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 Joad Cohen, a former Satmar Hasid. (Part 1)
Terms you may encounter:
Simhat Torah: Festival celebrating the completion of the annual reading of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses; also pronounced “simkhes toyra.”
00:00:08 - Interview, Joad Cohen (English): Talks about childhood as Satmar Hasid in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Relationship with parents and between parents. How respect for parents was to be expressed. He has left Hasidism but his parents still pray for him to come back. His brothers were also rebels to some degree but except for him they have all remained Satmar Hasidim. How difficult it is intellectually and psychologically to break away.
00:09:16 - He doesn't know why he was able to break away. Maybe it was because he doesn't like to follow rules. Many Hasidic men become a little more modern but almost none completely "cross the line." Doesn't believe in a God that wants you to do particular things. His view of the non-Hasidic world when he was still Hasidic: empty.
00:11:13 - Hasidim think of the outside world as devoid of the spiritual, as caring more about materialistic things. Childhood memory of synagogue on Simhat Torah: "even the walls were dancing." The Satmar Rebbe in center holding the Torah. It is a very spiritual memory. But he feels like he was brainwashed. Feels that he had a deprived childhood. Education was deficient in secular subjects (English, math, etc.). There is a lot of ignorance of American life, even as America is revered. One isn't taught about sex.
00:25:39 - Reverence for America and its freedom of religion.
Interview with Joad Cohen, a former Satmar Hasid. (Part 1)
Terms you may encounter:
Simhat Torah: Festival celebrating the completion of the annual reading of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses; also pronounced “simkhes toyra.”
00:00:08 - Interview, Joad Cohen (English): Talks about childhood as Satmar Hasid in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Relationship with parents and between parents. How respect for parents was to be expressed. He has left Hasidism but his parents still pray for him to come back. His brothers were also rebels to some degree but except for him they have all remained Satmar Hasidim. How difficult it is intellectually and psychologically to break away.
00:09:16 - He doesn't know why he was able to break away. Maybe it was because he doesn't like to follow rules. Many Hasidic men become a little more modern but almost none completely "cross the line." Doesn't believe in a God that wants you to do particular things. His view of the non-Hasidic world when he was still Hasidic: empty.
00:11:13 - Hasidim think of the outside world as devoid of the spiritual, as caring more about materialistic things. Childhood memory of synagogue on Simhat Torah: "even the walls were dancing." The Satmar Rebbe in center holding the Torah. It is a very spiritual memory. But he feels like he was brainwashed. Feels that he had a deprived childhood. Education was deficient in secular subjects (English, math, etc.). There is a lot of ignorance of American life, even as America is revered. One isn't taught about sex.
00:25:39 - Reverence for America and its freedom of religion.
Collection
Subject
Duration
00:26:43 (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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PID
njcore:194835
Metadata