The Frieda Vizel Podcast

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/naUJMITJ5sYThe article is here: https://friedavizel.com/2014/06/06/a-church-in-kiryas-joelBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/ClAU6WJfj8UOne of my earliest video and, in my view, an important one to repost at this time. Forgive the repost. Lots of new content coming soon.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video version here: https://youtu.be/ZlWRN4jo-CA As someone who grew up in Kiryas Joel and left the fold, I have a lot to say on this Hasidic village. There's good and bad. There are issues, and yes there are valid criticisms on its relationship to the welfare system, although this doesn't take away from the facts: that this is a community where the vast majority of men are gainfully employed and work incredibly hard. The stereotypes of this community as "welfare queens" whose men study torah and don't work is so damaging and not true.  @TylerOliveira 's...

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/qUDGHnwTUPwFollow along with the pdf of the story here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JCIYkr489nAvNDZQapUJ9UzTdmeCpt-8/view?usp=sharing Let me read to you some Yiddish from 1977 and unpack the values and worldview of the Hasidic young girls through the moral lessons presented in this book. See how they were introduced to social values of obedience, kindness, respect to the elders, safety, trust in each other, modesty, and more. Please let me know what you think I missed.Become a supporter of...

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/jcz0xmkm10sThe Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel’s early days in the 1970s and 80s were anything but quiet. They were marked by infighting, lawsuits, dissidents, and a legal battle so consequential it’s still taught in American law schools today.In this interview, I speak with lawyer Michael Sussman, the man who came to represent some of Kiryas Joel’s most outspoken internal critics during its formative years. Though he was neither Hasidic nor Orthodox, Sussman became deeply entangled in the village’s internal struggles—so much so...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/koTlTNYXoxIThis video is the extended sit-down conversation from my visit with the Bukharyan Jewish community in Forest Hills, Queens. In this segment, Abe Fuzaylov and his mother-in-law Mazal slow things down and tell their stories—about family, memory, food, and what it means to carry a Central Asian Jewish heritage into New York.Bukharyan Jews once lived for centuries in relative isolation in Central Asia. Today, very few remain there, but the culture is alive and evolving in new places. New York is one of them.In...

Video version here:https://youtu.be/1j7yKcjT4K8Follow Avrum's wonderful podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@avrumrosensweigshowFollow Frieda on Youtube here:https://www.youtube.com/friedavizelbrooklynBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/bY7w9icDKgULeah Forster is, as they say in the Hasidic community, “one in a million.” She’s funny, she sings, she’s creative, and she’s been on a spiritual journey for years. She’s an out lesbian woman from the Hasidic community who is now in no box, under no one’s label. She has one daughter. Over the last year, her daughter has been battling a terrible tumor.Leah agreed to sit down with me to talk about her experience. In true Leah fashion, the conversati...

video link: https://youtube.com/live/OjxrGU4AjbcBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video link: https://youtube.com/live/8IEgx00P7OEA livestream about the NYT op doc about the Wedding Night for Orthodox Jewish couples. Watch the opdoc here:https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/opinion/ultra-orthodox-jewish-wedding-night.htmlBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Link to video of this interview: https://youtu.be/qMKonpTHj24A candid discussion about Orthodox Judaism and its views on abortion, infertility and loss of unborn life.This discussion is Part 2 of a two-part interview. WATCH PART 1 HERE: https://youtu.be/jjk5K5Rp6e4In 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...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/jjk5K5Rp6e4A conversation on Orthodox Judaism and reproductive lawsToday 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...

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/1y8ejrX4JosIn 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 ref...

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=MdFJVuZnUvXPcudPI 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....

Video version: https://youtu.be/1Vzxhb9kFOkRiki 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...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/IfWm5mlQRwgWhen 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...

Video link to this segment: https://youtu.be/87TYqw7aKbIStep 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 happen...

Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/IdA3uHWGEtgIn 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 comple...

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

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/WSYIhDbY0VYIn 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=GKkJDKlpgD1t5cWoIt'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 wil...