Former Kiryas Joel resident Frieda Vizel responds to viral YouTube video negatively portraying the Hasidic community

In this video, Frieda Vizel reacts to a YouTube video titled “Inside New York City Overrun by Welfare Addicted Jews…” by Tyler Oliviera. Hailing from Kiryas Joel, she offers a nuanced perspective on the community, aiming to counter the stereotypes and misrepresentations presented in at Oliviera video.

“Having grown up in Kiryas Joel and having left the fold, I have a lot to say about this Hasidic village. There is good and bad. There are problems, and yes, there are valid criticisms of its relationship with the welfare system, although that doesn’t take away from the facts: this is a community where the vast majority of men are gainfully employed and work incredibly hard. Stereotypes of this community as “welfare queens” whose men study Torah and do not work are very harmful and false. ‪

Tyler Oliveira‘s recent video will profoundly reinforce these misconceptions. I made a video in which I looked through the phone book and showed the large number of businesses in which Hasidim are active. It’s so sad that his program creates so many false claims. This is my first reaction to his video. Please forgive my rants and morning ramblings. I watch it raw with you. I find this quite upsetting and ignorant. I hope my deep feelings that this community is complicated, flawed, needs to be criticized but is also often misrepresented will come out. It’s long – well, Tyler’s video is long.

Vizel reviews at Oliviera journalistic approach, highlighting several issues:

• Outdated information: Olive uses a 2014 report to describe rapid demographic change, which Vizel considers irresponsible.
• Inflammatory statements: She challenges his generalizations about Jewish communities and their legality compared to other groups, demanding precise comparisons.
• Disrespectful investigations: Vizel finds at Oliviera the questions asked of community members about their work and prayer schedules are incurious and accusatory.
• Misinterpretation of the term “students”: She clarifies that many men who identify as “students” are actively working or transitioning into careers, and are not relying solely on welfare as the bill implies. Olive. She explains that some men, especially those who marry early, study Torah full-time while their wives work, and men then go into various industries.
• Lack of contextualization: Vizel emphasizes the importance of cultural translators in understanding the nuances of the professional life and religious practices of the community, which Olive fails to do so.

Vizel also addresses the role of charity and community support in Kiryas Joel, noting that wealthier members often subsidize Torah scholars. She debunks the idea that men pray all day, specifying that prayers take place three times a day, often before or after work. She expresses her frustration with at Oliviera “bulldozing” into private spaces to film and conduct interviews, noting that community members are hesitant to share information due to negative media portrayals in the past.

Ultimately, Vizel argues for a more complex and humanizing portrayal of the Hasidic community, emphasizing that while problems exist, the narrative of “welfare-dependent Jews” is a harmful distortion.