Hi there.

Until I was 25, I lived in the Satmar Hasidic community. This experience – and my interest in how society works on a systemic level – inform my work. I draw from all sorts of disciplines, like urban studies, history, sociology, and cultural criticism.

My main job, my bread-and-butter, is WALKING TOURS in Jewish Brooklyn. I love giving tours, but my tours are so important to me because they serve as a jumping-off point from which I explore larger projects on the personal and the societal.

One of the things I am most passionate about is analysis. To that end, I write often. Some of my work has been published. But most of my work is on this BLOG, which goes back to 2008. Many posts are on Hasidic society, forming a kind of street anthropology on an under-studied subculture in NYC. Others are reflections on my personal journey. My PODCAST ‘Radically Human’ was a 30+ episode exploration of modern society and the pandemic.

My latest project is a YOUTUBE CHANNEL on Hasidic culture. I publish video interviews, and explorations on holidays, Hasidic food, kosher technology and more. My videos also air on JEWISH LIFE TELEVISION. I invite you to watch and subscribe!

Many thanks to some amazing talents for making my projects happen.

Valeria Di Matteo
website developer, coding magician with better taste than any ordinary magician

Shannon Kuta Kelly
blog editor, social media manager, wonderful poet in her own right

Tayla Olandim
illustrator, artist with so much soul, Hasidic mapmaker from far-flung Brazil