Shows
The Frieda Vizel PodcastMayor Mamdani and the Jews | Jacob KornbluhVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/4MPf67ftXMEJacob Kornbluh is a Hasidic reporter covering the Mamdani beat at a moment when Zohran Mamdani has become a lightning rod in Jewish communities. For many, Mamdani represents fear, anger, political anxiety, and deep uncertainty about where New York is headed. And in the middle of that storm is Kornbluh.Recently featured in The New York Times, Kornbluh occupies a complicated position. He reports on power while belonging to a community that often feels scrutinized by power. During COVID, some Hasidic critics accused him of “reporting on...
2026-02-2253 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastMy most candid conversation yet | On the Avrum Rosenzweig showVideo 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.
2025-12-241h 00
The Frieda Vizel PodcastEx-Hasidic star Riki Rose faces her past in WilliamsburgVideo 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...
2025-10-191h 34
The Frieda Vizel PodcastWhat it's like to grow up in Kiryas Joel | An essay by Frieda VizelVideo version of this posting: https://youtu.be/uHu_17N9GdEI 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...
2025-05-2512 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastA historian's warning | Anna ShternshisLink to video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/hKN0_75EuqEAnna 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 oral histories Anna collected from Yiddish (and non-Yiddish) speakers born before 1929, and the Yiddish songs she recovered from during the holocaust.
2025-03-161h 20
The Frieda Vizel PodcastA revolution in Yiddish arts & theater by Hasidim | Ari AbromowitzVideo link to this episode: https://youtu.be/pVfY5wZlPecThere'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) Abromowitz, who is a veteran of this scene, who has been there from the beginning of this "...
2025-03-0955 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastI grew up in Kiryas Joel and embraced plant medicineVideo version of this interview here: https://youtu.be/kMxyRkjljm8?si=hcjjD0_-izvquKxBToday'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, thoughtfulness, and living connected with something very alive within. Bruchy is now a child therapist and also does post-psychedelic integrative therapy, and her work often addresses a Yiddish-speaking...
2025-02-231h 10
The Frieda Vizel Podcast"I craved religion and even tried Christianity" | In Conversation with comedian Antonia LassarVideo link to this interview: https://youtu.be/ctuFi83643EAntonia 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 doesn't always work for us. In our long form interview we talked about Antonia's background, about the Chabad sect, about the ritual of mikvah immersion, and...
2025-02-161h 03
The Frieda Vizel Podcast🚨 For women, girls, AND men and boys | In conversation with Jessica RodaVideo version of this interview: https://youtu.be/blLciT0egb4Jessica 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/4jKRJgjIn 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 limited. In Roda's work, she charts how women's perfomances has become a whole economy thanks to the internet and women's creative ways of...
2025-02-091h 06
The Frieda Vizel Podcast"I risk everything when speaking out as a woman in Kiryas Joel" | Exclusive interview with Fradel NeumanVideo version of this interview: https://youtu.be/HoTzWaF7dU8So 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, fascinating and yet to get very interesting as she finds her place in the world, negotiating faith and individualization in a very communal...
2025-01-2649 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastMessiah Energy and Wholesome Comedy | Interview with Modi RosenfeldVideo version of this interview: https://youtu.be/dlp7-4Aq1tMModi 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 discussion about his amazing work. Check out Modi here on Youtube...
2025-01-1939 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastMy Chanukah Memories | Reading: Circumcised Chanukah GiftsVideo link: https://youtu.be/J1XGAMK4wngHappy 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!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.
2024-12-2920 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastSex ed in the Hasidic community | A Hasidic grooms receives the birds and the bees talkVideo version of this posting: https://youtu.be/Gk917OpgS_QIt 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 be beautiful, painful, shocking, exhilarating, and so many other things.Since I myself went through this on...
2024-11-2436 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastThe intersection of Sex and Piety | In Conversation with Intimacy Coach Peggy GreenfieldVideo version here: https://youtu.be/AUdw8W71Gv8*Sensitive content warning. This conversation contains adult themes.*Peggy Greenfield is a certified relationship and intimacy coach who grew up in the Satmar Hasidic community of Williamsburg, and now serves this population. Peggy is not in the community herself anymore, which gives her a unique vantage point from which to tackle challenges of sex and imtimacy, topics that are difficult and complicated anywhere, but which pose a unique challenge in a community of so many rules restricting sex and the body. Peggy is outside of the community's...
2024-11-231h 03
The Frieda Vizel PodcastA battle for land between Hasidim and their neighbors | In conversation with Jesse SweetVideo link: https://youtu.be/Ovl9HbcTuUIThis is a discussion about the documentary 'City of Joel', with the filmmaker Jesse Sweet. It's a documentary about a turf war in the insular Hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel. Kiryas Joel is a Satmar village in Orange County New York, and it's where I lived for the first twenty-five years of my life. The documentary includes amazing footage of the village I grew up in, with shots of several very close male contacts. It was a fun experience to watch it and to discuss the film with the filmmaker.
2024-11-0352 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastThe Talmud as a Door | In Conversation with Miriam AnzovinVideo version of this interview: https://youtu.be/vbwZcttuNOQMiriam Anzovin is a Jewish content creator who does videos about the Talmud, Jewish lore reactions and even holiday themed makeup tutorials. She is a warm, funny and witty Jewish woman and I find a friend in her in the content creation journey. Join me for a discussion with the wonderful Miriam about her background, about her relationship to her orthodox mother, about her creative process, about trolls and the Talmud and so much more.Follow Miriam on a bunch of platforms!Youtube @MiriamAnzovin Instagram: htt...
2024-10-2750 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastA Jew from today, but from yesterday... | In Conversation with Lea KalischVideo version of this interview here: https://youtu.be/5-RsTIrIbmoLea Kalisch has a dream to sing at the Superbowl, in Yiddish, with a shtreimel. She is a singer of many genres, but some of her Yiddish songs reflect a longing for a simple, religious world. "I am a shtetel Neshama (soul), a Jew from yesterday. I should have been a fruma, my hashtag is 'oyvey'." We hear so many stories of people from the religious community longing for the secular world, what does it mean to grow up secular and express a longing for the religious world...
2024-10-131h 08
The Frieda Vizel PodcastReflections a year after October 7th; stream of consciousness sharingYoutube video: https://youtu.be/aTkJpC3h7cgBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.
2024-10-0833 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastCan we call her a Hasidic feminist? | Interview with Hasidic Influencer Raizy FriedJoin me for an interview with the Hasidic Yiddish influencer Raizy Fried. Please check out the youtube version of this video here:https://youtu.be/oycLsS4ulygIn my work documenting the Hasidic community, I've gone to great lengths to bring out of the shadows the story of women in this world and their voices. It has been incredibly difficult, as much of the female sphere is modesty and behind a curtain. Still, I've felt it's important to share this world with you all, as I feel that otherwise, the female experience is invisible, as if erased...
2024-10-0851 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastThe complicated relationship between animals and Orthodox Jews | discussing myths with Mendel Hersh PanethLink to video version of this conversation:https://youtu.be/O-ov6vTAAqQ?si=uqY1x8Yt-8woN-TDIn this video I talk to Hasidic Jew Rabbi Mendel Hersh Paneth about the community's complicated relationship to animals. People's fear of dogs, the way that animals are slaughtered for kosher purposes and the ritual of kapores. Stay tuned for additional discussions with Rabbi MH Paneth. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.
2024-09-2915 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastWhen one half of a town turns on the other | Interview with Director Igor Golyak*Note: the play discussed here contains violence*For the video version of this interview see here.In this long-form interview, I talk to theater director Igor Goylak about a powerful production titled 'Our Class'. It's a play that tackles timely themes of the human capacity for evil, antisemitism, and the long arc of history. I saw the play in Brooklyn and it's now playing in Manhattan. Igor is a fellow Fellow at the Mandel Institute Cultural Leadership Program Fall 2024 cohort.**For tickets see the following websites:**www.arlekinplayers.comwww.ourclassplay.com
2024-09-0841 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastWhat life is like for a Hasidic lady in the Catskills today | With comedian Leah ForsterFor YouTube version see here: https://youtu.be/DQgG_PzxazgBaily is a character of a Hasidic woman who spends her summers in the bungalow colonies in upstate New York. In this episode, she shares the trials and tribulations of the experience. This segment is comedy, in the great tradition of the Catskills being a place for comedy. Leah Forster is a brilliant comedian who has spent years entertaining Hasidic women before she left the fold and pivoted to perform for a larger audience.Check out my other videos on the Jewish Catskills and my earlier...
2024-08-0458 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastA Bungalow Colony for Survivors I In Conversation with Director Andrew JacobsAndrew Jacobs directed the beautiful documentary 'Four Seasons Lodge' about holocaust survivors who spent every summer in the Catskills in a bungalow colony, connecting and loving life. The documentary follows them during their last years, as they are in their 80s, navigating the end of their time together. They are full of laughter, love, humor, sorrow, and memories of the horrors they went through. When I talked to Jacobs about his work on the documentary, and then so many of the subjects passing away, he welled up as he talked about what the survivors went through and how despite all...
2024-07-2153 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastHe returned to live in the most insular Israeli enclave after leaving it | Tuvia Tenonbom InterviewVideo version of this interview: https://youtu.be/311WBTY7mrsTuvia Tenonbom is a character! He grew up in the Haredi enclave of Bnei Brak, which I've introduced you to in another video. He left the fold in his early twenties and became a bestselling author and journalist in Germany - with oft-hilarious, oft-controversial views. During covid, he was sent on an assignment to the insular Haredi enclaves of Israel, to the world of his childhood, to write about the experience. He was warned by many people that he'd be kicked out as soon as he arrived. But...
2024-06-301h 17
The Frieda Vizel Podcast"No one had a grandfather" | Gita recounts the Hasidic community after the holocaustVideo interview: https://youtu.be/2saQ0LEwZXQGita Katz is a larger-than-life character. I got to know her through Pearl, the famous Hasidic woman whom I have had the honor of having on this program before. In this interview, she shares what it was like to grow up in Hasidic Williamsburg in the shadow of the Holocaust.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.
2024-06-1654 min
The Frieda Vizel Podcast"We hid the piano from my Hasidic father" | The Singer Riki Rose shares her storyFor the video version of this segment, click here: https://youtu.be/jiE9cTn6Yi0Riki Rose grew up in Hasidic Williamsburg, in a very conservative family. From when she was young, she had that star celebrity quality to her. But as a woman, her ability to fully express her talents was significantly limited by the religious laws on Kol Isha, which prohibits women from performing to male audiences. Still, Riki's life has been full of joys, good humor, and great moments to shine. In this long-form interview, I talk to Riki about her amazing life story. And...
2024-06-021h 36
The Frieda Vizel PodcastYiddish versus Hebrew the battle of two Jewish languages | In Conversation with Eddy PortnoyVideo version of this segment: https://youtu.be/tq8y3KkAWTkAs many of you know, my first language is Yiddish. It is the language of the Satmar Hasidic community I come from. The story of why I grew up speaking Yiddish, and not Hebrew, is intimately tied to the story of the birth of Israel, Zionism and Jewish language. And so, today I want to delve into the history of how two Jewish languages came to represent contrasting Jewish ideologies. I was inspired to do this segment after visiting the wonderful YIVO exhibit in Manhattan t...
2024-05-081h 18
The Frieda Vizel PodcastWhy do we love to talk about Cults? | In Conversation with Guinevere TurnerFor the video version of this discussion, see here: https://youtu.be/S2LMqtNjg6cThe Hasidic community has been the subject of great, lurid fascination. People love to hear the stories of its unusual customs and darker sides. I see this fascination as part of a larger fascination with subcultures and cults. For instance, Youtube is full of channels that tell ex-Hasidic, ex-Mormon, ex-Amish and ex-Cult stories and these videos draw hundreds of thousands of views. Guinevere Turner grew up in a cult. In the Lyman Family cult. What's unique about her is that she d...
2024-04-061h 20
The Frieda Vizel PodcastThe Chained Wife / the Jewish Aguna Crisis | In Conversation with Keshet StarrVideo version of this segment here: https://youtu.be/_H1hjrS2MLoA chained wife is a woman who is chained to a man in marriage, even after the relationship ends. This can happen in Jewish marriages when one partner refuses to give or accept the Get, the religious divorce. Malky is a Hasidic woman in Kiryas Joel who has been a chained wife for 4 years. In recent weeks the activist Flatbush Girl has spearheaded a campaign to pressure Malky’s husband to give a Get, by protesting in the strict and insular village of Kiryas Joel, by en...
2024-03-171h 16
The Frieda Vizel PodcastThe Satmar Rebbe's Life and Controversial Anti-Zionism | In Conversation with Rabbi Ysoscher KatzLink to video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/8oVcC5z24c4The Satmar Rabbi is one of Hasidic Jewry's great figures, yet his legacy is mired in deep controversy. He is credited with much of the revival of Hungarian Hasidism post-holocaust. Still, his anti-zionism draws deep criticism, especially since he was rescued during the holocaust by the Kastner train, a special rescue train that was negotiated by the zionists.In this episode, I bring you a conversation with Rabbi Ysoscher Katz on the life and controversies of the Satmar Rabbi. Rabbi Katz was raised...
2024-03-101h 42
The Frieda Vizel PodcastWhat are Hasidic Jewish SECTS?For the video version, see here: https://youtu.be/ywWcEMPALlMYou might have heard that in Judaism, there are Hasidic sects. What do we mean by sects? What are the sects, and what’s the difference among them? In this segment, we’ll do a brief introduction to what Hasidic sects are. Please feel free to leave a comment with your questions! The book referenced in this video is ‘Hasidism, A New History’Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.
2024-03-0712 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastAm I disrespectful?A candid vlog with my thoughts on appropriate dress in Hasidic Williamsburg. Discussing tourist dress, the model Marisa Papen who walked through Williamsburg without any clothes, and my own choice to wear pants as an ex-Satmar woman.Video version: https://youtu.be/bE4mSWJzk3IBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.
2024-02-2524 min
The Frieda Vizel PodcastThe Secret Stories of Hidden Heretics | In Conversation with Ayala FaderYoutube video link: https://youtu.be/2BmWbcCMW3M?si=B3yDwGD7exBuY4fcIn many of my videos, I've explored how Hasidic Jews live in the 21st century.*But what happens to those for whom this way of life doesn't work?* Some, like myself, leave. But not everyone who has doubts or different beliefs leaves. Some stay. And in this interview, I explore the stories of what we'll call here "the double lifers". The people who stay, despite rejecting the Orthodox Jewish core theological tenets.Why do they stay? What's it...
2024-02-081h 13
The Frieda Vizel PodcastDo Hasidic Jews Vaccinate? | Dr Howard Rosman, Pediatrician to Hasidic Community, in ConversationVideo link: https://youtu.be/TkUS0jzJci4?si=QJJ8X5PKB_KKFNrqThis is a conversation with Dr. Howard Rosman, the longtime pediatrician serving the Williamsburg Hasidic community. When I first heard about him from his granddaughter, I spoke to some people in the community to ask them what they knew of him, and it was soon clear that he was a beloved icon in this community.My aim in this interview was to learn how this very devout community approaches modern medicine. Do they vaccinate? Do they take all medicine - what about kosher concerns...
2024-01-221h 05