Interested as i am in cultures and people other than "my own" ( feels weird to say that being attached to 3 different cultures myself) i can say i know sadly little about the ultra orthodox Jewish community. It seems they don't really share that much about themselves, but it may just be my presumption upon seeing very little material regarding them. I hope to learn much more with your upcoming guest.
I grew up and still live in West Roger's Park neighborhood of Chicago. There is a huge hasidic and orthodox Jewish community here. They are decent people but do keep to themselves. I have befriended some jewish people in the neighborhood but being Christian, I am never REALLY let into their lives.
Love this. His mother's reaction hit home. It's not all about us. As an aside, my son has decided to relocate to the Philippines. He's found a lovely lady. I said I'm v happy for him but sad for me. I now feel v selfish. Words matter. We can't take them back. However, we can apologise. I'm a new subscriber and so far loving your content. Best wishes from Australia.
I really love your interviews that are educational Andrew, more than the ones already in the news. Mostly because you get so much hate from ppl who don’t agree and it actually upsets me. I think regardless of your personal opinion, you give both sides which is more than regular news does. I also because I love learning about other cultures & beliefs psychology of the brain.
Unfortunately Andrew's celebration of people who have left Judaism is as harmful as any past physical persecution upon the Jewish community. These people who are celebrating their secular freedom and encouraging others to do so, fail to realize that they are personally destroying Judaism. They are living proof that their ancestors for the last 4000 years, fought, bled and sacrificed so that they would be born Jewish. Guaranteed that all of these celebrants descendants by the third generation will have assimilate into non Jewish culture and 4000 years of sacrifice will have been in vain. They are achieving for their descendants what Hitler failed to achieve, annihilation. You think I jest. Studies have shown that Reform Jewish families are assimilated by the 5th generation. You won't find a Reform Jew who can trace their ancestral line back 6 generations as Reform Jews. The assimilation rate for secular irreligious Jews is even faster, taking just two generations. The chance of one of their grandchildren marrying another Jew on purpose is basically nil. Whereas you know with the Orthodox, it's a 95% certainty. Take one of the most famous Jewish families, the Rothschild's. Do you know that the current patriarch Jacob Rothschild married a Christian women? That none of his children are Jewish? Jacob's father walked away from religion and now the Rothschild's of his descent, his grandchildren and great grandchildren are non Jews. I'm sure Meyer Rothschild, the founder of the Rothschild dynasty, wishes he had sent his son's to Yeshiva and not to banking.
my great grandmother back in 1906 married away from her jewish faith she met my irish grandad who worked in the jewish shop where she went for her mother they fell inlove and her family never ever spoke to her again my mother asked her did she ever regret what she did she said no i married for love and had 13 children i am blessed and i still love god and he loves me. she died when i was 10 i know a few yiddish words but my grandfather who was irish learnt it to stay in work in the rag trade as where i live all the factory owners were jewish so that was very smart of him. i love this episode Andrew is so very interesting as usual 10/10 for content 👍🇬🇧
This was a wonderful interview, Andrew. As always, I do love your style......your talent for asking the right questions, listening intently and demonstrating genuine fascination in that individual. It's always obvious hiw much you love people. Since I discovered your channel many months ago I've been able to learn alot about Judaism. As a practising Christian I have always felt an affinity because Jesus was Jewish and I read The Old Testament. However the privavy of Hasidism prevented me from having insight into their culture. Thankyou for your FASCINATING channel......plus The Gold Report.....BRILLIANT journalism. Congratulations on your engagement, new home & pending marriage. ❤❤
Believe it or not many Christians are in denial about Jesus being Jewish. And many Christians believe they are chosen or better than Jews. They are in for a new awakening in the last days.
I have said this so many times, neither Yeshuah, nor his disciples ever denied their Judaism, nor left the faith. One of the first controversies was whether to let non- Jews into the fellowship of those who believed Yeshua was the Messiach, or whether they needed to go through the process to become Jews first. It was decided they didn't need to, but repeated the Noachide laws for them to keep. Even the Rebbe said this, non-Jews do not need to join Judaism to follow Hashem and become tsadikim, they can follow the Noachide laws.
@@TheIsraelProphetess On the contrary! If you look at the testimonies of many Jews, they freely admit that they view Christians as the enemy and in fact, in Israel; Jerusalem in particular, some Jews feel free to actually spit on Christians, especially when they're clearly Christian; i.e. priests and nuns! I saw one Jewish account say that he was brought up to view the old testament as 'the handbook in how to persecute Jews'!! Every Christian with even a modicum of education well knows that Jesus was Jewish so it's baffling that you would make such a statement!!!
I always understood the Hasidic accent to be due to having learned Yiddish as a first language, but in this fellow's case it appears to have been learned as a social affectation almost, through his peer groups.
Right but it's a flat accent. The Hasidic accent has more jump to it, a little harder to follow some times. His accent is modern Flatbush or five towns.
Lubavitch Hassidim usually speak the language of the country they live in addition to Yiddish. I have met hundreds of Chabad Jews and they are all bilingual at the very least.
It could be because he has been out of the community longer than he has been in the community. Also he may have tried very hard to get rid of his accent.
What an amazing interview. It just goes to show that at the end of the day if we listen to other people we have more similarities than we might think. We need more of this type of interaction in the world today. Again great interview ❤
YES - look at what brings us closer to understanding one another as opposed to what tears us apart because one's way is thought to be the "right and only" way.
Loved this interview, what a colorful, articulate empathetic, open minded and very funny gentleman. "My lending policy" such a funny and cute description. Thank you to both of you, thoroughly enjoyed.
I loved him too. Obviously kind AND brilliant and psychologically solid despite the brainwashing that occurs in such upbringing. I hope he is in a very happy marriage. He is probably a wonderful teacher and professor. I didn’t get his whole name though. I would love to check his website.
I grew up on the New Jersey Shore, close to Lakewood, N.J. - which I believe has the largest Hasidic community outside of Israel. I know it very well, but most of the Orthodox community is very closed to outsiders. Great interview as always Andrew.
As a Christian whose had 2, non-orthodox, Jewish Heritage Husbands. One of the best insights I’ve ever encountered is “Shtisel,” a Netflix Drama. It was brilliantly acted + compelling viewing. There were 3 Series but sadly not going to be a 4th!
What is a Jewish Heritage person? Never saw this as a title. Were they Christian Jews (aka Jewish Christians)? Is this a term used among some Christians? A new one, to me. Some people tiptoe around someone’s Jewish ethnicity by referring to them as being “from a Jewish family,” “raised Jewish,” etc. They were Jews, it’s not a bad word. (I’m of mixed Jewish and Christian background, have always identified as being Jewish even though I wasn’t raised in either religion. I studied both, over time.)
@@soude85 Yes, I can read. But Christians are not supposed to have serial husbands, unless one dies which I don't think is what she's saying. Christian marriage is until "death do us part."
Tough training with reading and seeking understanding of what one is reading, is training the muscles of the spirit: the best one can do in the presence of the Spirit of God. Shalom Sabbath! 🍷❤️🔥
What’s sad is my friends mom left the nyc community because she couldn’t have kids,& her husband’s family shunned her and we’re really mean too her. They some how got the rabbi to end the marriage. She was basically kicked her out w/o actually forcing her to move. So I guess she just decided to leave, I thought it was just his family I didn’t know it was cultural!!
That's definitely not the norm. It's possible they were just an a dysfunctional family but it's also possible that she was extra sensitive due to her childlessnes. Which is totally understandable and most people are super careful not to hurt them. Sounds like a very unfortunate story they experienced
@@soude85 yes , apparently she was a miracle. She met another man who didn’t care she couldn’t have kids & he isn’t Jewish. Her mom said 12yrs being married, she just got pregnant. She thought she got really bad case of food poisoning or flu because she threw up nonstop for a week went to hospital found out she was actually pregnant!! It wasn’t easy she said she was sick whole time in & out of hospital because she couldn’t keep food or liquids down. She had a hard time gaining weight and keeping her & baby healthy, but she was blessed w a beautiful healthy girl and she’d have go through being sick like that everyday of her if she had to just to have her So my friend was extremely spoiled and a total B, I was one of the few who didn’t put up w her crap so we ended up good friends until I moved
Jewish people are human, too. The Torah is perfect, the people are not and they can make mistakes and not follow the Torah properly. Shunning is a serious transgression
@@tron.44 did you mean sacred? Only the Torah is perfect because everything else is written by man and while there are a lot of truth in the Talmud, mishnah and Navi etc. because they are based on the Torah, it is harder to call it completely perfect
My mother taught me how to put curtains up and to find electricians and plumbers in the telephone book (back then) when needed and my step father taught me how to make pasta sauce from scratch and to bake apple cake. It is the parent's job, not the school's. My mother taught me reading and mathematics and science as well, because the school didn't do the job very well.
My mother taught me how to manage with women, how to be son and told me of a convenant she entertains with the birds in the heavens, the beings of the air. Since she died I feed the birds whenever possible and howl with the wolves. 🍷🎃
Thanks for this interview Andrew. So very interesting. I am Jewish and live in Australia. I have a lot of contact with Chabad Lubavitch here. They come and visit me because I live in a country town. I am going to their Shabbaton and discovery weekend in Melbourne next month. I am just a regular person though. Not so religious as they are.
On the lack of secular education in many Yeshivas in New York,there is now tremendous pressure by the New York authorities to change this awful system which produces children,mostly boys,who are not qualified to participate in the economy.
Interesting that you say that. I personally know so many hasidic guys that went through the yeshiva system and are extremely successful in business. They work in real estate, insurance, nursing homes and many other profitable businesses. Somehow, with their "no education" they grow up to be amazing at business.
I think you should check out the public school education and how productive in the economy those graduates are compared to the chasidic guys...and how high the crime rates are comparatively
Not able to participate in the economy??? Go check the local homeless shelters, tell me how many Hasidim you find there. Go check under the local bridges, tell me how many Hasidim you find living under the bridges. Seems to me that NYC educational system leaves a lot to be desired, it certainly is producing more unemployed homeless people than the Hasidic educational system is producing, which is basically zero.
@@BK-hc7dz That's because Zalman's experience is an example of the zeal of the convert. His family, being fairly recent converts, actually believed the spiel and followed the rules strictly. If you're familiar with older hasidic families, you'll find out that most of them actually give their boys either "extracurricular" education (meaning secular) or some degree of home schooling outside the official hasidic system. Remember too that the girls get normal education and can help their brothers catch up. The majority of hasidic Jews aren't anywhere as undereducated as Zalman thinks. His parents just fell into a mind trap through overzealousness. This is also the same reason many Amish are very successful in the modern world despite theoretically having 18th century education. The fact that they get their education through secondary paths also make them less linear thinkers because they become more adapted to learning independently and absorbing knowledge from external experiences. The problem is really only visible in families that lack pragmatism due to over-indoctrinating themselves to abide by the rules beyond what the majority of the community is actually doing.
@@broz1488 It is not education that is the cause, it is the way Jews have a sense of community. They hold up each others back. They would not allow such a thing to happen as being homeless. They take care of each other. Something we do not do very well in America.
Very interesting. I am not Jewish but have now learned so much from Zalman and Frieda. I am from Brooklyn but had not been around Hasidic communities. Thank you, Jane, Philadelphia.
Absolutely wonderful and interview. Enlightening, and what a lovely man Zalman is. I had never heard getting a PhD in Talmud! Going to look for his work. Thank you so much.
This isn’t referred to as conversion, in general. “Conversion” implies changing religions. An imperfect analogy would be a Lutheran who starts attending a Methodist church. No one calls that converting. The Chabad Lubavitch community of the Hasidic movement (one of many types of ultra-orthodoxy) does a lot of outreach to non-religious Jews, unlike most other ultra-orthodox groups, which tend to be more insular. They’re often involved in offering services, free meals, and activities for college students on or near campuses. His parents may have been searching for a meaningful way of life that’s authentically Jewish. There could be a number of reasons, it’s impossible to know, without more info.
I’m not Jewish and I really enjoyed this video, I read a lot and watch many videos like this, I’m just really hungry for information and answers to life and why people do the things they do, with all my research I’ve found out that Jewish people are an real asset to any country they settle in, they are great business people high on education they add to their community and all communities, and there is very little crime rate within the Jewish community. In short we are lucky to have them.
He said his family lived like secular, yet, at the same time, he did not study English until later in his teens. Have I missed something!? Can someone explain please?! Thank you
@maji9193 I believe he said his parents were secular Jews, and then joined the Hasidic community and became practicing Hasidic Jews. His parents' first language was English so they spoke mostly English at home - or a sort of Yiddish-English mix. I don't remember hearing him say he, himself, was raised secular Jewish.
This is a great podcast , really funny too at times. I'm sure there are a lot of people from many different kinds of communities who can relate to much of this. The experience for myself leaving a small Welsh town in the sixties choosing to drift around the world with no particular aim garnered much the same response from close familly, a very different set of circumstances I know but nevertheless looking back it created a lot of upset and took many years for the dust to settle.
BRILLIANT yet again. Andrew Gold continues to open another dialogue which includes his own personal reflections to widen out understanding and capacity to emotionally connect with those we may not have previously needed to consider. THANK YOU, ANDREW.
When I told my mom I don't believe in God she said, "I failed as a mother." I felt so terrible, but at the same time I thought she did a fantastic job as a mother because she let her sons come to their own conclusions instead of jamming religion down our throats.
I feel that your perceiving it as if your mom felt you failed to reach something when it must be she felt that your missing something wbite unaware of it what it is yet.
Ah but the Bible tells us to teach our children. And in today's world, there's so much garbage out there that it's a definite necessity to train our children in the faith.
I believe that the verse you are thinking of is "train up your children in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it. It doesn't mean that the children will follow that way throughout their life. Hashem granted each person free will. We are not robots. If Hashem grants free will, who are we to take it away? We teach our children to love Hashem, to love the Torah, and the path of a tsadik while they are children. When they are adults, they may wander, but eventually their hearts will return to Hashem. I believe the first part of that verse is a directive, but the second part is a promise.
Good Heavens! I am not a religious person, not at all. I can tell you very truthfully that this conversation is so Illuminating and I do understand you (at least I think!) So, thank you xxx
On German - exactly the same as I am . Only 2 of us did it at school in England to age 18 (which is quite rare here). The other girl ended up moving there with her British husband, brought up her children there, became a teacher there and obviously uses it every single day. I have just about never used it here in London. I still remember a lot of it and can understand some yiddish, but definitely have not used it as much as my friend.
Your intro was great and your lighting is great, looks like it's all coming together. I'm always interested in any jewish guests, I'm sorry I must have missed this live, I nodded off earlier.
I am a little late viewing this video , and now I am watching and rewatching it again and again. Excellent interview and extremely informative point of view
Agree, librarian here. I find myself wanting to put them straight when I see bookshelves all over the place on these interviews etc. And have to steal myself. Lol. I have to say, very good housekeeping there.
Fascinating information here. I particularly applaud Zalman's emphasis on the fact that ALL families have their particular habits and shibboleths, ALL families can struggle to deal with the unexpected. I'm a lapsed Catholic, with a big close-knit extended Irish-American family, and my husband's family is pretty much the opposite, but both families have their peculiarities that need to be navigated to stay on good terms. It's a universal truth.
I just discovered this channel earlier today and am loving it! I enjoy intelligent dialogue in the comments. I learn so much about other peoples beliefs, customs, etc. I try to focus on the similarities and not just the differences. I cannot tolerate watching a good youtube video only to read nasty, hateful comments by people who will not open their mind. If they would do this, remain teachable - the world we live in might be a better place. Being closed minded and ignorant, believing in stereotypes ugh - who has the time?
This was a very good podcast. I have learned a lot. Congratulations young man for being so brave. You seem so happy & I am happy for you. Andrew…as always, good job.
How did I miss this one? Anyway my thought after watching this and Zalman pointing out your hairstyle Andrew is that you have Elvis hair. Truly, which is a compliment. ❤
I'm from Israel, in the Hasidic communities in Israel it is very common for the woman to be the breadwinners while the man study the Tora. For A woman with a high paying job, a good match will be a man who studies hard and knows the Tora well, and vise verse. Many Hasidic women choose to work in tech.
Every Israeli I encounter tells me he or she works in hi-tech. From Technion masters degree, to a Holon bagrut, to a Dimona dropout - they all tell me they work in hi-tech. Does any Israeli not work in hi-tech? There was a Chabadnik who wanted me to put on tefilin; he did not claim to work in hi-tech.
@@stephenfisher3721 Well, if they are not working in tech, then they are probably trying to get into tech... there aren't many other occupations in Israel where a person can make enough money.. also, I often find that if you ask people for more details about what they're actually doing in their tech jobs, you'll find that they are in HR or something... saying their in tech seem to be a way to show off..
@@Wolf-hh4rvthat Hasidic dynamic is the equivalent of a rich man looking to marry a beautiful elegant woman that would raise his social status. It’s a symbiotic relationship, the man needs the working woman’s 💰 to afford him a comfortable financial life while he pretends to be a spiritual intellectual that will assure them a comfortable afterlife.😅🙄🤥🤥🤥🤥🫣🤭🤭🤭🤭🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@Wolf-hh4rvit's much more complicated than just sitting and reading the Bible all day. It's actually studying Jewish law, ethics and customs at a PhD level. These married men get paid a stipend to study and teach others. But most importantly, the higher you progress as a noted scholar in the community, you raise the status of your family in the community and ensure better marriage prospects for your children. In your world, your status is measured by your job title and wealth. In their world your status is measured by your level of scholarship. A wife in their world who did not have a desire for her husband to be a scholar, would be akin to a wife in your world who wanted her husband to be a bum.
I grew up among Pa Deitch Folks, grandparents and other elders spoke Pa Deitch . I have been often happily surprised throughout life , that when I come across someone speaking Yiddish , & I can pick up on a few words , or a general meaning . It's pretty cool that there's little noticable language similarities.
@@helmutsecke3529 Nein, er meint vermutlich Pennsylvania Dutch, die Sprache der Amish und Mennoniten. Das "Dutch" ist etwas irreführend, es handelt sich um einen ursprünglich pfälzischen Dialekt.
Great interview. It’s the luck of the draw…who you were born to..where you were born..what you were taught. You spend most of your life deciding what is really you and what doesn’t fit. And what was the truth. Life is interesting!
yes I can hear that"accent".. I think it is very charming. More importantly you present yourself as a sensitive, and sharing person.Wonderful telling of your experience going to Yeshiva with your little stashed library. From what I see behind you in the video.. you have made up for not having access to English Books by having a varied and large collection in your library and devoted your life to educating people to understand the way society functions and finding their own place in humanity.
There are a lot of Jewish who work really hard live paycheck to paycheck, I really hate when people say they have all the money!! It’s soo untrue and unfair racial stereotyping
Yep. Most of them I know are working class or lower middle class. Sometimes someone gets pointed out "oh that guy is a millionaire" but it's very rare. The stereotype of the rich Jew is sadly alive and kicking in the secular world however.
You have become just another Protestant. I am a Christian, I believe in the FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT, not because my parents told me, but because of the many mystical experiences I have had and because it has been this that has made me understand my own mistakes.
Hi Andrew. I reaspect your work and how you go over different relevant cultural topics. Thanks for filling my days with constructive criticisim. Keep it up
Teacher Zalman thank you for sharing. I never knew 90% of the things you have shared here. Being a Christian who just knew, I knew all about God's Chosen People. 🙏
Well, did you know that it is only non Jews who go on about 'The Chosen' people?? Most Jews, especially in times of persecution would genuinely prefer that somebody else was 'chosen'!!! Anyway, anyone who chooses God is 'Chosen'!! That's the way I see it!
@@Xaroni well now, the Bible is very clear from start to finish, the books we do have in the KJV, the Jewish Tribe are God's Chosen People. After Jesus died for us ALL, the Gentiles were ADOPTED into the family of God. I'm now because of Jesus a part of the Family but I'm still not one of the Chosen. The Word says things like this. They had to see before they would believe, you believed there for you will see. Our believing first without seeing makes us special in a different way. With Free Will we have control over our minds and what we believe. We are so Special to God, I see his Blessing on my family daily. So with that being said, I might not like the actions of some Jews, I KNOW MY PLACE and will hold my tongue. If they do evil, that is on them and not the Jewish Religion. This is an exciting time for me, getting to meet other Jewish People outside the states. To pick their brains and to learn. I couldn't learn from those here, because of their walk. At my age, I have learned to not bash or speak in subjects I know nothing about. Education is the Key, and that what this site is all about. That is why I could here, for some hard cold facts. I study and pray.....Otherwise I'm pissing in the wind!!!!!!
I find it very off-putting when Christians make a fuss over me because I am one of the "chosen." Please don't do this, I don't deserve the fuss, there is nothing special about me.
This is very interesting to me. Having been raised by Christian pastors, and a brother following that discipline, I've been steeped in religious fun. Strictures, structure etc. I was exposed to varying strains of Judaism in the modern world.
@@wordwarrior2350why? And interesting to who - you? I find this comment interesting as it lets me know that I am in good company having also been brought up in a religious family. I like that comment because it is authentic.
@@nathanaelsmith3553 Tell me wha comments on this site thataren´t authentic, and how can you tell. I don´t think it is possible see the difference with such basically superficial and personal answers. This isYT, nota Drs. couch.
@@reelguydid Thanks for your opinion. Fact: You can write a proper sentence. Start a sentence with a capital letter. Try this: A word is what, if it´s not effective? Her comment was effective. To you my little ignorant friend.
I wouldn't say his views are balanced. I'd say his experience is balanced and allows him the luxury of not having to fight for his survival. He is lucky. It's easy to appear balanced if your life isn't decimated by the cruelty of authoritarian extremism.
What better way to keep people in your community (cult) than to have most of the men only study and not be educated on practical life skills and supporting a family?
What practical life skills are they missing out on? Perhaps the ones you non-cult people have? Such as how to get drunk daily, how to use drugs, stand in unemployment lines, raise gender confused children, start an only fans channel, how to have zero community participation or involvement, how to raise broken children on prescription medication who will remain unmarried living at home until well into their thirties. Not to mention thousand of dollars of college debt that only qualifies the graduate to work at Mac D's. Seems like Hasidim, successfully raising their 10 - 15 children for productive active community participation, are doing very well when compared to how not well the non-cult parents are doing with their children. 90% of your troubled broken children on drugs contemplating suicide, would have been better off if they had been born into a Hasidic family. Which is why 97% of children born into Hasidic families, choose to stay and raise their children there. Because none of them want their children to turn out like your children, who with their tattoos, multiple piercings, weird hair colors, strange ideas, and whatnot, look more like little demons than children. You really have no idea how screwed up your world looks from our side of the fence.
Welfare is a big component of a large Satmar Community in Orange Co. NYS. It's a conservative voting block. Very interesting to see how they work the system.
His mom's reaction really caught my ear. I'm not Jewish nor from a vaguely strict religious background; we went to Catholic church when I was little but my parents were very loose about it. But that reaction still connected with me. I was one of those grade-skipping little overachievers in school, probably on the spectrum etc. And while my mom was proud of me while I was in school getting good grades, her pride vanished the second she realized that my brain meant that I was going to go out into the world and look for places to live and things to achieve. I still don't get why she didn't realize that a kid like me would want to go to grad school and do things. For my whole life, she never really reconciled herself to what I achieved. I built a professional life for myself that I'm very proud of, and I never managed to get her to see it as anything but something she wished I hadn't done. I'm 57, and she passed last year, and it still really bothers me. Everything I'm proud of about myself and proud for having done is something she wished I wasn't and hadn't. I had a hard time being a brainy, nerdy little weirdo when I was young, and even my mom was just one more person who wished I'd just been "normal" in the end.
I had a similar environment. I was a very bright student at an early age. I was in advanced program in the New York City schools. I was also a talented violinist. I played in the schools orchestra which was made up of students from all the schools in NYC and I was only in the 7th grade. My mother was also bright but screwed up. She got pregnant at 15. My father was 16. Yes folks, this stuff happened in 1950. Because of their immaturity I ended up in a foster home. My parents married two years later by running away to Maryland which had a lower age requirement. I have 7 siblings. Life was a series of crises. We were extremely poor. My father would be institutionalized occasionally for his paranoid schizophrenia. I was depended upon more than a 10 year old should be. My education suffered. I was expelled from school in the 5th grade. I was home for a year. Whenever I could escape I wandered the city riding the subway and hanging on the back of buses. I also went to the library. I picked out reading material that interested me. I read the international newspapers. A group of parents petitioned the school board to allow me in school. I was tested and placed in the 6th grade at another nearby school. We moved to South Florida at a moments notice. I ran with a different crowd. Drugs and crime. went to the county and then the state reformatories. I worked throughout Jr. and Sr. high schools in a machine shop. The shop was illegal and just two doors away from my house. He was an Argentine refugee from Peron. He left and went to work n a sheet metal shop. I also worked in a pizzeria owned by my mother's stepfather at night. I slowly straightened out. At 18 applied for a job with Ma Bell. I told the HR person I was a 10th grade dropout. She told me that they don't hire dropouts. told her I could pass any tests they had and asked if she'd hire me if I did. I got the job. It was work I liked and telecom became my career. After two years I left for Ma Bell in NYC. The impetus was my growing dislike for my family dynamics. My mother is a narcissist and I was tired of her taking my money and bailing out my irresponsible brother. She's never wrong and is willing to lie and steal to accomplish her desires. We have no relationship today. She's made no attempt at a normal relationship. She's never sent a birthday card to my son in his 46 years. She stole my inheritance from my grandfather when she was his guardian when he became senile. She told my sister that I didn't need the money. My siblings have all failed at life with unwed pregnancies, divorces and remarriages and their children are on the same track. There's a lot of jealousy of me. I've been married 51 years and my son has two Civil Engineering degrees and a stable marriage. I was drafted. Facing two years as a Army grunt I decided to join the Navy which had a larger number of technical jobs. I did well and used their self study curses extensively. My job taught me a lot about managing property and people. I was a Seabee in a Public Works department. It all came in handy when I was laid off in 1985 and started a business. I retired after 32 years and we are well off with income from rental property. I doubt I'd have been as successful had I stayed attached to my dysfunctional family. I sometimes wish it had been different but a person must think of themselves first.
9:08 About why the men did not get secular education and women do some: here in Israel the orthodox women do all for the household: they work full time jobs to support the husband that mostly do not work ever, they have to have knowledge of the outside world to manage, raise a lot of children, take care of the home, while the men....go to"study torah"...I've worked with ultra religious people in Bnei Brak, one the mayor religious cities here, the women are basically exhausted physically, emotionally and mentally, worn out all the time.
I think it varies by group and country. I think many more Haredim in Israel study full-time in kollel than in the United States. It seems that Satmar men in the United States tend to work and their wives do not. Among yeshivish in B'nai B'rak and the United States, it is more common for the men to study and the women to work.
@@marleneflanagan7137I couldn’t agree more. And they make so many children that they do not support, do nothing in the home, horrible life for the women. Let’s not speak even of trying to get a divorce…it’s almost impossible if the rabbi disagrees…
@@marleneflanagan7137there are limited places in the kollel for married men for full time study, as they get paid by the community a stipend to study full time. Study is their job, with only the top scholars being chosen. Obviously the wealth of the community will determine how many married men get to study full time, and how many have to go get a regular job.
I love getting to know about the different cultures. My grandmother was an Ashkenazi jew but she died when I was only 4 so I was never exposed to the culture and grew up in a secular home.
Never too late...I didn't give my daughter much Jewish education (despite having been at JFS!), living in Spain with a non Jewish partner.. Now, at 26 she has decided to find out for herself and is teaching herself Hebrew!!! Btw..if your grandmother was Ashkenazi Jewish and she is your mother's mother, then you too are Ashkenazi Jewish!!!
The only thing that worries me is the speed at which marriages are created. Being that the divorce rate is up to 35%. How can any woman decide to marry in 3 to 8 short dates. These women really are taking a leap of faith.
What a blessing that you have a relationship with family. Thank you for not only bashing and slashing your upbringing. I'm also a Jewish decendant Furman. Your upbringing made you the man you are today
I grew up a totally secular Jew, born five years after the holocaust. One thing amazes me about your guest was he was brought up illiterate, at least, in the language of our country. One thing that was inculcated into my being by my grandmothers was this admonition, “(G)et an education; they can’t take that away from you.” I think most Jews are warned or encouraged in this way. Education is the way we have always gone to the top of every culture in which we found ourselves during the two thousand year diaspora. This is the secret power of the Jew. We are highly educated. I have a doctorate. I rose to become a Judge. I invested a portion of my income throughout my life and have become a millionaire. So finding out about an ultra orthodox Jew who was part of a group who force-feed teachings of ridiculous myths about a small god, as the most important thing to know, is outrageous to me. It’s good that somehow he escaped that cultist ignorant subset of my people. Ironically, your guest benefited from what the Christians did to us historically. The Christians, without knowing nor meaning to, have bred the Jewish people to become smart, strong, and lucky. In nature only the strong survive and the Jews that have survived all the horrible things Christianity has done to us, had to be the strongest, smartest, or luckiest. How else can a tiny group of people (only 15 million Jews exist) have such an impact on the world?
When I was little, I would say when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I went on vacation to NY and my dad's family lived in Brooklyn next to a park where Jews went to pray. The first and only time I entered that park a spiritual peace invaded me and I felt as if I was in paradise, I could feel harmony even with birds. But now I feel like all of you are out of touch and pitifully lost.
Thanks for literally ripping my thumbnails !!!! Get off this platform if you’re gonna steal! My entire community of 12 million is reporting your channel 👍🏼 Good luck
What a wonderful interview with this Precious man. Both Andrew and Zalman are compassionate men. I was so impressed and learned so much listening to Zalman. He is an Amazing man.
Bravo Andrew a terrific interview.! For Zalman- I came from a non-religious Jewish family, and I heard all my life from my mother “If you really loved me……..” and “You’re dead to us”. Zalman I’ve heard many stories about the grandparents bringing their own food to a gathering, so it seems to happen a lot. My cousin, from a religious family, married a Roman Catholic. I was in his father’s house, and all the mirrors were covered in black cloth. I was shocked to learn the significance of it, “You’re dead to me”. Such a shame. I don’t think they ever really healed from that. Zalman I never wanted children for many reasons. I would have failed in your sect though I wonder if there were others who felt like I did. Andrew, I was really shocked when you said something about Jews finding money important. My family never thought this way. Money was to house and feed us. I still feel this way. And if you have money you can enjoy things in life or eat more food!! 😅 I repeat VERY interesting vlog! 🏆
I love his passion for foreign films and wish I could have it. But growing up in Israel, every foreign film had both English and Hebrew subtitles. I was constantly trying to read both sets of subtitles which put me off foreign films. I also know from reading English subtitles for Israeli films and vice versa, that subtitles are woefully lacking and you miss half the context.
Have you heard good and bad about the community? Are you curious to know about it? Hit the like!
Interested as i am in cultures and people other than "my own" ( feels weird to say that being attached to 3 different cultures myself) i can say i know sadly little about the ultra orthodox Jewish community. It seems they don't really share that much about themselves, but it may just be my presumption upon seeing very little material regarding them. I hope to learn much more with your upcoming guest.
I grew up and still live in West Roger's Park neighborhood of Chicago. There is a huge hasidic and orthodox Jewish community here. They are decent people but do keep to themselves. I have befriended some jewish people in the neighborhood but being Christian, I am never REALLY let into their lives.
I need you to email me. I think I have a good guest for you. Jospringproof@gmail.com
@@bonniekellyromeo9073
Maybe make an effort to invite to your life
Andrew, u said wife, Mazal Tov to the both of u ❤❤
Fascinating interview
Thank you
I’m so glad he was able to maintain a relationship with his family
Estrangement is so painful 😢
What an absolutely delightful nerd he is! And I mean that in the nicest way possible!
Really enjoyed this talk.
Praise the Nerds! And do it EVERY day.
Where would we be without them? 🤔
Love this. His mother's reaction hit home. It's not all about us. As an aside, my son has decided to relocate to the Philippines. He's found a lovely lady. I said I'm v happy for him but sad for me. I now feel v selfish. Words matter. We can't take them back. However, we can apologise.
I'm a new subscriber and so far loving your content. Best wishes from Australia.
I really love your interviews that are educational Andrew, more than the ones already in the news. Mostly because you get so much hate from ppl who don’t agree and it actually upsets me. I think regardless of your personal opinion, you give both sides which is more than regular news does. I also because I love learning about other cultures & beliefs psychology of the brain.
I am with you!
Unfortunately Andrew's celebration of people who have left Judaism is as harmful as any past physical persecution upon the Jewish community.
These people who are celebrating their secular freedom and encouraging others to do so, fail to realize that they are personally destroying Judaism.
They are living proof that their ancestors for the last 4000 years, fought, bled and sacrificed so that they would be born Jewish.
Guaranteed that all of these celebrants descendants by the third generation will have assimilate into non Jewish culture and 4000 years of sacrifice will have been in vain.
They are achieving for their descendants what Hitler failed to achieve, annihilation.
You think I jest. Studies have shown that Reform Jewish families are assimilated by the 5th generation.
You won't find a Reform Jew who can trace their ancestral line back 6 generations as Reform Jews.
The assimilation rate for secular irreligious Jews is even faster, taking just two generations.
The chance of one of their grandchildren marrying another Jew on purpose is basically nil.
Whereas you know with the Orthodox, it's a 95% certainty.
Take one of the most famous Jewish families, the Rothschild's.
Do you know that the current patriarch Jacob Rothschild married a Christian women? That none of his children are Jewish?
Jacob's father walked away from religion and now the Rothschild's of his descent, his grandchildren and great grandchildren are non Jews.
I'm sure Meyer Rothschild, the founder of the Rothschild dynasty, wishes he had sent his son's to Yeshiva and not to banking.
He does not give both sides of chasidic life, though. Only the embittered ones who left are on his show
my great grandmother back in 1906 married away from her jewish faith she met my irish grandad who worked in the jewish shop where she went for her mother they fell inlove and her family never ever spoke to her again my mother asked her did she ever regret what she did she said no i married for love and had 13 children i am blessed and i still love god and he loves me. she died when i was 10 i know a few yiddish words but my grandfather who was irish learnt it to stay in work in the rag trade as where i live all the factory owners were jewish so that was very smart of him. i love this episode Andrew is so very interesting as usual 10/10 for content 👍🇬🇧
I’d understand what you’re saying much more if you used punctuation. Do you not care if what you’re saying is almost unintelligible? 🙄
In which city did your grandparents meet? Was it Dublin? I believe there used to be a thriving Jewish community in Dublin back 100 years ago
Charming. What a vile thing to do to you own daughter.
@@poppyrowland1385 I find it completely understandable and easy to read.
@@poppyrowland1385 i can only apologise it's because iinever went to school much after the age of 12 maybe now i'm 60 i should learn sorry👍
This was a wonderful interview, Andrew. As always, I do love your style......your talent for asking the right questions, listening intently and demonstrating genuine fascination in that individual. It's always obvious hiw much you love people. Since I discovered your channel many months ago I've been able to learn alot about Judaism. As a practising Christian I have always felt an affinity because Jesus was Jewish and I read The Old Testament. However the privavy of Hasidism prevented me from having insight into their culture. Thankyou for your FASCINATING channel......plus The Gold Report.....BRILLIANT journalism. Congratulations on your engagement, new home & pending marriage. ❤❤
EXCELLENT!
WTF Jesus was jewish😮 does everyone know this?
Believe it or not many Christians are in denial about Jesus being Jewish. And many Christians believe they are chosen or better than Jews. They are in for a new awakening in the last days.
I have said this so many times, neither Yeshuah, nor his disciples ever denied their Judaism, nor left the faith. One of the first controversies was whether to let non- Jews into the fellowship of those who believed Yeshua was the Messiach, or whether they needed to go through the process to become Jews first.
It was decided they didn't need to, but repeated the Noachide laws for them to keep. Even the Rebbe said this, non-Jews do not need to join Judaism to follow Hashem and become tsadikim, they can follow the Noachide laws.
@@TheIsraelProphetess On the contrary! If you look at the testimonies of many Jews, they freely admit that they view Christians as the enemy and in fact, in Israel; Jerusalem in particular, some Jews feel free to actually spit on Christians, especially when they're clearly Christian; i.e. priests and nuns! I saw one Jewish account say that he was brought up to view the old testament as 'the handbook in how to persecute Jews'!! Every Christian with even a modicum of education well knows that Jesus was Jewish so it's baffling that you would make such a statement!!!
The accent I’m hearing is pure Brooklyn Jewish.
It’s the inflection, also, with some of the words. Ex., “them” with a rise in the voice on “em” as if a question.
I always understood the Hasidic accent to be due to having learned Yiddish as a first language, but in this fellow's case it appears to have been learned as a social affectation almost, through his peer groups.
The largest Hassidic community in the world is on Brooklyn, that's why he sounds like this!
Right but it's a flat accent. The Hasidic accent has more jump to it, a little harder to follow some times. His accent is modern Flatbush or five towns.
Wonderful interview, I learned a lot and have a lot of compassion and respect for Zalman.
Believe me, Zalman's accent is virtually non-existent compared to many whose first language is Yiddish.
Lubavitch Hassidim usually speak the language of the country they live in addition to Yiddish. I have met hundreds of Chabad Jews and they are all bilingual at the very least.
That is due to the fact that Chabad-Lubavitchers speak English and are considered extremely modern compared to the rest of the Chasidic community.
Listening to Zalmen,, it's not his accent, it is his sentence structure and how he emphasizes words in a sentence.
So?
It could be because he has been out of the community longer than he has been in the community. Also he may have tried very hard to get rid of his accent.
Thank you so much - this is beautiful beautiful conversation which I enjoyed thoroughly 🌹
What a GREAT interview… something very distinctive on this channel…. Though probably not so popular as other topics❤. And, by the way, well edited!
What an amazing interview. It just goes to show that at the end of the day if we listen to other people we have more similarities than we might think. We need more of this type of interaction in the world today. Again great interview ❤
@@docwhammowhoever wrote that was quite pompous with not a dash of humility.
YES - look at what brings us closer to understanding one another as opposed to what tears us apart because one's way is thought to be the "right and only" way.
Loved this interview, what a colorful, articulate empathetic, open minded and very funny gentleman. "My lending policy" such a funny and cute description. Thank you to both of you, thoroughly enjoyed.
I loved him too. Obviously kind AND brilliant and psychologically solid despite the brainwashing that occurs in such upbringing. I hope he is in a very happy marriage. He is probably a wonderful teacher and professor. I didn’t get his whole name though. I would love to check his website.
I grew up on the New Jersey Shore, close to Lakewood, N.J. - which I believe has the largest Hasidic community outside of Israel. I know it very well, but most of the Orthodox community is very closed to outsiders. Great interview as always Andrew.
As a Christian whose had 2, non-orthodox, Jewish Heritage Husbands. One of the best insights I’ve ever encountered is “Shtisel,” a Netflix Drama. It was brilliantly acted + compelling viewing. There were 3 Series but sadly not going to be a 4th!
How does a Christian have two husbands?
What is a Jewish Heritage person? Never saw this as a title. Were they Christian Jews (aka Jewish Christians)? Is this a term used among some Christians? A new one, to me. Some people tiptoe around someone’s Jewish ethnicity by referring to them as being “from a Jewish family,” “raised Jewish,” etc. They were Jews, it’s not a bad word. (I’m of mixed Jewish and Christian background, have always identified as being Jewish even though I wasn’t raised in either religion. I studied both, over time.)
@@remycallie She said ‘had’ not ‘have’-it’s not that complicated..🙄
@@soude85 Yes, I can read. But Christians are not supposed to have serial husbands, unless one dies which I don't think is what she's saying. Christian marriage is until "death do us part."
@@remycallie And yet Christians get divorced. It’s a fallen world, and stuff happens.
Also, people die. That happens, too.
He is very compassionate for his parents, dealing with his launch into a life that terrified them. This is a good soul.
Please do Scientology episode about
Elvis ‘ EX-wife Priscilla.
How can you not love this guy! :) His curiosity is so pure, like that of a child discovering the world :) Great interview!
He doesn't push his own ego into his interviews. That's maturity.
Tough training with reading and seeking understanding of what one is reading, is training the muscles of the spirit: the best one can do in the presence of the Spirit of God. Shalom Sabbath! 🍷❤️🔥
Thank you Andrew I thoroughly enjoyed this interview.
What’s sad is my friends mom left the nyc community because she couldn’t have kids,& her husband’s family shunned her and we’re really mean too her. They some how got the rabbi to end the marriage. She was basically kicked her out w/o actually forcing her to move. So I guess she just decided to leave, I thought it was just his family I didn’t know it was cultural!!
That's definitely not the norm. It's possible they were just an a dysfunctional family but it's also possible that she was extra sensitive due to her childlessnes. Which is totally understandable and most people are super careful not to hurt them. Sounds like a very unfortunate story they experienced
Probably
But you are friends with this woman’s child… So she actually had a child?
@@soude85 yes , apparently she was a miracle. She met another man who didn’t care she couldn’t have kids & he isn’t Jewish. Her mom said 12yrs being married, she just got pregnant. She thought she got really bad case of food poisoning or flu because she threw up nonstop for a week went to hospital found out she was actually pregnant!! It wasn’t easy she said she was sick whole time in & out of hospital because she couldn’t keep food or liquids down. She had a hard time gaining weight and keeping her & baby healthy, but she was blessed w a beautiful healthy girl and she’d have go through being sick like that everyday of her if she had to just to have her
So my friend was extremely spoiled and a total B, I was one of the few who didn’t put up w her crap so we ended up good friends until I moved
That’s sad and cruel
With so many of the fundamentalist religions, the shunning is so traumatic. It hurt to hear about your mother's reaction. Religion shouldn't hurt.
Jewish people are human, too. The Torah is perfect, the people are not and they can make mistakes and not follow the Torah properly. Shunning is a serious transgression
And yet pretty much every religion has the potential to hurt. I wonder why that is.. 🤔
@beans4853 why is the Torah perfect? Do you think any other "scared" text is perfect?
@@tron.44 because human beings are involved
@@tron.44 did you mean sacred? Only the Torah is perfect because everything else is written by man and while there are a lot of truth in the Talmud, mishnah and Navi etc. because they are based on the Torah, it is harder to call it completely perfect
I really enjoyed this conversation. I will likely search out the book. Thanks guys. A stimulating discussion
My mother taught me how to put curtains up and to find electricians and plumbers in the telephone book (back then) when needed and my step father taught me how to make pasta sauce from scratch and to bake apple cake. It is the parent's job, not the school's.
My mother taught me reading and mathematics and science as well, because the school didn't do the job very well.
My mother taught me how to manage with women, how to be son and told me of a convenant she entertains with the birds in the heavens, the beings of the air. Since she died I feed the birds whenever possible and howl with the wolves. 🍷🎃
@@alexluthiger731 That's beautiful!
My mother befriends and feeds the birds, too. But I haven't started yet.
Thank you for the absolutely fascinating conversation. Learned a lot.
Your Channel is amazing Andrew, your guest is amazingy brave leaving such a controlled system....Godbless you both.
Yet this guy has a better level of English than many Brit or USA podcasters, whose English is painfully incorrect!!
Thanks for this interview Andrew. So very interesting.
I am Jewish and live in Australia.
I have a lot of contact with Chabad Lubavitch here. They come and visit me because I live in a country town.
I am going to their Shabbaton and discovery weekend in Melbourne next month.
I am just a regular person though. Not so religious as they are.
On the lack of secular education in many Yeshivas in New York,there is now tremendous pressure by the New York authorities to change this awful system which produces children,mostly boys,who are not qualified to participate in the economy.
Interesting that you say that. I personally know so many hasidic guys that went through the yeshiva system and are extremely successful in business. They work in real estate, insurance, nursing homes and many other profitable businesses. Somehow, with their "no education" they grow up to be amazing at business.
I think you should check out the public school education and how productive in the economy those graduates are compared to the chasidic guys...and how high the crime rates are comparatively
Not able to participate in the economy???
Go check the local homeless shelters, tell me how many Hasidim you find there.
Go check under the local bridges, tell me how many Hasidim you find living under the bridges.
Seems to me that NYC educational system leaves a lot to be desired, it certainly is producing more unemployed homeless people than the Hasidic educational system is producing, which is basically zero.
@@BK-hc7dz That's because Zalman's experience is an example of the zeal of the convert. His family, being fairly recent converts, actually believed the spiel and followed the rules strictly. If you're familiar with older hasidic families, you'll find out that most of them actually give their boys either "extracurricular" education (meaning secular) or some degree of home schooling outside the official hasidic system. Remember too that the girls get normal education and can help their brothers catch up. The majority of hasidic Jews aren't anywhere as undereducated as Zalman thinks. His parents just fell into a mind trap through overzealousness. This is also the same reason many Amish are very successful in the modern world despite theoretically having 18th century education.
The fact that they get their education through secondary paths also make them less linear thinkers because they become more adapted to learning independently and absorbing knowledge from external experiences. The problem is really only visible in families that lack pragmatism due to over-indoctrinating themselves to abide by the rules beyond what the majority of the community is actually doing.
@@broz1488 It is not education that is the cause, it is the way Jews have a sense of community. They hold up each others back. They would not allow such a thing to happen as being homeless. They take care of each other. Something we do not do very well in America.
Very interesting. I am not Jewish but have now learned so much from Zalman and Frieda. I am from Brooklyn but had not been around Hasidic communities. Thank you, Jane, Philadelphia.
What a fantasist guy.. courageous hero. I love this story.
Absolutely wonderful and interview. Enlightening, and what a lovely man Zalman is. I had never heard getting a PhD in Talmud! Going to look for his work. Thank you so much.
I would have loved to know why Zalman's parents converted to ultra-orthodox, it would have helped understand his parents reactions more.
They probably felt like this is the ultimate truth and they felt like he's throwing away the gift they had to work so hard to achieve
This isn’t referred to as conversion, in general. “Conversion” implies changing religions. An imperfect analogy would be a Lutheran who starts attending a Methodist church. No one calls that converting.
The Chabad Lubavitch community of the Hasidic movement (one of many types of ultra-orthodoxy) does a lot of outreach to non-religious Jews, unlike most other ultra-orthodox groups, which tend to be more insular. They’re often involved in offering services, free meals, and activities for college students on or near campuses. His parents may have been searching for a meaningful way of life that’s authentically Jewish. There could be a number of reasons, it’s impossible to know, without more info.
I’m not Jewish and I really enjoyed this video, I read a lot and watch many videos like this, I’m just really hungry for information and answers to life and why people do the things they do, with all my research I’ve found out that Jewish people are an real asset to any country they settle in, they are great business people high on education they add to their community and all communities, and there is very little crime rate within the Jewish community. In short we are lucky to have them.
He said his family lived like secular, yet, at the same time, he did not study English until later in his teens. Have I missed something!? Can someone explain please?! Thank you
@maji9193 I believe he said his parents were secular Jews, and then joined the Hasidic community and became practicing Hasidic Jews. His parents' first language was English so they spoke mostly English at home - or a sort of Yiddish-English mix.
I don't remember hearing him say he, himself, was raised secular Jewish.
Thank you so much. Your interviews are awesome
I'm still watching. Great interview. What a pleasant person.
Best television on right now. Liked and subscribed.
This is a great podcast , really funny too at times. I'm sure there are a lot of people from many different kinds of communities who can relate to much of this.
The experience for myself leaving a small Welsh town in the sixties choosing to drift around the world with no particular aim garnered much the same response from close familly, a very different set of circumstances I know but nevertheless looking back it created a lot of upset and took many years for the dust to settle.
BRILLIANT yet again. Andrew Gold continues to open another dialogue which includes his own personal reflections to widen out understanding and capacity to emotionally connect with those we may not have previously needed to consider. THANK YOU, ANDREW.
When I told my mom I don't believe in God she said, "I failed as a mother." I felt so terrible, but at the same time I thought she did a fantastic job as a mother because she let her sons come to their own conclusions instead of jamming religion down our throats.
I feel that your perceiving it as if your mom felt you failed to reach something when it must be she felt that your missing something wbite unaware of it what it is yet.
One can live as a model without jamming it down the kid's throat.
Ah but the Bible tells us to teach our children. And in today's world, there's so much garbage out there that it's a definite necessity to train our children in the faith.
I believe that the verse you are thinking of is "train up your children in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.
It doesn't mean that the children will follow that way throughout their life.
Hashem granted each person free will. We are not robots. If Hashem grants free will, who are we to take it away?
We teach our children to love Hashem, to love the Torah, and the path of a tsadik while they are children. When they are adults, they may wander, but eventually their hearts will return to Hashem.
I believe the first part of that verse is a directive, but the second part is a promise.
I'd feel like I failed too
Another wonderful interview andrew
Good Heavens! I am not a religious person, not at all. I can tell you very truthfully that this conversation is so Illuminating and I do understand you (at least I think!) So, thank you xxx
On German - exactly the same as I am . Only 2 of us did it at school in England to age 18 (which is quite rare here). The other girl ended up moving there with her British husband, brought up her children there, became a teacher there and obviously uses it every single day. I have just about never used it here in London. I still remember a lot of it and can understand some yiddish, but definitely have not used it as much as my friend.
Excellent! Wonderful guest. Well spoken, intelligent. Thank you.
Your intro was great and your lighting is great, looks like it's all coming together. I'm always interested in any jewish guests, I'm sorry I must have missed this live, I nodded off earlier.
I am a little late viewing this video , and now I am watching and rewatching it again and again. Excellent interview and extremely informative point of view
A dealer in the written word, a very powerful, inspirational and brave position to behold.
Great guest, Andrew. Thank you.
I am in awe of his library. So many books ❤ there cannot be a better background.
Agree, librarian here. I find myself wanting to put them straight when I see bookshelves all over the place on these interviews etc. And have to steal myself. Lol. I have to say, very good housekeeping there.
Yes definitely true!! Some are so very strict they can’t speak to anyone who isn’t Jewish unless it’s biz related
Fascinating information here. I particularly applaud Zalman's emphasis on the fact that ALL families have their particular habits and shibboleths, ALL families can struggle to deal with the unexpected. I'm a lapsed Catholic, with a big close-knit extended Irish-American family, and my husband's family is pretty much the opposite, but both families have their peculiarities that need to be navigated to stay on good terms. It's a universal truth.
Andrew has the most interesting interviews.
Not all Jews are rich, but they are extremely smart and eager to learn! There are many Jewish journalists, writers, and publishers in Serbia.
Thank you Golden and Prof, Good Job!!!
Zalman , I appreciate your humanity . Keep on both of you all good things I enjoyed the learning.
I just discovered this channel earlier today and am loving it! I enjoy intelligent dialogue in the comments. I learn so much about other peoples beliefs, customs, etc. I try to focus on the similarities and not just the differences. I cannot tolerate watching a good youtube video only to read nasty, hateful comments by people who will not open their mind. If they would do this, remain teachable - the world we live in might be a better place. Being closed minded and ignorant, believing in stereotypes ugh - who has the time?
This was a very good podcast. I have learned a lot. Congratulations young man for being so brave. You seem so happy & I am happy for you.
Andrew…as always, good job.
thankyou. I found this very interesting. It was nice to hear this man talk
He was such a lovely guest!
Very interesting guest!!
How did I miss this one?
Anyway my thought after watching this and Zalman pointing out your hairstyle Andrew is that you have Elvis hair. Truly, which is a compliment. ❤
I'm from Israel, in the Hasidic communities in Israel it is very common for the woman to be the breadwinners while the man study the Tora. For A woman with a high paying job, a good match will be a man who studies hard and knows the Tora well, and vise verse. Many Hasidic women choose to work in tech.
Every Israeli I encounter tells me he or she works in hi-tech. From Technion masters degree, to a Holon bagrut, to a Dimona dropout - they all tell me they work in hi-tech. Does any Israeli not work in hi-tech? There was a Chabadnik who wanted me to put on tefilin; he did not claim to work in hi-tech.
@@stephenfisher3721 Well, if they are not working in tech, then they are probably trying to get into tech... there aren't many other occupations in Israel where a person can make enough money.. also, I often find that if you ask people for more details about what they're actually doing in their tech jobs, you'll find that they are in HR or something... saying their in tech seem to be a way to show off..
Kinda bizzare… trying to figure out my wife’s response to me doing nothing but reading the bible all day. …mmm…
@@Wolf-hh4rvthat Hasidic dynamic is the equivalent of a rich man looking to marry a beautiful elegant woman that would raise his social status.
It’s a symbiotic relationship, the man needs the working woman’s 💰 to afford him a comfortable financial life while he pretends to be a spiritual intellectual that will assure them a comfortable afterlife.😅🙄🤥🤥🤥🤥🫣🤭🤭🤭🤭🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@Wolf-hh4rvit's much more complicated than just sitting and reading the Bible all day. It's actually studying Jewish law, ethics and customs at a PhD level.
These married men get paid a stipend to study and teach others.
But most importantly, the higher you progress as a noted scholar in the community, you raise the status of your family in the community and ensure better marriage prospects for your children.
In your world, your status is measured by your job title and wealth. In their world your status is measured by your level of scholarship.
A wife in their world who did not have a desire for her husband to be a scholar, would be akin to a wife in your world who wanted her husband to be a bum.
I grew up among Pa Deitch Folks, grandparents and other elders spoke Pa Deitch . I have been often happily surprised throughout life , that when I come across someone speaking Yiddish , & I can pick up on a few words , or a general meaning . It's pretty cool that there's little noticable language similarities.
Meinen Sie Plattdeutsch?
Ich glaub schon ;)
@@helmutsecke3529 Nein, er meint vermutlich Pennsylvania Dutch, die Sprache der Amish und Mennoniten. Das "Dutch" ist etwas irreführend, es handelt sich um einen ursprünglich pfälzischen Dialekt.
Great interview. It’s the luck of the draw…who you were born to..where you were born..what you were taught. You spend most of your life deciding what is really you and what doesn’t fit. And what was the truth. Life is interesting!
yes I can hear that"accent".. I think it is very charming. More importantly you present yourself as a sensitive, and sharing person.Wonderful telling of your experience going to Yeshiva with your little stashed library. From what I see behind you in the video.. you have made up for not having access to English Books by having a varied and large collection in your library and devoted your life to educating people to understand the way society functions and finding their own place in humanity.
There are a lot of Jewish who work really hard live paycheck to paycheck, I really hate when people say they have all the money!! It’s soo untrue and unfair racial stereotyping
Judaism is a religion, not a race. So no racism here.
@@suupkalvers2244it isn't a religion, if you are born jewish, you're jewish for life. Doesn't matter if you practice the associated religion or not
Yep. Most of them I know are working class or lower middle class. Sometimes someone gets pointed out "oh that guy is a millionaire" but it's very rare. The stereotype of the rich Jew is sadly alive and kicking in the secular world however.
@Klapback I couldn't agree more. Stereotyping = keeping us divided.
@@DJW1981because in the secular world, most people are exposed to secular Jews who do tend to be richer and higher educated than average.
You have become just another Protestant. I am a Christian, I believe in the FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT, not because my parents told me, but because of the many mystical experiences I have had and because it has been this that has made me understand my own mistakes.
Hi Andrew. I reaspect your work and how you go over different relevant cultural topics. Thanks for filling my days with constructive criticisim. Keep it up
He seems like he is a great professor to take a class with.
Teacher Zalman thank you for sharing. I never knew 90% of the things you have shared here. Being a Christian who just knew, I knew all about God's Chosen People. 🙏
Well, did you know that it is only non Jews who go on about 'The Chosen' people?? Most Jews, especially in times of persecution would genuinely prefer that somebody else was 'chosen'!!! Anyway, anyone who chooses God is 'Chosen'!! That's the way I see it!
@@Xaroni well now, the Bible is very clear from start to finish, the books we do have in the KJV, the Jewish Tribe are God's Chosen People. After Jesus died for us ALL, the Gentiles were ADOPTED into the family of God. I'm now because of Jesus a part of the Family but I'm still not one of the Chosen. The Word says things like this. They had to see before they would believe, you believed there for you will see. Our believing first without seeing makes us special in a different way. With Free Will we have control over our minds and what we believe. We are so Special to God, I see his Blessing on my family daily.
So with that being said, I might not like the actions of some Jews, I KNOW MY PLACE and will hold my tongue. If they do evil, that is on them and not the Jewish Religion.
This is an exciting time for me, getting to meet other Jewish People outside the states. To pick their brains and to learn. I couldn't learn from those here, because of their walk. At my age, I have learned to not bash or speak in subjects I know nothing about. Education is the Key, and that what this site is all about. That is why I could here, for some hard cold facts. I study and pray.....Otherwise I'm pissing in the wind!!!!!!
I find it very off-putting when Christians make a fuss over me because I am one of the "chosen." Please don't do this, I don't deserve the fuss, there is nothing special about me.
I really enjoyed this interview Andrew, very thought provoking! Thank you both so much😊
This is very interesting to me. Having been raised by Christian pastors, and a brother following that discipline, I've been steeped in religious fun. Strictures, structure etc.
I was exposed to varying strains of Judaism in the modern world.
And? Please say something interesting or intelligent.
@@wordwarrior2350why? And interesting to who - you? I find this comment interesting as it lets me know that I am in good company having also been brought up in a religious family. I like that comment because it is authentic.
@@nathanaelsmith3553 Tell me wha comments on this site thataren´t authentic, and how can you tell. I don´t think it is possible see the difference with such basically superficial and personal answers. This isYT, nota Drs. couch.
@@wordwarrior2350 a word is what if not effective? her comment was effective.
@@reelguydid Thanks for your opinion. Fact: You can write a proper sentence. Start a sentence with a capital letter. Try this:
A word is what, if it´s not effective? Her comment was effective. To you my little ignorant friend.
The story about the wedding invitations is just crazy.
SO INSIGHTFUL! I still have so many questions 😂🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
I wouldn't say his views are balanced. I'd say his experience is balanced and allows him the luxury of not having to fight for his survival. He is lucky. It's easy to appear balanced if your life isn't decimated by the cruelty of authoritarian extremism.
Extremism is terrifying.
It makes the mind so closed
What a lovely man!!! Thank you!! 👍🙏💓💞
What better way to keep people in your community (cult) than to have most of the men only study and not be educated on practical life skills and supporting a family?
What practical life skills are they missing out on? Perhaps the ones you non-cult people have?
Such as how to get drunk daily, how to use drugs, stand in unemployment lines, raise gender confused children, start an only fans channel, how to have zero community participation or involvement, how to raise broken children on prescription medication who will remain unmarried living at home until well into their thirties.
Not to mention thousand of dollars of college debt that only qualifies the graduate to work at Mac D's.
Seems like Hasidim, successfully raising their 10 - 15 children for productive active community participation, are doing very well when compared to how not well the non-cult parents are doing with their children.
90% of your troubled broken children on drugs contemplating suicide, would have been better off if they had been born into a Hasidic family.
Which is why 97% of children born into Hasidic families, choose to stay and raise their children there. Because none of them want their children to turn out like your children, who with their tattoos, multiple piercings, weird hair colors, strange ideas, and whatnot, look more like little demons than children.
You really have no idea how screwed up your world looks from our side of the fence.
Welfare is a big component of a large Satmar Community in Orange Co. NYS. It's a conservative voting block. Very interesting to see how they work the system.
When you have 10 - 15 children per family, you are going to get social welfare grants. It's how the system works.
His mom's reaction really caught my ear. I'm not Jewish nor from a vaguely strict religious background; we went to Catholic church when I was little but my parents were very loose about it.
But that reaction still connected with me. I was one of those grade-skipping little overachievers in school, probably on the spectrum etc. And while my mom was proud of me while I was in school getting good grades, her pride vanished the second she realized that my brain meant that I was going to go out into the world and look for places to live and things to achieve. I still don't get why she didn't realize that a kid like me would want to go to grad school and do things.
For my whole life, she never really reconciled herself to what I achieved. I built a professional life for myself that I'm very proud of, and I never managed to get her to see it as anything but something she wished I hadn't done. I'm 57, and she passed last year, and it still really bothers me. Everything I'm proud of about myself and proud for having done is something she wished I wasn't and hadn't. I had a hard time being a brainy, nerdy little weirdo when I was young, and even my mom was just one more person who wished I'd just been "normal" in the end.
I had a similar environment. I was a very bright student at an early age. I was in advanced program in the New York City schools. I was also a talented violinist. I played in the schools orchestra which was made up of students from all the schools in NYC and I was only in the 7th grade.
My mother was also bright but screwed up. She got pregnant at 15. My father was 16. Yes folks, this stuff happened in 1950. Because of their immaturity I ended up in a foster home. My parents married two years later by running away to Maryland which had a lower age requirement.
I have 7 siblings. Life was a series of crises. We were extremely poor. My father would be institutionalized occasionally for his paranoid schizophrenia. I was depended upon more than a 10 year old should be. My education suffered. I was expelled from school in the 5th grade. I was home for a year. Whenever I could escape I wandered the city riding the subway and hanging on the back of buses. I also went to the library. I picked out reading material that interested me. I read the international newspapers. A group of parents petitioned the school board to allow me in school. I was tested and placed in the 6th grade at another nearby school.
We moved to South Florida at a moments notice. I ran with a different crowd. Drugs and crime. went to the county and then the state reformatories. I worked throughout Jr. and Sr. high schools in a machine shop. The shop was illegal and just two doors away from my house. He was an Argentine refugee from Peron. He left and went to work n a sheet metal shop. I also worked in a pizzeria owned by my mother's stepfather at night.
I slowly straightened out. At 18 applied for a job with Ma Bell. I told the HR person I was a 10th grade dropout. She told me that they don't hire dropouts. told her I could pass any tests they had and asked if she'd hire me if I did. I got the job. It was work I liked and telecom became my career. After two years I left for Ma Bell in NYC. The impetus was my growing dislike for my family dynamics. My mother is a narcissist and I was tired of her taking my money and bailing out my irresponsible brother. She's never wrong and is willing to lie and steal to accomplish her desires. We have no relationship today. She's made no attempt at a normal relationship. She's never sent a birthday card to my son in his 46 years. She stole my inheritance from my grandfather when she was his guardian when he became senile. She told my sister that I didn't need the money. My siblings have all failed at life with unwed pregnancies, divorces and remarriages and their children are on the same track. There's a lot of jealousy of me. I've been married 51 years and my son has two Civil Engineering degrees and a stable marriage.
I was drafted. Facing two years as a Army grunt I decided to join the Navy which had a larger number of technical jobs. I did well and used their self study curses extensively. My job taught me a lot about managing property and people. I was a Seabee in a Public Works department. It all came in handy when I was laid off in 1985 and started a business. I retired after 32 years and we are well off with income from rental property. I doubt I'd have been as successful had I stayed attached to my dysfunctional family. I sometimes wish it had been different but a person must think of themselves first.
9:08 About why the men did not get secular education and women do some: here in Israel the orthodox women do all for the household: they work full time jobs to support the husband that mostly do not work ever, they have to have knowledge of the outside world to manage, raise a lot of children, take care of the home, while the men....go to"study torah"...I've worked with ultra religious people in Bnei Brak, one the mayor religious cities here, the women are basically exhausted physically, emotionally and mentally, worn out all the time.
I think it varies by group and country. I think many more Haredim in Israel study full-time in kollel than in the United States. It seems that Satmar men in the United States tend to work and their wives do not. Among yeshivish in B'nai B'rak and the United States, it is more common for the men to study and the women to work.
Well, that sounds fair 🤬
I've heard this too and I think it's terrible! Why marry if you're not going to contribute at all? Just go to a monastery and study your torah!
@@marleneflanagan7137I couldn’t agree more. And they make so many children that they do not support, do nothing in the home, horrible life for the women. Let’s not speak even of trying to get a divorce…it’s almost impossible if the rabbi disagrees…
@@marleneflanagan7137there are limited places in the kollel for married men for full time study, as they get paid by the community a stipend to study full time. Study is their job, with only the top scholars being chosen.
Obviously the wealth of the community will determine how many married men get to study full time, and how many have to go get a regular job.
To me it sounds like a regular Brooklyn accent, like Woody Allen's.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BOTH OF YOU ARE GOOD PERSONS WITH A WARM HEART AND WONDERFUL PERSONALITY.
"сhub" (чуб) means 'forlock' in Yiddish - hence the Lubavitcher term for this 'forbidden' haircut ;)
I love getting to know about the different cultures. My grandmother was an Ashkenazi jew but she died when I was only 4 so I was never exposed to the culture and grew up in a secular home.
Never too late sweety, you can go to Chabad and other places and start experiencing your ancestors culture
@@jodea2017
In pray you found,,,,,,JESUS!!!!!!,,,,,,THE,,,,,,,,,,MESSIAH!!!!!!
Never too late...I didn't give my daughter much Jewish education (despite having been at JFS!), living in Spain with a non Jewish partner.. Now, at 26 she has decided to find out for herself and is teaching herself Hebrew!!! Btw..if your grandmother was Ashkenazi Jewish and she is your mother's mother, then you too are Ashkenazi Jewish!!!
@@JOHNBANNON-ib3cj ....at least call him by his proper, Hebrew name!! Yeshua!!
Thank you this is a very interesting interview.
The only thing that worries me is the speed at which marriages are created. Being that the divorce rate is up to 35%. How can any woman decide to marry in 3 to 8 short dates. These women really are taking a leap of faith.
35% is the secular divorce rate. Hasidic divorce rates are very low, single digit figures, in some communities under 1%.
Another really likeable guest. I can relate.
What a blessing that you have a relationship with family. Thank you for not only bashing and slashing your upbringing. I'm also a Jewish decendant Furman.
Your upbringing made you the man you are today
I grew up a totally secular Jew, born five years after the holocaust. One thing amazes me about your guest was he was brought up illiterate, at least, in the language of our country. One thing that was inculcated into my being by my grandmothers was this admonition, “(G)et an education; they can’t take that away from you.” I think most Jews are warned or encouraged in this way. Education is the way we have always gone to the top of every culture in which we found ourselves during the two thousand year diaspora. This is the secret power of the Jew. We are highly educated. I have a doctorate. I rose to become a Judge. I invested a portion of my income throughout my life and have become a millionaire. So finding out about an ultra orthodox Jew who was part of a group who force-feed teachings of ridiculous myths about a small god, as the most important thing to know, is outrageous to me. It’s good that somehow he escaped that cultist ignorant subset of my people. Ironically, your guest benefited from what the Christians did to us historically. The Christians, without knowing nor meaning to, have bred the Jewish people to become smart, strong, and lucky. In nature only the strong survive and the Jews that have survived all the horrible things Christianity has done to us, had to be the strongest, smartest, or luckiest. How else can a tiny group of people (only 15 million Jews exist) have such an impact on the world?
Much respect to this gentleman.
When I was little, I would say when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I went on vacation to NY and my dad's family lived in Brooklyn next to a park where Jews went to pray. The first and only time I entered that park a spiritual peace invaded me and I felt as if I was in paradise, I could feel harmony even with birds. But now I feel like all of you are out of touch and pitifully lost.
They probably would think that you are pitifully lost with a generalising comment like that.
Thanks for literally ripping my thumbnails !!!! Get off this platform if you’re gonna steal! My entire community of 12 million is reporting your channel 👍🏼 Good luck
In the 80 & 90s very few men actually worked unless it was for family biz
What a wonderful interview with this Precious man. Both Andrew and Zalman are compassionate men. I was so impressed and learned so much listening to Zalman. He is an Amazing man.
I think however you make it work, if it works for you then it’s nobody else’s business
You could bring him back since so many people enjoyed hearing what he had to say. How he lives his daily life.
As usunął Andrew it is a Fantastic interview,amazing professor
Bravo Andrew a terrific interview.!
For Zalman- I came from a non-religious Jewish family, and I heard all my life from my mother “If you really loved me……..” and “You’re dead to us”. Zalman I’ve heard many stories about the grandparents bringing their own food to a gathering, so it seems to happen a lot.
My cousin, from a religious family, married a Roman Catholic. I was in his father’s house, and all the mirrors were covered in black cloth. I was shocked to learn the significance of it, “You’re dead to me”. Such a shame. I don’t think they ever really healed from that.
Zalman I never wanted children for many reasons. I would have failed in your sect though I wonder if there were others who felt like I did.
Andrew, I was really shocked when you said something about Jews finding money important. My family never thought this way. Money was to house and feed us. I still feel this way. And if you have money you can enjoy things in life or eat more food!! 😅
I repeat VERY interesting vlog! 🏆
Did I hear "my wife ..." ? Is there an appropiate 'mazal tov' to be wished?
Interesting episode by the way!
Well, fiancee! i jumped ahead :)
Elvis couldn’t stand Scientology. Please give us info on Priscilla. Especially now that Lisa died. Ty
I love his passion for foreign films and wish I could have it. But growing up in Israel, every foreign film had both English and Hebrew subtitles. I was constantly trying to read both sets of subtitles which put me off foreign films. I also know from reading English subtitles for Israeli films and vice versa, that subtitles are woefully lacking and you miss half the context.