An Interview with Oprah about Chassidic Brooklyn (11-Minute Video)

Posted by JewishMom on Feb 12, 2012 in Current Events, Inspiration, Inspirational Videos, Jewish Moms, Motherhood | 4 comments

I love Oprah! So it really touched my heart and got me all teary-eyed to hear how much Oprah loves me and all of us JewishMOMs back…

Here’s an 11-minute interview Chabad.org conducted with Oprah following her day-long visit to Chassidic Brooklyn. How moving to see the beauty of the frum world through an admiring outsider’s eyes…If you don’t have time to watch this whole 11-minute interview, you can read some of the interview highlights below. (Thanks to Esther Kohn and Bella Yehezkel for telling me about this).

Here’s some edited highlights from the interview. Oprah explained:

“I believe in many of the values and the principles that [Chassidic Jews] espouse. As I sat around the table with [the Ginsburgh family of Crown Heights] really, I had a moment of reverence for that: for the sense of family, the sense of harmony, the sense of grace and graciousness within the family.

“And I remember asking the parents a question like “How does this feel? Really, this is your seed? These are your children!” And they told me, “They aren’t just our children, they are G-d’s children.”

“This way of raising families, and respect for the traditions and values. Really, I’m deeply respectful and appreciative of that…

“What seems to be obviously at the core of everyone I’ve spoken to is a deep faith and a deep belief in the power of G-d…the sense of reverence and acknowledging that the power of G-d is greater than yourself, and that we are all here in service of that. Not only the adults, but the children. I mean, when do you ever hear children talking
about living a life of purpose? [These kids told me] “I want to be able to give back and I want to live my life for something purposeful.” That is what is so impressive to me.

“Something else I learned today is that i had always thought that women had to be subservient in this religion and this faith.
But when I met with a group of Chassidic women today, one woman named Chaya explained to me “We’re not subservient. Jewish women are the foundation. We’re not the basement! We’re the foundation.” That was also inspiring to me to see how women are the foundation, and they are true partners in the relationship with their husbands.

“What I didn’t realize is that this religion is so family oriented. The core of the belief system is about bringing families together…Everybody is looking for values. WHich I have to say the world could use a lot more of!

“What I’m most impressed with is the value system and the way that people raise their children. What really knocked me off my feet, and you know it’s hard to make me speechless, but I went around the table and I asked the kids about… Shrek, Beyonce, and Jay-Z, and none of them knew what I was talking about. Not only did they not know who I was talking about, they said they didn’t even care. They weren’t even curious about it.

“They are focusing on what matters, to them.

“You know, in the United States of America we live in a culture where children spend 7.5 hours a day on average occupied by some electronic device. Either texting or watching television or playing a video game or online or on the phone.

“It’s amazing to me that right across the river from Manhattan there’s a whole world of children who aren’t doing that! And they are happy, fulfilled and loved.”

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