Frieda Vizel - Hasidic Brooklyn and Beyond

*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

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

👉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/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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