Rating: 
Summary: Vivid portrait of a living people...
Review: Even after several viewings, this video is still compelling and colourful. Nimoy and Parker lovingly narrate, describing accurately the joy and depth of life in these religious communities. I found that a few of the interviewees came across as caricatures: the lazy yeshiva student (all grown up but unwilling to take on the responsibilities of real life), the dissatisfied feminist poet (Pearl Gluck, who was raised in a Chassidic family and decided to leave). So, please... if you watch this movie (and I do recommend it!), be aware that these caricatures are not representative. Most members of these communities are hard-working and devout; the "dropout rate" is astonishingly low. But that's a little less interesting on film, so you've got to take what you can get. This documentary would be valuable for anyone interested in Judaism, or religious life in America, but it's especially helpful for non-religious Jews who have always been curious (or suspicious, or even hostile) about this closed little world.
Rating:
Summary: Vivid portrait of a living people...
Review: Even after several viewings, this video is still compelling and colourful. Nimoy and Parker lovingly narrate, describing accurately the joy and depth of life in these religious communities. I found that a few of the interviewees came across as caricatures: the lazy yeshiva student (all grown up but unwilling to take on the responsibilities of real life), the dissatisfied feminist poet (Pearl Gluck, who was raised in a Chassidic family and decided to leave). So, please... if you watch this movie (and I do recommend it!), be aware that these caricatures are not representative. Most members of these communities are hard-working and devout; the "dropout rate" is astonishingly low. But that's a little less interesting on film, so you've got to take what you can get. This documentary would be valuable for anyone interested in Judaism, or religious life in America, but it's especially helpful for non-religious Jews who have always been curious (or suspicious, or even hostile) about this closed little world.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: I found Hasidism in America to be an interesting film, however the film doesn't run as coherent as most documentaries are. The film skips from the 50's to pre holocaust, to modern day and so on. Regardless it is very informative and I recommend it anyone interested in hasdism.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting film
Review: I found Hasidism in America to be an interesting film, however the film doesn't run as coherent as most documentaries are. The film skips from the 50's to pre holocaust, to modern day and so on. Regardless it is very informative and I recommend it anyone interested in hasdism.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting -- and well done!
Review: I saw this on PBS and it deserves the rave reviews it got in educational circles. It's 90 minutes long and it covers Hasidic history (good archive material on Lubovitch!), home life, customs, etc. There's some footage of the Bobover Rebbe and his followers -- that's a group I barely knew about before. Also lots of material on Lubovitch. Most of the footage is of families, schools, and synagogues and was shot in Brooklyn, NY. There's a few scenes in Russia and Ukraine (where a lot of Hasidim originally came from), but none from Israel. (Well, after all, the title does say it is about Hasidism in AMERICA.) In addition to the interviews with Hasidim, there are opinions of scholars, and some non-Hasidic neighbors who are angry that the Hasidim won't talk to them on the streets. (I didn't understand that attitude at all -- I mean, the streets are dangerous places. I don't talk to strangers either, and I'm not Hasidic. There's no rule that says you have to talk to people just because they live on your street. A lot of the Hasidim didn't want to be filmed for this movie, either -- and that's their right.) Anyway, I learned a lot. Good film!
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting -- and well done!
Review: I saw this on PBS and it deserves the rave reviews it got in educational circles. It's 90 minutes long and it covers Hasidic history (good archive material on Lubovitch!), home life, customs, etc. There's some footage of the Bobover Rebbe and his followers -- that's a group I barely knew about before. Also lots of material on Lubovitch. Most of the footage is of families, schools, and synagogues and was shot in Brooklyn, NY. There's a few scenes in Russia and Ukraine (where a lot of Hasidim originally came from), but none from Israel. (Well, after all, the title does say it is about Hasidism in AMERICA.) In addition to the interviews with Hasidim, there are opinions of scholars, and some non-Hasidic neighbors who are angry that the Hasidim won't talk to them on the streets. (I didn't understand that attitude at all -- I mean, the streets are dangerous places. I don't talk to strangers either, and I'm not Hasidic. There's no rule that says you have to talk to people just because they live on your street. A lot of the Hasidim didn't want to be filmed for this movie, either -- and that's their right.) Anyway, I learned a lot. Good film!
Rating:
Summary: A MUST SEE
Review: I was given this Video to look at by a friend who had converted to Judaism. Since much of it was filmed where I live and I know personally some of the people in it, I have a different perspective. I have suggested to a number of people to see this in order to see what real chassidim are like. It is the closest you will ever get to it unless you actually live in the community. It is NOT perfect, and there are a few things that I would like to point out. 1. Most of what the scholars say is funny, and not to be taken seriously. They seem to show an uncanny ability of not understanding.
2. Some of the critiques of chassidim show a non-Jewish perspective. (The feminist views were funny. I find it hard to believe that a man who has to rise early and go to work in the cesspool of Manhattan is exposed to more spirituality, then a women who stays home in a pure enviornment raising pure holy children. It seems women get more spiritual benefit from that lifestyle then the men.)
3. I never got an understanding of why Pearl Gluck left the community. In general they did not point out that people leaving is very rare, and women leaving is even rarer.
4. Some of the Yiddish translations are not so correct. However, the positives far outweigh the negatives. And in any case, there really is nothing out there that gets as close to the truth as this does.
Rating:
Summary: Took 7 years to film and the result is wonderful!
Review: If you missed this film when it was first shown on PBS or you saw it and want a personal copy (I did), this is your chance to get one. Don't pass it up because you'll want to watch this one again and again. Why? Well, for one thing, it is 90 minutes of absolutely fascinating portraits of Hasidic Judaism, covering a range of values, views and lifestyles - more diversity than you might imagine in a group often seen as insular and restricted. For another, it isn't a one-sided film but one with with heart and integrity. It shows the harsh side as well as the beautiful side of the Hasidic world. There are interviews with people who resent Hasidic Jews or who think they're strange or "weird". But there are also rare and beautiful glimpes into the Hasidic lifestyle, mystical stories, lovely music. All in a context that makes clear that the Hasidim place a high value on family, community and, of course, spirituality.
My only quibble is that they didn't show a non-Jewish woman who converted to Hasidic Judaism and I know there are plenty of those out there. Instead, one part focused on a woman who left the community. A little more balance would have been appreciated. Still, I don't know of a more engaging and balanced documentary on the subject out here...
Rating: 
Summary: bad Movie, dosen't pay
Review: it's a total mess, they took sarah jessica parker to make it look intersting, it is just badmouting and bad manors with no taste at all
Rating:
Summary: Freedom to worship as they please brought them to America
Review: Seven years in the making, this 1997 documentary is about the elusive community of Hassidic Jews in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Founded in the 18th century in Poland, they preached a joy in living and kept their way of dress through the centuries, refusing to flee as the Holocaust approached, believing that God meant them to stay where they were. As a result, more than 80% of them were killed, and many of the survivors emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s. A minority within a minority, they choose to live apart from secular America and think of themselves as something like the early pilgrims, who left their home country, not to assimilate, but to worship as they please. New Yorkers have grown used to seeing the men in their long black outfits and side curls and the women in modest dresses and wigs. Few have penetrated their community. And many wonder about it. But in this film, the filmmakers, who are Hasidic themselves, show a bit of this closed world. Narrated by Leonard Nimoy and Sarah Jessica Parker, we learn the history and get to meet some of the people. We see the large and close-knit families, the early education, the rituals of the classroom. All marriages are arranged and we meet a marriage broker and listen to a young man tell about his wedding. We see the way the girls are educated to be wives and mothers although there are some women who speak out about the inequality of this, and we meet Pearl Gluck, a writer who has broken away from the community. We also meet an African American man who raises questions about his Hasidic neighbors and their aloofness and inability to see his religion as important as their own. I found the video well done and quite interesting, with good choices of subjects and cinematography, especially in showing the faces of the children. I know I learned a lot but I wanted to know more. The film makes their lives seem idyllic. Too much so. But it's a good introduction to a way of life of a people who are sometimes shrouded in mystery. And it certainly is a part of this grand mosaic that is America. Recommended.
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