by Deborah Feldman
I’ve been a bad bad reviewer. I haven’t managed to read more than a single book this entire year. Okay, one and a half if I’m being honest…I am halfway through another. But, in my defense I did give birth and now have a 5 month old daughter. So I’ve been a teensy bit busy. But I found time to read! ...
Devoireh was born into the Satmar community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As a Hasidic Jew, and a woman, she gives us a look into growing up in a tight and controlled environment, where everything from your dress to your every movement throughout the day is decided by the Rebbe and enforced by not only...
This book doubles as a memoir and as an expose of the Satmar Jewish sect, a group so conservative that they're anti-Israel because that was supposed to be returned to them by God, not by the UN. Feldman's portrayal of them is scathing, but probably fair; Satmars are, after all, like any other religi...
Although I was deeply moved by this book (I have not read or watched any interviews by the author of the book), I am one of those who feels strangely unsettled by it. I am NOT a Hasidic Jew (I am a Jew, but not a religious one), and of course the author grew up in the community, but I cannot help bu...
The story of one woman growing up as a Hasidic Jew in Williamsburg. The opening chapters, comprising Feldman's childhood, are strong and interesting. But once she gets older, the story starts running into problems. First of all, it seems a little generic: Feldman's problems with Hasidism and her ...
I'm torn. I want to rate this higher, because I think it's a very important book. It's too easy for Americans to fail to understand just how many universes our country encompasses. The fact, for instance, that there is a group living in New York City and deliberately making sure that its children ne...
I didn't grow up in a Hasidic community, though I've worked with a mixed range of Orthodox/Hasidic groups, so I'm not unfamiliar with these cultures, nor do I exoticize them. I've had experiences that accord with Feldman's depictions of some practices (such as keeping information about sexually tran...
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