality of life for patients, while also exploring the social and emotional dimensions of living with CF. Particular attention is given to dating, marriage, fertility, and family planning, especially within Orthodox communities where childbearing is central to adult life. Dr. Quittell discusses the reality that most men with CF are infertile, the complexities surrounding IVF, and the heavy emotional burden young people carry when deciding whether and how to disclose a life-threatening illness.

Throughout the interview, Dr. Quittell reflects on long-term relationships with patients and families, some spanning decades, and the emotional weight of caring for children with chronic illness. She shares how community support often functions as a form of medicine itself, while also acknowledging the toll such work takes on physicians. The discussion concludes with reflections on end-of-life decision-making, evolving physician-patient dynamics, and the ethical responsibility to meet patients where they are.
Referenced in this interview:

Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus on end-of-life decision-making
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTfxxSyDfzc/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Interview with pediatrician Dr. Howard Rosman
https://youtu.be/TkUS0jzJci4?si=5DYx-4FTzSCBeXyP

Sound Bites:
“Community is its own medicine.”
“Most men with CF are infertile.”
“It taught me to be really accepting.”

Keywords:
Hasidic community, Orthodox Judaism, pediatric pulmonology, cystic fibrosis, genetic disease, cultural sensitivity, chronic illness, infertility, IVF, medical ethics, community support, physician-patient relationship

Notable takeaways:
-Cultural norms heavily influence medical decisions
-The Hasidic community often provides extraordinary support for vulnerable children
-Life expectancy for CF patients is now in the mid-50s
-Dating and disclosure are major challenges for people living with CF
-Long-term physician-patient relationships create deep emotional bonds
Follow Frieda Vizel:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/FriedaVizel
Website: friedavizel.com
An audio-only version of this interview is available on podcast platforms.

Become a supporter of this podcast:...]]>4545false511fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-the-hospital-bedside--70344513https://youtu.be/Biqnh3CZIFo

I have so many thoughts and feelings about illness and being ex-Hasidic. About losing community support, about how my mother is fighting for her health, about returning to be at her bedside and wanting to be there but also fearing the ptsd of some rituals. This video cropped out of my high holiday season time spent with my mother. 

Many thanks to my editor Steve Milligan for the beautiful edit.https://www.instagram.com/shootitsteve/
Many thanks to the wonderful Youtuber Yiddishkeit for helping so much with this video. Follow him  @_yiddishkeit 
Thanks to all the kind and diligent medical professionals​
Thanks to Chesed 24/7, Satmar Bikur Cholim, and all the other wonderful Jewish charity organizations. 
Thanks to my family, for arranging everything and the love

The period that my mother was in the hospital was the most unbelievably surreal and draining. It felt like one long, terrifying dream. I'm so grateful to everyone whose kindness touched us during that time.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70344513Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/Biqnh3CZIFo I have so many thoughts and feelings about illness and being ex-Hasidic. About losing community support, about how my mother is fighting for her health, about returning to be at her bedside and...https://youtu.be/Biqnh3CZIFo

I have so many thoughts and feelings about illness and being ex-Hasidic. About losing community support, about how my mother is fighting for her health, about returning to be at her bedside and wanting to be there but also fearing the ptsd of some rituals. This video cropped out of my high holiday season time spent with my mother. 

Many thanks to my editor Steve Milligan for the beautiful edit.https://www.instagram.com/shootitsteve/
Many thanks to the wonderful Youtuber Yiddishkeit for helping so much with this video. Follow him  @_yiddishkeit 
Thanks to all the kind and diligent medical professionals​
Thanks to Chesed 24/7, Satmar Bikur Cholim, and all the other wonderful Jewish charity organizations. 
Thanks to my family, for arranging everything and the love

The period that my mother was in the hospital was the most unbelievably surreal and draining. It felt like one long, terrifying dream. I'm so grateful to everyone whose kindness touched us during that time.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2054false510fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/just-a-messenger-a-jewish-interpreter-at-international-organizations--70108249
Dan is a Jewish interpreter who immigrated from the Soviet Union. He believes his Soviet past taught him important lessons about recognizing when society takes a wrong turn. He reached out to me to share his story, and I invited him for an in-depth interview. We discussed his Soviet upbringing, his life journey, and his experiences as a Jewish interpreter. Dan has thoughtful criticisms of contemporary human rights organizations (alongside genuine appreciation for their work) and feels it's important to share his unique perspective.

If you would like to get in touch with Dan, you can reach him here:
pr.pleischner@gmail.com

This video focuses specifically on our discussion about Dan's work as a Jewish interpreter. You can watch our complete interview here:
From a Soviet upbringing to Jewish identity | Dan’s story
https://youtu.be/Nmw9jZM2aYU


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70108249Wed, 04 Mar 2026 12:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/n8g9RwmGwF8 Dan is a Jewish interpreter who immigrated from the Soviet Union. He believes his Soviet past taught him important lessons about recognizing when society takes a wrong turn. He reached out...
Dan is a Jewish interpreter who immigrated from the Soviet Union. He believes his Soviet past taught him important lessons about recognizing when society takes a wrong turn. He reached out to me to share his story, and I invited him for an in-depth interview. We discussed his Soviet upbringing, his life journey, and his experiences as a Jewish interpreter. Dan has thoughtful criticisms of contemporary human rights organizations (alongside genuine appreciation for their work) and feels it's important to share his unique perspective.

If you would like to get in touch with Dan, you can reach him here:
pr.pleischner@gmail.com

This video focuses specifically on our discussion about Dan's work as a Jewish interpreter. You can watch our complete interview here:
From a Soviet upbringing to Jewish identity | Dan’s story
https://youtu.be/Nmw9jZM2aYU


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1806false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-a-soviet-upbringing-to-jewish-identity-dan-s-story--70015317
The story of a Jew who grew up in the Soviet Union and learned little about his Judaism but some other hard lessons that would shape his life.

Dan is a high-level interpreter and a thoughtful, intelligent man. He reached out to me after noticing how different his experience as a Soviet Jew was from mine. I grew up deeply engaged with my Jewishness, while he grew up almost entirely disconnected from it. Our conversation convinced me that Dan's story needed to be documented and shared, so I invited him onto my podcast. What I heard was remarkable: the horrors his family endured, the gripping archival material he inherited documenting his grandparents' ordeals, and his unique perspective from working inside contemporary human rights organizations and other governmental bodies. Dan believes the progressive mission, which he sees as well-intentioned, is nonetheless misguided and heading toward dangerous territory. He also reflects candidly on the antisemitism he's encountered in his work as a translator in a world increasingly hostile to Israel.

If you would like to get in touch with Dan, you can write to him at: pr.pleischner@gmail.com
Want more on Soviet Jewry?

My interview with Anna Shternshis
https://youtu.be/hKN0_75EuqE
My interview with Igor Golyak
https://youtu.be/E5_n3p3Oto0
Leave a comment with your thoughts!


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70015317Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/Nmw9jZM2aYU The story of a Jew who grew up in the Soviet Union and learned little about his Judaism but some other hard lessons that would shape his life. Dan is a high-level interpreter and a thoughtful,...
The story of a Jew who grew up in the Soviet Union and learned little about his Judaism but some other hard lessons that would shape his life.

Dan is a high-level interpreter and a thoughtful, intelligent man. He reached out to me after noticing how different his experience as a Soviet Jew was from mine. I grew up deeply engaged with my Jewishness, while he grew up almost entirely disconnected from it. Our conversation convinced me that Dan's story needed to be documented and shared, so I invited him onto my podcast. What I heard was remarkable: the horrors his family endured, the gripping archival material he inherited documenting his grandparents' ordeals, and his unique perspective from working inside contemporary human rights organizations and other governmental bodies. Dan believes the progressive mission, which he sees as well-intentioned, is nonetheless misguided and heading toward dangerous territory. He also reflects candidly on the antisemitism he's encountered in his work as a translator in a world increasingly hostile to Israel.

If you would like to get in touch with Dan, you can write to him at: pr.pleischner@gmail.com
Want more on Soviet Jewry?

My interview with Anna Shternshis
https://youtu.be/hKN0_75EuqE
My interview with Igor Golyak
https://youtu.be/E5_n3p3Oto0
Leave a comment with your thoughts!


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>6742false59fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/mayor-mamdani-and-the-jews-jacob-kornbluh--70162731
Jacob Kornbluh is a Hasidic reporter covering the Mamdani beat at a moment when Zohran Mamdani has become a lightning rod in Jewish communities. For many, Mamdani represents fear, anger, political anxiety, and deep uncertainty about where New York is headed. And in the middle of that storm is Kornbluh.

Recently featured in The New York Times, Kornbluh occupies a complicated position. He reports on power while belonging to a community that often feels scrutinized by power. During COVID, some Hasidic critics accused him of “reporting on” the community to city officials. That tension hasn’t disappeared. If anything, it’s intensified.

I went into this interview not knowing what to expect. As a Hasidic man speaking with me, and about issues that feel raw and personal. This conversation surprised me and left me with an invite to travel across the world to a wedding. You never know!

You can follow Jacob Kornbluh here:
📰 Reporter at The Forward
https://forward.com/author/jacob-kornbluh/
🐦 Twitter / X
https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh
🗞 His recent feature in The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/nyregion/jacob-kornbluh-mamdani-hasidic-jewish-reporter.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I1A.Lkpv.51t0435BwIlj&smid=url-share

As always, I’m curious what you think. Please leave a comment!
Frieda.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70162731Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/4MPf67ftXME Jacob Kornbluh is a Hasidic reporter covering the Mamdani beat at a moment when Zohran Mamdani has become a lightning rod in Jewish communities. For many, Mamdani represents fear, anger,...
Jacob Kornbluh is a Hasidic reporter covering the Mamdani beat at a moment when Zohran Mamdani has become a lightning rod in Jewish communities. For many, Mamdani represents fear, anger, political anxiety, and deep uncertainty about where New York is headed. And in the middle of that storm is Kornbluh.

Recently featured in The New York Times, Kornbluh occupies a complicated position. He reports on power while belonging to a community that often feels scrutinized by power. During COVID, some Hasidic critics accused him of “reporting on” the community to city officials. That tension hasn’t disappeared. If anything, it’s intensified.

I went into this interview not knowing what to expect. As a Hasidic man speaking with me, and about issues that feel raw and personal. This conversation surprised me and left me with an invite to travel across the world to a wedding. You never know!

You can follow Jacob Kornbluh here:
📰 Reporter at The Forward
https://forward.com/author/jacob-kornbluh/
🐦 Twitter / X
https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh
🗞 His recent feature in The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/nyregion/jacob-kornbluh-mamdani-hasidic-jewish-reporter.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I1A.Lkpv.51t0435BwIlj&smid=url-share

As always, I’m curious what you think. Please leave a comment!
Frieda.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3190false58fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-beloved-bubby-answers-your-questions-pearl-from-williamsburg--70068818
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/70068818Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this full Pearl repost: https://youtu.be/Uo5mf0_1izY
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4485false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/living-and-leaving-jehova-s-witness-miriam-vidal--69813714
In this interview, I speak with Miriam Vidal about her childhood growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and her eventual decision to leave the faith.

As a Hasidic child growing up in Kiryas Joel, there was a strange building behind my house that we simply called “the church.” Every Saturday, rows of cars would pull up, and we kids would stand by the gate, watching and waving. Only years later, after I had left my own religious community, did I learn that this building was actually a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.

Miriam was one of the people attending services there.

In this conversation, Miriam shares what it was like to grow up inside the Jehovah’s Witness community: the rules, the rhythms of daily life, the sense of belonging, and the limitations placed on childhood, education, and social life. We talk about her memories of the Kingdom Hall in Kiryas Joel, the wider culture of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and what it meant; emotionally and psychologicall... to leave such a structured religious world.

This interview is also about what comes after leaving: identity, belief, grief, freedom, and the slow work of figuring out who you are when the framework you grew up in falls away.
As someone deeply interested in religious subcultures, exit narratives, and the sociology of faith, this conversation felt especially meaningful.... almost like closing a loop that began when I was a child in my Shabbos dress, waving at strangers I didn’t yet understand.

Topics we cover include:

-Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness
-Family life, schooling, holidays, and missionizing
-The Kingdom Hall in Kiryas Joel and Miriam’s memories of it
-Community, ritual, and belonging
-Leaving a high-control religious environment
-The emotional and psychological impact of exiting
-Spiritual life and identity after leaving
-Reflections on religion, culture, and comparison with other faith communities

Want more?

Watch my video about the Jehovah's Witness Church in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/naUJMITJ5sY

Watch my interview with Martha Ross, who left the Amish:
https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4

My own recounting of what it's like to grow up in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/uHu_17N9GdE
The story of Anna Shternshis:
https://youtu.be/hKN0_75EuqE
Stay tuned for more stories of subcultures and religious groups.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69813714Sun, 15 Feb 2026 12:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelLink to video version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/2iPiYwftPyg In this interview, I speak with Miriam Vidal about her childhood growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and her eventual decision to leave the faith. As a Hasidic child growing up...
In this interview, I speak with Miriam Vidal about her childhood growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and her eventual decision to leave the faith.

As a Hasidic child growing up in Kiryas Joel, there was a strange building behind my house that we simply called “the church.” Every Saturday, rows of cars would pull up, and we kids would stand by the gate, watching and waving. Only years later, after I had left my own religious community, did I learn that this building was actually a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.

Miriam was one of the people attending services there.

In this conversation, Miriam shares what it was like to grow up inside the Jehovah’s Witness community: the rules, the rhythms of daily life, the sense of belonging, and the limitations placed on childhood, education, and social life. We talk about her memories of the Kingdom Hall in Kiryas Joel, the wider culture of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and what it meant; emotionally and psychologicall... to leave such a structured religious world.

This interview is also about what comes after leaving: identity, belief, grief, freedom, and the slow work of figuring out who you are when the framework you grew up in falls away.
As someone deeply interested in religious subcultures, exit narratives, and the sociology of faith, this conversation felt especially meaningful.... almost like closing a loop that began when I was a child in my Shabbos dress, waving at strangers I didn’t yet understand.

Topics we cover include:

-Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness
-Family life, schooling, holidays, and missionizing
-The Kingdom Hall in Kiryas Joel and Miriam’s memories of it
-Community, ritual, and belonging
-Leaving a high-control religious environment
-The emotional and psychological impact of exiting
-Spiritual life and identity after leaving
-Reflections on religion, culture, and comparison with other faith communities

Want more?

Watch my video about the Jehovah's Witness Church in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/naUJMITJ5sY

Watch my interview with Martha Ross, who left the Amish:
https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4

My own recounting of what it's like to grow up in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/uHu_17N9GdE
The story of Anna Shternshis:
https://youtu.be/hKN0_75EuqE
Stay tuned for more stories of subcultures and religious groups.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3872false57fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/reading-your-comments-and-more-stories-kinderlech-3--69486406
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69486406Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:00:04 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version: https://youtu.be/MyGxlBywfAc
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2262false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/surviving-the-bondi-beach-terror-attack-rabbi-yosef-eichenblatt--69417856
This video is le’ilui nishmas (dedicated to the souls) of the dear people lost at Bondi Beach, and dedicated to their loving families in mourning. May the families find moments of light in these unbearably hard days. My heart is with them.

In this conversation, I speak with Sydney resident Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt, who shares his oral history of the Chanukah 2025 attack in Sydney, an event his family lived through and one in which his daughter’s life was miraculously saved.

Rabbi Eichenblatt speaks not only about fear and shock, but about what came after. He recalls the night following the attack, sitting at home with his family, shaken and uncertain, and consciously turning toward faith rather than retreat. Drawing deeply on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he describes an approach rooted in responsibility, hope, and the idea of being a messenger to spread light, especially after darkness.

This is a testimony shaped by loss and danger, but also by profound optimism, a belief that light is not passive and that faith asks something active of us, even in the most fragile moments.

Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mindfulrabbi/

Video from the day of the attack:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSR06KeEg2i/


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69417856Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/css7bPGITTE This video is le’ilui nishmas (dedicated to the souls) of the dear people lost at Bondi Beach, and dedicated to their loving families in mourning. May the families find moments of light in...
This video is le’ilui nishmas (dedicated to the souls) of the dear people lost at Bondi Beach, and dedicated to their loving families in mourning. May the families find moments of light in these unbearably hard days. My heart is with them.

In this conversation, I speak with Sydney resident Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt, who shares his oral history of the Chanukah 2025 attack in Sydney, an event his family lived through and one in which his daughter’s life was miraculously saved.

Rabbi Eichenblatt speaks not only about fear and shock, but about what came after. He recalls the night following the attack, sitting at home with his family, shaken and uncertain, and consciously turning toward faith rather than retreat. Drawing deeply on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he describes an approach rooted in responsibility, hope, and the idea of being a messenger to spread light, especially after darkness.

This is a testimony shaped by loss and danger, but also by profound optimism, a belief that light is not passive and that faith asks something active of us, even in the most fragile moments.

Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mindfulrabbi/

Video from the day of the attack:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSR06KeEg2i/


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3374false56fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/jewish-children-don-t-fight-1977-yiddish-reader-story-2--69453010
Let me read to you some Yiddish from 1977 and unpack the values and worldview of the Hasidic young girls through the moral lessons presented in this book. See how they were introduced to social values of obedience, kindness, respect to the elders, safety, trust in each other, modesty, and more.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69453010Wed, 28 Jan 2026 12:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version here: https://youtu.be/F9xzvdkMXMI Let me read to you some Yiddish from 1977 and unpack the values and worldview of the Hasidic young girls through the moral lessons presented in this book. See how they were introduced to social values...
Let me read to you some Yiddish from 1977 and unpack the values and worldview of the Hasidic young girls through the moral lessons presented in this book. See how they were introduced to social values of obedience, kindness, respect to the elders, safety, trust in each other, modesty, and more.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1055false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-wedding-night-documentary-rachel-elitzur--67483745
What happens when intimacy is expected before it’s understood?


The Wedding Night is a striking and deeply intimate documentary by Orthodox filmmaker Rachel Elitzur. It explores a rarely discussed reality inside ultra-Orthodox Jewish life: couples who marry after only a handful of supervised dates, then face the expectation of consummating their marriage on the wedding night.


The film grows out of Elitzur’s own traumatic wedding-night experience, which led her to seek out others with similar stories. Many participants felt unable to appear on camera, so their voices are heard anonymously, paired with carefully staged reenactments performed by actors. A very unusual method of storytelling. In the shorter version published in the New York Times in December 2025, the actors were totally removed.


📰 Here is a shorter version of this story appeared in The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/opinion/ultra-orthodox-jewish-wedding-night.html
🎥 Here is the full extended documentary The Wedding Night can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lOnex1o5h8&t=5s
🎬 Instagram link to filmmaker: Rachel Elitzur
https://www.instagram.com/elitzurachel/

This film connects to broader conversations I’ve explored on this channel about sex, intimacy, silence, and expectation in Orthodox and Hasidic communities:

• How Hasidic teens learn about sex
https://youtu.be/Gk917OpgS_Q
• My own painful experience leaving an arranged marriage
https://youtu.be/GvLO9Vhid44
• An intimacy coach shares delicate, rarely voiced perspectives
https://youtu.be/AUdw8W71Gv8
• Pearl, a Hasidic woman, speaks about her own and her children’s matchmaker marriages
https://youtu.be/yQ_GgbC9RD4

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67483745Sun, 25 Jan 2026 12:00:12 +0000Frieda Vizelvideo version of this episode: https://youtu.be/RK7_--5f0Tc What happens when intimacy is expected before it’s understood? The Wedding Night is a striking and deeply intimate documentary by Orthodox filmmaker Rachel Elitzur. It explores a rarely...
What happens when intimacy is expected before it’s understood?


The Wedding Night is a striking and deeply intimate documentary by Orthodox filmmaker Rachel Elitzur. It explores a rarely discussed reality inside ultra-Orthodox Jewish life: couples who marry after only a handful of supervised dates, then face the expectation of consummating their marriage on the wedding night.


The film grows out of Elitzur’s own traumatic wedding-night experience, which led her to seek out others with similar stories. Many participants felt unable to appear on camera, so their voices are heard anonymously, paired with carefully staged reenactments performed by actors. A very unusual method of storytelling. In the shorter version published in the New York Times in December 2025, the actors were totally removed.


📰 Here is a shorter version of this story appeared in The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/opinion/ultra-orthodox-jewish-wedding-night.html
🎥 Here is the full extended documentary The Wedding Night can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lOnex1o5h8&t=5s
🎬 Instagram link to filmmaker: Rachel Elitzur
https://www.instagram.com/elitzurachel/

This film connects to broader conversations I’ve explored on this channel about sex, intimacy, silence, and expectation in Orthodox and Hasidic communities:

• How Hasidic teens learn about sex
https://youtu.be/Gk917OpgS_Q
• My own painful experience leaving an arranged marriage
https://youtu.be/GvLO9Vhid44
• An intimacy coach shares delicate, rarely voiced perspectives
https://youtu.be/AUdw8W71Gv8
• Pearl, a Hasidic woman, speaks about her own and her children’s matchmaker marriages
https://youtu.be/yQ_GgbC9RD4

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2664false55fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-jehova-s-witness-church-inside-the-jewish-village-kiryas-joel--69487234
The article is here: https://friedavizel.com/2014/06/06/a-church-in-kiryas-joel

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69487234Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:00:09 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version of this episode: https://youtu.be/naUJMITJ5sY The article is here: https://friedavizel.com/2014/06/06/a-church-in-kiryas-joel
The article is here: https://friedavizel.com/2014/06/06/a-church-in-kiryas-joel

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2644false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-kinds-of-industries-hasidic-jews-work-in--69487502
One of my earliest video and, in my view, an important one to repost at this time. Forgive the repost. Lots of new content coming soon.




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69487502Sun, 18 Jan 2026 12:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version of this episode: https://youtu.be/ClAU6WJfj8U One of my earliest video and, in my view, an important one to repost at this time. Forgive the repost. Lots of new content coming soon.
One of my earliest video and, in my view, an important one to repost at this time. Forgive the repost. Lots of new content coming soon.




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>851false54fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/watching-and-reacting-to-the-tyler-oliveria-viral-video-on-kiryas-joel--69469171
As someone who grew up in Kiryas Joel and left the fold, I have a lot to say on this Hasidic village. There's good and bad. There are issues, and yes there are valid criticisms on its relationship to the welfare system, although this doesn't take away from the facts: that this is a community where the vast majority of men are gainfully employed and work incredibly hard. The stereotypes of this community as "welfare queens" whose men study torah and don't work is so damaging and not true.  @TylerOliveira 's recent video will so deeply reinforce these misconceptions. I've done a video where I went through the phone book and showed the extensive numbers of businesses Hasidim are into. It's so sad that his platform will create so much misrepresentation.

This is my first take reaction to his video. Please forgive my early morning rants and rambles. I am watching it raw with you. I find it quite upsetting and ignorant. I hope my deep feelings that this community is complicated, imperfect, should be criticized but is also often misrepresented comes through. This is long - well Tyler's video is long.

Please watch some of my other videos, especially my video on how Hasidim earn a living.
https://youtu.be/UXXOGYqbK5o

What it was like for me to grow up in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/uHu_17N9GdE

My interview with Fradel Newman, lifetime resident of Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/HoTzWaF7dU8

Interview with civil rights lawyer Michael Sussman, who can really speak for some of the dark side
https://youtu.be/jcz0xmkm10s

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69469171Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:21:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version here: https://youtu.be/ZlWRN4jo-CA  As someone who grew up in Kiryas Joel and left the fold, I have a lot to say on this Hasidic village. There's good and bad. There are issues, and yes there are valid criticisms on its relationship to...
As someone who grew up in Kiryas Joel and left the fold, I have a lot to say on this Hasidic village. There's good and bad. There are issues, and yes there are valid criticisms on its relationship to the welfare system, although this doesn't take away from the facts: that this is a community where the vast majority of men are gainfully employed and work incredibly hard. The stereotypes of this community as "welfare queens" whose men study torah and don't work is so damaging and not true.  @TylerOliveira 's recent video will so deeply reinforce these misconceptions. I've done a video where I went through the phone book and showed the extensive numbers of businesses Hasidim are into. It's so sad that his platform will create so much misrepresentation.

This is my first take reaction to his video. Please forgive my early morning rants and rambles. I am watching it raw with you. I find it quite upsetting and ignorant. I hope my deep feelings that this community is complicated, imperfect, should be criticized but is also often misrepresented comes through. This is long - well Tyler's video is long.

Please watch some of my other videos, especially my video on how Hasidim earn a living.
https://youtu.be/UXXOGYqbK5o

What it was like for me to grow up in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/uHu_17N9GdE

My interview with Fradel Newman, lifetime resident of Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/HoTzWaF7dU8

Interview with civil rights lawyer Michael Sussman, who can really speak for some of the dark side
https://youtu.be/jcz0xmkm10s

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5876false53fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/an-eye-opening-1977-yiddish-book-of-female-socialization-1--69266470
Follow along with the pdf of the story here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCIYkr489nAvNDZQapUJ9UzTdmeCpt-8/view?usp=sharing 

Let me read to you some Yiddish from 1977 and unpack the values and worldview of the Hasidic young girls through the moral lessons presented in this book. See how they were introduced to social values of obedience, kindness, respect to the elders, safety, trust in each other, modesty, and more. 

Please let me know what you think I missed.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69266470Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:43:09 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version of this episode: https://youtu.be/qUDGHnwTUPw Follow along with the pdf of the story here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCIYkr489nAvNDZQapUJ9UzTdmeCpt-8/view?usp=sharing  Let me read to you some Yiddish from 1977 and unpack the...
Follow along with the pdf of the story here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCIYkr489nAvNDZQapUJ9UzTdmeCpt-8/view?usp=sharing 

Let me read to you some Yiddish from 1977 and unpack the values and worldview of the Hasidic young girls through the moral lessons presented in this book. See how they were introduced to social values of obedience, kindness, respect to the elders, safety, trust in each other, modesty, and more. 

Please let me know what you think I missed.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2092false5bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-original-dissidents-of-kiryas-joel-michael-sussman--68806532
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 that, to many of us growing up there, his name became part of the folklore. There was even a dissident synagogue nicknamed the Sussman Shul.

This conversation explores the early legal wars that shaped Kiryas Joel: battles over governance, power, dissent, and most famously, the creation of a public school for children with special needs. That case—Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet—went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and sits at the uneasy intersection of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

I also approach this story personally. Kiryas Joel is where I grew up and spent 25 formative years of my life. I married at 18, became a mother to my son Seth shortly after, and absorbed these conflicts as background noise to childhood—names, sides, “politics” that hovered at the edges of daily life. As an adult, I’ve returned to this history with new questions and a deeper curiosity about how insular religious subcultures navigate American law.
This interview is part of a broader attempt to document the oral histories of Kiryas Joel’s early years. I have made repeated efforts to reach figures from the other side of these disputes to record their recollections as well, but so far without success. That invitation remains open.

If you want to go deeper into this story, here are essential resources:
Book — American Shtetl
https://amzn.to/49Lmz5z

Documentary — City of Joel
https://amzn.to/4soIDKC

Archival footage collected by dissident Joseph Waldman:
https://www.youtube.com/@thekingofaron

Website for Michael Sussman:
https://www.sussman.law/

This is a story about Kiryas Joel, but it’s also a story about America: about pluralism, law, dissent, and the price of making space for radically different ways of life under one constitutional roof.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68806532Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 that, to many of us growing up there, his name became part of the folklore. There was even a dissident synagogue nicknamed the Sussman Shul.

This conversation explores the early legal wars that shaped Kiryas Joel: battles over governance, power, dissent, and most famously, the creation of a public school for children with special needs. That case—Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet—went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and sits at the uneasy intersection of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

I also approach this story personally. Kiryas Joel is where I grew up and spent 25 formative years of my life. I married at 18, became a mother to my son Seth shortly after, and absorbed these conflicts as background noise to childhood—names, sides, “politics” that hovered at the edges of daily life. As an adult, I’ve returned to this history with new questions and a deeper curiosity about how insular religious subcultures navigate American law.
This interview is part of a broader attempt to document the oral histories of Kiryas Joel’s early years. I have made repeated efforts to reach figures from the other side of these disputes to record their recollections as well, but so far without success. That invitation remains open.

If you want to go deeper into this story, here are essential resources:
Book — American Shtetl
https://amzn.to/49Lmz5z

Documentary — City of Joel
https://amzn.to/4soIDKC

Archival footage collected by dissident Joseph Waldman:
https://www.youtube.com/@thekingofaron

Website for Michael Sussman:
https://www.sussman.law/

This is a story about Kiryas Joel, but it’s also a story about America: about pluralism, law, dissent, and the price of making space for radically different ways of life under one constitutional roof.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4660false52fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-oral-histories-of-bukharian-jews-abe-and-mazal--69198810
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 the broader visit, I toured the neighborhood with Abe from @BukharianBites, visited the restaurant Nadezhda in Queens, and cooked a Chanukah treat called Hushquiliq with Mazal. This video focuses on the conversation itself—the personal history behind the food.

🔗 Follow Abe on Instagram: Bukharian Bites
https://www.instagram.com/bukharianbites/
🔗 Abe on Substack
https://substack.com/@bukharianbites
🔗 Abe on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@UCtWCGTdaMOF2eDiSJOXZ7yA

➡️ The short vlog about my trip to Queens to explore this community:
https://youtu.be/m2NT3r7rs20
➡️ My earlier video on Bukharyan Jewish tandoori bread baked in a clay oven:
https://youtu.be/UH3PnRYYquM?si=wZmb88p-6u9WHcLb


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69198810Sun, 04 Jan 2026 12:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 the broader visit, I toured the neighborhood with Abe from @BukharianBites, visited the restaurant Nadezhda in Queens, and cooked a Chanukah treat called Hushquiliq with Mazal. This video focuses on the conversation itself—the personal history behind the food.

🔗 Follow Abe on Instagram: Bukharian Bites
https://www.instagram.com/bukharianbites/
🔗 Abe on Substack
https://substack.com/@bukharianbites
🔗 Abe on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@UCtWCGTdaMOF2eDiSJOXZ7yA

➡️ The short vlog about my trip to Queens to explore this community:
https://youtu.be/m2NT3r7rs20
➡️ My earlier video on Bukharyan Jewish tandoori bread baked in a clay oven:
https://youtu.be/UH3PnRYYquM?si=wZmb88p-6u9WHcLb


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4026false51fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-most-candid-conversation-yet-on-the-avrum-rosenzweig-show--69199080https://youtu.be/1j7yKcjT4K8

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

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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/69199080Wed, 24 Dec 2025 20:39:12 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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/friedavizelbrooklynhttps://youtu.be/1j7yKcjT4K8

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

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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3640false4bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/laughing-through-cancer-leah-forster--68777801
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 conversation didn’t go where I expected, and we had a long, winding talk about all sorts of things, including illness, suffering, and faith. But many other things as well. My takeaway was that it’s often hard to talk about difficult things while they are happening. I pray for Leah’s daughter’s complete recovery, as well as for my mother’s. My mother has been doing so much better, and I thank you all so much for the prayers. Please pray for Leah’s daughter’s continued recovery. 

Please check out more of Leah!
She has a new book out: https://amzn.to/4pEJYuG
Find her on Instagram (she’s back!): https://www.instagram.com/leahforster/
My previous interview with Leah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQgG_Pzxazg&t
My first interview with Leah: https://youtu.be/92nDFiyfVU8 I love talking to comedians, and 

I’ve interviewed quite a few others, including Danielle Jacobs, Riki Rose, Modi Rosenfeld, Antonia Lassar, and of course, Leah! Please check them out here: https://studio.youtube.com/playlist/PLhW2QoO54ycxK9b4GLY9oGn38tXRPT0vQ/videos

Thanks so much to all of you for brightening and lightening dark days.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68777801Sun, 07 Dec 2025 05:05:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 conversation didn’t go where I expected, and we had a long, winding talk about all sorts of things, including illness, suffering, and faith. But many other things as well. My takeaway was that it’s often hard to talk about difficult things while they are happening. I pray for Leah’s daughter’s complete recovery, as well as for my mother’s. My mother has been doing so much better, and I thank you all so much for the prayers. Please pray for Leah’s daughter’s continued recovery. 

Please check out more of Leah!
She has a new book out: https://amzn.to/4pEJYuG
Find her on Instagram (she’s back!): https://www.instagram.com/leahforster/
My previous interview with Leah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQgG_Pzxazg&t
My first interview with Leah: https://youtu.be/92nDFiyfVU8 I love talking to comedians, and 

I’ve interviewed quite a few others, including Danielle Jacobs, Riki Rose, Modi Rosenfeld, Antonia Lassar, and of course, Leah! Please check them out here: https://studio.youtube.com/playlist/PLhW2QoO54ycxK9b4GLY9oGn38tXRPT0vQ/videos

Thanks so much to all of you for brightening and lightening dark days.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4898false433fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/bonus-livestream-why-i-posted-and-then-pulled-the-video-of-the-bride-dancing--68918265
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68918265Sun, 07 Dec 2025 00:00:09 +0000Frieda Vizelvideo link: https://youtube.com/live/OjxrGU4Ajbc
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2315false4bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/bonus-livestream-we-had-never-touched-then-came-our-wedding-night-rachel-elitzur-opdoc-discussion--68918304
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68918304Sat, 06 Dec 2025 23:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1797false4bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/jewish-law-on-abortion-and-inferitily-pt-2-r-ysoscher-katz--68606745
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 Hasidic Williamsburg and later left Hasidism while remaining within the Orthodox world. He has served as Senior Rabbi of the Prospect Heights Shul and is currently Chair of the Talmud Department at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Throughout his career, he has engaged with what he calls “cutting-edge issues” inside halachic discourse — including gender, sexual abuse, and other areas of communal tension. Many viewers also know his mother, Gita Katz, the sharp, unforgettable Hasidic woman featured in several of my videos. Rabbi Katz is her eldest, once considered a standout student in the Williamsburg community before charting his own path. Today he brings a rare mix of insider knowledge, rigorous training, and a willingness to tackle difficult conversations publicly. He also maintains an active presence on Facebook, where he moderates discussions that often get very heated.

Rabbi Katz’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ysoscher.katz

If this conversation resonates, you may also enjoy these related interviews:
Related Videos: 

• Part 1 with Rabbi Katz https://youtu.be/jjk5K5Rp6e4 -
• My earlier interview with Rabbi Katz on the Satmar Rebbe: https://youtu.be/8oVcC5z24c4
• The book I mentioned is 'I am Forbidden' by Anouk Markovits: https://amzn.to/49lfr09
• A Hasidic woman’s views on women’s issues — my interview with Pearl (and yes… Pearl is Gita’s close friend!) https://youtu.be/IaqonzHozVM

A note of thanks: Many thanks to all of you who are able to support this channel. If you do end-of-year giving, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover the cost of producing these videos. Many episodes cost far more to edit than YouTube pays in ad revenue, and the channel only continues because of the generosity of its viewers. Donate here: https://shorturl.at/WqXnL



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68606745Sun, 30 Nov 2025 12:00:12 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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:...
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 Hasidic Williamsburg and later left Hasidism while remaining within the Orthodox world. He has served as Senior Rabbi of the Prospect Heights Shul and is currently Chair of the Talmud Department at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Throughout his career, he has engaged with what he calls “cutting-edge issues” inside halachic discourse — including gender, sexual abuse, and other areas of communal tension. Many viewers also know his mother, Gita Katz, the sharp, unforgettable Hasidic woman featured in several of my videos. Rabbi Katz is her eldest, once considered a standout student in the Williamsburg community before charting his own path. Today he brings a rare mix of insider knowledge, rigorous training, and a willingness to tackle difficult conversations publicly. He also maintains an active presence on Facebook, where he moderates discussions that often get very heated.

Rabbi Katz’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ysoscher.katz

If this conversation resonates, you may also enjoy these related interviews:
Related Videos: 

• Part 1 with Rabbi Katz https://youtu.be/jjk5K5Rp6e4 -
• My earlier interview with Rabbi Katz on the Satmar Rebbe: https://youtu.be/8oVcC5z24c4
• The book I mentioned is 'I am Forbidden' by Anouk Markovits: https://amzn.to/49lfr09
• A Hasidic woman’s views on women’s issues — my interview with Pearl (and yes… Pearl is Gita’s close friend!) https://youtu.be/IaqonzHozVM

A note of thanks: Many thanks to all of you who are able to support this channel. If you do end-of-year giving, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover the cost of producing these videos. Many episodes cost far more to edit than YouTube pays in ad revenue, and the channel only continues because of the generosity of its viewers. Donate here: https://shorturl.at/WqXnL



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3656false432fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/jewish-law-on-contraception-masturbation-pt-1-r-ysoscher-katz--68606717
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 released for channel members and will soon be released for all. https://youtu.be/qMKonpTHj24

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 Hasidic Williamsburg and later left Hasidism while remaining within the Orthodox world. He has served as Senior Rabbi of the Prospect Heights Shul and is currently Chair of the Talmud Department at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Throughout his career, he has engaged with what he calls “cutting-edge issues” inside halachic discourse — including gender, sexual abuse, and other areas of communal tension.

Many viewers also know his mother, Gita Katz, the sharp, unforgettable Hasidic woman featured in several of my videos. Rabbi Katz is her eldest, once considered a standout student in the Williamsburg community before charting his own path. Today he brings a rare mix of insider knowledge, rigorous training, and a willingness to tackle difficult conversations publicly. He also maintains an active presence on Facebook, where he moderates discussions that often get very heated.

• Rabbi Katz’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ysoscher.katz

If this conversation resonates, you may also enjoy these related interviews:
Related Videos:

• Part 2 with Rabbi Katz (early release for channel members; coming soon to all viewers): https://youtu.be/qMKonpTHj24
• My earlier interview with Rabbi Katz on the Satmar Rebbe: https://youtu.be/8oVcC5z24c4
• My interview with Rabbi Katz’s mother, Gita Katz (about her life): https://youtu.be/2saQ0LEwZXQ
• A Hasidic woman’s views on women’s issues — my interview with Pearl (and yes… Pearl is Gita’s close friend!) https://youtu.be/IaqonzHozVM

A note of thanks:
Many thanks to all of you who are able to support this channel. If you do end-of-year giving, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover the cost of producing these videos. Many episodes cost far more to edit than YouTube pays in ad revenue, and the channel only continues because of the generosity of its viewers.
Donate here:
https://shorturl.at/WqXnL


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68606717Sun, 23 Nov 2025 12:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 released for channel members and will soon be released for all. https://youtu.be/qMKonpTHj24

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 Hasidic Williamsburg and later left Hasidism while remaining within the Orthodox world. He has served as Senior Rabbi of the Prospect Heights Shul and is currently Chair of the Talmud Department at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Throughout his career, he has engaged with what he calls “cutting-edge issues” inside halachic discourse — including gender, sexual abuse, and other areas of communal tension.

Many viewers also know his mother, Gita Katz, the sharp, unforgettable Hasidic woman featured in several of my videos. Rabbi Katz is her eldest, once considered a standout student in the Williamsburg community before charting his own path. Today he brings a rare mix of insider knowledge, rigorous training, and a willingness to tackle difficult conversations publicly. He also maintains an active presence on Facebook, where he moderates discussions that often get very heated.

• Rabbi Katz’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ysoscher.katz

If this conversation resonates, you may also enjoy these related interviews:
Related Videos:

• Part 2 with Rabbi Katz (early release for channel members; coming soon to all viewers): https://youtu.be/qMKonpTHj24
• My earlier interview with Rabbi Katz on the Satmar Rebbe: https://youtu.be/8oVcC5z24c4
• My interview with Rabbi Katz’s mother, Gita Katz (about her life): https://youtu.be/2saQ0LEwZXQ
• A Hasidic woman’s views on women’s issues — my interview with Pearl (and yes… Pearl is Gita’s close friend!) https://youtu.be/IaqonzHozVM

A note of thanks:
Many thanks to all of you who are able to support this channel. If you do end-of-year giving, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover the cost of producing these videos. Many episodes cost far more to edit than YouTube pays in ad revenue, and the channel only continues because of the generosity of its viewers.
Donate here:
https://shorturl.at/WqXnL


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3502false431fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-power-of-yiddish-children-s-stories-to-shape-our-world-miriam-udel--68332776
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 reflects the values and anxieties of its moment, and how it teaches kids who they are supposed to be. It’s a conversation about language, identity, and the quieter ways a culture passes itself on.
Miriam Udel is the Judith London Evans Director of the Tam Institute of Jewish Studies and Associate Professor of German Studies at Emory University. She holds an AB and PhD from Harvard, and was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2019 as part of its first Executive Ordination cohort.

📚 Books by Miriam Udel:
Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature
https://amzn.to/4ovS0W3
Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children’s Literature
https://amzn.to/476aGpF
Never Better!: The Modern Jewish Picaresque (Michigan Studies in Comparative Jewish Cultures)

https://amzn.to/47549LY
🎥 Other videos mentioned:
Why Only Girls? — Hasidic Boys and Envy
https://youtu.be/MnFddZtaWdQ
A Hilf Faren Kind — The Hasidic Children’s Book Series
https://youtu.be/2DTIsRStE3s


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68332776Sun, 09 Nov 2025 12:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 reflects the values and anxieties of its moment, and how it teaches kids who they are supposed to be. It’s a conversation about language, identity, and the quieter ways a culture passes itself on.
Miriam Udel is the Judith London Evans Director of the Tam Institute of Jewish Studies and Associate Professor of German Studies at Emory University. She holds an AB and PhD from Harvard, and was ordained at Yeshivat Maharat in 2019 as part of its first Executive Ordination cohort.

📚 Books by Miriam Udel:
Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature
https://amzn.to/4ovS0W3
Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children’s Literature
https://amzn.to/476aGpF
Never Better!: The Modern Jewish Picaresque (Michigan Studies in Comparative Jewish Cultures)

https://amzn.to/47549LY
🎥 Other videos mentioned:
Why Only Girls? — Hasidic Boys and Envy
https://youtu.be/MnFddZtaWdQ
A Hilf Faren Kind — The Hasidic Children’s Book Series
https://youtu.be/2DTIsRStE3s


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4054false430fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-get-my-divorce--68278046
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.

After I got home from the Get, I was very heartbroken. I sat down and wrote about my experience, talking to my husband directly, who had not spoken really to me during the entire ceremony. I needed to speak, to be heard, to have a perspective, to feel human. I was a single mother, young and alone, quite voiceless. I just sat at the computer and sobbed and wrote, and sobbed and wrote. I felt better afterward.

I never for a moment regretted the divorce or reconsidered my leaving the Hasidic community. I think it was the path that was right for me. But I also don’t think my journey is over. I don’t know where this winding road will lead yet.

I’ve raised my son on my own since the Get; happily, and with immense financial struggles. I moved on from the marriage, from the Get, from the intense youthful love. I healed, loved fiercely again, let go again, lived, and most of all, tried to stay true to myself while prioritizing my role as a mother. Now I’m ready for a new page.

I look back at the long arc of life, and I’m grateful for the times I allowed myself to live with the hurt in order to live with what was my truth.

Thanks for listening to my reading of The Get.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68278046Sun, 26 Oct 2025 11:00:09 +0000Frieda VizelToday'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...
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.

After I got home from the Get, I was very heartbroken. I sat down and wrote about my experience, talking to my husband directly, who had not spoken really to me during the entire ceremony. I needed to speak, to be heard, to have a perspective, to feel human. I was a single mother, young and alone, quite voiceless. I just sat at the computer and sobbed and wrote, and sobbed and wrote. I felt better afterward.

I never for a moment regretted the divorce or reconsidered my leaving the Hasidic community. I think it was the path that was right for me. But I also don’t think my journey is over. I don’t know where this winding road will lead yet.

I’ve raised my son on my own since the Get; happily, and with immense financial struggles. I moved on from the marriage, from the Get, from the intense youthful love. I healed, loved fiercely again, let go again, lived, and most of all, tried to stay true to myself while prioritizing my role as a mother. Now I’m ready for a new page.

I look back at the long arc of life, and I’m grateful for the times I allowed myself to live with the hurt in order to live with what was my truth.

Thanks for listening to my reading of The Get.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>521false429fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/ex-hasidic-star-riki-rose-faces-her-past-in-williamsburg--67933079
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: https://www.youtube.com/@riki_rose
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riki_rose/
Website: https://rikirose.com/

Watch more of Frieda and Riki:
Full playlist of the Frieda & Riki collection: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycwpngXudOzA5as9MfS4Ss6A
Riki shares her life story: https://youtu.be/jiE9cTn6Yi0?si=6kcd3WUinlc7WrVz
A performance by Riki and her sister Mimi: https://youtube.com/shorts/-pZYDWdbvRI

Follow me:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friedavizel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
Website: https://friedavizel.com/




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67933079Sun, 19 Oct 2025 11:03:21 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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: https://www.youtube.com/@riki_rose
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riki_rose/
Website: https://rikirose.com/

Watch more of Frieda and Riki:
Full playlist of the Frieda & Riki collection: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycwpngXudOzA5as9MfS4Ss6A
Riki shares her life story: https://youtu.be/jiE9cTn6Yi0?si=6kcd3WUinlc7WrVz
A performance by Riki and her sister Mimi: https://youtube.com/shorts/-pZYDWdbvRI

Follow me:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friedavizel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
Website: https://friedavizel.com/




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5645false428fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/yom-kippur-attack-antisemitism-in-the-uk-more-izzy-posen--68103081
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 a Hasidic yeshiva student to a secular thinker and translator. He shares a haunting poem he wrote after being reunited with his estranged family at his mother’s funeral, where he met his youngest sibling for the first time:

It could’ve been at a picnic in the park.
It was at the funeral.
It could’ve been at a festive family dinner.
It was in the house of mourning.
It could’ve been at a family celebration.
It was in the cemetery.
It could’ve been with her at our head.
It was at her coffin.
It could’ve been sooner.
It was too late.

We talk politics, identity, affirmative action, the different faces of antisemitism experienced by religious and secular Jews, and how one man continues to seek meaning through language and love.

Watch my previous interviews with Izzy:
On his Hasidic upbringing and education: https://youtu.be/SeZL920Eae8
Our live conversation: https://youtu.be/JpFVZj83wCw

Follow Izzy’s work:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@izzyposen2092
Blog: https://journeyerblog.wordpress.com/2023/09/05/the-family-reunion/
Twitter: https://x.com/PosenIzzy
Izzy also does beautiful Yiddish translation—he’s available for hire.




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/68103081Sun, 12 Oct 2025 11:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 a Hasidic yeshiva student to a secular thinker and translator. He shares a haunting poem he wrote after being reunited with his estranged family at his mother’s funeral, where he met his youngest sibling for the first time:

It could’ve been at a picnic in the park.
It was at the funeral.
It could’ve been at a festive family dinner.
It was in the house of mourning.
It could’ve been at a family celebration.
It was in the cemetery.
It could’ve been with her at our head.
It was at her coffin.
It could’ve been sooner.
It was too late.

We talk politics, identity, affirmative action, the different faces of antisemitism experienced by religious and secular Jews, and how one man continues to seek meaning through language and love.

Watch my previous interviews with Izzy:
On his Hasidic upbringing and education: https://youtu.be/SeZL920Eae8
Our live conversation: https://youtu.be/JpFVZj83wCw

Follow Izzy’s work:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@izzyposen2092
Blog: https://journeyerblog.wordpress.com/2023/09/05/the-family-reunion/
Twitter: https://x.com/PosenIzzy
Izzy also does beautiful Yiddish translation—he’s available for hire.




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4658false427fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/jews-magic-and-the-kosher-arts-dovy-the-magician--67300158
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 happens when a Hasidic man performs for women, and how does he navigate those boundaries? Between thought-provoking questions and a few dazzling tricks, this interview brings both laughter and insight into the ways tradition and innovation collide in Hasidic life. 

✨ Find Dovy online:
YouTube: youtube.com/@dovythemagician
Instagram: instagram.com/dovythemagician
Miniatures: Dovy’s Miniatures

🎧 Audio-only podcast version of this interview:
api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/67300158/download.mp3

🌐 Connect with me:
YouTube: youtube.com/@friedavizel
Instagram: instagram.com/friedavizel
Website: friedavizel.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67300158Sun, 28 Sep 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 happens when a Hasidic man performs for women, and how does he navigate those boundaries? Between thought-provoking questions and a few dazzling tricks, this interview brings both laughter and insight into the ways tradition and innovation collide in Hasidic life. 

✨ Find Dovy online:
YouTube: youtube.com/@dovythemagician
Instagram: instagram.com/dovythemagician
Miniatures: Dovy’s Miniatures

🎧 Audio-only podcast version of this interview:
api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/67300158/download.mp3

🌐 Connect with me:
YouTube: youtube.com/@friedavizel
Instagram: instagram.com/friedavizel
Website: friedavizel.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2449false426fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-berlin-to-satmar-williamsburg-95-year-old-nelly-grussgott--67283736
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 completely taken by her. Her life story is one of immense pain and breathtaking resilience—a testimony to survival, transformation, and spirit. Just days after the interview, Nelly made Aliya—she moved to Israel—at the age of 90. We stayed in touch, and I even interviewed her again via Zoom for this channel. But this original interview, which has always felt so precious to me, was never publicly shared until now. With the blessing of Pearl and Naomi, I’ve edited it down and am releasing it here to preserve her memory and her voice for posterity.

As of today, Nelly Grussgott is 95 years old—bless her soul, may she live to 120.
Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1930, Nelly witnessed Kristallnacht as a young child. Her early childhood was comfortable—charmed, even—growing up as an only child in a pampered, middle-class Orthodox Jewish home. Her parents were not German-born: her mother, from Czechoslovakia, moved to Berlin at 24 and became successful in the rags/textile business. Her father was Hungarian, and both were deeply religious. Due to the hostility towards Orthodox Jews in Berlin, they adapted to a modern Orthodox lifestyle.
In 1937, Nelly’s father went to the United States to secure affidavits to bring his family to safety. He succeeded—but history intervened cruelly. While her father was still away, Nelly and her mother were forced out of their home and into an overcrowded apartment with five other Jewish families. One night, Nazi soldiers raided the apartment and took the men at gunpoint. Days later, ashes were returned to their wives in the mail.

In a desperate move, Nelly’s father returned to Europe in 1938—traveling to Belgium to reunite the family. It proved to be a devastating mistake. Nelly and her mother, Czechoslovakian citizens, were able to emigrate to the U.S. at the very last moment, getting papers as I understand it in late 1939 but actually coming "in the last hour" in Frebruary 1940. But because her father was Hungarian, and the Hungarian quota was closed, he remained trapped in Europe. His letters continued for several years, growing more despondent until, in 1942, they stopped entirely.

In 1995, the Red Cross confirmed the fate the family had long feared: Nelly’s father was deported to Majdanek, then to Sobibor in March 1943, where he was murdered, along with many relatives.

Nelly’s mother eventually remarried in America, joining with a Satmar Hasid who had also survived great loss. She thrived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—especially enjoying her later years on Lee Avenue, surrounded by familiar faces and warm greetings. Nelly herself chose a different path, remaining Orthodox but not Hasidic, and went on to raise a mainstream Orthodox family.

I’m deeply grateful to finally bring this interview to light. May Nelly’s story reach far and wide—and may we never forget.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67283736Sun, 21 Sep 2025 11:32:41 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 completely taken by her. Her life story is one of immense pain and breathtaking resilience—a testimony to survival, transformation, and spirit. Just days after the interview, Nelly made Aliya—she moved to Israel—at the age of 90. We stayed in touch, and I even interviewed her again via Zoom for this channel. But this original interview, which has always felt so precious to me, was never publicly shared until now. With the blessing of Pearl and Naomi, I’ve edited it down and am releasing it here to preserve her memory and her voice for posterity.

As of today, Nelly Grussgott is 95 years old—bless her soul, may she live to 120.
Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1930, Nelly witnessed Kristallnacht as a young child. Her early childhood was comfortable—charmed, even—growing up as an only child in a pampered, middle-class Orthodox Jewish home. Her parents were not German-born: her mother, from Czechoslovakia, moved to Berlin at 24 and became successful in the rags/textile business. Her father was Hungarian, and both were deeply religious. Due to the hostility towards Orthodox Jews in Berlin, they adapted to a modern Orthodox lifestyle.
In 1937, Nelly’s father went to the United States to secure affidavits to bring his family to safety. He succeeded—but history intervened cruelly. While her father was still away, Nelly and her mother were forced out of their home and into an overcrowded apartment with five other Jewish families. One night, Nazi soldiers raided the apartment and took the men at gunpoint. Days later, ashes were returned to their wives in the mail.

In a desperate move, Nelly’s father returned to Europe in 1938—traveling to Belgium to reunite the family. It proved to be a devastating mistake. Nelly and her mother, Czechoslovakian citizens, were able to emigrate to the U.S. at the very last moment, getting papers as I understand it in late 1939 but actually coming "in the last hour" in Frebruary 1940. But because her father was Hungarian, and the Hungarian quota was closed, he remained trapped in Europe. His letters continued for several years, growing more despondent until, in 1942, they stopped entirely.

In 1995, the Red Cross confirmed the fate the family had long feared: Nelly’s father was deported to Majdanek, then to Sobibor in March 1943, where he was murdered, along with many relatives.

Nelly’s mother eventually remarried in America, joining with a Satmar Hasid who had also survived great loss. She thrived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—especially enjoying her later years on Lee Avenue, surrounded by familiar faces and warm greetings. Nelly herself chose a different path, remaining Orthodox but not Hasidic, and went on to raise a mainstream Orthodox family.

I’m deeply grateful to finally bring this interview to light. May Nelly’s story reach far and wide—and may we never forget.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2491false425fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/hasidic-women-fight-to-form-a-female-ems-paula-eiselt--67285765
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 breaking barriers—it offers an intimate, nuanced portrait of Hasidic women’s lives, struggles, and determination.

We also talk about Paula’s creative journey, her upcoming film We Met at Grossinger’s (premiering in late 2025), and what it means to tell stories that sit at the intersection of tradition, change, and human complexity.

📌 Explore further:
Watch 93 Queen: https://amzn.to/45G6PgU
Paula’s website: https://www.paulaeiselt.com/
Paula on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pizelt/

📌 Stay connected with me:
YouTube: @FriedaVizel
Instagram: instagram.com/friedavizel
Twitter: twitter.com/FriedaVizel
Website: friedavizel.com

📌 Other videos you might be interested in:
The Aguna Crisis: https://youtu.be/_H1hjrS2MLo
She's blind in the Orthodox community: https://youtu.be/28lP8j8swA0
Why I left Hasidic Education Activism: https://youtu.be/IRTvj1_4_14
A non-Jewish teacher's testimony of teaching Hasidic boys: https://youtu.be/lR7UL9b_xNU


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67285765Sun, 14 Sep 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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,...
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 breaking barriers—it offers an intimate, nuanced portrait of Hasidic women’s lives, struggles, and determination.

We also talk about Paula’s creative journey, her upcoming film We Met at Grossinger’s (premiering in late 2025), and what it means to tell stories that sit at the intersection of tradition, change, and human complexity.

📌 Explore further:
Watch 93 Queen: https://amzn.to/45G6PgU
Paula’s website: https://www.paulaeiselt.com/
Paula on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pizelt/

📌 Stay connected with me:
YouTube: @FriedaVizel
Instagram: instagram.com/friedavizel
Twitter: twitter.com/FriedaVizel
Website: friedavizel.com

📌 Other videos you might be interested in:
The Aguna Crisis: https://youtu.be/_H1hjrS2MLo
She's blind in the Orthodox community: https://youtu.be/28lP8j8swA0
Why I left Hasidic Education Activism: https://youtu.be/IRTvj1_4_14
A non-Jewish teacher's testimony of teaching Hasidic boys: https://youtu.be/lR7UL9b_xNU


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3319false424fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/are-both-sides-condemned-to-kill-each-other-forever-rabbi-mayer-schiller--67598418
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 will with a whole heart." Very apt to my conversation with Rabbi Mayer Schiller!

Join this channel to get early access to videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD2OaOinKRQMK4dclGOw4QA/join

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67598418Sun, 07 Sep 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 will with a whole heart." Very apt to my conversation with Rabbi Mayer Schiller!

Join this channel to get early access to videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD2OaOinKRQMK4dclGOw4QA/join

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5299false423fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/on-yiddish-suicide-and-more-mattel-from-multisingual--67368104
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 beginning, and it’s an honor to highlight a new voice carrying Jewish languages into the future.

👉 Check out Mattel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@multisingual1241 —
📌 Connect with me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel 
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@friedavizel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FriedaVizel Patreon: 
https://www.patreon.com/friedavizel
Website: https://friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67368104Sun, 24 Aug 2025 11:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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,...
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 beginning, and it’s an honor to highlight a new voice carrying Jewish languages into the future.

👉 Check out Mattel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@multisingual1241 —
📌 Connect with me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel 
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@friedavizel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FriedaVizel Patreon: 
https://www.patreon.com/friedavizel
Website: https://friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2985false422fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/grab-your-popcorn-we-re-talking-jewish-movies-david-akerman--67273661
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  @_yiddishkeit   \ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_yiddishkeit/) as we dive deep into Jewish representation in film—from iconic classics to quirky cult favorites. We talk themes, stereotypes, hidden gems, and the ways Jewish life is brought to the screen.

Whether you grew up on Fiddler, cried at Sophie’s Choice, laughed at Crossing Delancey, or were fascinated by A Serious Man, this is a conversation for film lovers, cultural explorers, and anyone curious about the Jewish stories cinema tells.

RELATED VIDEOS ON MY CHANNEL:
Unorthodox – https://youtu.be/v-VWUgQBTvQ
93 Queen – https://youtu.be/QWLnKjrpcuA
City of Joel – https://youtu.be/Ovl9HbcTuUI
Four Seasons Lodge – https://youtu.be/1J6pNHymChE

CONNECT WITH ME:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@friedavizel
Website – https://friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67273661Sun, 17 Aug 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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 –...
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  @_yiddishkeit   \ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_yiddishkeit/) as we dive deep into Jewish representation in film—from iconic classics to quirky cult favorites. We talk themes, stereotypes, hidden gems, and the ways Jewish life is brought to the screen.

Whether you grew up on Fiddler, cried at Sophie’s Choice, laughed at Crossing Delancey, or were fascinated by A Serious Man, this is a conversation for film lovers, cultural explorers, and anyone curious about the Jewish stories cinema tells.

RELATED VIDEOS ON MY CHANNEL:
Unorthodox – https://youtu.be/v-VWUgQBTvQ
93 Queen – https://youtu.be/QWLnKjrpcuA
City of Joel – https://youtu.be/Ovl9HbcTuUI
Four Seasons Lodge – https://youtu.be/1J6pNHymChE

CONNECT WITH ME:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@friedavizel
Website – https://friedavizel.com


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5306false421fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/should-jews-return-to-blood-soaked-poland-naomi-seidman--67250744
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 tension between grief, history, and belonging? What responsibilities—if any—come with being second- or third-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors?

Some of the most moving moments of this video were actually recorded off-camera with a hot mic—raw, vulnerable, and unfiltered. We decided to share them because they speak to the kind of honest, searching conversations I believe matter most.

🎥 Edited by Lee Kupak
📸 Videography by Michał Sosna: https://www.instagram.com/michalsosna/
📚 **Books by Naomi Seidman:**
• *The Bais Yaakov Project: A History of the Bais Yaakov Movement for Girls*
https://amzn.to/3UpygGG
• *Freud’s Jewish Question: Lust, Hate, and the Jewish Politics of Psychoanalysis*
https://amzn.to/3TV0GYV
• *Faithful Renderings: Jewish–Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation*
https://amzn.to/40Bak6J
🎬 Link to my other video with Naomi: 
On Naomi's life story | https://youtu.be/aAHE9YNnxf8
A Heretic in the House | https://youtu.be/TrEQ_PMnVFQ
🙏 Special thanks to the University of Toronto for helping cover part of the costs of producing this video.

🔗 Stay connected:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel
Twitter (X): https://www.twitter.com/friedavizel
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@friedavizel
Website: https://www.friedavizel.com

💛 Huge thanks to my channel members
Your support makes these conversations possible. Thank you for believing in independent, heartfelt Jewish content.

Music Credits:
1. Calling Home by Alex-Productions | (https://onsound.eu/)
Music promoted by (https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/)
Creative Commons CC BY 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
2. Music provided by "Vivek Abhishek"
(https://www.youtube.com/user/VivEKhsihbA/videos)
Music used : "polish dance" originally composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek" - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLByBt4wYTQ)
Follow on Facebook:
(https://www.facebook.com/VivekEKhsihbA/)
Follow on Instagram:
(https://www.instagram.com/vivek.abhishek.music/)
3. "AERØHEAD - Fragments" is under a Creative Commons (BY-NC 3.0) license:
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoZbM1a4PKQ6haa2Ap4TSdg)
Music powered by BreakingCopyright:    • 🔥 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_SJmiVLM_g)
#JewishHistory #Kazimierz #Poland #HolocaustMemory #PostHolocaust #JewishIdentity #NaomiSeidman #FriedaVizel #JewishHeritage #HonestConversations #JewishCulture #SecondGeneration #Krakow #KazimierzBalconyTalks #JewishDiaspora #HolocaustLegacy




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67250744Sun, 10 Aug 2025 21:26:38 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 tension between grief, history, and belonging? What responsibilities—if any—come with being second- or third-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors?

Some of the most moving moments of this video were actually recorded off-camera with a hot mic—raw, vulnerable, and unfiltered. We decided to share them because they speak to the kind of honest, searching conversations I believe matter most.

🎥 Edited by Lee Kupak
📸 Videography by Michał Sosna: https://www.instagram.com/michalsosna/
📚 **Books by Naomi Seidman:**
• *The Bais Yaakov Project: A History of the Bais Yaakov Movement for Girls*
https://amzn.to/3UpygGG
• *Freud’s Jewish Question: Lust, Hate, and the Jewish Politics of Psychoanalysis*
https://amzn.to/3TV0GYV
• *Faithful Renderings: Jewish–Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation*
https://amzn.to/40Bak6J
🎬 Link to my other video with Naomi: 
On Naomi's life story | https://youtu.be/aAHE9YNnxf8
A Heretic in the House | https://youtu.be/TrEQ_PMnVFQ
🙏 Special thanks to the University of Toronto for helping cover part of the costs of producing this video.

🔗 Stay connected:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel
Twitter (X): https://www.twitter.com/friedavizel
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@friedavizel
Website: https://www.friedavizel.com

💛 Huge thanks to my channel members
Your support makes these conversations possible. Thank you for believing in independent, heartfelt Jewish content.

Music Credits:
1. Calling Home by Alex-Productions | (https://onsound.eu/)
Music promoted by (https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/)
Creative Commons CC BY 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
2. Music provided by "Vivek Abhishek"
(https://www.youtube.com/user/VivEKhsihbA/videos)
Music used : "polish dance" originally composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek" - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLByBt4wYTQ)
Follow on Facebook:
(https://www.facebook.com/VivekEKhsihbA/)
Follow on Instagram:
(https://www.instagram.com/vivek.abhishek.music/)
3. "AERØHEAD - Fragments" is under a Creative Commons (BY-NC 3.0) license:
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoZbM1a4PKQ6haa2Ap4TSdg)
Music powered by BreakingCopyright:    • 🔥 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_SJmiVLM_g)
#JewishHistory #Kazimierz #Poland #HolocaustMemory #PostHolocaust #JewishIdentity #NaomiSeidman #FriedaVizel #JewishHeritage #HonestConversations #JewishCulture #SecondGeneration #Krakow #KazimierzBalconyTalks #JewishDiaspora #HolocaustLegacy




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1841false420fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/hasidic-women-s-modesty-and-clothing-traditions-pearl--67038115

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 difference between weekday and Shabbos outfits
– How community standards evolve (or don’t)
– Why new clothing styles can become controversial
– And what it’s like to follow these customs over a lifetime
This is a rare glimpse into the everyday experience of Hasidic women’s fashion and the ideas behind it—all from someone who’s lived it for decades.
#HasidicWomen #HasidicFashion #WilliamsburgBrooklyn #JewishTraditions #OrthodoxJudaism #ModestFashion #PearlFromWilliamsburg

Music credit:
1. Song: Planet Nine 
Music by:   / infraction  
Provided by:
https://bit.ly/YouTubeEMW ⚫
2. Song: Chill
Composer: Sakura Hz
Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6x1zYZR6PXhEmDY89G4rzg
License: Creative Commons (BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com
3. Music track: floral by massobeats
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
Free To Use Music for Videos

4. Music track: Magnificent by Pufino
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
No Copyright Music (Free Download)
5. Music track: rose water by massobeats
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
Free To Use Music for Videos


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/67038115Sun, 03 Aug 2025 11:00:17 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...

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 difference between weekday and Shabbos outfits
– How community standards evolve (or don’t)
– Why new clothing styles can become controversial
– And what it’s like to follow these customs over a lifetime
This is a rare glimpse into the everyday experience of Hasidic women’s fashion and the ideas behind it—all from someone who’s lived it for decades.
#HasidicWomen #HasidicFashion #WilliamsburgBrooklyn #JewishTraditions #OrthodoxJudaism #ModestFashion #PearlFromWilliamsburg

Music credit:
1. Song: Planet Nine 
Music by:   / infraction  
Provided by:
https://bit.ly/YouTubeEMW ⚫
2. Song: Chill
Composer: Sakura Hz
Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6x1zYZR6PXhEmDY89G4rzg
License: Creative Commons (BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com
3. Music track: floral by massobeats
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
Free To Use Music for Videos

4. Music track: Magnificent by Pufino
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
No Copyright Music (Free Download)
5. Music track: rose water by massobeats
Source: https://freetouse.com/music
Free To Use Music for Videos


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1032false419fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/i-never-felt-female-and-didn-t-fit-in-that-world-naomi-seidman--66602631
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 was about to erupt. A deeply personal, often funny, and unforgettable reflection on memory, identity, and rebellion.


📍 Follow me on:
Instagram: @friedavizel
TikTok: @friedavizel
YouTube: @friedavizelbrooklyn
Website: friedavizel.com

#JewishBrooklyn #NaomiSeidman #BoroPark #OrthodoxJudaism #JewishWomen #JewishVoices #SecondGenerationStories #Yiddishkeit #JewishStudies #FriedaVizel #UnfilteredConversations #BrooklynHistory #JewishHeritage #OralHistory #HasidicBrooklyn


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/66602631Sun, 20 Jul 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 was about to erupt. A deeply personal, often funny, and unforgettable reflection on memory, identity, and rebellion.


📍 Follow me on:
Instagram: @friedavizel
TikTok: @friedavizel
YouTube: @friedavizelbrooklyn
Website: friedavizel.com

#JewishBrooklyn #NaomiSeidman #BoroPark #OrthodoxJudaism #JewishWomen #JewishVoices #SecondGenerationStories #Yiddishkeit #JewishStudies #FriedaVizel #UnfilteredConversations #BrooklynHistory #JewishHeritage #OralHistory #HasidicBrooklyn


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4865false418fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-rebbitzen-reveals-her-identity-danielle-jacobs--66558231
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 extremism, her lifelong connection to faith and spirituality, her natural gifts for dance and performance, and the painful limitations placed on talented women in the Orthodox world.

This is a raw, beautiful conversation with a woman whose story is as powerful as her presence.

👉 Follow Danielle:
YouTube: @sodanielleicious
Instagram: @sodanielleicious

And don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast for more heartfelt interviews and stories.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/66558231Sun, 22 Jun 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 extremism, her lifelong connection to faith and spirituality, her natural gifts for dance and performance, and the painful limitations placed on talented women in the Orthodox world.

This is a raw, beautiful conversation with a woman whose story is as powerful as her presence.

👉 Follow Danielle:
YouTube: @sodanielleicious
Instagram: @sodanielleicious

And don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast for more heartfelt interviews and stories.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4897false417fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-i-left-activism-for-hasidic-education-naftuli-moster--66124249
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 community he came from. To many within the Hasidic world, he came to represent an external pressure campaign that misunderstood or misrepresented their values and way of life. 

In 2022, Moster resigned from YAFFED, and in this candid conversation, he speaks openly about why he chose to step away. Was it burnout, a shift in priorities, or something deeper about the limits of advocacy? We explore his personal journey, how he views his impact now, and what he’s turned to since leaving the public spotlight. 

📌 Topics include:

• Life growing up in Borough Park as one of 17 children
• His decision to publicly challenge the yeshiva system
• The backlash and media attention
• Why he ultimately left activism
• What he’s doing today

🔔 Subscribe for more thoughtful interviews on culture, community, and change. #NaftuliMoster #HasidicEducation #YAFFED #YeshivaDebate #JewishCommunity #CulturalTensions #OrthodoxJudaism #Education



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/66124249Sun, 15 Jun 2025 11:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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...
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 community he came from. To many within the Hasidic world, he came to represent an external pressure campaign that misunderstood or misrepresented their values and way of life. 

In 2022, Moster resigned from YAFFED, and in this candid conversation, he speaks openly about why he chose to step away. Was it burnout, a shift in priorities, or something deeper about the limits of advocacy? We explore his personal journey, how he views his impact now, and what he’s turned to since leaving the public spotlight. 

📌 Topics include:

• Life growing up in Borough Park as one of 17 children
• His decision to publicly challenge the yeshiva system
• The backlash and media attention
• Why he ultimately left activism
• What he’s doing today

🔔 Subscribe for more thoughtful interviews on culture, community, and change. #NaftuliMoster #HasidicEducation #YAFFED #YeshivaDebate #JewishCommunity #CulturalTensions #OrthodoxJudaism #Education



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4231false416fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/workout-culture-coming-to-the-ultra-orthodox-world-shmilly-feldman--65780273
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 own twists: gender separation, modesty, and the challenge of balancing fitness with a calendar full of celebratory (and food-heavy) holidays.

Shmilly shares his personal story of growing up in the Satmar school system with no gym class and how he became a self-taught weight trainer. He reflects on the limitations of the Hasidic boys' secular education, the drive to self-educate, and what that means for his generation.

It’s a candid and thoughtful look at the cultural quirks of lifting in a shtreimel world.
🎥 Watch now and meet the Chasidish Lifter 👉 @chasidish_lifter

#Hasidic #JewishCulture #Fitness #WeightTraining #Satmar #JewishLife #HasidicMen #SelfEducation #StrengthTraining #ChasidishLifter


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/65780273Sun, 08 Jun 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 own twists: gender separation, modesty, and the challenge of balancing fitness with a calendar full of celebratory (and food-heavy) holidays.

Shmilly shares his personal story of growing up in the Satmar school system with no gym class and how he became a self-taught weight trainer. He reflects on the limitations of the Hasidic boys' secular education, the drive to self-educate, and what that means for his generation.

It’s a candid and thoughtful look at the cultural quirks of lifting in a shtreimel world.
🎥 Watch now and meet the Chasidish Lifter 👉 @chasidish_lifter

#Hasidic #JewishCulture #Fitness #WeightTraining #Satmar #JewishLife #HasidicMen #SelfEducation #StrengthTraining #ChasidishLifter


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3416false415fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-it-s-like-to-grow-up-in-kiryas-joel-an-essay-by-frieda-vizel--62615494
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 may find in this a careful expression of my many complicated and warm emotions towards my childhood world.

You can read the original essay on my blog here: https://friedavizel.com/2022/02/23/what-it-is-like-to-grow-up-in-kiryas-joel/

~For more content on Kiryas Joel, check out my watch party of a drive through Kiryas Joel: https://youtu.be/baiYc_9ZDt8?si=BWDRwZy1B_OesyUs

~And my interview with the filmmaker Jesse Sweet about a documentary on Kiryas Joel: https://youtu.be/Ovl9HbcTuUI?si=J7lnv6zHv3V4WhS2

~A very personal trip from NYC up to the green mountainous region, including a stop on Satmar Drive where I grew up. https://youtu.be/-JzYNs1HfLY?si=4zfcYW5H_8D7W4B9

~I also have an even more personal essay (would you believe it?) adapted to video here: https://youtu.be/LpW30oZh9rY?si=tQGdirASdT43RVnZ

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62615494Sun, 25 May 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 may find in this a careful expression of my many complicated and warm emotions towards my childhood world.

You can read the original essay on my blog here: https://friedavizel.com/2022/02/23/what-it-is-like-to-grow-up-in-kiryas-joel/

~For more content on Kiryas Joel, check out my watch party of a drive through Kiryas Joel: https://youtu.be/baiYc_9ZDt8?si=BWDRwZy1B_OesyUs

~And my interview with the filmmaker Jesse Sweet about a documentary on Kiryas Joel: https://youtu.be/Ovl9HbcTuUI?si=J7lnv6zHv3V4WhS2

~A very personal trip from NYC up to the green mountainous region, including a stop on Satmar Drive where I grew up. https://youtu.be/-JzYNs1HfLY?si=4zfcYW5H_8D7W4B9

~I also have an even more personal essay (would you believe it?) adapted to video here: https://youtu.be/LpW30oZh9rY?si=tQGdirASdT43RVnZ

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>765false414fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/are-jews-allowed-to-fight-a-controversial-discussion-with-anti-zionist-hasidic-woman-pearl--66124260
A woman who believes that Jews are prohibited by the Torah to fight, to have an army and nation, shares her theology.

---

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 heart of her world, but in a way, she is also a vanguard of the views of the post-Holocaust generation. Her passion for anti-Zionism is, I believe, partly animated by her sense that this view is being lost among the younger generation in her community. I think this motivated her to make this interview about how faith relates to the Holocaust.

During the interview, I was fairly certain I would not air it—partly because I felt an urge to protect Pearl, and partly because I felt an urge to protect Zionism. After some consideration, I came to believe that neither of these impulses was the right one. I’m grateful to live in a free society where we can disagree and not shy away from difficult discussions, even if someone might try to weaponize them. And so, with that in mind, I decided to share the interview.



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/66124260Sun, 18 May 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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. --- Since I did my first video with Pearl nearly three years ago, my...
A woman who believes that Jews are prohibited by the Torah to fight, to have an army and nation, shares her theology.

---

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 heart of her world, but in a way, she is also a vanguard of the views of the post-Holocaust generation. Her passion for anti-Zionism is, I believe, partly animated by her sense that this view is being lost among the younger generation in her community. I think this motivated her to make this interview about how faith relates to the Holocaust.

During the interview, I was fairly certain I would not air it—partly because I felt an urge to protect Pearl, and partly because I felt an urge to protect Zionism. After some consideration, I came to believe that neither of these impulses was the right one. I’m grateful to live in a free society where we can disagree and not shy away from difficult discussions, even if someone might try to weaponize them. And so, with that in mind, I decided to share the interview.



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4697false413fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/living-on-the-border-and-creating-the-hit-tv-show-shtisel-yehonatan-indursky--65579562
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 deep. I felt his outlook and place in the world matched much of my own, and it was so nice to talk to a kindred spirit of sorts. It was also amazing to hear about his work, his views, his love for poetry, and his outlook on life. A man truly beyond borders.

➡️ Check out Shtisel the TV show on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CTLJB7HN/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
➡️ Check out Kugel the TV show on Izzy: https://www.streamisrael.tv/kugel
➡️ Yehonatan's website: https://www.yehonatanindursky.com/
➡️ Yehonatan in the NYT in the spring 2025: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/magazine/yehonatan-indursky-shtisel-kugel-orthodox.html
➡️ Yehonatan's wife Instagram I follow and enjoy called Hassidish: https://www.instagram.com/hassidish/
You can find a transcript of this video here: https://friedavizel.com/2025/05/02/transcript-of-the-interview-with-the-creator-of-shtisel-yehonatan-indursky/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/65579562Sun, 04 May 2025 11:00:09 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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,...
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 deep. I felt his outlook and place in the world matched much of my own, and it was so nice to talk to a kindred spirit of sorts. It was also amazing to hear about his work, his views, his love for poetry, and his outlook on life. A man truly beyond borders.

➡️ Check out Shtisel the TV show on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CTLJB7HN/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
➡️ Check out Kugel the TV show on Izzy: https://www.streamisrael.tv/kugel
➡️ Yehonatan's website: https://www.yehonatanindursky.com/
➡️ Yehonatan in the NYT in the spring 2025: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/magazine/yehonatan-indursky-shtisel-kugel-orthodox.html
➡️ Yehonatan's wife Instagram I follow and enjoy called Hassidish: https://www.instagram.com/hassidish/
You can find a transcript of this video here: https://friedavizel.com/2025/05/02/transcript-of-the-interview-with-the-creator-of-shtisel-yehonatan-indursky/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4734false412fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-it-was-like-to-grow-up-amish-martha-ross--64954499
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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64954499Sun, 27 Apr 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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 https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCrlX6T0Sekk8Xn3kw3utMAQ ....
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.]]>4648false411fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/reading-the-yiddish-children-s-version-of-the-book-of-exodus--65341062
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/65341062Tue, 15 Apr 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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.]]>1888false410fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/bonus-music-video-mein-kind-referenced-in-my-essay-on-the-stories-we-tell--65383078I am sharing the music since it's essentially and ad and it will help create a fuller resource/reference to my commentary

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/65383078Sun, 06 Apr 2025 23:59:07 +0000Frieda VizelThis 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...I am sharing the music since it's essentially and ad and it will help create a fuller resource/reference to my commentary

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>856false4bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/unorthodox-vs-the-other-story-how-we-talk-about-people-who-leave-insular-societies--65079782
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 Korak / @LeeKorak Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mayo.nap?igsh=ZXp4bm8zZTJ2aXVr

1. Music: Dark Investigation by Soundridemusic Link to Video: • NoCopyright Panic Tension Suspense Th...
2. Credits: Music: Dark Investigation by Soundridemusic Link to Video: • NoCopyright Panic Tension Suspense Th... 
3. Chillpeach - In Dreamland : • [no copyright music] 'In Dreamland ' ...

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/65079782Sun, 06 Apr 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 Korak / @LeeKorak Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mayo.nap?igsh=ZXp4bm8zZTJ2aXVr

1. Music: Dark Investigation by Soundridemusic Link to Video: • NoCopyright Panic Tension Suspense Th...
2. Credits: Music: Dark Investigation by Soundridemusic Link to Video: • NoCopyright Panic Tension Suspense Th... 
3. Chillpeach - In Dreamland : • [no copyright music] 'In Dreamland ' ...

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1701false49fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-visually-impaired-hasidic-woman-tells-her-story-rochel-bodek--64942850
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 work and think it's important, please consider financially supporting it by becoming a channel member or sending a donation. It takes a team of multiple people to make this channel run and your support means so much.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64942850Sun, 23 Mar 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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....
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 work and think it's important, please consider financially supporting it by becoming a channel member or sending a donation. It takes a team of multiple people to make this channel run and your support means so much.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3553false48fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-historian-s-warning-anna-shternshis--64880766
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.

Some links for Anna Shternshis here:
Soviet and Kosher: https://amzn.to/4irTnT6
When Sonia Met Boris: https://amzn.to/4bxypzC
Her project to set holocaust songs to lyrics, titled Yiddish Glory: https://www.yiddishglory.com/
Link to the University of Toronto: https://german.utoronto.ca/anna-shternshis/
Twitter: https://x.com/shternsh

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64880766Sun, 16 Mar 2025 11:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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...
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.

Some links for Anna Shternshis here:
Soviet and Kosher: https://amzn.to/4irTnT6
When Sonia Met Boris: https://amzn.to/4bxypzC
Her project to set holocaust songs to lyrics, titled Yiddish Glory: https://www.yiddishglory.com/
Link to the University of Toronto: https://german.utoronto.ca/anna-shternshis/
Twitter: https://x.com/shternsh

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4856false47fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-revolution-in-yiddish-arts-theater-by-hasidim-ari-abromowitz--64576785
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 "revolution" and has been in many ways its face as he acted in many productions. I learned so much about this arts scene from Ari and this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Link to Ari and Friends: https://mostlymusic.com/products/ari-friends-season-1-episode-1-video
Edited by Lee Korak / https://leekorak.site/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64576785Sun, 09 Mar 2025 12:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 "revolution" and has been in many ways its face as he acted in many productions. I learned so much about this arts scene from Ari and this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Link to Ari and Friends: https://mostlymusic.com/products/ari-friends-season-1-episode-1-video
Edited by Lee Korak / https://leekorak.site/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3317false46fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/i-grew-up-in-kiryas-joel-and-embraced-plant-medicine--64439623
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 crowd. In this interview she both shares her story and also explains what psychedelic therapy is, and how it's coming to play a role in the contemporary Hasidic community.

Bruchy's Instagram account is: https://www.instagram.com/bruchymoskovics/
Thumbnail photo credit of Hasidic man smoking: Abe Kugielsky - https://www.instagram.com/hasidiminusa/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64439623Sun, 23 Feb 2025 13:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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....
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 crowd. In this interview she both shares her story and also explains what psychedelic therapy is, and how it's coming to play a role in the contemporary Hasidic community.

Bruchy's Instagram account is: https://www.instagram.com/bruchymoskovics/
Thumbnail photo credit of Hasidic man smoking: Abe Kugielsky - https://www.instagram.com/hasidiminusa/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4211false45fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/i-craved-religion-and-even-tried-christianity-in-conversation-with-comedian-antonia-lassar--64283587

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 much more.

Check out Antonia here: 
Antonia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antonialastar/
Antonia on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@antonialastar Antonia's website: https://antonialassar.com/


Many many thanks to the Mandel Cultural Leadership program for helping make this happen. Special thanks to the wonderful Eva Heinstein whom I love.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64283587Sun, 16 Feb 2025 12:00:09 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...

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 much more.

Check out Antonia here: 
Antonia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antonialastar/
Antonia on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@antonialastar Antonia's website: https://antonialassar.com/


Many many thanks to the Mandel Cultural Leadership program for helping make this happen. Special thanks to the wonderful Eva Heinstein whom I love.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3811false44fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/for-women-girls-and-men-and-boys-in-conversation-with-jessica-roda--64173539
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 approaching the Kol Isha issue.

Check out Jessica's book and Jessica on Instagram and Twitter:
https://x.com/RodaJess
https://www.instagram.com/jess_roda/ 

This interview is brought to you with the support of Fairfield University. This video is brought to you with the generous support of Fairfield University / Bennet Center for Judaic Studies. The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies is a unique academic center that strives to enrich the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual dialogue of Fairfield University. Continuing the vision of Carl and Dorothy Bennett, the Center fosters continued learning experiences and campus-wide awareness about Jewish history, ethical values, and religious observances. It also seeks to engage the Greater Fairfield communities through inspiring lectures and annual programs. https://www.fairfield.edu/academics/centers-and-institutes/bennett-center-for-judaic-studies/index.html

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/64173539Sun, 09 Feb 2025 13:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 approaching the Kol Isha issue.

Check out Jessica's book and Jessica on Instagram and Twitter:
https://x.com/RodaJess
https://www.instagram.com/jess_roda/ 

This interview is brought to you with the support of Fairfield University. This video is brought to you with the generous support of Fairfield University / Bennet Center for Judaic Studies. The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies is a unique academic center that strives to enrich the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual dialogue of Fairfield University. Continuing the vision of Carl and Dorothy Bennett, the Center fosters continued learning experiences and campus-wide awareness about Jewish history, ethical values, and religious observances. It also seeks to engage the Greater Fairfield communities through inspiring lectures and annual programs. https://www.fairfield.edu/academics/centers-and-institutes/bennett-center-for-judaic-studies/index.html

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4014false43fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/i-risk-everything-when-speaking-out-as-a-woman-in-kiryas-joel-exclusive-interview-with-fradel-neuman--63793190
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 society. Fradel is an amazing woman, mental health awareness advocate, talented photographer and more.

Check her work out below:

Find Fradel on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/fradelneuman/
Fradel's photography website is: https://www.instagram.com/captureit___photography/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/63793190Sun, 26 Jan 2025 12:00:07 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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....
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 society. Fradel is an amazing woman, mental health awareness advocate, talented photographer and more.

Check her work out below:

Find Fradel on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/fradelneuman/
Fradel's photography website is: https://www.instagram.com/captureit___photography/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2977false42fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/messiah-energy-and-wholesome-comedy-interview-with-modi-rosenfeld--63729425
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 for amazing comedy videos including the full special here: https://youtu.be/iPF3GkKuPVc?si=0ghFVls5tJzKmSDJ

Check out Modi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modi_live?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/63729425Sun, 19 Jan 2025 12:00:06 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version of this interview: https://youtu.be/dlp7-4Aq1tM https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7JzvSfwLdMwnUtm2dsJIQ 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...
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 for amazing comedy videos including the full special here: https://youtu.be/iPF3GkKuPVc?si=0ghFVls5tJzKmSDJ

Check out Modi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modi_live?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2387false41fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-chanukah-memories-reading-circumcised-chanukah-gifts--63506373
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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/63506373Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:23:23 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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.]]>1239false326fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/sex-ed-in-the-hasidic-community-a-hasidic-grooms-receives-the-birds-and-the-bees-talk--62977896
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 the female side, I have first hand experience of how complicated and intense this session can be. A few years ago a young engaged man recorded his pre-marital session and it was circulated in the underground Hasidic world. I first found it painful to listen to, and later I came to see it as quite gorgeous, human, complex, worthy of dissemination.

To keep everyone's identity private, I am not publishing the original audio, which is in Yiddish. However, I did translate the whole thing to English for my blog, and in this video I'll read to you most of that translation. I'm leaving out the very graphic sexual bits as I didn't think they were necessary. If you are interested in reading it (and probably you are, you are human! :)

feel free to check out my blog post here: https://friedavizel.com/2022/03/27/transcript-of-a-hasidic-grooms-wedding-lesson/

Please also check out my interview with intimacy coach Peggy Greenfield for more conversation on this very delicate topic. https://youtu.be/AUdw8W71Gv8

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62977896Sun, 24 Nov 2024 12:00:08 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 the female side, I have first hand experience of how complicated and intense this session can be. A few years ago a young engaged man recorded his pre-marital session and it was circulated in the underground Hasidic world. I first found it painful to listen to, and later I came to see it as quite gorgeous, human, complex, worthy of dissemination.

To keep everyone's identity private, I am not publishing the original audio, which is in Yiddish. However, I did translate the whole thing to English for my blog, and in this video I'll read to you most of that translation. I'm leaving out the very graphic sexual bits as I didn't think they were necessary. If you are interested in reading it (and probably you are, you are human! :)

feel free to check out my blog post here: https://friedavizel.com/2022/03/27/transcript-of-a-hasidic-grooms-wedding-lesson/

Please also check out my interview with intimacy coach Peggy Greenfield for more conversation on this very delicate topic. https://youtu.be/AUdw8W71Gv8

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2191false325fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-intersection-of-sex-and-piety-in-conversation-with-intimacy-coach-peggy-greenfield--62704730
*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 conventions, but she has a deep appreciation for it. She therefore is able to candidly and empathetically provide support and guidance and here, to talk openly for this interview. I understand that many people feel that this topic should not be discussed publicly, but after much deliberation, I decided that the right course of action is to release this interview. I welcome your thoughts in the comments.

Please check out Peggy on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/pegreenfeld/

Please subscribe, like, comment and share for more humanizing sensitive conversations on Jewish topics.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62704730Sat, 23 Nov 2024 02:23:43 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
*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 conventions, but she has a deep appreciation for it. She therefore is able to candidly and empathetically provide support and guidance and here, to talk openly for this interview. I understand that many people feel that this topic should not be discussed publicly, but after much deliberation, I decided that the right course of action is to release this interview. I welcome your thoughts in the comments.

Please check out Peggy on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/pegreenfeld/

Please subscribe, like, comment and share for more humanizing sensitive conversations on Jewish topics.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3796false324fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-battle-for-land-between-hasidim-and-their-neighbors-in-conversation-with-jesse-sweet--62577190
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.

Click here for the City of Joel documentary: https://amzn.to/4fsl5NS

And here is Jesse's latest project, Nature of the Crime: https://www.docnyc.net/film/nature-of-the-crime/

Please consider supporting my work by making a tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/frieda-vizel-brooklyn-youtube-channel or sending a contribution via Paypal: paypal.com/paypalme/friedavizel This helps me to continue to bring to you more Jewish content, which requires a considerable investment on my part.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62577190Sun, 03 Nov 2024 14:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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.

Click here for the City of Joel documentary: https://amzn.to/4fsl5NS

And here is Jesse's latest project, Nature of the Crime: https://www.docnyc.net/film/nature-of-the-crime/

Please consider supporting my work by making a tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/frieda-vizel-brooklyn-youtube-channel or sending a contribution via Paypal: paypal.com/paypalme/friedavizel This helps me to continue to bring to you more Jewish content, which requires a considerable investment on my part.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3129false323fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-talmud-as-a-door-in-conversation-with-miriam-anzovin--62500705
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: https://www.instagram.com/miriamanzovin/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@UCAM7ylcgdb_dkvvrnEmLp0w
Twitter: https://x.com/Anzovina
Website: https://www.miriamanzovin.com/



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62500705Sat, 26 Oct 2024 23:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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: https://www.instagram.com/miriamanzovin/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@UCAM7ylcgdb_dkvvrnEmLp0w
Twitter: https://x.com/Anzovina
Website: https://www.miriamanzovin.com/



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3023false322fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-jew-from-today-but-from-yesterday-in-conversation-with-lea-kalisch--60621662
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? For Lea, the answer is very complicated. She at once embodies a side that is a "rebbetzin" and a side that is wearing barely anything to perform. Her perspective is fresh, energetic, passionate, and unique. Please join us for a conversation about the story of Lea Kalisch. 👉 Lea's website is: https://www.leakalisch.com/ 👉 Find Lea on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leakalisch/ 👉 Find Lea on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LeaKalisch

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60621662Sat, 12 Oct 2024 23:26:56 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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? For Lea, the answer is very complicated. She at once embodies a side that is a "rebbetzin" and a side that is wearing barely anything to perform. Her perspective is fresh, energetic, passionate, and unique. Please join us for a conversation about the story of Lea Kalisch. 👉 Lea's website is: https://www.leakalisch.com/ 👉 Find Lea on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leakalisch/ 👉 Find Lea on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LeaKalisch

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4130false321fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/reflections-a-year-after-october-7th-stream-of-consciousness-sharing--62289714
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62289714Tue, 08 Oct 2024 19:50:19 +0000Frieda VizelYoutube video: https://youtu.be/aTkJpC3h7cg
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2015false320fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/can-we-call-her-a-hasidic-feminist-interview-with-hasidic-influencer-raizy-fried--62153602https://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, out of sight and out of mind. So it's a great honor for me that the first Hasidic "star" that I interviewed is a woman. I've approached several men, but they were apprehensive. I hope to speak to them one day, but for now, this is my discussion with the lovely Raizy Fried from Inspired Living. Please check out Raizy's website at raizyfried.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62153602Tue, 08 Oct 2024 15:01:26 +0000Frieda VizelJoin 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...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, out of sight and out of mind. So it's a great honor for me that the first Hasidic "star" that I interviewed is a woman. I've approached several men, but they were apprehensive. I hope to speak to them one day, but for now, this is my discussion with the lovely Raizy Fried from Inspired Living. Please check out Raizy's website at raizyfried.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3068false319fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-complicated-relationship-between-animals-and-orthodox-jews-discussing-myths-with-mendel-hersh-paneth--62153603https://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. 


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/62153603Sun, 29 Sep 2024 11:39:38 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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...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. 


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>939false318bonushttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/when-one-half-of-a-town-turns-on-the-other-interview-with-director-igor-golyak--61256513
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/61256513Sun, 08 Sep 2024 13:00:02 +0000Frieda Vizel*Note: the play discussed here contains violence* For the video version of this interview https://youtu.be/E5_n3p3Oto0 In this long-form interview, I talk to theater director Igor Goylak about a powerful production titled 'Our Class'. It's a play...
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2487false317fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-life-is-like-for-a-hasidic-lady-in-the-catskills-today-with-comedian-leah-forster--60913193
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60913193Sun, 04 Aug 2024 13:00:05 +0000Frieda VizelFor 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...
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3488false316fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-bungalow-colony-for-survivors-i-in-conversation-with-director-andrew-jacobs--60754063
👉You can watch this beautiful documentary on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Y4ydDl
👉You can visit the Borscht Belt Museum here: https://www.borschtbeltmuseum.org/
👉For the Borscht Belt Fest, see here: https://www.borschtbeltfest.org/
👉For my visit to the Borscht Belt Museum, see here: https://youtu.be/-PWFttncdZg?si=khrPb2cz9nOyrXT6

This video is brought to you with the generous support of Fairfield University / Bennet Center for Judaic Studies. The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies is a unique academic center that strives to enrich the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual dialogue of Fairfield University. Continuing the vision of Carl and Dorothy Bennett, the Center fosters continued learning experiences and campus-wide awareness about Jewish history, ethical values, and religious observances. It also seeks to engage the Greater Fairfield communities through inspiring lectures and annual programs. https://www.fairfield.edu/undergraduate/academics/centers/bennett-center-for-judaic-studies/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60754063Sun, 21 Jul 2024 11:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelAndrew 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...
👉You can watch this beautiful documentary on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Y4ydDl
👉You can visit the Borscht Belt Museum here: https://www.borschtbeltmuseum.org/
👉For the Borscht Belt Fest, see here: https://www.borschtbeltfest.org/
👉For my visit to the Borscht Belt Museum, see here: https://youtu.be/-PWFttncdZg?si=khrPb2cz9nOyrXT6

This video is brought to you with the generous support of Fairfield University / Bennet Center for Judaic Studies. The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies is a unique academic center that strives to enrich the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual dialogue of Fairfield University. Continuing the vision of Carl and Dorothy Bennett, the Center fosters continued learning experiences and campus-wide awareness about Jewish history, ethical values, and religious observances. It also seeks to engage the Greater Fairfield communities through inspiring lectures and annual programs. https://www.fairfield.edu/undergraduate/academics/centers/bennett-center-for-judaic-studies/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3227false315fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/he-returned-to-live-in-the-most-insular-israeli-enclave-after-leaving-it-tuvia-tenonbom-interview--60494398
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 what happened left him surprised, humored, and a little bit in love with the Haredi world.

The result of Tuvia's time in Bnei Brak is a book and a documentary, both of which I've experienced. The book is titled 'Careful, Beauties Ahead', and the documentary, which I saw at a small theater in Manhattan, is titled 'God Speaks Yiddish'. I don't believe you can watch the documentary anywhere except during limited screenings in various places, but you can get his book!

👉 Tuvia's book titled 'Careful, Beauties Ahead / My Year with the Ultra-Orthodox': https://a.co/d/015wC8l2
👉 Tuvia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuviatenenbom/ ✅Other Tuvia works: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ATuvia+Tenenbom&s=relevancerank&text=Tuvia+Tenenbom&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1 \
🔥📷Tour of Bnei Brak: https://youtu.be/f6cnYL94PSY?si=hzOSx4fBlcWpLDdO

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60494398Sun, 30 Jun 2024 13:46:16 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 what happened left him surprised, humored, and a little bit in love with the Haredi world.

The result of Tuvia's time in Bnei Brak is a book and a documentary, both of which I've experienced. The book is titled 'Careful, Beauties Ahead', and the documentary, which I saw at a small theater in Manhattan, is titled 'God Speaks Yiddish'. I don't believe you can watch the documentary anywhere except during limited screenings in various places, but you can get his book!

👉 Tuvia's book titled 'Careful, Beauties Ahead / My Year with the Ultra-Orthodox': https://a.co/d/015wC8l2
👉 Tuvia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuviatenenbom/ ✅Other Tuvia works: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3ATuvia+Tenenbom&s=relevancerank&text=Tuvia+Tenenbom&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1 \
🔥📷Tour of Bnei Brak: https://youtu.be/f6cnYL94PSY?si=hzOSx4fBlcWpLDdO

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4651false314fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/no-one-had-a-grandfather-gita-recounts-the-hasidic-community-after-the-holocaust--60251272
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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60251272Sun, 16 Jun 2024 21:05:45 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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.]]>3256false313fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/we-hid-the-piano-from-my-hasidic-father-the-singer-riki-rose-shares-her-story--60242814
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 as a wonderful bonus, we even hear her sing some songs!

💌Please support Riki in the production of her first album by contributing to her fundraising efforts: https://thechesedfund.com/rikirose/the-riki-rose-album

✅And check her out on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/riki_rose

✅You can find a bonus video of Riki's music as a Hasidic teenager here: https://youtu.be/1eBVPsFmZy4

Timestamps for songs:
1. Yomtov Ehrlich's Song 'FRUNZER ESHALON' 15:08-18:07 English translation for the song: https://www.dinastorch.com/songtitle/frunzer-eshalon
2. Cantorial music: 45:23-48:35
3. Riki's original song "Woman": 1:32:15-1:35:40

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/60242814Sun, 02 Jun 2024 13:00:03 +0000Frieda VizelFor 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...
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 as a wonderful bonus, we even hear her sing some songs!

💌Please support Riki in the production of her first album by contributing to her fundraising efforts: https://thechesedfund.com/rikirose/the-riki-rose-album

✅And check her out on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/riki_rose

✅You can find a bonus video of Riki's music as a Hasidic teenager here: https://youtu.be/1eBVPsFmZy4

Timestamps for songs:
1. Yomtov Ehrlich's Song 'FRUNZER ESHALON' 15:08-18:07 English translation for the song: https://www.dinastorch.com/songtitle/frunzer-eshalon
2. Cantorial music: 45:23-48:35
3. Riki's original song "Woman": 1:32:15-1:35:40

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5816chasidicmusic,chasidish,hasidic,hasidicjewish,hasidicmusic,jewish,music,riki,rikirose,ultraothodox,unorthodox,woman,womensingers,yomtovehrlichfalse312fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/yiddish-versus-hebrew-the-battle-of-two-jewish-languages-in-conversation-with-eddy-portnoy--59922067
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 titled: 'PALESTINIAN YIDDISH: A LOOK AT YIDDISH IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL BEFORE 1948'
Link: https://cjh.org/visit/exhibit-info/palestinian-yiddish
Address: 15 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011

About my guest Eddy Portnoy, the curator of the exhibition: Eddy Portnoy is an expert on Jewish popular culture. Portnoy earned an MA in Yiddish Studies from Columbia University and a PhD in Jewish History from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He currently holds the position of Senior Researcher and Exhibition Curator at YIVO.

You can follow Eddy on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/eddyportnoy
You can see his book Bad Rabbi on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/cLuRcup

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/59922067Wed, 08 May 2024 13:08:43 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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 titled: 'PALESTINIAN YIDDISH: A LOOK AT YIDDISH IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL BEFORE 1948'
Link: https://cjh.org/visit/exhibit-info/palestinian-yiddish
Address: 15 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011

About my guest Eddy Portnoy, the curator of the exhibition: Eddy Portnoy is an expert on Jewish popular culture. Portnoy earned an MA in Yiddish Studies from Columbia University and a PhD in Jewish History from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He currently holds the position of Senior Researcher and Exhibition Curator at YIVO.

You can follow Eddy on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/eddyportnoy
You can see his book Bad Rabbi on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/cLuRcup

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4683false311fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-do-we-love-to-talk-about-cults-in-conversation-with-guinevere-turner--59321347
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 doesn't give the audience the lurid story they want. She also has written about how cults are talked about in the larger society. Her essay in the New Yorker, 'My Childhood in a Cult', influenced my own writing, 'Is the Hasidic Community A Cult?'


In this episode, Guinevere joins me to discuss our experiences as women with life stories that draw so much fascination. We talk about why we think the world wants our stories, and why we might not want to give them up. We discuss the Lyman family cult and other groups that are perhaps communes, perhaps cults. A discussion that touches the tip of the iceberg!



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/59321347Sat, 06 Apr 2024 13:28:13 +0000Frieda VizelFor 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...
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 doesn't give the audience the lurid story they want. She also has written about how cults are talked about in the larger society. Her essay in the New Yorker, 'My Childhood in a Cult', influenced my own writing, 'Is the Hasidic Community A Cult?'


In this episode, Guinevere joins me to discuss our experiences as women with life stories that draw so much fascination. We talk about why we think the world wants our stories, and why we might not want to give them up. We discuss the Lyman family cult and other groups that are perhaps communes, perhaps cults. A discussion that touches the tip of the iceberg!



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4821false310fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-chained-wife-the-jewish-aguna-crisis-in-conversation-with-keshet-starr--59061998
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 entering synagogues, and most controversially, by calling for a sex strike. 

In this segment, I talk to Keshet Starr, the CEO of the organization ORA, or Organization for the Resolution of Agunot. We talk about how the problem of chained wives comes to happen, how these problems are unique in insular communities, how it impacts the children, the types of pressures that are applied, and more.

Some links related to this segment: ORA’s website: https://www.getora.org ORA’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oraagunot/ Keshet Starr’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keshetstarr/ Flatbush Girl (Adina Miles)’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flatbushgirl/ Thanks for watching!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/59061998Sun, 17 Mar 2024 14:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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,...
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 entering synagogues, and most controversially, by calling for a sex strike. 

In this segment, I talk to Keshet Starr, the CEO of the organization ORA, or Organization for the Resolution of Agunot. We talk about how the problem of chained wives comes to happen, how these problems are unique in insular communities, how it impacts the children, the types of pressures that are applied, and more.

Some links related to this segment: ORA’s website: https://www.getora.org ORA’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oraagunot/ Keshet Starr’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keshetstarr/ Flatbush Girl (Adina Miles)’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flatbushgirl/ Thanks for watching!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4573false39fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-satmar-rebbe-s-life-and-controversial-anti-zionism-in-conversation-with-rabbi-ysoscher-katz--58983247
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 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and attended Satmar Hasidic Yeshivas. He now is a renowned Rabbi outside of the community. He has a lively presence on Facebook where you can read his writing and thoughts at: https://www.facebook.com/ysoscher

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58983247Sun, 10 Mar 2024 13:00:01 +0000Frieda VizelLink 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....
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 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and attended Satmar Hasidic Yeshivas. He now is a renowned Rabbi outside of the community. He has a lively presence on Facebook where you can read his writing and thoughts at: https://www.facebook.com/ysoscher

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>6174false38fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-are-hasidic-jewish-sects--58957593
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’

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58957593Thu, 07 Mar 2024 14:01:36 +0000Frieda VizelFor 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...
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’

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>770false37fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/am-i-disrespectful--58693235
Video version: https://youtu.be/bE4mSWJzk3I

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58693235Sun, 25 Feb 2024 15:21:08 +0000Frieda VizelA 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:...
Video version: https://youtu.be/bE4mSWJzk3I

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1477false36fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-secret-stories-of-hidden-heretics-in-conversation-with-ayala-fader--58524166
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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58524166Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:12:56 +0000Frieda VizelYoutube 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...
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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4392false35fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/do-hasidic-jews-vaccinate-dr-howard-rosman-pediatrician-to-hasidic-community-in-conversation--58408489
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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58408489Mon, 22 Jan 2024 19:39:22 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3907false34fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-get-a-personal-essay--58325784
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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58325784Wed, 17 Jan 2024 15:00:02 +0000Frieda VizelVideo 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...
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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>524false33fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/satmar-versus-naturei-karte-s-antizionism-audio-only--58305962
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58305962Mon, 15 Jan 2024 13:33:27 +0000Frieda VizelDid 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...
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2079false32fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-story-of-growing-up-and-leaving-hasidism-in-conversation-with-eli-benedict--58236515here. 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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58236515Tue, 09 Jan 2024 03:16:25 +0000Frieda VizelVideo version of this interview https://youtu.be/SggvtB586Gk 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...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.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5202false31fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/rules-for-hasidic-girls-issued-by-satmar-school-part-2--57994933
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57994933Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:06:32 +0000Frieda VizelWhat 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...
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

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4156false219fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/understanding-orthodox-jewish-anti-zionism-in-conversation-with-david-biale--58020694An 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 opinions around Israel, and I am completely appreciative of debating the war and many people's positions, I feel very strongly about clarifying the many misconceptions around Orthodox Jewish anti-zionism. And so, after much thought, I decided to discuss this issue with the brilliant historian David Biale (who seems to have a superhuman memory) and he brought so much nuance and insight into the topic. It isn't an easy topic to discuss, especially the aspects of the Satmar rebbe, but I feel like this difficult discussion was handled by my guest with as much objectivity and humanity as I could hope for. I invite you to check out my other video with David and the book that brought me to him: 'Hasidism a New History' which you can find anywhere where books are sold.

Hasidism | Princeton University Press

Youtube version here: https://youtu.be/mQC4g--Q-fM

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58020694Fri, 15 Dec 2023 17:22:36 +0000Frieda VizelAn 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...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 opinions around Israel, and I am completely appreciative of debating the war and many people's positions, I feel very strongly about clarifying the many misconceptions around Orthodox Jewish anti-zionism. And so, after much thought, I decided to discuss this issue with the brilliant historian David Biale (who seems to have a superhuman memory) and he brought so much nuance and insight into the topic. It isn't an easy topic to discuss, especially the aspects of the Satmar rebbe, but I feel like this difficult discussion was handled by my guest with as much objectivity and humanity as I could hope for. I invite you to check out my other video with David and the book that brought me to him: 'Hasidism a New History' which you can find anywhere where books are sold.

Hasidism | Princeton University Press

Youtube version here: https://youtu.be/mQC4g--Q-fM

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3872false218fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/yossi-desser-musical-guest-discussion-live-performance-of-yomtov-ehrlich-belz-more--58002507
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 to discuss the stories around some iconic Jewish music and he performs some of it. I invite you to join this holiday-time discussion and to leave a comment! I added the translations to the songs so you can follow along no matter if you understand Yiddish, Hebrew or Hungarian.

Many thanks to Mrs. Dina Storch whose translation of ‘Yom Kippur’ by Yom-Tov Ehrlich was very helpful.

11:15 ‘Ani Mamin’ by a Modzitz Hasid who perished in the holocaust
32:55 ‘Yom Kippur’ by Reb Yom-Tov Ehrlich
49:51 Hasidic Niggun (Rizhuner)
1:00:45 ‘Belz’ or ‘Beltz’, a Yiddish classic song
1:09:59 ‘Sola Kokosh Mar’ from the Kalover Rebbe
1:21:31 ‘Luz a Shnei’ by Yossi Desser

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/58002507Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:20:35 +0000Frieda VizelFor 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...
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 to discuss the stories around some iconic Jewish music and he performs some of it. I invite you to join this holiday-time discussion and to leave a comment! I added the translations to the songs so you can follow along no matter if you understand Yiddish, Hebrew or Hungarian.

Many thanks to Mrs. Dina Storch whose translation of ‘Yom Kippur’ by Yom-Tov Ehrlich was very helpful.

11:15 ‘Ani Mamin’ by a Modzitz Hasid who perished in the holocaust
32:55 ‘Yom Kippur’ by Reb Yom-Tov Ehrlich
49:51 Hasidic Niggun (Rizhuner)
1:00:45 ‘Belz’ or ‘Beltz’, a Yiddish classic song
1:09:59 ‘Sola Kokosh Mar’ from the Kalover Rebbe
1:21:31 ‘Luz a Shnei’ by Yossi Desser

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5211chasidic,chasidim,hasidic,holocaust,jewish,jews,karta,music,naturei,orthodox,rebbe,religion,religious,ultrafalse217fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/top-hasidic-music-videos-16-selections--57915899
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57915899Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:06:01 +0000Frieda VizelHere's the link to the youtube video version: https://youtu.be/9GcRIbVEt8c?si=2TmJgN8QtvUvVa6y
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>1767false216fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/two-dates-and-a-wedding-hasidic-matchmaking-customs--57871440
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 so delighted to share it with you all.

To learn more about my work visit:
Website - friedavizel.com
Instagram - @friedavizel
Facebook - /toursbyfrieda

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57871440Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:57:18 +0000Frieda VizelThis 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...
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 so delighted to share it with you all.

To learn more about my work visit:
Website - friedavizel.com
Instagram - @friedavizel
Facebook - /toursbyfrieda

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2866false21fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-do-hasidic-women-shave-their-heads--57871331
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 of this story, and she shared it so warmly and openly.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share this conversation with you all and I look forward to your thoughtful comments.

To learn more about my work visit:
Website - friedavizel.com
Instagram - @friedavizel
Facebook - /toursbyfrieda

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57871331Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:57:05 +0000Frieda VizelYou 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...
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 of this story, and she shared it so warmly and openly.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share this conversation with you all and I look forward to your thoughtful comments.

To learn more about my work visit:
Website - friedavizel.com
Instagram - @friedavizel
Facebook - /toursbyfrieda

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2683false22fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/my-childhood-as-a-hasidic-boy-in-conversation-with-izzy-posen--57630116 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.com/ https://twitter.com/posenizzy

----- A conversation with the wonderful Izzy Posen about his education as a Hasidic boy. Hasidic boys have very different types of schooling than girls, and here Izzy shares his at times horrifying, at times fascinating, experience in the Hasidic education system. 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

#ex-hasidic #otd #hasidiceducation

For the Youtube video, see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57630116Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:00:03 +0000Frieda VizelFor the video version of this conversation,https://youtu.be/SeZL920Eae8 *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.... 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.com/ https://twitter.com/posenizzy

----- A conversation with the wonderful Izzy Posen about his education as a Hasidic boy. Hasidic boys have very different types of schooling than girls, and here Izzy shares his at times horrifying, at times fascinating, experience in the Hasidic education system. 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

#ex-hasidic #otd #hasidiceducation

For the Youtube video, see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4406false215fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/rules-for-hasidic-girls-issued-by-satmar-school-part-1--57729168
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/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57729168Tue, 14 Nov 2023 19:10:00 +0000Frieda VizelWhat 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...
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/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2560false214fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-truth-about-hasidic-jews-and-the-internet-a-documentary--57729224
With many thanks to my channel members who support my work!
With thanks to Nicole Limperopulos for the financial support towards this video. Please check out Nicole's brilliant street photography on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/streetpicnicphotography/

Many thanks to the wonderful Steve Milligan for all the hard work in editing this video. https://www.cliquemojo.com

Video by Keith Pressman https://kepress...
& Beka Namicheishvili https://biaproduction.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57729224Wed, 08 Nov 2023 15:59:00 +0000Frieda VizelThis 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 many thanks to my channel members who support my work!
With thanks to Nicole Limperopulos for the financial support towards this video. Please check out Nicole's brilliant street photography on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/streetpicnicphotography/

Many thanks to the wonderful Steve Milligan for all the hard work in editing this video. https://www.cliquemojo.com

Video by Keith Pressman https://kepress...
& Beka Namicheishvili https://biaproduction.com/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>2078false213fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/an-orthodox-female-comedian-in-conversation-with-leah-forster--57630132
0:00 An overview of Leah's Hasidic and post-Hasidic comedy
4:58 How did you become a comedian?
11:36 Where did you grow up?
18:15 What was your comedy like for Orthodox women?
20:45 Why is it so hard to find your old comedy online?
27:44 Can you give examples of jokes you'd make when performing for frum audiences?
37:05 Are orthodox people offended by your imitations of Orthodox characters?

For the youtube video, see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57630132Fri, 20 Oct 2023 14:53:00 +0000Frieda VizelLeah 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...
0:00 An overview of Leah's Hasidic and post-Hasidic comedy
4:58 How did you become a comedian?
11:36 Where did you grow up?
18:15 What was your comedy like for Orthodox women?
20:45 Why is it so hard to find your old comedy online?
27:44 Can you give examples of jokes you'd make when performing for frum audiences?
37:05 Are orthodox people offended by your imitations of Orthodox characters?

For the youtube video, see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4517false212fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/eli-benedict-on-life-in-israel-since-the-gruesome-attacks--57727144
עם ישראל חי

Eli Benedict is a researcher in Yiddish, he co-runs Yugn Yiddish and the Youtube channel @LeagueforYiddish.

For video version click here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57727144Tue, 10 Oct 2023 15:01:00 +0000Frieda VizelLast 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...
עם ישראל חי

Eli Benedict is a researcher in Yiddish, he co-runs Yugn Yiddish and the Youtube channel @LeagueforYiddish.

For video version click here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4064false211fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-hasidic-boys-learn-in-conversation-with-moshe-krakowski--57630127
For Youtube video see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57630127Mon, 04 Sep 2023 14:38:00 +0000Frieda VizelMoshe 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...
For Youtube video see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5492false210fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-history-of-hasidism-in-conversation-with-david-biale-on-hasidism-a-new-history--57727272
Check Amazon for the book here: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description...

You can find the pashkeville against David's book here: https://docdro.id/pNxxLed

If you enjoy this kind of long-form interview, make sure to leave a comment to tell me so! Share your thoughts. I try to answer comments with questions.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57727272Tue, 22 Aug 2023 14:40:00 +0000Frieda VizelThe 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...
Check Amazon for the book here: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description...

You can find the pashkeville against David's book here: https://docdro.id/pNxxLed

If you enjoy this kind of long-form interview, make sure to leave a comment to tell me so! Share your thoughts. I try to answer comments with questions.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4027false29fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/more-q-a-with-the-hasidic-housewife-pearl--57871524
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 of life is not for everyone?

On Faiths Beyond Satmar
16:45 || How do you feel about other branches of Judaism?
17:57 || Is it correct to call you "Orthodox Jews"?
19:15 || If a Jew isn't observant, you feel sorry for them?
19:50 || What about when people feel sorry for you?
20:20 || How do you feel about the lack of faith in the world?
22:38 || What do you think of people who pray "to no one in particular"?

Personal Questions
25:22 || Which Austrian Displaced Persons Camp were you born in?
26:00 || How did the Holocaust affect you personally?
28:33 || What is "The Country" to Hasidic Jews?
29:49 || Do you talk to your children about the Holocaust?
31:50 || What surprised you most about being newly married?
33:45 || Did any of your daughters go to college?
34:05 || Did your mother also have this passion and zest for life?
34:56 || Did your mother have a hard time understanding you?
35:30 || How do you navigate a relationship with an abusive parent?
36:30 || How do you find downtime?
36:50 || Can you share your favorite recipes and homemaking ideas?
37:30 || What about cooking something on camera for youtube?

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57871524Mon, 07 Aug 2023 23:57:00 +0000Frieda VizelQUESTIONS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V05SsdMGqkg&t=93s || How can someone visit the Hasidic community respectfully? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V05SsdMGqkg&t=137s || What do you think of cursing? Hard 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 of life is not for everyone?

On Faiths Beyond Satmar
16:45 || How do you feel about other branches of Judaism?
17:57 || Is it correct to call you "Orthodox Jews"?
19:15 || If a Jew isn't observant, you feel sorry for them?
19:50 || What about when people feel sorry for you?
20:20 || How do you feel about the lack of faith in the world?
22:38 || What do you think of people who pray "to no one in particular"?

Personal Questions
25:22 || Which Austrian Displaced Persons Camp were you born in?
26:00 || How did the Holocaust affect you personally?
28:33 || What is "The Country" to Hasidic Jews?
29:49 || Do you talk to your children about the Holocaust?
2328false2fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-famous-pearl-answers-your-questions--578714840:01:10 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 science at odds with religious belief?
0:12:18 || If one-half of a couple cannot have children, do they get divorced?
0:13:26 || Could there be women who don't want to be mothers?
0:14:47 || On head-shaving and head-covering: why?
0:15:48 || Why cut your hair and wear fake hair?
0:16:22 || Do you still want to talk about the head-shaving?
0:17:45 || Do men "tell women to shave their heads" and what to do?
0:18:36 || If women are "queens" and second in the hierarchy, does that not bother you?

Insularity
0:20:45 || What do you think of the internet?
0:21:39 || Why do you need to be insular?
0:24:18 || Are you allowed to have friends outside of the Hasidic community?
0:25:00 || Are you allowed to talk to me as an ex-Hasidic woman?
0:25:24 || What about secular Jews?
0:27:12 || Are you allowed to read secular books?
0:27:27 || What kind of novels would a young girl read?
0:28:39 || Referring to this video where we discussed "arranged marriage" Video
0:28:45 || Does believing that everything is led by God give you comfort?
0:32:48 || As a child, were you aware of antisemitism?
0:34:24 || Do you go on excursions to the beach, museums, and so on?
0:36:32 || Do you like to travel?

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57871484Wed, 02 Aug 2023 23:57:00 +0000Frieda VizelQUESTIONS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaqonzHozVM&t=70s What do you think of all the questions we got? On Women and Motherhood in Satmar Hasidism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaqonzHozVM&t=120s || Are women LOOKED DOWN in Judaism?...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 science at odds with religious belief?
0:12:18 || If one-half of a couple cannot have children, do they get divorced?
0:13:26 || Could there be women who don't want to be mothers?
0:14:47 || On head-shaving and head-covering: why?
0:15:48 || Why cut your hair and wear fake hair?
0:16:22 || Do you still want to talk about the head-shaving?
0:17:45 || Do men "tell women to shave their heads" and what to do?
0:18:36 || If women are "queens" and second in the hierarchy, does that not bother you?

Insularity
0:20:45 || What do you think of the internet?
0:21:39 || Why do you need to be insular?
0:24:18 || Are you allowed to have friends outside of the Hasidic community?
0:25:00 || Are you allowed to talk to me as an ex-Hasidic woman?
0:25:24 || What...]]>2279false2fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/hasidim-ex-hasidim-and-dogs-in-conversation-with-naomi-seidman--57727328
We also talk about the grief of losing an animal and the challenge of communicating it to the people in our former communities who never had pets.

We also get to meet Naomi's most adorable dog Vanessa, whom you will all love, even if you never had a pet!

Here are some links to Naomi's work:
Heretic in the house: https://www.hartman.org.il/program/heretic-in-the-house/
The Bais Yaakov project: https://thebaisyaakovproject.religion.utoronto.ca
Naomi's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00...

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to see more, please subscribe to this channel.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57727328Sun, 25 Jun 2023 15:02:00 +0000Frieda VizelMost 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,...
We also talk about the grief of losing an animal and the challenge of communicating it to the people in our former communities who never had pets.

We also get to meet Naomi's most adorable dog Vanessa, whom you will all love, even if you never had a pet!

Here are some links to Naomi's work:
Heretic in the house: https://www.hartman.org.il/program/heretic-in-the-house/
The Bais Yaakov project: https://thebaisyaakovproject.religion.utoronto.ca
Naomi's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00...

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to see more, please subscribe to this channel.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3729false28fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/do-ex-hasidim-get-shunned-in-conversation-with-zalman-newfield--57727397
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 of Separation - Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism'. In our talk, we cover many topics about the relationship with the community while leaving: from the challenges of maintaining a relationship with family in the community, to custody battles, to ways of holding on to parts of the past that are valuable.

Zalman's work can be found on his website at https://zalmannewfield.com/ and you can buy his book on Amazon or directly from the publisher here: https://tupress.temple.edu/...

If you enjoy this interview, like, subscribe and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57727397Sun, 18 Jun 2023 15:00:00 +0000Frieda VizelYou 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...
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 of Separation - Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism'. In our talk, we cover many topics about the relationship with the community while leaving: from the challenges of maintaining a relationship with family in the community, to custody battles, to ways of holding on to parts of the past that are valuable.

Zalman's work can be found on his website at https://zalmannewfield.com/ and you can buy his book on Amazon or directly from the publisher here: https://tupress.temple.edu/...

If you enjoy this interview, like, subscribe and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>6167false27fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/in-conversation-with-steve-milligan-my-youtube-channel-s-editor--57727666▶▶ Please subscribe and like!
➡Leave a comment with your thoughts! ❤

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/.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57727666Tue, 02 May 2023 14:58:00 +0000Frieda VizelIf you are new - welcome to my channel! ▶▶ Please subscribe and like! ➡Leave a comment with your thoughts! ❤ 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,...▶▶ Please subscribe and like!
➡Leave a comment with your thoughts! ❤

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/.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3510false26fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-i-joined-the-hasidic-community-the-story-of-sara-braun--53427576
Sara Braun's book on her life journey as a Hasidic woman can be found here: https://a.co/d/5jigc0q

For youtube video, see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/53427576Mon, 03 Apr 2023 12:58:25 +0000Frieda VizelIn 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...
Sara Braun's book on her life journey as a Hasidic woman can be found here: https://a.co/d/5jigc0q

For youtube video, see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5285false25fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/hasidic-boys-education-controversy-in-conversation-with-eli-spitzer--57727780
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 Eli's columns, see: https://elispitzer.com/ https://mosaicmagazine.com/author/eli-spitzer/

For more of my long form interviews, see https://www.youtube.com/playlist...

Thanks for watching! Please subscribe for more!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57727780Fri, 24 Mar 2023 15:12:00 +0000Frieda VizelEli 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...
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 Eli's columns, see: https://elispitzer.com/ https://mosaicmagazine.com/author/eli-spitzer/

For more of my long form interviews, see https://www.youtube.com/playlist...

Thanks for watching! Please subscribe for more!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>5007false24fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/in-conversation-with-steven-nolt-on-amish-society--57727936
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57727936Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:39:00 +0000Frieda VizelIn 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...
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>6764false23fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/in-conversation-on-heretic-in-the-house-with-naomi-seidman--57728014You 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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728014Thu, 01 Dec 2022 15:59:00 +0000Frieda VizelThis 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/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.]]>4892false18fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/in-conversation-with-gerry-albarelli-former-hasidic-boys-english-teacher--57728269
In my conversation with Gerry he did a bit of reading from the book and then shared with me his experiences as a teacher, as well as his experiences writing the book. He had a lot of great insight and I hope you'll have a listen/watch!

Follow my work at www.friedavizel.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/friedavizel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel

For the video version of this podcast see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728269Tue, 07 Jun 2022 18:32:00 +0000Frieda VizelGerry 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,...
In my conversation with Gerry he did a bit of reading from the book and then shared with me his experiences as a teacher, as well as his experiences writing the book. He had a lot of great insight and I hope you'll have a listen/watch!

Follow my work at www.friedavizel.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/friedavizel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel

For the video version of this podcast see here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3507false17fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-special-visit-to-williamsburg-with-writer-and-former-resident-phillip-lopate--57728425
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 by his old place at 352 Broadway, right by the noisy train tracks, and then the apartment at 151 Ross Street, which is right off Lee Avenue. We also visited the famed former Eastern District High School, which I've written about extensively, and the public library that sits right across from it, and discussed the Brooklyn Queens Expressway's impact on the time Phillip lived in Williamsburg. We stopped over for knishes and rugelach, ambled along Lee Avenue to see Flaum's Deli, and said our goodbyes at Gottlieb's. It was a lovely afternoon!

Phillip's brother Leonard Lopate is also well known as a famous radio personality. I've written about Leonard Lopate in Williamsburg before and hope to one day visit with Leonard.

Thanks for watching. Please take a moment to subscribe to my youtube channel to help me create more content!

Follow me on my blog @ friedavizel.com
Twitter @ https://twitter.com/ToursByFrieda
Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728425Wed, 18 May 2022 16:54:00 +0000Frieda VizelWilliamsburg, 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...
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 by his old place at 352 Broadway, right by the noisy train tracks, and then the apartment at 151 Ross Street, which is right off Lee Avenue. We also visited the famed former Eastern District High School, which I've written about extensively, and the public library that sits right across from it, and discussed the Brooklyn Queens Expressway's impact on the time Phillip lived in Williamsburg. We stopped over for knishes and rugelach, ambled along Lee Avenue to see Flaum's Deli, and said our goodbyes at Gottlieb's. It was a lovely afternoon!

Phillip's brother Leonard Lopate is also well known as a famous radio personality. I've written about Leonard Lopate in Williamsburg before and hope to one day visit with Leonard.

Thanks for watching. Please take a moment to subscribe to my youtube channel to help me create more content!

Follow me on my blog @ friedavizel.com
Twitter @ https://twitter.com/ToursByFrieda
Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/friedavizel/

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4112false16fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/izzy-posen-and-frieda-vizel-live-zoom-conversation-on-post-haredi-life-identity-and-relations--57728491
If you were on the call, thanks for joining! If you missed it, here's the video recording, have a watch!

You can follow Izzy on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/PosenIzzy

And make sure to check out Izzy's Youtube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/chan...

Thanks for watching! I am hopeful there will be more opportunities for live video events in the future.

Make sure to subscribe to my youtube. For more of my work check out friedavizel.com.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728491Sat, 02 Apr 2022 18:16:00 +0000Frieda VizelI 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...
If you were on the call, thanks for joining! If you missed it, here's the video recording, have a watch!

You can follow Izzy on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/PosenIzzy

And make sure to check out Izzy's Youtube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/chan...

Thanks for watching! I am hopeful there will be more opportunities for live video events in the future.

Make sure to subscribe to my youtube. For more of my work check out friedavizel.com.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4618false15fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/interview-with-harry-weiss-former-williamsburg-resident--57728580
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 50s and in the neighborhood.

See my blog post for a transcription of highlights of our conversation.
https://friedavizel.com/2022/02/02/interview-...

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728580Wed, 02 Feb 2022 17:53:00 +0000Frieda VizelI'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...
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 50s and in the neighborhood.

See my blog post for a transcription of highlights of our conversation.
https://friedavizel.com/2022/02/02/interview-...

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4265false14fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/shpanier-arbet-jewish-garment-art-with-elena-solomon--57728886
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.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728886Thu, 13 Jan 2022 01:28:00 +0000Frieda VizelIn 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...
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.]]>2425false13fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/in-conversation-with-nathaniel-deutsch-co-author-of-a-fortress-in-brooklyn--57728833
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 Williamsburg. He is currently developing The Minhag Project: A Crowdsourced Archive of Hasidic Customs.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728833Tue, 28 Dec 2021 23:42:00 +0000Frieda VizelI 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...
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 Williamsburg. He is currently developing The Minhag Project: A Crowdsourced Archive of Hasidic Customs.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>4971false12fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/interview-with-nelly-grussgott-on-post-war-williamsburg-brooklyn--57728956
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. This Nelly's mother did for life, but Nelly herself could never do it, and she struggled to understand her mother's path. Nelly moved out of Williamsburg when she got married, but her mother remained in the neighborhood until her death in 1990.

Many thanks to Nelly for the lovely conversation and for sharing her memories.

Please subscribe to this channel.

Follow my blog on Hasidic Williamsburg at friedavizel.com/blog

For the video version of this podcast click here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>https://api.spreaker.com/episode/57728956Thu, 23 Sep 2021 18:17:00 +0000Frieda VizelThis 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...
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. This Nelly's mother did for life, but Nelly herself could never do it, and she struggled to understand her mother's path. Nelly moved out of Williamsburg when she got married, but her mother remained in the neighborhood until her death in 1990.

Many thanks to Nelly for the lovely conversation and for sharing her memories.

Please subscribe to this channel.

Follow my blog on Hasidic Williamsburg at friedavizel.com/blog

For the video version of this podcast click here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.]]>3425false11full