Reply All: #24 Exit & Return, Part II
May 14, 2015 9:43 AM - Subscribe

This week, we conclude Shulem Deen's story. We learn how the Hasidic community has tried to block off a corner of the internet for itself, and how this new, informal Hasidic internet might offer Shulem a way back.
posted by radioamy (7 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Good follow-up, in part because, although it's obviously a continuation of the previous story, most of what it offers is so distinct that it could also have been a stand-alone episode. The attempt by hasids to create a hasidic internet? Fascinating. The fact that the real world still spills in? Equally fascinating.

I also sort of want to listen to hasidic telephone radio. My great grandfather was Reb Kitzis, one of the founders of hasidism, and even though I would be seen as a super-heritic, I still am fascinating by the movement.
posted by maxsparber at 12:08 PM on May 14, 2015


I now have a burning desire to find out what the Hasidim think about Serial.
posted by dinty_moore at 1:01 PM on May 14, 2015 [3 favorites]


Um, I was so surprised to hear that the people using that message board were listening to Serial. It just seems too ... scandalous? I guess the guy that created the Hasisic internet filter decided to whitelist serialpodcast.org? This could be an entire episode itself.

One thing I wondered is why Shulem used his real name on the board. He had to have known that he'd eventually be noticed. Why not use a fake name?

maxsparber - that's incredibly interesting about your grandfather. Have you read Boychicks in the Hood?
posted by radioamy at 2:52 PM on May 14, 2015


I also sort of want to listen to hasidic telephone radio.

It reminds me a lot of the old phone system The Donnelley Directory had called Talking Yellow Pages where you could call a number and dial a four digit code and get TV tips for the evening or your horoscope of the Billboard Top 10 Countdown. Nothing live as this was the early 90s, but still.
posted by inturnaround at 2:59 PM on May 14, 2015


Read Boychicks in the Hood? I used the teach the author's daughter in Hebrew school!
posted by maxsparber at 3:24 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Um, I was so surprised to hear that the people using that message board were listening to Serial. It just seems too ... scandalous? I guess the guy that created the Hasisic internet filter decided to whitelist serialpodcast.org? This could be an entire episode itself.

See, I wonder if it's like a morality play for them - Adnan was straying from a religious path by smoking and dating and disrespecting his parents (not to mention possibly stealing from the Mosque!) and in return he went to jail for murder. While in jail he has been a model religious citizen. I'm not very familiar with the Hasidic community, but I know other extreme religious communities that would normally not allow scandal will make exceptions of the scandal seems to lead to a moral.
posted by dinty_moore at 7:25 AM on May 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Hmm that definitely seems plausible. I'm still curious about the mechanics of it. Did someone have a non-Hasidic friend who told them about it? Did one of the leaders have to listen to the whole thing and decide if it was kosher? So many questions!

From reading Boychicks in the Hood, I got the impression that each of the major Hasidic groups were rather isolated from each other. I'm curious how this plays out on this message board. Does it lead to fights?
posted by radioamy at 7:54 AM on May 15, 2015


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