After centuries of isolation, ultra-Orthodox Jews engage with the world more than ever

NEW YORK — Frieda Vizel left an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect in New York in a crisis of faith at 25. But instead of cutting ties, she became a successful online personality and guide to the tight-knit world she had been raised in.

She gives sold-out tours of Williamsburg, Brooklyn — home base of the Satmar dynasty — and runs a popular YouTube channel focused on the subculture engaging more with the outside world after centuries of separation.

In mid-June, Vizel took a group of Jewish, Christian and Muslim tourists to see synagogues and schools, and visit kosher delis and shops. Instead of Barbie dolls, there were little ultra-Orthodox Jewish figurines. The rabbinically approved products included cellphones without screens, and DVDs and MP3 players preloaded with approved music and films, so no internet connection is needed.

Yet ultra-Orthodox men on the street offered friendly greetings and praise for Vizel's recent postings even though rabbis advise them to avoid the internet unless needed for business, family or other essential needs.

''It's an interesting moment,'' Vizel said. ''They're saying, 'What is the whole world saying about us?'"

Growth and religious change

Williamsburg and a handful of other locations worldwide — from Monsey, New York, to Stamford Hill, London to Bnei Brak, Israel — host the strictest followers of Orthodox Judaism. In a minority religion it's a minority set apart by its dedication above all else to the Torah and its 613 commandments, from No. 1 — worshipping God — to less-followed measures like No. 568 — not cursing a head of state.

One in seven Jews worldwide are strictly Orthodox, or Haredi. It's a population of roughly 2 million out of 15 million Jews, according to Daniel Staetsky, a demographer with the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research.

In a 2022 report, he projects that the strictly Orthodox population could double in size in 15 years. Another study projects that a third of American Jews will be Orthodox by 2063.

Many in the community marry young and have large families.

''You're getting three generations of ultra-Orthodox for every two generations of Reform Jews in the U.S.,'' said Alan Cooperman, director of religion research at the Pew Research Center.

''They are becoming the face of Judaism,'' Vizel said.

Reform and secular Jews

It's happening while many Reform Jews in the U.S. are becoming less religious and intermarrying. That means that Jewish Americans as a whole are becoming either Orthodox or more secular, Cooperman said.

''There has been a major change, I think, that has taken place over the last generation or two and that is the polarization of American Jewry, much as we've seen the vast polarization of America as a whole,'' said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University.

Among American Jews aged 18 to 29, 17% are Orthodox — a bigger share than in older generations, Pew found. And as a growing number of American Jews are Orthodox, a greater percent is Republican. Still, the majority of American Jews remain Democrats.

The Pew Research Center found in 2020 that 75% of Orthodox Jews voted or leaned Republican.

Walking out of Gottlieb's Restaurant with his salami sandwich, Samuel Sabel — a grocery store worker and journalist — said that ''a lot of the policies Republicans have go together with our beliefs,'' citing school choice, and opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage as examples.

Orthodox political activism is ''at the highest point it's ever been,'' said Rabbi Avi Shafran, the retired director of public affairs at the Orthodox group Agudath Israel. ''No question about that.''

''There is time and money and ability and savvy and education that allows for a much more, aggressive, much more positive and active effort on political things,'' he said.

But while cultural issues are important, ''when push comes to shove, we'll vote our interests, our immediate interests, not the larger issues that are always on the table,'' Shafran said.

''We are practical,'' he said. ''Put it that way.''

Politics — local, national and global

Vizel guided her group past ''Get out the vote'' signs in Yiddish, along with a campaign letter from Donald Trump in the window of Gottlieb's deli.

In New York City's Democratic primary for the mayoral election, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo intensely courted Orthodox communities, counting at least 36 sects and yeshivas — religious schools — among his supporters.

But Cuomo suffered a stunning upset at the hands of Zohran Mamdani in a demonstration of grassroots organizing over bloc voting.

In Florida, Orthodox Jews backed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis before he signed a expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools, a movement that has galvanized religious groups across denominations.

But the election this month for the World Zionist Congress — an international body predating Israel that controls more than 1,500 square miles (3885 square kilometers) of land there, along with about $1 billion a year from land sales — showed dominance by the Reform bloc despite intense campaigning by Orthodox parties and strong results ahead of coalition building.

The 2020 Pew study found that Reform Jews are 37% of the American Jewish populace, followed by Jews that claim no particular branch — 32% —and then Conservatives at 17% .

The Orthodox make up 9%.

The president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish group in North America, said ''it's a mistake to assume unaffiliated Jews don't care about being Jewish — many do, and Reform Judaism often reflects their spiritual and moral values.

''Reform Jews continue to hold overwhelmingly liberal worldviews and political values,'' Rabbi Rick Jacobs wrote. ''In the aftermath of October 7th, many have deepened their connection to Jewish peoplehood while remaining firmly committed to justice, equity, and peace through the Reform Movement.''

Rabbi Pesach Lerner founded the Orthodox party Eretz Hakodesh five years ago to compete in the election for the World Zionist Congress.

The main American party representing Reform Judaism in the Zionist Congress had a better individual showing than Lerner's in voting in the United States, but Orthodox parties did well and said they were optimistic that coalition-building would let them compete with traditional liberal Jewish interests.

Reform Jews and their allies ''went so far to the left of traditional, of national, or family values, in ‘wokeism,' that I'm glad the right finally decided that they can't sit back on the sidelines,'' Lerner said.

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