Link to video version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/2iPiYwftPyg
In this interview, I speak with Miriam Vidal about her childhood growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and her eventual decision to leave the faith.
As a Hasidic child growing up in Kiryas Joel, there was a strange building behind my house that we simply called “the church.” Every Saturday, rows of cars would pull up, and we kids would stand by the gate, watching and waving. Only years later, after I had left my own religious community, did I learn that this building was actually a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.
Miriam was one of the people attending services there.
In this conversation, Miriam shares what it was like to grow up inside the Jehovah’s Witness community: the rules, the rhythms of daily life, the sense of belonging, and the limitations placed on childhood, education, and social life. We talk about her memories of the Kingdom Hall in Kiryas Joel, the wider culture of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and what it meant; emotionally and psychologicall... to leave such a structured religious world.
This interview is also about what comes after leaving: identity, belief, grief, freedom, and the slow work of figuring out who you are when the framework you grew up in falls away.
As someone deeply interested in religious subcultures, exit narratives, and the sociology of faith, this conversation felt especially meaningful.... almost like closing a loop that began when I was a child in my Shabbos dress, waving at strangers I didn’t yet understand.
Topics we cover include:
-Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness
-Family life, schooling, holidays, and missionizing
-The Kingdom Hall in Kiryas Joel and Miriam’s memories of it
-Community, ritual, and belonging
-Leaving a high-control religious environment
-The emotional and psychological impact of exiting
-Spiritual life and identity after leaving
-Reflections on religion, culture, and comparison with other faith communities
Want more?
Watch my video about the Jehovah's Witness Church in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/naUJMITJ5sY
Watch my interview with Martha Ross, who left the Amish:
https://youtu.be/teadpfXWCO4
My own recounting of what it's like to grow up in Kiryas Joel
https://youtu.be/uHu_17N9GdE
The story of Anna Shternshis:
https://youtu.be/hKN0_75EuqE
Stay tuned for more stories of subcultures and religious groups.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.
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