Oprah Visits Hasidic Brooklyn (VIDEO)
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After visiting Hasidic communities in Brooklyn, N.Y., for a two-part episode on "Oprah's Next Chapter," Oprah Winfrey sat down for an exclusive interview with Rabbi Motti Seligson for Chabad.org's video site, Jewish.TV, to talk about her reflections on the visit and the community.
“Oprah’s Next Chapter” will air the two-part episode on the Hasidic Jews on Sunday, Feb. 12 (9-10 p.m. ET/PT) and Monday, Feb. 13 (10-11 p.m. ET/PT) on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
Oprah visited to the Hasidic Jewish communities of Borough Park and Crown Heights for unprecedented access inside one of America's most tight-knit and mysterious cultures, where she learns about the daily life and their intense spiritual devotion, including raising their children with no TV, movies, Internet or video games. She sat down with a family of 12 as part of her visit, enjoyed a traditional meal and met one of the few black Hasidic Jewish families in the country. Then, Oprah conducted a first-ever, no-holds-barred interview with four Hasidic mothers and wives, and got a rare tour of a ritual, spiritual bath known as a mikveh.
For more of this interview see "Jewish Family Life Inspires Oprah Winfrey." Visit Jewish.TV for more Jewish videos.
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01:31 AM on 03/25/2012
The information in this interview is not that accurate, even for the GENERAL Chassidic community. Shocked Oprah didn't interview the Francis family in Brooklyn who are world renowned Chassidic Jews of color!
11:17 PM on 02/13/2012
These guys are all pro Israel..... bomb Iran.....wipe out Palestine. They must flood the American recruiting stations eagerly joining the ranks shedding blood for their promised land. Funny thing, they must have separate operating areas because they certainly weren't out there with us. 
01:52 PM on 02/14/2012
Actually, many of the Hasidic community are not pro-Israel.
04:45 PM on 02/13/2012
It was interesting to see aspects of a lifestyle that I would otherwise never see. They should do more shows like this.
02:15 PM on 02/13/2012
Here is another video of Hasidic Brooklyn, filmed just before the 2008 election:http://piven.blogspot.com/2008/11/election-enclave-hasidic-vote-in-crown.html
My guess is that the precincts that Oprah visited in Borough Park and Crown Heights will go 90%+ for the Republican opponent of Obama in November.
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09:39 AM on 02/15/2012
They are social conservatives. Surprised?
03:14 PM on 02/11/2012
I'm an agnostic, but I truly enjoyed watching this video. What Oprah shows is not just her intelligence and generosity (that we already knew), but also how even certain rather strange and to some extremist religious practices can actually contain a lot of good things, and offer a way of putting basic human values into practice that you don't always find so easily in other ways of life. She showed that in the end, life is complex, you can't just judge things on face value. Thanks Oprah and thanks rabbi Seligson for this interview!
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11:15 AM on 02/11/2012
something about a wise person they do reaserach .
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11:14 AM on 02/11/2012
I think Oprah should look into Jehovah God when she gets a chance..
02:40 PM on 02/13/2012
Eh, she won't...trust me. She won't even acknowledge Jesus. How will she acknowledge Jehovah, Sovereign Lord of all creation?
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11:12 AM on 02/11/2012
There will be many gods.. But the is only One God . Jehovah God the reator of the heavens and eath. He is the Divine One . Holy Holy HOly Jehovah God...
10:48 PM on 02/10/2012
Interesting. I have a part time Job with a school from the Chabad community.
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09:49 PM on 02/10/2012
DanielVi, I do enjoy your comments. Sorry I can not find this particular one, but I'm sure you'll remember stating Jews don't believe in punishment after death.I beg to differ. Please read:
"An orthodox or conservative Jew is more likely to believe that the righteous dead go to a place similar to the Christian view of Heaven. This is referred to as Olam Ha-Ba (the world to come) or Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden).. The Jewish reference to Hell is "Gehinnom" or "She'ol."
True, there's no mention of what the punishment is, but I'm sure it's no Cafe Tel Aviv.
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09:44 AM on 02/15/2012
But its far more nuanced. Few sects believe gehinnom is eternal, and most Jewish rabbis will tell you gehennom was an actual place on Earth where bodies of the dead, broken, and sacrificed were thrown into in Jerusalem. From wiki: "Gehenna (Greek γέεννα), Gehinnom (Rabbinical Hebrew: גהנום/גהנם) and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Hebrew: גֵיא בֶן־הִנֹּם or גיא בן-הינום); one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and followers of various Ba'als and Caananite gods, including Moloch, sacrificed their children by fire".
The Holam Ha ba is not Heaven, its New Earth, the situation where the Messiah comes and makes the Earth like your Heaven. Gan Eden is the Garden of Eden, where the righteous can return to, this is a lot different from your Heaven.
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12:30 PM on 02/15/2012
Thank you for your comment and correction. I have to agree with you on "being a lot different" and not just about heaven. I have the God of the Old Testament to be just but severe. A warrior-like temperment.
I have also found the God of the New Testament to be compassionate, tender and loving. So much, much easier to have a personall relationship with Him because I can focus on Him, rather than paying attention to if food is kosher, did I last eat dairy or meat & how many hours I must wait in-between, etc.
09:31 PM on 02/10/2012
You can totally see why Oprah became the most successful woman and African American of all time. She's one of the most eloquent people on the planet.
08:18 PM on 02/10/2012
And so the dance continues: lumping people into one monolithic whole, disparaging remarks about people who live by different standards, accusations of sexism, and arguing that they refuse to embrace the Twenty-First Century. But it is not that clear cut or that black and white.
There is the legend about the thirty-six righteous individuals whose saintliness is kept secret. They do not shine in their communities as people of great learning, masters to Talmudic discourse or poskim who publish their responsa or as fiery orators. No one knows them and they seek no fame. And yet, as legend has it, the world is supported by their deeds.
And who might very well be these persons? They are found in households attending to the responsibilities of maintaining a family, they are the milknurses of old, the midwives, the herbalists experts in animal husbandry. These are compassionate ones whose love is expressed through their hospitality actively seeking sojourners to tarry in their homes during Shabbat. They are the counterweights who urge their husbands and sons to act wisely and with kind hearts. And because they seek no recognition, no honor, and no fame their lives dedicated to service are elevated even higher than the Chachamim, the Gedolim, and the Rebbes that we have heard about.
Where does one find a real tzaddik (pious one)?
Where there is no judgment, no stereotyping, and no blanket condemnation of others.
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11:22 PM on 02/10/2012
But where is the identity of women that do not have husbands or children? Some hetereosexual women, for various reasons, remain unmarried. How are they recognized? Are they praised?Or is their total worth reflected from affiliation with men?
04:55 PM on 02/11/2012
No need for praise or for praise or for affiliation with men just service.The affairs of men consist that of the pursuit of power. It is the domain of the will to dominate.
This service however is outside of such affairs.
The total worth of the hidden is not in the affairs of men and their defined status. What really matters is not found in the pursuit of fame or of power or of money. Those in the public eye live transient lives. Here they are in the limelight but are shoved off the stage by their rivals. Some will make the history books. So what. It is a mistake to define one's self in these terms of power relationships.
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07:04 AM on 02/23/2012
In Jewish tradition, a man is commanded to marry, but there is no such commandment for women. A woman who for some reason never marries is revered for her good deeds and kindness, be she a teacher, organizer of charity, psychologist or simply a giving person.
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Posted: 02/ 9/2012 2:17 pm