Turkish YouTuber and documentary filmmaker Ruhi Çenet’s latest film exploring life inside New York’s ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish communities has sparked a heated online debate in the United States, drawing tens of millions of views.
Released Aug. 26, the documentary follows Çenet for two days in Hasidic neighborhoods, examining religious observance, family structures, education and restrictions some community members observe on smartphones, television and internet use.
The roughly 40-minute documentary, which includes interviews with community members and a woman who left the community, has reached 49 million views.
Çenet said in a subsequent social media post that the group featured in the documentary belongs to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and follows a pro-Israel line. He said the filming revealed that the subject extended beyond culture and religious practice to include the community’s access to various forms of support, its historical and ideological ties to Israel, and its religious-political views concerning Jerusalem. He also urged his followers to support Palestinian children.
The documentary gained a broader American audience after prominent streamer Asmongold reviewed it during a livestream. His commentary also fueled discussion over claims concerning the participation of some large Hasidic households in U.S. social assistance programs.
Social media posts subsequently circulated claims that families could receive between $75,000 and $100,000 a year in government support.
In a separate development, U.S. President Donald Trump on Sept. 3 hosted a delegation of leading Hasidic rabbis in the Oval Office ahead of Rosh Hashanah. A White House official described it as the first comparable gathering since 1979. The talks covered housing, religious education, prison reform and tax credits for large families.
The delegation included leaders of the two principal branches of the Satmar movement, whose inclusion drew criticism from some pro-Israel conservatives because of the movement’s religious opposition to Zionism. The meeting had reportedly been planned for months, with no indication that it was linked to Çenet’s documentary.
