Deborah Feldman

Deborah Feldman was born and raised in the Hasidic community of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir, UNORTHODOX: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots (Simon and Schuster.) Currently, she is working on a follow-up memoir, which finds her embarking on independence as a single woman and mother, finding a new kind of Jewish life for herself, and discovering the far-flung yet familiar community of many like-minded "religious refugees" of all faiths around the world, due out from Blue Rider Press, Penguin, in October of 2013.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

I received a heartbreaking letter from a fan today, who gave me permission to publish it here

Hi, I just wanted you to know that I read your book in a single sitting and it was amazing.
 
I work as an FDNY paramedic in Bed-Stuy and Williamsburg on a unit that patrols the area you were raised in, and for years have been frustrated by our interactions with the Hasidic community. Your book shed a lot of light on things I had long wondered about concerning that very insular society, and it pains me greatly to have my suspicions confirmed that we, as 911 responders (EMS, Police or Fire) are looked down upon by people that we only ever try to help. However, it is heartening to think that there are individuals like you who choose to think outside of the box you were raised in and seek out your own answers on matters of faith, family, love, happiness and society.
 
Way back in 2005 (possibly 2006) there was a huge springtime fire in a Hasidic building due to a holiday tradition of leaving ovens on overnight (I’m sure you know which holiday, but I do not). The kitchen wallpaper had caught fire and (as the windows were barred) many people in the first apartment were unable to escape. When my unit arrived onscene, two children, young boys, were in cardiac arrest. I remember standing, flabbergasted, as the adult men tried to prevent the female paramedic from entering her own ambulance to resuscitate one of the children (they didn’t succeed from keeping her out, but the boy was unable to be saved). From that day on, I have always wondered: what exactly do these people think about women that is so horrible that they would sacrifice the life of a child? After reading your book, of course, I know. Thank you for that.
 
I hope you and your son are doing well, and that you enjoy all the success that your book is sure to bring you. Congrats.
 
- DonnaMarie SanSevero

Female flash mob in Beit Shemesh! I love this.

Oh my god, another sign telling women to step aside for men, taped to a lamppost on a Williamsburg street corner. I can’t read the entire text, but here is the gist of it, translated for you: Precious, honored Jewish daughter. Be careful to preserve your title. A Jewish daughter behaves modestly on the street.    * When a man approaches her, or when she encounters a man, SHE MOVES HERSELF ASIDE.    * She does not speak loudly in the street or in the shops. Someone needs to get their hands on one of those posters and bring it to me. Also, tell me that you appreciate the irony of that storefront saying WHAT-A-BARGAIN in the background… ludmirermoyd: Wait a minute, this is another one of those “Tayere Yiddishe Tokhter” signs telling women and girls to move aside for men, isn’t it?

Oh my god, another sign telling women to step aside for men, taped to a lamppost on a Williamsburg street corner. I can’t read the entire text, but here is the gist of it, translated for you:

Precious, honored Jewish daughter. Be careful to preserve your title. A Jewish daughter behaves modestly on the street.

   * When a man approaches her, or when she encounters a man, SHE MOVES HERSELF ASIDE.

   * She does not speak loudly in the street or in the shops.

Someone needs to get their hands on one of those posters and bring it to me. Also, tell me that you appreciate the irony of that storefront saying WHAT-A-BARGAIN in the background…

ludmirermoyd:

Wait a minute, this is another one of those “Tayere Yiddishe Tokhter” signs telling women and girls to move aside for men, isn’t it?

Yiddish Signs Order Women In Williamsburg To Step Aside When Men Pass

ajlenova:

I understand that, according to Hasidic interpretation of the Torah, unmarried men and women are not supposed to touch in any way, shape, or form. This is, however, a terrible, blatantly sexist, and illegal way to encourage this religious observation. But I would like to point out that this sign, when translated into English, does not ORDER women to do anything, but requests them to. I am pro-feminism, pro-separation of church and state, and anti-bullshit.

Escape from the Holy Shtetl.

Read about Gitty Grunwald’s saga featured in New York magazine three years ago.