Back in 2001, Deborah Schoenman wrote a memorable piece for the New York Post called “Muscle Tov” featuring a Hasidic workout video. I remember clipping the piece, only for someone later on to steal it. Since then I’ve been unable to find a replacement.
The gist was that Alon Vengezin was at the time a 2 year old Tai Chi instructor and came out with a Hasidic workout video, which was a novelty at the time. There remains one other piece about him here: https://nypost.com/2001/12/22/dinner-party-cheat-sheet-23/ . Critics complained that the workout video was designed for people in their 50s and 60s, and not intensive at all. The same critics also complained that most Jewish exercise involved walking to and from the synagogue, which isn’t much exercise.
To add insult to injury, somehow Getty Images got ahold of the images and are claiming them as their own! Here they are with the watermark:
398797 01: UNDATED PHOTO Tai Chi instructor Alon Vengezin demonstrates exercises in “Rise Like a Lion,” an exercise video for Hasidic Jews. Rafael Marmor, a 25-year-old Orthodox Cornell graduate produced the first 13-minute nonstrenuous workout for Hasidic men so they can exercise in their black suits. The workout is available for $18 on videotape or CD-Rom. (Photo by Getty Images)398797 06: UNDATED PHOTO Tai Chi instructor Alon Vengezin demonstrates exercises in “Rise Like a Lion,” an exercise video for Hasidic Jews. Rafael Marmor, a 25-year-old Orthodox Cornell graduate produced the first 13-minute nonstrenuous workout for Hasidic men so they can exercise in their black suits. The workout is available for $18 on videotape or CD-Rom. (Photo by Getty Images)398797 05: UNDATED PHOTO Tai Chi instructor Alon Vengezin demonstrates exercises in “Rise Like a Lion,” an exercise video for Hasidic Jews. Rafael Marmor, a 25-year-old Orthodox Cornell graduate produced the first 13-minute nonstrenuous workout for Hasidic men so they can exercise in their black suits. The workout is available for $18 on videotape or CD-Rom. (Photo by Getty Images)398797 04: UNDATED PHOTO Tai Chi instructor Alon Vengezin demonstrates exercises in “Rise Like a Lion,” an exercise video for Hasidic Jews. Rafael Marmor, a 25-year-old Orthodox Cornell graduate produced the first 13-minute nonstrenuous workout for Hasidic men so they can exercise in their black suits. The workout is available for $18 on videotape or CD-Rom. (Photo by Getty Images)398797 03: UNDATED PHOTO Tai Chi instructor Alon Vengezin demonstrates exercises in “Rise Like a Lion,” an exercise video for Hasidic Jews. Rafael Marmor, a 25-year-old Orthodox Cornell graduate produced the first 13-minute nonstrenuous workout for Hasidic men so they can exercise in their black suits. The workout is available for $18 on videotape or CD-Rom. (Photo by Getty Images)398797 02: UNDATED PHOTO Tai Chi instructor Alon Vengezin demonstrates exercises in “Rise Like a Lion,” an exercise video for Hasidic Jews. Rafael Marmor, a 25-year-old Orthodox Cornell graduate produced the first 13-minute nonstrenuous workout for Hasidic men so they can exercise in their black suits. The workout is available for $18 on videotape or CD-Rom. (Photo by Getty Images)
To quote Gene Wilder from “The Frisco Kid,” “One, two three, oy!”
