The Ruzhiner Niggun

The Ashkenazi hassidic world was a messy tapestry of ecstatic song and intense harm. The hassidic rebbes subjugated marginalized genders as only cis men were allowed in these spaces. The community replicated the grand patriarchy of Europe in their communities, reifying cis-hetero-patriarchy and harming many. Also, the melodies and the ecstatic song that emerged from the movement impacted thousands.
There is no “return to what was” or other tropes about utopian shtetl life in Ashkenazi Europe. It was a shit show and a human mess, and it’s on us to honor the wisdom, beauty, song and culture and compost the violence of ableism, anti blackness and cis-hetero-patriarchy by organizing ourselves in liberatory ways.