Menachem Daum, a filmmaker who portrayed Hasidism in the United States in his work, “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America,” has reportedly died at the age of 77. Videos by RareDaum created his most classic work with a gentleman named Oren Rudavsky. The early Hasidic rabbis are shown to be wary of life in America as a place of necessary refuge. The Hasidic rabbis were concerned that liberalism and consumerism would lead to assimilation and began to place strict practices to preserve their culture from American secularism. The resulting film offered a complex portrait of a religious group usually depicted as somber and impenetrable; here it offered scenes of Hasidim joyfully dancing.

Source: New York Times January 20, 2024 16:13 UTC