There he is! Oh! Oh! How you doing? Shloime! Looking good I was going to tell you to bring a suit but I guess you got the memo on your own Schloime, you're looking dapper, buddy Thank you, you too Thank you Did you bring the Santenello suit? Got the Santenello Okay So, what are we getting into today? So... It's a really long story but to make a long story short Alright We have this Holy Book called the Torah Essentially it's the Old Testament it was given to the Jewish people by G-d on Mount Sinai 3,333 years ago Yup And it's also the basis for many of what are considered the great religions So, obviously Christianity is based on the Old Testament Islam as well more or less so this is the book that we live by Yup And we're not writing a new one but what we're doing is we're writing a new copy of the book and we're going to see the celebration the completion of writing the book and then the celebration, the procession of taking it into the synagogue It's gonna get pretty crazy Written as by hand? Written by hand, 100% by hand 600,000 letters For how long? It takes a full year Wow So, hopefully we didn't miss that We probably didn't but it's gonna be happening any second We are on Shloime time No offense, no offense buddy My bad I came only 2 hours late for this This is a solid party, Shloime Hello Right, here we have a normal neighborhood, guys and then we go right into this party This party is happening Thank you, nice to see you Thank you Thank you Thank you Quite a celebration quite hectic, festive Yes! Eli, how are you? What's going on right now? They're writing the last bit of the... Yeah, the Torah was already written in Israel by a special scribe a sofer And then... the tradition is that the family and friends finish it off So, actually the letters are written and then people just fill in It's like stencil Is this very rare having a Torah come into the world like this? It's not so rare anymore I think it used to be more rare when there was less money in the community but, you know, when people start making money and then they want to do good things with it You basically hired someone to write this for a year? Yes, it took a year So, what does it feel like now for you? Ahh It feels like when you are expecting for 9 months and you have your baby You know? Or like you raise your child for twenty something years and you marry them off that's what it feels like this like... Feeling of ecstatic joy and relief that like you did it And also it's a tremendous um... honor I feel very humble Not everyone at my age or... Yeah You know, is able to do something like this and for me to be able to do this is actually an honor to my grandmother who died 1 year ago today she was a Holocaust survivor And I was very very close with her and when she passed away, I said like "What can I do that's everlasting?" Okay And this is something that's everlasting It's her legacy that stays forever And so that's why we decided to do this So, this is dedicated to her and then where do you put it? It stays in the synagogue Okay And it gets read from every Sabbath and and then if the synagogue is used during the week it gets read during the week too How many pages is this? Well, it's a scroll... Yeah, it's a scroll This is real ink with a quill It's written very specifically He's trained for a long time to know how to do this So, there's a certain amount of people in the community that have been trained for this Yeah Okay Is it a dying art or is it growing? No, it's actually... Look, he's young He's newly married young guy young rabbi in his twenties Shterny said it was like giving birth Oh, thank you What is this thing? This uh... It's like a cart? It's a canopy Oh, it's just a canopy There's live music coming from a truck that you're going see in a second The truck is going to lead the procession Okay Everyone's gonna follow after it What do you think of this event, officer? So, now we're walking the Torah through the streets or dancing the Torah through the streets There's a procession with music and the kids are all holding torches It's a sign of honor for the Torah This is a very joyous occasion You have to understand All of us here are Holocaust survivors After the war people thought that the Jewish nation was finished we would never rebuild ourselves Now, all over the world it's happening You see hundreds of people dancing our Book the Holy Book that we believe in through the streets proudly We're not afraid of anybody It's a very emotional experience What a cool beautiful, exciting, invigorating spiritual experience You can just... You can feel the connectivity here You can feel the... the culture, the depth and even the cop there, right? He was all saying how cool it felt, the community you feel with this group Now, I'm in because of my other videos but they're very very accepting they've been very accepting to me Everyone's been very kind very open And I… I gotta admire it I gotta just stand from the side the sidelines here and say I don't know exactly what's going on I don't know what it's like to be Hassidic I'm an outsider but as an outsider, I can observe and respect it and admire it It's quite a beautiful thing Basically in our community and according to the religious Jewish law we consider it inappropriate for grown men and women to dance together Okay So, this is more like uh... the guys will do the dancing and the women will like follow the procession because Again, this is the way we see things If the women are gonna be dancing it should be more of a private thing so at a Jewish wedding which unfortunately you have not yet been to but one day we'll make it happen Okay There'll be like a divider in the middle sort of so the men won't see the women dancing and the women sort of look at the guys dancing but I'm sure you understand why there's a difference So why is that? It's a modesty thing, right? Yeah, it's sort of setting a boundary in a healthy place so things don't progress from there Again, in our in our values any dating or any almost relation between the sexes is for marriage only Right So... So, by keeping the genders separate here that eliminates any temptation or...? Yeah, any temptation Anyone going too far Especially in this climate there's the whole "Me Too" movement or whatever I think the Western world got it wrong Okay And it's healthy to have boundaries in a certain place so they don't end up... So people don't end up crossing really serious boundaries The world is a very complicated place and the Torah gives you a sort of user manual how to navigate life staying out of trouble living a meaningful life Today it's so easy to get distracted people are... I'm worried about kids today for example kids who are growing up on the internet, right? Playing Minecraft or whatever it's okay to play and get your... You know, everyone has to have an outlet but some people are literally living in a virtual world and they're gonna... When they're gonna hit fifty, sixty, seventy they're gonna say, "What did I do with my life?" Like, "I didn't live in reality" Right
The Torah is just... it's a guidebook it's a user manual for life it has things about marriage, about charity about how to bring up children, how to be kind for health Literally it teaches us how to live And it's... I... I love you Peter, you know that You're just one of my closest friends and I just feel like as you're living a meaningful life your way I'm happy for you I'm not trying to convert you I'm trying very hard not to convert you No, no, we're against it We try very hard not to convert people but we do believe that there are very valuable lessons in there that can benefit all of mankind Yeah Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you This man, he is an amazing person A very amazing person Do you know him? He is very famous Yeah? Yeah, sure How are you feeling out here today? I did one of these like uh a half year ago It's a very momentous time, it's a special occasion It's one of the... you know the biggest things, big celebrations It's like it celebrates something that's you know, deep and it's a very festive event My name is Pesach Pesach? Yeah Peter You guys, how are you doing? How are you guys doing? Guys What do these mean? Do you know what these mean? No? Fire, yes Yeah Pure joy, yes Okay Yeah, passing down of the story It's beautiful So this is the female section? Yes And so Eli brings it in (Torah) for everyone to touch? Is that what's happening? Yeah, he's bringing it by so the women and the kids can kiss it Here they come, here they come So, as you may have noticed we're now joined by a few more Torahs that were taken out of the synagogue and they're coming out So I don't remember this being the synagogue but I guess it is Okay I saw it from a different angle, whatever So, basically, the Torahs are coming out to greet the new Torah We consider the Torah like a live document Just because it was given to us more than 3,000 years ago doesn't mean it doesn't apply anymore it's continuous It stays alive and its rules are always applicable So the idea is that these Torahs are like coming to greet their new companion which will be with them in the ark because they're not just objects it's like they're alive You feel it like they're living, breathing objects? Well, not physically but on a spiritual level, yes They're like coming out because they're also part of the celebration Yeah, basically, if there's one mistake even one letter is partially rubbed out or whatever then the whole Torah is no good For example, there's a computer program that scans the whole Torah cus for one human being to go through 600,000 letters would be insane Yeah, they developed a computer program that automatically scans it and it can see if a letter's out of place or whatever Yeah And if it's out of place they gotta go back and fix? They stop using it until it's being fixed and the Torah that cannot be fixed has to be buried like a body like a human body because they're live beings Ellie and Sterney are the representatives of what yiddishkeit (Jewish life) is really all about They have the... Their inside is so pure and they're able to share it with the external world with people around them on all levels That's what's so amazing about them So they're saying some prayers before the... before the Torah goes into the ark See the ark over there? The ark? Okay, let's go up there Okay The Torahs are going here? Torahs are going here, it's a safe so that they, G-d forbid, don't get stolen and those little things down there are little pointers When we're reading the Torah, we point to the verse and the word that we're supposed to be reading cus you're not supposed to touch the actual scroll with your with your bare hands Supposed to try to avoid doing that the 10 Commandments Alright, guys Hear that? Hear how quiet it is? Thinking that's not gonna last So, here we are at the ballroom Dancing... dancing, right? Music? It's got a pink theme pink-purple theme? Yup Alright, romantic This is a rabbi, right? Today is his um... It's Lubavitch rabbi? Yeah Okay, so in Hasidim there are many sects, right? Like 200 sects or something? So, this is Lubavitch which is one of the big ones Satmar is like the very conservative like the most conservative, right? You're Satmar? Uh-huh Lubavitch is a little more jovial, humorous Chill, humorous, yeah Chill? Yeah Okay Is this it? Women's side Beautiful Here we have the men's side Dancefloor Quite a setup Hi, guys There we go, look at this setup Oh, and there he is! How's it going? Shloime You hungry? Anytime Jews do anything we celebrate, we eat, we drink and we have a good time That’s the way our religion works So… there isn't an issue with liquor or alcohol in Hasidim, is there? Not at all It's completely open? Yeah, we believe that everything is healthy in moderation Some people will take it farther than others but as a general rule we all drink Does every Jewish party look like this? Not every one They all have the basic elements of people, food, and alcohol but this is really.... this one's really over the top Multi-camera shots No, no, look at the centerpieces, the lighting the bar Yeah, there's a lot going on here We do have a good time, I promise I'm not living a sad life, I guarantee you Very broad Yeah Not yet, not yet From an outsider, it's interesting that someone can be very conservative and go out, and party, and drink I mean, party, and meet up together, and drink Right. So, again, it's guys only on this side the women are on the other side of the wall and you can check that out in a minute We believe everything is good in moderation and we believe that everything that G-d created can be used in a positive way in the service of G-d So, alcohol We all have our... what shall we say? Vices? We all have our things that we have... we get caught up in our head whenever You have a couple of shots you can get out of that mindset and sometimes you can leave some of your some of your nonsense behind It can take you to a pure place Now, if you drink too much you're gonna end up, you know, puking in the toilet You have to know how to do everything in moderation and that's the key to living a very meaningful life a spiritual life in a very physical world Yeah, like if my wife was here I'd take her home, I'd drop her off, whatever Or in the hallways Listen, if I needed to talk to her, I'd go to the I'd go to the end I'll show you And I'll mention for someone to call her but yes, general rule it's separate and we believe that these boundaries are very healthy You have your opinion, I have mine I respect yours, please respect mine I'm not trying to push my agenda on anyone else, G-d forbid Yeah, but I think that if people are open-minded enough they can see that there can be benefit I understand, trust me, I understand why people would want to mingle with women that makes perfect sense to me But there also is a benefit in keeping things pure And there are... you know, there's a lot of chaos that happens in the outside world between guys and girls and we can avoid a lot of that by keeping to our traditions Right here We're at the border between the men's side and ladies side As you can see, it's mostly closed off but it also is open so that if I needed to talk to my wife on the other side or I wanted to say hi to a neighbor or whatever I could do that but as a general rule for the most part it will be separated To conclude the strength of a woman if you didn't know it by now is a super-power almost unnatural Tonight is about a woman that despite the dire circumstances which is my grandmother She used her power to rise up ages of family she was able to pass down that power to her granddaughter May her power continue to inspire many women for generations to come It feels amazing, it feels really humbling really special... Really special, that's true So emotional It's a bunch of emotions I don't even know how to process it I can't wait for this event to be over to go home and to really like... okay, what happened? What happened over here? Why did I feel so emotional? But I feel it's just added, written down the Torah that was given so many years ago and it's still continues and continues no matter what It's something that will always stay in the family Basically, it's a family heirloom It stays in the family for generations to come Guys You're family already I told him, "From now on, any family event" "He has to join" Yeah, I feel very welcomed with this community So, thank you guys Thank you very much, Peter, for coming and I appreciate it... And thank you for showing the beauty of our culture in today's day and age, you know everyone's so easy to just pass judgement about how bad we are, and how negative, and all that It's so important for people to see the beauty Yes Which is something we have And it comes through Thank you very much And then Shloime Yeah, we got Shloime You guys are awesome, thank you so much Thank you It was really nice that you got to experience this and I experienced it on a deeper level because you were here So that's one thing I would say and another thing is just like... I don't know, keep your eyes open You know, be open to learning about other people Right, right Don't form your opinions until you know until you know those people you're forming the opinions about That's all Fact, fact Guys I hope you felt some of that... ton of energy ton of positivity a lot of sweat on the dance floor like Running of the Bulls But you can't fake raw emotions and there was plenty of positive, beautiful, raw emotions, so... I hope that gives that gives your another perspective into the Hasidic Jewish community It's a... just Hasidim is a complex world Yeah And that's one angle in so thanks for coming along Great to see you again, Shloime Always the best making videos with Shlom And uh... We'll be doing this... We'll do it again We'll see you sometime soon Can I tell them? Can I tell them? You just got back from...? You can tell them, we'll see if we can leave it in You just got back from? I just got back from Kabul, Afghanistan Met with the last Jew who lives there, it was nuts always a crazy time in Afghanistan and uh thank G-d I'm alive to tell the story Shloime goes in deep You're actually a little more adventurous than me these days I know you're going to be in Afghanistan soon But I'm not going in as a Hasidic Jew Alright Alright, guys Thanks for coming along Till the next one
