"My Story of Growing Up and Leaving Hasidism" | In Conversation with Eli Benedict

Video version of this interview here. Comments are not enabled on podcasts so please leave comments on Youtube.

In this long-form interview, I talk to Eli Benedict about his life story. Eli grew up in the Hasidic community in Bnei Brak, Israel, and later left the fold. He remains deeply engaged with the Hasidic community and has a tremendous passion for Yiddish language, literature, old books and community. He is the CEO of YungYiddish and he runs the channel for the @LeagueforYiddish .

I have brought Eli to you on my channel before. Most notably, when he showed me around his hometown of Bnei Brak, just a few days before the horrific October 7 attack. That video is my only content from outside of New York City (for now!) I also shared some shorter videos with Eli, and one longer interview we did after the October 7 attack.

I went into this interview knowing that Eli has warm, complicated feelings for his community and that he was willing to speak candidly and honestly about the world he comes from. I did not know what Eli would share and it was quite a difficult interview to have and process. I thank Eli for sharing and hope you will all listen to his story with open minds.

Eli's story is another story that presents a perspective on the Hasidic education issue. My interviews on the subject create a mosaic with many different narratives. Hopefully, watching them all provides a more complicated, nuanced, and meaningful overview of the situation than one may find when reading the news.

Here are some more of my videos on #hasidiceducation

A trip down memory lane: my own Hasidic education || https://youtu.be/ZRhOovJLcBY
Gerry Albarelli, who taught English to Hasidic boys || https://youtu.be/lR7UL9b_xNU
Eli Spitzer, a Hasidic boys' school headmaster || https://youtu.be/li3y_lwwIyw
Moshe Krakowski, who studied Hasidic boys education || https://youtu.be/IjVyVP7KA8s
Pearl, a Hasidic mother who educated her son's in this system || https://youtu.be/V05SsdMGqkg?t=697
Izzy Posen, former student || https://youtu.be/SeZL920Eae8?si=-VCli1etsg4MJVtD

All my longform content is also available in podcast version.

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