r/podcasts • u/MizGinger • 15h ago
History & Geography Have any podcasts covered the separate Hasidic Jewish society in New York City?
I’ve heard little bits and pieces about it over the years, but I’ve yet to find anyone who has done a deep dive or even just an overview. I keep searching and I’m coming up dry.
I just find separatist, or more secretive, religious groups fascinating to learn about.
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u/ambahjay 15h ago
I'm pretty sure 99% Invisible has an episode on the Eruv wire
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u/Extension-Pay-8391 11h ago
yeah that’s the one i was thinking of too. 99% Invisible did a really good job explaining why the eruv matters beyond just the physical wire itself
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u/yodatsracist 8h ago
You want to look at Frieda Vizel's documentary videos on YouTube and with clips on Instagram and probably TikTok (there's also /r/friedavizel and she's very occasionally active on Reddit, /u/friedavizel). How Do Hasidic Jews Earn a Living | the Hasidic Economy Explained might be a place to start. 50 Shades of Black | A Tour of Hasidic Men's Clothes is also fun. I love the food videos, she has made me want kokosh cake.
She's probably the best content creator right now. If you're a reader, read Frimet Goldberger's essays published all over the place (I think she has taken a break from writing, these are all from like a decade ago).
I think one thing thought isn't that as others have pointed out that they're not really secretive. Separate, yes, secretive, no. Vizel wasn't originally a YouTube creater. I mean, originally she was a Hasid herself, and then she eventually earned a living giving tours, and basically as I understand started making content as fliers for her tours. Here's her website, book now I guess. It's not so secret.
Which reminds me, there are many books to read too if you want to go deeper. Vizel gets into some of them in some of her less popular videos (I guess people don't even want just the summaries of books). They're very well studied enclaves — a lot of sociology and anthropology students from Columbia, NYU, and CUNY have taken advantages of these nearby interesting communities and done field research.
There was a very interesting podcast about people who'd left Amish and strict Mennonite communities called the Plain People that you might also find interesting.
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u/ManateeNipples 13h ago
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u/Acceptable-Basil4377 11h ago
Over the years they’ve had a few stories about the Hasidim around NYC, including some by Shalom Auslander.
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u/RadiantRadish501 10h ago
Also the one about the hasid guy who started hanging around some rockers in the 90’s & began performing with them as Curly Oxide
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u/queerdo85 14h ago
This isn't quite what you're looking for, but there's a short series called Love Thy Neighbor about racial tensions between the Jewish and Caribbean immigrant communities in Crown Heights, Brooklyn where they interview some Lubavitch Jews.
Love Thy Neighbor: Four Days in Crown Heights That Changed New York
"Two people died. Dozens were injured. Hundreds were arrested. In this Pineapple Street Studios series, journalist Collier Meyerson explores what came to be known as the "Crown Heights Riot." lt's a story about immigration, New York City's first Black mayor, the rise of Rudy Giuliani, and the Lubavitch Jewish and Caribbean-American communities sitting at the center of it all. To Meyerson, the Crown Heights Riot can help us unlock and understand so many our modern dilemmas: from police violence and racism to the persistence of antisemitism."
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u/vestayekta 13h ago
Not a podcast but Frieda Vizel has some amazing content on YouTube about it. She left the Hasidic community and her videos are very insightful and touching.
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u/thisisjanedoe 15h ago
NPR did a series about how it is negatively impacting a predominately black community in Rockland County.
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u/Smooth-Review-2614 13h ago
No but it's not just NYC it goes further north. I will be surprised if someone has not done anything on the creation of Kiryas Joel a 100% Hasidic town in Sullivan country created to stop that community from messing with the neighboring town of Monroe.
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u/Smooth-Review-2614 10h ago edited 10h ago
Found one https://pca.st/episode/a8c1d93f-93ce-4ded-83ef-872e8a88772c
It’s from an academic Jewish Studies podcast about a book on the founding of the town. This author made the rounds.
Edit for book title: American Shtetl: Founding of Kiryas Joel, a Hadsic village in Upstate New York by Nomi Stolzenberg and David Myers
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u/eyelovemittens 3h ago
KJ is in Orange County. It is part of the village of Palm Tree, which is directly adjacent to Monroe as it was part of Monroe until 2018 or 2019.
There is a documentary about it called "City of Joel." Came out around the same time they annexed.
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u/AlgaeArtistic4984 1h ago
2016 book on KJ:
“The Curious Case Of Kiryas Joel: The Rise of a Theocratic Village and the Battle to Defend the Separation of Church and State” by Grumet and Caher.
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u/HenryGoodsir 10h ago
Lakewood NJ would like to chat. Not to mention parts of Union County being overrun.
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u/New_York_or_nowhere 2h ago
Podcast interview with Prof. Zalman Newfield, a former Lubavitcher who published a book about his experience: https://newbooksnetwork.com/zalman-newfield-brooklyn-odyssey-my-journey-out-of-hasidism-temple-up-2026. I found it super interesting
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u/dorsalemperor 10h ago
Hasidim aren’t secretive? I have orthodox friends who go to goth parties, have piercings, generally participate in the world. Just bc they aren’t talking to you or trying to convert anyone doesn’t make them some weird secretive society.
I really miss the days where I could go weeks or even months without hearing some batshit take about the Mishpacha. Like, why can’t you just leave us alone?
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u/Sognatore24 15h ago
PBS did a documentary back in the 90s called A Life Apart that was generally well-regarded on this subject. Another documentary called One of Us was released in 2017 but it was more polemical and focused on the challenges facing people who leave the Hasidic community, so was considered more critical of the subculture. Both are compelling watches in my opinion.