Frieda Vizel - Hasidic Brooklyn and Beyond
Welcome 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 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! :)
Episodes
June 22, 2025 • 81 mins
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 perfo...
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 perfo...
Mark as Played
June 15, 2025 • 70 mins
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 standard...
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 standard...
Mark as Played
June 8, 2025 • 56 mins
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 (...
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 (...
Mark as Played
May 25, 2025 • 12 mins
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 essa...
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 essa...
Mark as Played
May 18, 2025 • 78 mins
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.
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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 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...
Mark as Played
May 4, 2025 • 78 mins
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 N...
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 N...
Mark as Played
April 27, 2025 • 77 mins
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
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
Mark as Played
April 15, 2025 • 31 mins
Link to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/MnFddZtaWdQ
Mark as Played
April 6, 2025 • 14 mins
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
I am sharing the music since it's essentially and ad and it will help create a fuller resource/reference to my commentary
Mark as Played
April 6, 2025 • 28 mins
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". Pleas...
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". Pleas...
Mark as Played
March 23, 2025 • 59 mins
Video 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. 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 cando...
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 cando...
Mark as Played
March 16, 2025 • 80 mins
Link 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 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...
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...
Mark as Played
March 9, 2025 • 55 mins
Video 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 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...
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...
Mark as Played
February 23, 2025 • 70 mins
Video 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. 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, thoughtfuln...
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, thoughtfuln...
Mark as Played
February 16, 2025 • 63 mins
Video 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 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 doe...
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 doe...
Mark as Played
February 9, 2025 • 66 mins
Video 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 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...
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...
Mark as Played
January 26, 2025 • 49 mins
Video 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. 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, fas...
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, fas...
Mark as Played
January 19, 2025 • 39 mins
Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/dlp7-4Aq1tM
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 di...
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 di...
Mark as Played
December 29, 2024 • 20 mins
Video 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 celebrate the holidays very happy holidays!
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!
Mark as Played
November 24, 2024 • 36 mins
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 ...
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 ...
Mark as Played
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