JANUARY 5 • 2023 | 25

are very camera shy and that’s ingrained in 
me, too. 
 Despite my reluctance, I did believe that 
it’s important to reach a wider audience 
with the story of the Chasidic community. 
The New York Satmar community seems 
to be one of the most understudied subcul-
tures, and most of the pop culture represen-
tations are dark and misleading, creating 
this narrative of an “other.
” So, I think it’s 
important to get beyond that. It’s incredible 
that such a unique, misunderstood world 
shouldn’t get more sensitive, nuanced cov-
erage. So, in the past year, I relented and 
began been publishing various videos on a 
YouTube channel. 
 
What has been the reception to your 
YouTube channel among Satmar residents of 
Williamsburg?
FV: It’s been very surprisingly positive. A 
lot of people stop me while I’m on my tours 
and thank me for my videos. To my sur-
prise, many people have seemingly appreci-
ated this kind of coverage. They have been 
incredibly supportive. 

Tell me about your experience getting local 
Williamsburg residents to appear in videos.
FV: It’s very hard to get people to agree to 
be on my channel. Many people will stop 
me on the street and talk to me, but when 

they realize that my cameraman is with me 
and he’s rolling, they’ll beg me not to pub-
lish the footage. It’s an interesting contrast 
with the non-Chasidic kids from the neigh-
borhood who, when they see a camera, will 
often come up to us and ask us if they can 
appear in our show. Chasidim are incredi-
bly camera shy, in part, I think, because it’s 
a very closed and small world and anyone 
who stands out can end up feeling ostra-
cized. 
Pearl, who showed us her home in an 
episode of my YouTube series, “Inside a 
Hasidic Home,
” was different. She is a fero-
cious lady who manages to at once have so 
much respect in the community while also 
agreeing wholeheartedly to be on film. I 
think a part of why Pearl was comfortable 
being on film was because she is older, and 
she has no kids in the school system or 
shidduch (marriage) system. Pearl was eager 
to help me from my very first phone call 
to her. My video with her ended up getting 
100,000 views in a month, which absolutely 
shocked us. 
I’ve also managed to get some other peo-
ple to agree, and the process often involves 
showing people the edited version before 
it goes live on YouTube to make sure they 
are comfortable with it. I will never publish 
something that is disrespectful, and I think 
people trust me. 

 
What have you learned since taking your 
“inside baseball” perspective to YouTube?
 FV: I’ve learned that my most eager 
audience are Chasidim themselves! While 
I think of my target audience as outsiders, 
Chasidim have a great interest in their own 
world, in seeing the representation and 
sharing insights in the comments. We all 
want to understand the society that we are 
in and, for Chasidim, there’s a great dearth 
of anthropology. I am guessing in the future 
there will be a growing self-awareness as 
more people start to study the culture from 
a bird’s-eye view.

What do you hope to accomplish with your 
YouTube channel?
FV: I hope to help build a non-judg-
mental curiosity into Chasidic culture. I’m 
hoping to inspire others to share different 
parts of this world and to inspire others to 
go beyond black and white. I hope that the 
world’s understanding of this community 
will be much more nuanced, and I think I 
can contribute to that end through my own 
work. 
 
What are some types of videos you plan 
to make for your YouTube channel in the 
future?
FV: I hope to do more “In the Streets” 
videos. I am also going to film a video on 
the Yiddish language. I would love to cap-
ture the vibrancy of the culture in videos, 
so special occasions are my go-to. I dream 
of getting a Chasidic woman to show me 
her wardrobe. I also like to do food videos, 
and I look forward to sharing the Chasidic 
Shabbos meal and other special Chasidic 
foods. 
 
What do you hope to accomplish as more 
Chasidim watch your YouTube videos?
FV: I think at this time, so many locals 
watch my YouTube channel that I have lost 
all my coveted anonymity. I miss it! On the 
other hand, I get a lot of fascinating infor-
mation through their engagement with my 
work, and I’m honored that people take me 
seriously. But, ultimately, I think my videos 
are giving locals a bit of a vocabulary with 
which to talk about their own world to out-
siders, which I think is important. 

 

Rabbi Jason Miller is a local educator and entrepre-

neur. He is the president of Access Technology in West 

Bloomfield.

Frieda Vizel 
on her tour of 
Williamsburg, 
Brooklyn

