After touring Jewish homes and communal institutions in the New York neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Borough Park and Brooklyn Heights, as part of her new “Oprah’s Next Chapter” show on the Oprah Winfrey Network, the popular host appeared impressed by what Judaism had to offer the people of the world.
Winfrey told Chabad.org that reliance on popular entertainment has caused society to lose focus on what really matters. In stark contrast to that trend were families like the Ginsbergs of Crown Heights, who, Winfrey notes, were not only not “plugged in,” but were just as happy as their secular counterparts.
“It’s amazing to me that you can raise children in this world and not” let them consume hours and hours watching television or texting friends or playing videogames, said Winfrey. “What’s gonna happen when people see this family and see that it’s possible that in the United States of America, in Brooklyn, you can have nine children and none of them are watching television, and none of them are on computers all day long, and none of them are sassing their parents, and they’re well-mannered and live in harmony with their families.”
During her visit to New York Winfrey sat down with two Jewish families, enjoyed a traditional meal, discussed communal affairs with five women and toured a Chabad-Lubavitch run Jewish ritual bath, known as a mikvah, in Brooklyn Heights.
“The moment I walked into the Ginsbergs’ home, I felt welcomed and I felt a sense of warmth, and I felt a sense of family and comfort and values,” explained Winfrey. There’s a “sense of reverence for acknowledging that there [is] the power of God that is greater than yourself.”