Show Notes
Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/Bt0V4N9lGfc
Hasidic groups are led by Rebbes. I come from the Satmar sect, and our rebbe was Moses Teitelbaum. What happened when he passed? The community erupted in a fight over who would take over, and Satmar split in two. There are now two Rebbes, Reb Aaron and Reb Zalmen Leib.
Satmar is just one sect. There are other huge sects with intense succession stories. In this episode, I speak to the scholar Samuel Heilman who spent 50 years studying Orthodox Jews. He wrote the book "Who Will Lead Us?: The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America" and in this interview, he shares some of these succession stories. We especially talk about Bobov and Munkatch.
Books by Samuel Heilman: Who Will Lead Us?: The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America https://amzn.to/4wKeJRW The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson https://amzn.to/4zz0SAL Hasidism: A New History https://amzn.to/4qvPAsJ Defenders of the Faith: Inside the World of Orthodox Jewry https://amzn.to/4gShQSf
Other videos that might interest you: An extremely short, animated primer on Hasidic sects https://youtu.be/j26jMM6iYYI A longer history on Hasidic sects: https://youtu.be/ywWcEMPALlM Interview with the great late scholar David Biale https://youtu.be/ACAWSDr_zH8 An interview with my professor Glenn Dynner https://youtu.be/6_HyuP4HAi4
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More from The Frieda Vizel Podcast
Twenty years ago today, I created a pseudonym for myself: Shpitzle Shtrimpkind. A 21-year-old Hasidic mother of a little baby boy, hiding furiously behind my alias. My first post was an attempt to defend my community. Within a month or two, I experienced a profound internal shift I couldn't stop or undo. It led me on a road of so much heartache, discovery, curiosity, friendship, loss, love, joy, and sorrow. If I had known then what I know now, I don't know that I would have ever created Shpitzel Shtrimpkind. But it happened. Life happens, whether we have courage for it or not. And I'm grateful for the chance to live life. Living life means getting hurt, falling low, and rebuilding. And it's been all that plus hell, but I'm grateful every day for the light, the hope, the kindness and of course - the audience that made me. Thanks for being here.
video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/9BwmSQ0Vwsk
Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/guXQwZ9h_5U
Video link to this episode: https://youtu.be/LK2b0mAYKqA
video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/NtFI3NL4dFE?si=zOhqSNq6aijFxcc4