Oprah's Next Chapter

America's Hidden Culture, Part 2 (1x8)

Air date: Feb 13, 2012

For the first time ever, Oprah sits down with four Hasidic wives and mothers in Brooklyn, New York, for a no-holds-barred interview about their unusual way of life. No topic was off limits. In this revealing discussion, Oprah talks to Shterna, Toby, Chaya and Brocha—women who have 32 children between them—about everything from their unique sex practices to the role of women in Hasidic Judaism. These spirited women open up about rules of modesty, ritual baths (called mikvahs) and more. Then, Brocha, a mother of nine, stuns her friends when she reveals she didn't grow up Hasidic and admits that she used to work as a DJ at an alternative radio station. The women also share their pain over the death of Leiby Kletzky, an 8-year-old Hasidic boy who was murdered just blocks away. Plus, Oprah goes on a rare tour of a mikvah to see why it's the most important part of Jewish life. Also, our cameras go inside stores that are unique to the Hasidic community, including a shop where Hasidic women have their wigs cut and styled.