{"id":397,"date":"2012-03-19T18:42:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-19T18:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2012\/03\/orthodox-versus-unorthodox.html"},"modified":"2012-03-19T18:42:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-19T18:42:00","slug":"orthodox-versus-unorthodox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2012\/03\/orthodox-versus-unorthodox.html","title":{"rendered":"Orthodox Versus Unorthodox"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Not too long ago, the publishers of Deborah Feldman\u2019s book, Unorthodox<\/i><\/a>, were kind enough to send me a copy of the book.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I have yet to finish it so I\u2019m not in a position to write a complete review.\u00a0 I have read enough to know that it is a fascinating look inside of Satmar Hasidism and one young woman\u2019s journey out of Hasidic Judaism.<\/p>\n

The phenomenon of going \u201coff the derech\u201d (off the path, often abbreviated as OTD) is growing as more and more young people\u00a0 \u2013 from every walk of Jewish Orthodox life \u2013 leave their communities.<\/p>\n

My informants in the Orthodox Jewish community tell me that there has been a great deal of consternation over Feldman\u2019s book.\u00a0 Gavriella Lerner, who is identified online with Chabad and blogged about her pursuit of a Masters Degree, gave voice to this in the Sisterhood blog of the Forward<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I can understand that Feldman\u2026[has] endured a lot of pain. I also understand that our communities do have some social problems that require serious thought and addressing. However, talking to tabloids or writing sensationalized \u201ctell-all\u201d memoirs or mocking the mikveh on \u201cThe View\u201d\u2026are not the answers.<\/p>\n

Orthodox life is not for everybody, I get that. I only ask that in return that women like Feldman\u2026respect those of us who find beauty and meaning in our rituals and way of life.<\/p>\n

What I find interesting about the complaints over Feldman\u2019s book is that they also are coming from the non-Hareidi Orthodox.\u00a0 Or in Lerner\u2019s case, from a highly educated woman involved with a more open group of Hasidim.\u00a0 I wonder how she would feel if she had been denied the right to pursue a Masters Degree, or even a basic education as happened to Feldman?\u00a0 Or as\u00a0 Leah Vincent asked her on another post at the Forward<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2026[T]o me, a writer who has left Orthodoxy and is, indeed, \u201cshopping around my ex-frum story,\u201d your post got me wondering: Is your version of Orthodoxy significantly different than the one these women were raised with?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If the answer is yes, how can you possibly determine what kind of response they should have to their experiences? If your brand of Orthodox Judaism is close enough to ultra-Orthodoxy that you feel attacked by their going public, then we have a bigger problem on our hands.<\/p>\n

I hope I do have the chance to complete Feldman\u2019s book soon.\u00a0 In the meantime, here\u2019s her short interview on ABC\u2019s \u201cThe View\u201d.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/b8bcbYf1k-k<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not too long ago, the publishers of Deborah Feldman\u2019s book, Unorthodox, were kind enough to send me a copy of the book.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I have yet to finish it so I\u2019m not in a position to write a complete review.\u00a0 I have read enough to know that it is a fascinating look inside of Satmar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[13,31],"class_list":["post-397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-haredim","tag-orthodox-judaism"],"yoast_head":"\nOrthodox Versus Unorthodox<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not too long ago, the publishers of Deborah Feldman\u2019s book, Unorthodox, were kind enough to send me a copy of the book.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I have yet 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\/2012\/03\/orthodox-versus-unorthodox.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orthodox Versus Unorthodox\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not too long ago, the publishers of Deborah Feldman\u2019s book, Unorthodox, were kind enough to send me a copy of the book.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I have yet to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2012\/03\/orthodox-versus-unorthodox.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-19T18:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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