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

A conversation on Orthodox Judaism and reproductive laws

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Follow Riki Rose:
YouTube: 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the moment I met Nelly, I was 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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