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.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
A Golem to vanquish the hipsters!
Kind of exactly what my own wedding was like :) The women are on the other side of the wall. It’s considered too sexually provocative to film them. Footage like that would almost equal porn lol.
This is a really great example of how the Yiddish language, spoken by the Satmar Hasidic sect in Williamsburg, has been corroded over time by being exposed to American English. If you listen closely, you can pick out all the English words being pronounced with a Yiddish accent. It’s a parody, but not as far from the truth as you’d think. Many Yiddish words have been replaced by their English counterparts over the years. It’s a shame, because the only people who use this dying language as their primary one are allowing it to be diluted; I say, if you’re going to speak it, you might as well speak it right.
I grew up in the Satmar sect. However, I can add a little bit of context to that answer. The Hasidic sects are sometimes intertwined in interesting ways. For example, because rabbinical families can only marry their children off to each other, often the rabbi of one sect will hook his children up with the kids of another rabbi of a friendly sect. This happens very often, among lower-ranking families as well, and so some children will be raised in ostensibly “Satmar” homes but one of their parents may be from a different sect, and so they have this extended family that belongs to that sect. Although they may identify as Satmar, and spend a lot of time in Satmar institutions, they will also encounter the communities and institutions of the other sect throughout their lives.
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…
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?
Read an excerpt from Unorthodox on Scribd! Click through to be directed to the site.
Yiddish Signs Order Women In Williamsburg To Step Aside When Men Pass
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.
Hasidic survivor of abuse speaks out.
Hella Winston was one of the first to attempt an exploration of the lives of Hasidic rebels. In her book slash thesis, she tries to examine why these rebels make the choices they do. Being something of a rebel myself, I took issue with many of her conclusions, but I could hardly expect accuracy from an outsider. This anonymous blogger decided to speak up, addressing an open letter to Ms. Winston detailing his frustrations with her account. Click here to read it.
Escape from the Holy Shtetl.
Read about Gitty Grunwald’s saga featured in New York magazine three years ago.
A part of me feels bad for posting this, but a bigger part of me is cool with it.
Is the kapparos ritual a violation of animal rights? I don’t exactly disagree with their point, but I thought this video was a bit much. What do you think?
