The Frieda Vizel Podcast

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

In this video, I provide a translation and analysis of a powerful Yiddish speech by the Grand Rabbi of the Satmar Hasidic sect, Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum. He addresses what he describes as the "new Satan" threatening today's generation: Artificial Intelligence.

I offer a unique context as someone who grew up in the community. I share personal stories, including a poignant encounter at my son's opsherin, to illustrate the complex relationship between Hasidic leadership, tradition, and the relentless march of technology.

In this video, we explore:
-The Rabbi's Warning: How AI is viewed as a "mutation" of past technological temptations like computers and smartphones.
-The "Kosher Phone" Dilemma: Why even filtered devices are now seen as gateways to unsupervised access to the world.
-Cultural Preservation: The community's ingenious and sometimes desperate tactics for balancing modern necessity with spiritual isolation.
-A Personal Journey: I reflect on how the internet changed my own life and why I find the Rabbi’s cautionary stance more logical than many might expect.

Timestamps: 
00:00 Introduction: My background and the significance of the speech 
01:18 Personal story: Meeting Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum 
08:24 The Hasidic community’s "dance" with technology 
11:52 The Recording Begins: The "Flaming Speech" against the new Satan 
17:09 Why AI is seen as a mutating evil inclination 
21:05 The history of Hasidic solutions: Filters and bans 
25:22 The "woe to us" dilemma: Why the Rabbi chose to speak out 
30:25 How AI chatbots are accessed via kosher phone numbers 
33:50 My reflections: Is the Rabbi’s warning extreme or insightful?

Join the conversation: How do you think we should manage the influence of AI on children and vulnerable communities? Does the Hasidic approach offer any lessons for the secular world, or is it too extreme? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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/mW6PTwWUVAU

Melissa Weisz grew up in Hasidic, Yiddish-speaking Boro Park and left the fold well before the OTD phenomenon became famous. I believe she left the fold before me, and I'm of the old timers now! I have been waiting for the opportunity to share her story with my viewers. Here, we finally get Melissa's story live. Please come if you would like to see this live and ask questions. It will also be available for view later.

Follow Melissa on her socials!
https://www.instagram.com/melissaweisz/
https://melissamalkyweisz.com/

Here is the full, unedited livestream: https://youtube.com/live/j16Dlc5iRGo
Here's a trailer to this interview: https://youtube.com/shorts/oiWlef1AHVk?feature=share

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video link: https://youtu.be/xBBW-b4yNfw

Gita got married, like many Hasidic Williamsburg girls did. In an arranged match, when she was not yet twenty. Her marriage lasted until death did them part. Decades together, seven children, forty grandchildren, and about as many great-grandchildren. What does it mean for a woman of such a traditional, pious world to lose her husband, the backbone of her life and family? Gita is a story of resilience, everlasting love, and the language to express it all through food. From her shabbos morning coffee on the porch, from where she watches young families, to her choice to have peanut butter bread for shabbos lunch, to her refusal to let her kids cook for her, she remains fiercely independent, deeply traditional, and eternally devoted to her family through food. In a world where tradition is lived through food, Gita shares her family tradition of eating Rakot Crumpli: packed potatoes. A Hungarian food of sliced potatoes and eggs, with heaps of "dairy goodies" - cottage cheese, sour cream, and lots of butter. 

Join Gita and me for a day in her home of cooking Rakot Crumpli and learning about her life and world as a widow in the Hasidic community. About her struggles with chronic illness and how she lives life fully despite her mobility issues and need to get around with a Rollator. Her resilience and love for life is inspiring, her fashionista side is envy-inducing. Most of all, she laughs and makes you laugh. She's alone but not lonely.

This is my second time with Gita. My first visit was an interview about her life story which you can watch here:

https://youtu.be/2saQ0LEwZXQ
~~ Filmed by me. How did I do? Do you prefer professional videography or more intimate home made filming?
~~ Edited by the wonderful Lee Kupac https://readymag.website/u3245558506/6471652/

I've interviewed the cooking influencer Lovina Zook:
https://youtu.be/GHF0lQS2CHs

Check out another story of an inspiring widow from Williamsburg, Tova Schiff:
https://youtu.be/O2eglqRL5n4

Check out Mr Klein's shop where you can buy Rakot Crumpli
https://youtube.com/shorts/KHnzQ5l674s?feature=share

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/LV99eySK-24

Fifteen years after their marriage was arranged, a couple reflects on their lives together. They met once for forty minutes and then got married a year later, without any contact during the engagement. Are they happily married? In hindsight, what do they take away from their way of having met? 

🔗 Follow Brachi and Avi on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brachif/
🔗 Brachi's Shabbos table decor business is here: https://hod-hadar.com/
🔗 Hod Hadar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hod_hadar_/

Did you enjoy this interview? Watch some of my others:
🌟 Eli's story: https://youtu.be/SggvtB586Gk
🌟 Pessy's story: https://youtu.be/7CBHWJwmAJI
🌟 Gita's story: https://youtu.be/xBBW-b4yNfw
🌟 Melissa Weisz's story: https://youtube.com/live/j16Dlc5iRGo
Edited by Lee Kupac / https://www.instagram.com/alice.kpc

As always, my interviews are available as podcasts wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for supporting my work!!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Link to video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/7CBHWJwmAJI

Many people know Pessy from her popular Yiddish comedy videos, where she lovingly and hilariously captures the world of Hasidic women. She was one of the first creators to bring that world to social media through a female lens, and her sharp observations and humor have earned her a devoted following.

But behind the comedy is a remarkable personal story.
Pessy grew up in a Hasidic family in Monsey and spent much of her childhood carrying responsibilities that no child should have to carry. As the oldest sister, she watched her family struggle through the challenges surrounding her younger sister and felt an overwhelming need to hold everything together. She learned early on that being "good" and "perfect" seemed to be the safest way to survive difficult circumstances.

In our conversation, Pessy speaks with extraordinary honesty about family, faith, rejection, and the pressure she felt to meet everyone's expectations. She shares how religion became a source of comfort, how she entered marriage determined to be the perfect wife, and how she concealed her own struggles because she didn't want to burden the people she loved.

What makes Pessy's story so powerful is not simply what happened to her, but the way she reflects on it. She brings insight, humor, and compassion to experiences that could easily have left her bitter. Her story touches on themes that are deeply personal and yet almost universal: the desire to be accepted, the weight of responsibility, the loneliness of feeling misunderstood, and the long journey toward self-acceptance.

Pessy's story is, in many ways, everyone's story. I hope you'll watch this conversation with kindness and an open heart.
You can find Pessy on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/pessyunstressing/

You might also enjoy some of my other interviews with women from the Yiddish-speaking Hasidic community:
Melissa Weisz
https://youtube.com/live/j16Dlc5iRGo
Fradel Neuman
https://youtu.be/HoTzWaF7dU8
Sara Braun
https://youtu.be/1E54wVSn-wM
Gita Katz
https://youtu.be/2saQ0LEwZXQ

As always, my interviews are also available in audio-only form wherever you get your podcasts.
And thank you especially to my channel members for helping make these conversations possible.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.