From the ardently religious young woman who longs for the life of a male scholar to the young rebel who visits a strip club, smokes pot, and agoni...
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Apr 26, 2011
Susan
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I had read this book a couple years ago. I did enjoy reading this. I am Jewish but had no idea how the observant Jew lived. At the time I was reading I was very interesting in the Chabad movement. I live in Myrtle Beach. I used to subsitute teach at the school. Most of the followers of Chabad are a bit open minded I believe than up in Crown Heights.
They are not waiting at every corner looking to turn you to Teshuvah. We actually had a book discussion with Chabad members mostly t More...
They are not waiting at every corner looking to turn you to Teshuvah. We actually had a book discussion with Chabad members mostly t More...
Feb 06, 2010
Jill
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Not really sure what I think about this book. I got a little tired of the "gee! wow! Hasidic people aren't all exactly alike!" tone, though I thought the girls' stories were fascinating. Because I'm interested in girls' intellectual culture, I was especially intrigued by the girls' spiritual and intellectual lives, especially the girls who were eager to study Torah, and I thought the book could have done a much better job discussing relationships, especially the mashpiah relationship,
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May 28, 2007
Chavah
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it was "eh"....
not really an eye-opening experience for me, but i don't think i was the target audience for the book (i'm hasidic)... i think it was more written to shock and amaze the general public... presenting several portraits of modern hasidic women to just illustrate (and exploit?) the fact that we are in fact human and have lives rather similar to a lot of other folks "out there"...
not really an eye-opening experience for me, but i don't think i was the target audience for the book (i'm hasidic)... i think it was more written to shock and amaze the general public... presenting several portraits of modern hasidic women to just illustrate (and exploit?) the fact that we are in fact human and have lives rather similar to a lot of other folks "out there"...
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Jul 23, 2007
Esther
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The author, as part of her doctoral thesis at Harvard, spent a year in Crown Heights, studying Lubovitch girls in high school and beyond, before they married. I'm no Chasid, but I'm Jewish enough to feel uncomfortable with her anthropologist's view of our culture. She describes ritual, behavior, and myth as if she were Margaret Mead among the Samoans. Although the author is Jewish (though non-observant), her year-long stay among the Lubovitchers affects her not at all --she adamantly refuses to
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Aug 10, 2009
Jenny
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This book looks at teenaged girls in the Hasidic Lubavitch community. You could call this book research for my own writing, and while I did enjoy the looks at the individual girls, I found that this book was too much of what I think it was supposed to be--an academic paper. I didn't care so much of the sociological ramifications in a greater community, I just wanted more of the girls. The young women profiled were certainly diverse--people interested in leaving, people who were truly embracing t
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Jan 04, 2010
Karen
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Interesting profiles of people, but the author had only a couple of insights at the end, one of which was the (fairly obvious) idea that single-sex environments are good for girls' confidence. She could've figured this out from a literature review, but she didn't seem to do one.
Mar 12, 2011
Sara
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I really enjoyed this one. A nice readable slice of life piece, with some interesting insight into Chabad philosophy. There was nothing particularly new in it for me, but if you are totally new to the subject and curious, it's a good start.
Apr 13, 2009
Meredith
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Engaging book, though I was already familiar with the subject. Wasn't that engrossed by the writing style (ex: spent too much time going on about minute details of specific wedding, the opening and closing).
Nov 05, 2007
Mary
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Fascinating. The author moves to Crown Heights to live among the Lubavitchers, strict followers of Orthodox Judaism. She wondered what the girls were like. An assumption on the part of many might be that because this type of Judaism requires women to wear wigs, cover up their bodies, cook a lot, and serve the men, etc, that the girls would be timid and maybe unhappy. Au contraire, the author found that the teen girls were exuberant, self-possessed, opinionated, and happy. For the most part. She
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Apr 30, 2010
Vikki
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This was a great book. It was the story of Hasidic girls. I loved the conclusion: that teenage girls should have time apart from boys!
Jan 05, 2009
Sarah
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This was such an interesting book to read. The girls' upbringing was not unlike my Mormon youth in many ways.
Aug 16, 2007
Jill
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A reasonably interesting look into the life of teenaged Hasidic girls. As always with these books, though, there seems to be some surprise that the group is, well, truly human, and does a lot of the same kinds of things that the rest of us do. I thought the author's strength was her conversations and descriptions of the girls; she lost me when she went on to draw conclusions about what the rest of the world can take from Hasidism. It was a little too abstract. I am reading a couple more book
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Dec 16, 2009
Jennifer
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Before I moved to nyc, I had a very vague and miscontrued perseption of Hasidim. While I lived in Williamsburg, a neighborhood on the cusp of a large Orthodox community, my perception changed but my understanding was still hazy.
This book was fascinating to me, as I'm sure it was to nearly everyone living outside of the cloistered Orthodox world. As a feminist, it was sometimes difficult to understand the apparent voluntary subjugation of the Hasidim women, but Levine does a fantastic j More...
This book was fascinating to me, as I'm sure it was to nearly everyone living outside of the cloistered Orthodox world. As a feminist, it was sometimes difficult to understand the apparent voluntary subjugation of the Hasidim women, but Levine does a fantastic j More...
Mar 09, 2010
Liz
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this is such a genuine journey into these young girls lives that i'd likely never have the opportunity to know or really wonder about without this book's help. i like when you read a book and say to yourself "wow, that is so not my life" and yet feel the resonance of the story some place deep in your own experience. super tender, sensitive, fascinating, and thoughtfully written and researched, i thought it was a great book.
Dec 16, 2009
Lacey
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Levine lived with the Lubavitcher sect of Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights for a year, and produced this book about the teen girls there. Slightly exploitative, perhaps, but still a rare and fascinating glimpse into the daily lives of this highly private community. Highly recommended for those interested in learning more about their Hasidic neighbors, and particularly for those interested in feminism and religion.
Dec 04, 2007
JulieK
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An interesting look inside the world of Hasidic teenage girls. The author expected to conclude that the rigid gender roles and norms were detrimental to the girls, but ended up being surprised at the ways in which they were more free-spirited than teenagers in mainstream U.S. culture.
Dec 17, 2009
Daniel
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A participant-observer's stories about Lubavitcher pariahs and faithful followers of the "once and future messiah," Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Mar 20, 2007
Jenny
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The author lives in Crown Heights Brooklyn for a year and delves into the lives of various Hasidic women and girls. It's really fascinating.
Dec 13, 2009
Avery
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Lubavitch women are amazing people!!
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