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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Edited by Lee 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... 
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