Frieda Vizel - Hasidic Brooklyn and Beyond

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

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

Since I myself went through this on 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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Follow Miriam on a bunch of platforms!
Youtube  @MiriamAnzovin 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miriamanzovin/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@UCAM7ylcgdb_dkvvrnEmLp0w
Twitter: https://x.com/Anzovina
Website: https://www.miriamanzovin.com/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Note: the play discussed here contains violence*

For the video version of this interview see here.

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

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

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

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

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

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