Entering America’s Most Religious Community

to learn to study read books magazines newspapers CDs that's fascinating Morty Getz I grew up in the Park bar so when I grew up this is where I spent

most

of my time it was always like this the book Central is not a library according to the full description of where it is the library, but it serves as a kind of children's library, how would you describe where? And this is so, it is a very vibrant

community

, it is only the second and third generation after the Holocaust. The rebirth is amazing. I think the younger generation is not as aggressive as the first generation, but the first generation felt it as an obligation to the six million rebirth.

There they felt that they had to reconstruct that insignificant meaning of rhythm, so the Commandment is I have to leave something here on both sides of the head, that is a biblical computer commandment, it became more of a tradition of making us remember that we are part of this

community

, so it became more symbolic that the biblical commandment, uh, it became more of a symbol. of a dress code, what is it like to live here? I love this place. Nobody ever sleeps. Things are always happening here. Do you have brothers? Yeah.eight eight wow so you come here to get all your information about things so this is a collection of shofar yeah yeah because it's from a deer, a ram, a ram, so this one, Middle Eastern people, like the yam, Yemen, they have big ones the big ones Ashkenazirus have

most

ly the smaller ones why do the Jews look so far away then it is a commandment of the Bible at the beginning of the year we must fly with the driver the talmud explains it as to wake people up from sleep once a year to make chuva repent of your sins it's a wake up call and those times that's how people liked the armies they used to remind them how to wake up so it was a wake up call never mind this video is not complete until Experience a Shabbat Dinner inside a Hasidic home for those new to Judaism.

Shabbat is a day of rest that occurs every week from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. During Shabbat it is prohibited to work, drive a car, use the telephone and even turn on the lights during these sacred 25 hours, all activity takes place at home, talking among family and friends, praying in the synagogue and eating a large meal while I don't keep Shabbat regularly. I love participating and always enjoy this quiet day of rest whenever I have the opportunity, however, filming a Shabbat dinner inside a Hasidic home is almost impossible because it goes against the principles of not working.

Let's say it took me four months to get permission from a rabbi. to film The Shabbat Dinner You're About to See, approved my mission to document in good faith and share the beauty of Hasidic culture only if I don't touch or address a camera Beyond Sunset after several failed attempts, my French floamy who is a fellow traveler and YouTuber about life as a Hasidic Jew, invite me to your own home outside the city. Good to see you, children. Hello how are you? That's the girl, she's a boy. My name is I was born in Borough Park Brooklyn New York.

What is Hasidism for you? What does it mean? A very, very good question. A very deep question. I think Hasidism means many things to many different people. There are some people who are very focused on the internal catechism, which I think it is. The most important part was someone named Israel Balshamptov, he lived in the 18th century in Ukraine and felt that Judaism was becoming a little dry. People didn't practice Judaism passionately enough, so he reinvented the whole system of how we relate to God. and how we interact with God and how Jews live and many people would say that the Balkantov and the Hasidic movement saved Ashkenazi Judaism because there were many people who would have fallen out if it weren't for this new revitalization of life and the excitement of this enthusiasm. interesting, I've seen a YouTube channel, you're doing a great job traveling, I've considered you and what you're learning from it and bringing it into your life, which is amazing, keep it up, by the way, I'll give it a try. that controversy among the community.

I have some very open-minded rabbis who feel it's important for people to understand what services and so it's not like we're doing this every week just once, we brought in people with special permission from rabbis, that's what we're going for. to do again this week, yes, and it's very important to say that, so I just want to make it very clear that this Shabbat video that we're going to do today was made with the permission of a rabbi and anyone who is considering doing something similar, Please speak to your local rabbi to make sure this can be approved in a way that is in accordance with the Jewish law that I am about to fulfill, which is a very special experience in Judaism that I have done. maybe 10 times in my life I'm following the leader here, he's showing me what to do, okay, so first of all, raise your left sleeve, repeat after me to complete is a sentence involving a black leather box with leather straps containing Torah Scrolls and then I like this and then yes and now we have everything right, now guide me a lot.

I would just suggest that if you want to say you know, think about your family, pray for your loved ones and just have a moment. you can close your eyes, leave them open, whatever you feel comfortable with, by the way, we have to take the obligatory villain selfie, we sure call them selfies and I have to tell everyone that I wrapped Rubinsky, yes of course , so I have a feeling. what's in this box and I feel like it's a hat this is a hat it's a very special hat it's called a stromo yes perfect this is a hat that Hasidic men wear on Shabbat they are very expensive this one I think cost five thousand five hundred dollars Legend has it that back in the 18th century or possibly even earlier, in Poland there was a king, a count or someone in power who told the Jews that they couldn't wear furs, but made an exception: they were allowed to wear furs from a tail. supposedly the lowest, most disrespectful and cheap part so the Jews went and made hats completely made out of Tails and beautiful hats that wave them around like this and every Shabbat they tried to humiliate us and we got up now I have one for YouTube um I think. it is stable you only use this meeting until shabbat or you use it all the time no you use it all the time like yes so i do boy this was the blessing for the wine i will use it i will make hamoti which is a blessing for the bread.

A lot of people wear it throughout the meal, it gets a little heavy and a little hot, so usually when I start eating soup that's when my body warms up and then I take it off, you get a little thin, there's mine. Yes, yours is straight. I like the curve. I like it too. It's like it's the hood. Hasidic, you know, a hood has six, taking me to the right hand. Yes sir, I'm in the store now. If you look good. Is this called? Now her name is Becca. The interesting thing is that it goes from right to left.

Oh, okay, in Hasidic thought the right side represents goodness and the left side represents judgment. You always want to have goodness over Judgment. Make sure there is More kindness in the Judgment, so we wear our clothes from right to left. I like that good nerve, Travis, you don't have pears, but since you have a beard, you look like a modern new age classic if you didn't have a beard. It would be harder then people would say who this guy is, but with beer, yeah, you could do it. We're talking about all these things that happen on Shabbat, but for those who are not Jewish and may not know it.

Shabbat is a time that occurs from sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday night, so a 24-hour period every 25 hours a 25-hour period every Friday through Saturday regardless existence, no matter what, and during Shabbat it is a time of relaxation, a time of family and you cannot work, not cook, not water the lawn, not water, just relax, just relax, yes, you should be totally focused on do nothing, you only feel the presence of Shabbat, the new shower, you can't shave, you can't brush. teeth not when you take a toothbrush and put toothpaste on it and most people also put it under water, what happens is you are squeezing water between the bristles and that is you can't squeeze water out of anything on Shabbat , that's the problem with teeth, it's not a hygiene issue, it's a water issue, so there's someone who invented something called a Shabbat toothbrush with rubber bristles where the water doesn't converge inside the bristles and then , when you use it, you don't squeeze.

You have some purchases. Yeah, okay, you travel to all these countries. What happens if a flight is canceled on Thursday and rebooked for Friday night? What are you doing? I'm not going to be on that flight, there's no chance only if it's a lifetime. so God forbid, if I had medication that could save someone's life on the other side of the world, I would get on a plane and take anything other than life or death away. Shabbat comes first my baby was born with injections really now I went to the hospital before Shabbat because my wife was in labor before but if we had to do it yeah we would just get in the car and go to the hospital yeah you have to have a baby, you have to have a baby, you can have a baby at home, but but. most women don't like that, so it's Shabbat, this is a very significant time of the week, usually it's just your family or you have guests coming over, so we actually travel a lot, so oh , you travel with him part of the time. yeah, if it was a really dangerous place, then I wouldn't go, you wouldn't go for Anna to say anything.

No, I have three children. Do you connect with other Jews along the way? Have you done that? We sure always go to Chabad. I mean, we trust Chabad because it's a lifeline. Yes, they are amazing. They really are. First of all, I hope you are absolutely hungry and haven't eaten anything. I'm really hungry today, so we have Hasselback baked asparagus wow, that was fantastic, some sweet baked chicken and sweet potato pie, we have some rice to go with the fish, this is a challenge, yeah, it's like a beef stew yeah chicken soup sorry and here we have the beef lasagna with vegan cheese because we don't use milk together okay we have teriyaki bbq salmon ribs this is crazy there's an unlimited amount of food here, a grilled pie and wow, you've outdone yourself, thank you and some desserts there.

I would be speechless if someone decided to stay with Charlotte and she wasn't a foreigner. Are they always the same dishes? It's a very good question, so basically what we do is there are certain traditional dishes that everyone has. We start with wine, then freshly baked challah bread and then usually people order fish soup and some kind of main course with sides, um, but you can be like you can freestyle what kind of fish and this is evident, obviously, everything is. kosher always everything kosher is a certainty, it is something like Halal Muslim, it is similar Yes, basically what it is is um kosher, any animal that is slaughtered has to be slaughtered by a rabbi who has received specific training and tries to eliminate the animal suffering. while they kill it we don't eat milk and meat together we don't need pork we don't eat seafood I'm so into it I never lack anything else thank God we're eating very well here we're only seconds It's 5:47 p.m. m., the exact time Shabbat began, which is actually the time when you can identify three stars in the night sky.

We are all dressed in our Shabbat clothes, including Shlomi's lovely children. You can really start to feel the spirit in the air. Shabbat officially begins with the women of the house lighting two candles that mark the division between light and darkness. From this exact moment onwards I will not touch or address my camera to show my respect to the family. I have hired a non-Jewish camera operator. who is present in the room and will be documenting from his camera, please, I will bless my children when Shabbat begins. It is customary for the man to say a prayer or a blessing to each of his children and it is a beautiful sight to witness in the flag, so let's go to the kitchen and wash the bread, okay and then we will continue.

Jews always wash each hand twice for ritual purity and royal cleanliness before reciting blessings and Torah, then chanting and then reciting some prayers. and takes the first sip of wine that everyone in the room drinks from the same cup. This big, spongy Jewish bread called kala always starts the Shabbat dinner da da, then the food keeps coming if there is one thing all Jews have in common is feeding. you until you can't breathe let's have a glass of wine oh thank you how many days does it take you to cook this? um all yesterday all yesterday wow drinking alcohol is a big part of every Jewish dinner and Shabbat is no exception yes sir thank you Lots of applause yes you're going to have some water okay your usual night at 8pm what would do?

Maybe I would be having dinner with my family. Maybe please kiss the bed, but you wouldn't have the clarity of Peace of Mind. forstop everything, well my boss is on the phone on one phone, there is a second phone where someone else wants me and everything is up in the air now, relax, calm and relaxed and focus on yourself, the food kept coming but little Then I cut the cameras out of respect for Shabbat. I ended up staying at Shlomi's house a few hours into the night and it was a wonderful experience, to say the least, as a Jew and someone who has celebrated Shabbat in many countries around the world, I must say. that this was the most special one and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to take them on my quest to learn everything about Hasidic culture, the good and the bad, as uncomfortable as it is to witness what women and LGBT people are like. treated by this community or how sad it is that most children do not practice speaking English at home or have access to a comprehensive education, it is important to remember where Hasidic Jews come from and how they emerged, which explains why they cling to a lifestyle that to the rest of us seems so backward in many ways that Hasidic Judaism can be seen as a miracle for a group of half a million Jews who are direct descendants of Holocaust survivors, to have such discipline to preserve their traditions and identity for over 250 incredible years as the world continues to evolve.

I hope those on the inside find it in their hearts to be more inclusive and that those on the outside can stand a little respect for the most resilient

religious

community in the world and for everyone watching at home. Thank you very much for being present. Take this journey with me and I hope you learned something new about this special culture and Judaism as a whole, my beloved religion. I welcome your thoughts, comments and heated debates below. I will be actively reading and responding to as many of them as I can. I love you all and I'll see you next week, whatever that may be.