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Abstract

After years of internet prohibitions, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic ushered in a new age of digital Hasidic Yiddish screen production. In addition to existing listservs, Hasidic Yiddish speakers have increasingly employed new media platforms to produce and disseminate screen production, including comedy sketches and shorts; behind-the scenes for feature films; music videos; and videocasts. Intended for Hasidic audiences, these express and promote the social and religious mores of their communities. By the same token, today’s professionalized production is widely accessible to both Hasidic and broader audiences via video sharing, streaming, and social media. This article examines Yiddish-language screen production among emerging and established Hasidic content creators as a dramatic shift in Haredi cultural production across production, content, language, and distribution. In doing so, it considers what “kosher entertainment” entails in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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