Abstract
Footage from the 1997 documentary “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America” (directed by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky), the first in-depth documentary about Hasidic Jews, members of a distinctive group within Judaism that has roots in pre-World War II Eastern Europe.
Interview with Mayer Schiller, a Skverer Hasid, who grew up as a secular Jew but chose to become Hasidic. (Part 2) 1/13/1994.
00:00:04 - Interview with Mayer Schiller: About how and why Hasidim succeeded in bucking the trend of immigrants to acculturate. America unraveling since the 1960s. The tension between a pluralist democracy enabling insular communities to flourish and the survival of those communities depending on not practicing pluralism.
00:03:38 - About how relativism and dissent inimical to Hasidism or any orthodox community. In Hasidism, this is reinforced by the authority of the rebbe. About his reverence for the preceding Skverer Rebbe. About how succession of new rebbes always difficult but it has taken place successfully in America.
00:07:32 - About the differences between poverty of Hasidim in pre-World War II Europe and in America and how this affects Hasidic life today. The largest Hasidic families of all time and the economic problems that causes.
00:09:57 - He teaches Talmud at Yeshiva University high school for boys, a Modern Orthodox school. Cultural differences between Hasidism and Modern Orthodoxy.
00:11:15 - About how he is inspired by the teaching of the Ba'al Shem Tov to view his students as worthy of having a spiritual relationship with God.
00:12:51 - Is a hockey coach for the Yeshiva University high school students. About how Hasidim see sports as non-Jewish and alien. How he has sought to balance his dedication to serving God with his own spiritual need for sports.
00:14:49 - Tries to imbue the teaching of Talmud with joy. Hasidism emphasizes prayer as imbued with both joy and seriousness. Hasidim draw sustenance from specific moments of inspiration. He gets his inspiration from Shabbos and holidays.
00:19:58 - His students' "spiritual antennae have been cut by modernity."
00:21:03 - To ask whether Hasidim are good Americans is irrelevant at a moment when most Americans are not good Americans. American have lost a sense of patriotism and duty.
Interview with Mayer Schiller, a Skverer Hasid, who grew up as a secular Jew but chose to become Hasidic. (Part 2) 1/13/1994.
00:00:04 - Interview with Mayer Schiller: About how and why Hasidim succeeded in bucking the trend of immigrants to acculturate. America unraveling since the 1960s. The tension between a pluralist democracy enabling insular communities to flourish and the survival of those communities depending on not practicing pluralism.
00:03:38 - About how relativism and dissent inimical to Hasidism or any orthodox community. In Hasidism, this is reinforced by the authority of the rebbe. About his reverence for the preceding Skverer Rebbe. About how succession of new rebbes always difficult but it has taken place successfully in America.
00:07:32 - About the differences between poverty of Hasidim in pre-World War II Europe and in America and how this affects Hasidic life today. The largest Hasidic families of all time and the economic problems that causes.
00:09:57 - He teaches Talmud at Yeshiva University high school for boys, a Modern Orthodox school. Cultural differences between Hasidism and Modern Orthodoxy.
00:11:15 - About how he is inspired by the teaching of the Ba'al Shem Tov to view his students as worthy of having a spiritual relationship with God.
00:12:51 - Is a hockey coach for the Yeshiva University high school students. About how Hasidim see sports as non-Jewish and alien. How he has sought to balance his dedication to serving God with his own spiritual need for sports.
00:14:49 - Tries to imbue the teaching of Talmud with joy. Hasidism emphasizes prayer as imbued with both joy and seriousness. Hasidim draw sustenance from specific moments of inspiration. He gets his inspiration from Shabbos and holidays.
00:19:58 - His students' "spiritual antennae have been cut by modernity."
00:21:03 - To ask whether Hasidim are good Americans is irrelevant at a moment when most Americans are not good Americans. American have lost a sense of patriotism and duty.
Collection
Subject
Duration
00:22:24 (HH:MM:SS)
Language:
English
Copyright Date
1997
Rights Declaration:
This recording is protected by copyright. You are free to view it but not download it. Please contact the Brooklyn College Archives for further information about how you may use this recording.
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njcore:194800
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