Leaving Hasidism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the genre of \u201cde-conversion\u201d books, there is a Jewish sub-category of \u201cOTD\u201d memoirs. \u201cOTD\u201d is the English acronym for \u201cOff the Derech \u201d and refers to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leaving Hasidism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the genre of \u201cde-conversion\u201d books, there is a Jewish sub-category of \u201cOTD\u201d memoirs. \u201cOTD\u201d is the English acronym for \u201cOff the Derech \u201d and refers to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-22T12:43:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-22T12:48:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/554\/2015\/05\/71fyz-YNj3L.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"825\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1238\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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Falick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html\",\"name\":\"Leaving Hasidism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-22T12:43:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-22T12:48:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#\/schema\/person\/fc95554b64c99ed45146c32bf5cd2372\"},\"description\":\"In the genre of \u201cde-conversion\u201d books, there is a Jewish sub-category of \u201cOTD\u201d memoirs. \u201cOTD\u201d is the English acronym for \u201cOff the Derech \u201d and refers to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Leaving Hasidism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/\",\"name\":\"The Atheist Rabbi\",\"description\":\"The blog of Jeffrey L. 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{"id":2437,"date":"2015-05-22T07:43:21","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T12:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/?p=2437"},"modified":"2015-05-22T07:48:08","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T12:48:08","slug":"leaving-hasidism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2015\/05\/leaving-hasidism.html","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Hasidism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There have been many fine memoirs from formerly Orthodox Jews, most\u00a0of them written by people reared in one of the Haredi varieties<\/a>. One of the best is Leah Vincent\u2019s Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood<\/em><\/a>. Leah appeared last year at my congregation and blew us all away. You can see her talk here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The latest addition to this genre is the outstanding new memoir by Shulem Deen, All Who Go Do Not Return<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

$\"71fyz-YNj3L\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

While Leah\u2019s book gave us a glimpse into her Yeshivish Haredi upbringing, its main focus was on life after leaving. Shulem Deen comes from a completely different corner of the Haredi world, the highly insular Skver Hasidim<\/a>. His story is about\u00a0crumbling faith as he slowly confronts modernity. It is also one of the most interesting glimpses into Hasidic Judaism that you will ever read.<\/p>\n

Skver Hasidim are based primarily in their own little theocratic village, New Square<\/a>, located in Rockland County, New York. Deen gives a first-hand, sometimes horrifying look, at this community and its hideous value system.<\/p>\n

We learn how many of them\u00a0disdain the law, ranging from committing fraud to physically harassing heretics. We discover a level of sexual repression that is almost unimaginable. And we learn about the extremes to which its leaders will go in order to shelter members from interactions with the outside world. I thought I was pretty sophisticated in my understanding of what goes on in these\u00a0communities. Based on Deen\u2019s descriptions, I\u2019ve been sorely underestimating them. They are much, much worse than I imagined.<\/p>\n

Deen\u2019s slow but growing separation from the Skver was painful. He suffered tremendously\u00a0for his decision to live a life of integrity. The price he paid was heartbreaking. The most distressful part of the book comes\u00a0toward the end as he describes the myriad ways in which his relationship with his five children was destroyed by his wife and her handlers. He eventually lost almost all contact with them due to a combination of faith-fueled fear and hatred. This part of the story brought me to tears.<\/p>\n

Overall, the book presents a story of great courage in the face of unrelenting pressure to conform. In the end, he was bowed but not broken. He is a talented writer who has written a most impressive book.<\/p>\n

I hope that some day his children will be liberated and reunite with their loving dad. He is a brave and remarkable man.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"