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Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls
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 agonizes over her loss of faith to the proud Lubavitcher with a desire for a high-powered career, Stephanie Wellen Levine provides a rare glimpse into the inner worlds and daily lives of these Hasidic girls.
Lubavitcher Hasidim are famous for their efforts to inspire secular Jews to become more observant and for their messianic fervor. Strict followers of Orthodox Judaism, they maintain sharp gender-role distinctions.
Levine spent a year living in the Lubavitch community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, participating in the rhythms of Hasidic girlhood. Drawing on many intimate hours among Hasidim and over 30 in-depth interviews, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers offers rich portraits of individual Hasidic young women and how they deal with the conflicts between the regimented society in which they live and the pull of mainstream American life.
This superbly crafted book offers intimate stories from Hasidic teenagers' lives, providing an intriguing twist to a universal theme: the struggle to grow up and define who we are within the context of culture, family, and life-driving beliefs.
255 pages, Paperback
First published November 26, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
July 23, 2007
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 take as small a step as lighting Shabbat candles, despite the pleas of her hosts, because, she states, she is afraid that it might be the first step along a journey that takes her away from her beloved pork spare ribs. She keeps an anthropologist's distance throughout, and although she dresses like the natives, in order to get close enough to study them in their natural habitat, she is never at any risk of "going native".
She clearly is most fascinated by the minority of girls who don't fit in with the Lubovitchers, and who leave the community. Since her thesis only concerns girls IN the community, when they drop out of the neighborhood, they drop off the author's radar, and we don't know whatever happens to them.
In all, I was dissatisfied with the book. Although the subtitle calls the book an "Intimate Journey", I got the feeling that no intimacy developed between researcher and subject, and no journey was made -- the author didn't really get anywhere.
She clearly is most fascinated by the minority of girls who don't fit in with the Lubovitchers, and who leave the community. Since her thesis only concerns girls IN the community, when they drop out of the neighborhood, they drop off the author's radar, and we don't know whatever happens to them.
In all, I was dissatisfied with the book. Although the subtitle calls the book an "Intimate Journey", I got the feeling that no intimacy developed between researcher and subject, and no journey was made -- the author didn't really get anywhere.
May 28, 2007
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"...
December 4, 2014
My class this semester, Women and Judaism has given me a lot to think about and some excellent reading. I have learned about Eve, about how Jewish laws affect women, Jewish women and therapy and now about Hasidic young women. I am impressed that Levine could get permission to interview these girls. Religious communities do not always welcome strangers in their midst.
I am also impressed by Levine's writing. She does a good job of keeping herself out of the portraits of the Hasidic girls. She also tells their stories in such a way that holds the readers interest and made me want to know more.
I think it would be difficult not to interject my own feelings into the chapters. I realize that Levine is Jewish and so she has more in common with the Luavitcher community than I would. However, I am Christian and my tolerance for right wing fundamental Christians is difficult to maintain. Levine meets her goal of clinically interviewing these young women and giving us a glimpse into their world.
I have encountered Hasidic Jews in my life. Mostly, my encounters were in Israel, but I at least knew something about Orthodox Judaism. It is hard for me to imagine what it would be like to read this book without that knowledge. Levine does define some terms, but the less you know about Judaism, the harder this book may be to understand.
However, if you want to encounter a whole different world through your reading, I highly recommend this book. The Lubavitcher community is a world within New York. They are not closed off from our secular world, but they are not of it either. Like the Amish, they look like they came from some other time.
I recommend this book to readers who like narrative non-fiction, to amateur anthropologists and to those who like to read about women's roles in society.
I am also impressed by Levine's writing. She does a good job of keeping herself out of the portraits of the Hasidic girls. She also tells their stories in such a way that holds the readers interest and made me want to know more.
I think it would be difficult not to interject my own feelings into the chapters. I realize that Levine is Jewish and so she has more in common with the Luavitcher community than I would. However, I am Christian and my tolerance for right wing fundamental Christians is difficult to maintain. Levine meets her goal of clinically interviewing these young women and giving us a glimpse into their world.
I have encountered Hasidic Jews in my life. Mostly, my encounters were in Israel, but I at least knew something about Orthodox Judaism. It is hard for me to imagine what it would be like to read this book without that knowledge. Levine does define some terms, but the less you know about Judaism, the harder this book may be to understand.
However, if you want to encounter a whole different world through your reading, I highly recommend this book. The Lubavitcher community is a world within New York. They are not closed off from our secular world, but they are not of it either. Like the Amish, they look like they came from some other time.
I recommend this book to readers who like narrative non-fiction, to amateur anthropologists and to those who like to read about women's roles in society.
August 10, 2009
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 the religion, people who were trying to mix careers in the secular world with the religious life. It would be quite interesting to have more follow-up on these young women. The book was insightful and helpful for me, but was not a gripping read, I'm afraid.
March 1, 2013
I love this book. I read it for a college course on religion and have never forgotten it. An ethnographic look at young women growing up in the Hasid cultures of New York City (Brooklyn and Queens mostly). I enthusiastically recommend this book all the time for anyone interested in the intersection of women's lives, orthodox religious cults, and arranged marriage. Simply a must for anyone studying sociology, Jewish studies, or women's studies, but EVERYONE will enjoy this book and getting to know these funny, sly, beautiful characters as Levine portrays them.
March 12, 2011
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.
August 10, 2007
A participant-observer's stories about Lubavitcher pariahs and faithful followers of the "once and future messiah," Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
January 6, 2009
This was such an interesting book to read. The girls' upbringing was not unlike my Mormon youth in many ways.
July 14, 2012
Lubavitch women are amazing people!!
March 30, 2012
I love this book, it must be my third time reading it. The frum world is both spiritually rich and infuriating.
October 7, 2013
Really interesting read.
I'm not going to write a review though, because I had to read this for a school book report, and no way am I writing it twice. Fuck that.
I'm not going to write a review though, because I had to read this for a school book report, and no way am I writing it twice. Fuck that.
April 24, 2017
this book almost made me cry for the pure and simple fact that i wish there was room in chasidism for women like me.
September 2, 2012
Most of this book is a moving account of young Lubavitcher women, which is done extremely well. These girls come alive - their passion, their beliefs, their personalities and how those develop within a culture with so many rules, and such high expectations. This part of the book - the bulk of the book - easily deserves 4.5 stars from me.
In particular, unlike other anthropology-style accounts, Levine captures the role of religion and belief in shaping their world view. This is a welcome contrast to many books which treat Hasidism like a lifestyle choice, downplaying the role of belief in making the decision to live like this in favour of analysing the social utility of gender isolation, for example. The focus on unmarried young women also allows Levine into a window of a female world not yet absorbed with the mechanics of child rearing, household management and family income.
Levine herself admits her choice of subjects are not demographically representative - she has chosen subjects who are analytical, striving and reflective, but she does showcase a variety of responses to the world, from rejection of the beliefs, to rebellion within the framework, and devout embracing. She shows the ways in which these young women all shape their worlds.
This is a mostly positive view, without shying away from the severe impact upon those who want a different life. Her focus on girls, she admits, also skips over the issues faced in male-headed households, where women are expected to perform a great deal of domestic work, remain in the private sphere, and are prevented from an equal say in key decisions, such as divorce, and in which family planning of any sense is viewed as a violation of god's law. In that sense, this book is a good accompaniment to another text which examines adult Hasidic life in more detail.
Given how rich this content is, it is a shame that the lengthy essay at the end of the book is so annoying. Levine, apparently deeply affected by her time, attempts to map out ways in which public policy could allow more girls to benefit from what she sees as the strengths of the environment, particularly, she advocates single sex schooling. My main problem with this section is that she fails to establish that she takes it as a given that most adolescent women are timid, competitive and less confident than these girls. This is based almost entirely on her own experiences at high school, and is poorly referenced or melded with a broader academic framework of girlhood. I suspect that any long form study of a year spent with a group of adolescent girls would discover much depth, robustness and strength, more than is remembered from generally unpleasant school days. It is true, admittedly, that I attended a single sex school, but I would honestly say I haven't noticed a big gap in confidence between my peers who attended co-ed schools vs single-sex. I had particular problems with the way Levine characterised adolescent sexuality as at the root of the unnamed problems girls face, and advocates for encouraging students to refrain from romantic/sexual contact. I think this is an extreme reduction of the dynamics that develop between boys and girls and sexism.
My second frustration with this section was that it de-emphasised inevitably the very sense of belief the book had integrated so cohesively. Levine acknowledges this, but given she is hardly likely to suggest we are forced to become Lubavitchers (an ideology, which after all, is based on the idea that only Jewish people are motor forces for good), she resorts to secular imitations of aspects of the lifestyle. It is clear that a large part of these women's self conception is based on a ideology which highly values all Jewish people, and the actions of all Jewish people. This gives each of them a role and a space to play, even if that role and space is ultimately very confining. She also avoids the elements of the theology, which like so many community-cohesive theologies do, sets up a clear insider-outsider dynamic based upon Jewish status. Lubavitchers define themselves as part of a superior minority amid a larger ocean of gentiles, whose world is to be rejected.
But in the end, I'm very glad to have read this book. It proved a real insight into the motivations of a growing group of gender-essentialists, and it introduced me to a delightful cast, whose futures I hope are bright.
In particular, unlike other anthropology-style accounts, Levine captures the role of religion and belief in shaping their world view. This is a welcome contrast to many books which treat Hasidism like a lifestyle choice, downplaying the role of belief in making the decision to live like this in favour of analysing the social utility of gender isolation, for example. The focus on unmarried young women also allows Levine into a window of a female world not yet absorbed with the mechanics of child rearing, household management and family income.
Levine herself admits her choice of subjects are not demographically representative - she has chosen subjects who are analytical, striving and reflective, but she does showcase a variety of responses to the world, from rejection of the beliefs, to rebellion within the framework, and devout embracing. She shows the ways in which these young women all shape their worlds.
This is a mostly positive view, without shying away from the severe impact upon those who want a different life. Her focus on girls, she admits, also skips over the issues faced in male-headed households, where women are expected to perform a great deal of domestic work, remain in the private sphere, and are prevented from an equal say in key decisions, such as divorce, and in which family planning of any sense is viewed as a violation of god's law. In that sense, this book is a good accompaniment to another text which examines adult Hasidic life in more detail.
Given how rich this content is, it is a shame that the lengthy essay at the end of the book is so annoying. Levine, apparently deeply affected by her time, attempts to map out ways in which public policy could allow more girls to benefit from what she sees as the strengths of the environment, particularly, she advocates single sex schooling. My main problem with this section is that she fails to establish that she takes it as a given that most adolescent women are timid, competitive and less confident than these girls. This is based almost entirely on her own experiences at high school, and is poorly referenced or melded with a broader academic framework of girlhood. I suspect that any long form study of a year spent with a group of adolescent girls would discover much depth, robustness and strength, more than is remembered from generally unpleasant school days. It is true, admittedly, that I attended a single sex school, but I would honestly say I haven't noticed a big gap in confidence between my peers who attended co-ed schools vs single-sex. I had particular problems with the way Levine characterised adolescent sexuality as at the root of the unnamed problems girls face, and advocates for encouraging students to refrain from romantic/sexual contact. I think this is an extreme reduction of the dynamics that develop between boys and girls and sexism.
My second frustration with this section was that it de-emphasised inevitably the very sense of belief the book had integrated so cohesively. Levine acknowledges this, but given she is hardly likely to suggest we are forced to become Lubavitchers (an ideology, which after all, is based on the idea that only Jewish people are motor forces for good), she resorts to secular imitations of aspects of the lifestyle. It is clear that a large part of these women's self conception is based on a ideology which highly values all Jewish people, and the actions of all Jewish people. This gives each of them a role and a space to play, even if that role and space is ultimately very confining. She also avoids the elements of the theology, which like so many community-cohesive theologies do, sets up a clear insider-outsider dynamic based upon Jewish status. Lubavitchers define themselves as part of a superior minority amid a larger ocean of gentiles, whose world is to be rejected.
But in the end, I'm very glad to have read this book. It proved a real insight into the motivations of a growing group of gender-essentialists, and it introduced me to a delightful cast, whose futures I hope are bright.
February 16, 2015
Paperback: 255 pages
Publisher: NYU Press (August 6, 2004)
ISBN-10: 0814751970
Author: Stephanie Wellen Levine
Cover art: I like the simplicity.
Obtained: Bought
Overall rating: **** out of 5 stars
Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers by Stephanie Wellen Levine
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews
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 agonizes over her loss of faith to the proud Lubavitcher with a desire for a high-powered career, Stephanie Wellen Levine provides a rare glimpse into the inner worlds and daily lives of these Hasidic girls.
Lubavitcher Hasidim are famous for their efforts to inspire secular Jews to become more observant and for their messianic fervor. Strict followers of Orthodox Judaism, they maintain sharp gender-role distinctions.
Levine spent a year living in the Lubavitch community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, participating in the rhythms of Hasidic girlhood. Drawing on many intimate hours among Hasidim and over 30 in-depth interviews, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers offers rich portraits of individual Hasidic young women and how they deal with the conflicts between the regimented society in which they live and the pull of mainstream American life.
This superbly crafted book offers intimate stories from Hasidic teenagers' lives, providing an intriguing twist to a universal theme: the struggle to grow up and define who we are within the context of culture, family, and life-driving beliefs. (Synopsis provided by Amazon)
I read this one as I have a friend who is Chabad Lubavitch and she is from Crown Heights. I wanted to learn more about her community as Chabad is very different from Messianic.
While reading this book I learned that the extreame kindness is an attribute for the whole group. I have met a few others who are Chabad and every single one of them has been such a genuine and kind person. This book shows how that is a staple in that community.
Each of the ladies in that were interviewed in this book were very different. There was one girl who questioned her community and her religion, I found her story to be the most interesting in its own way, I wanted to know why she had questions why no one would answer the questions. I didn't get all the answers to her story that I wanted sadly.
I did enjoy how Levine describes how she went back to talk to one of the girls to get her to sign a release so that her story could be used. I was interested to see how the more "free" girls of the book had changed so much.
Of course all of the girls are not called by their actual names in the book to protect their identities.
If you are interested in the Chabad community and want to know more I would encourage you to read this book.
Publisher: NYU Press (August 6, 2004)
ISBN-10: 0814751970
Author: Stephanie Wellen Levine
Cover art: I like the simplicity.
Obtained: Bought
Overall rating: **** out of 5 stars
Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers by Stephanie Wellen Levine
Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews
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 agonizes over her loss of faith to the proud Lubavitcher with a desire for a high-powered career, Stephanie Wellen Levine provides a rare glimpse into the inner worlds and daily lives of these Hasidic girls.
Lubavitcher Hasidim are famous for their efforts to inspire secular Jews to become more observant and for their messianic fervor. Strict followers of Orthodox Judaism, they maintain sharp gender-role distinctions.
Levine spent a year living in the Lubavitch community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, participating in the rhythms of Hasidic girlhood. Drawing on many intimate hours among Hasidim and over 30 in-depth interviews, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers offers rich portraits of individual Hasidic young women and how they deal with the conflicts between the regimented society in which they live and the pull of mainstream American life.
This superbly crafted book offers intimate stories from Hasidic teenagers' lives, providing an intriguing twist to a universal theme: the struggle to grow up and define who we are within the context of culture, family, and life-driving beliefs. (Synopsis provided by Amazon)
I read this one as I have a friend who is Chabad Lubavitch and she is from Crown Heights. I wanted to learn more about her community as Chabad is very different from Messianic.
While reading this book I learned that the extreame kindness is an attribute for the whole group. I have met a few others who are Chabad and every single one of them has been such a genuine and kind person. This book shows how that is a staple in that community.
Each of the ladies in that were interviewed in this book were very different. There was one girl who questioned her community and her religion, I found her story to be the most interesting in its own way, I wanted to know why she had questions why no one would answer the questions. I didn't get all the answers to her story that I wanted sadly.
I did enjoy how Levine describes how she went back to talk to one of the girls to get her to sign a release so that her story could be used. I was interested to see how the more "free" girls of the book had changed so much.
Of course all of the girls are not called by their actual names in the book to protect their identities.
If you are interested in the Chabad community and want to know more I would encourage you to read this book.
February 7, 2010
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, which Levine mentions several times but never explores in the book. I'm not Jewish, but I was slightly offended by the author referring to herself as a kind of mashpiah; that seemed a little arrogant for an observer.
I did like it that Levine admired the spiritual/intellectual dedication of the Lubavitcher girls, and called for more community among teenagers. It's striking, though, how the bulk of the conclusion focused, however, on the tired old prescription of single-sex education, as if it's a new thing to state that single-sex education/culture builds confidence. I wish the apparently evergreen "girl power" movement would come up with something more sophisticated. It seems like it's becoming very easy to romanticize all-girl environments, pairing that romantic view with the simplistic assumption that adding boys means adding sex. I find that confusing, as personally I've often found all-female environments to be breeding grounds for the "mean girl" behavior the girl-power advocates are positioning themselves as being in a position to prevent. As a girl and as a woman, I've always found relationships with men, especially platonic relationships (gasp!), as a welcome corrective to all-female environments. I'd like to see more nuanced discussions of boy-girl relationships that aren't limited them to sexualized relationships. Spiritual or intellectual bonding -- or the kind of community bonding that Levine mentions -- seem like one possible way to do that.
It's easy to bash Carol Gilligan for fostering a girls-only kind of essentialism, but Gilligan's more recent work (Birth of Pleasure) also focuses sympathetically on the damage inflicted by prescriptive masculinity on boys and men. Maybe someday we'll be able to model more balanced relationships
I did like it that Levine admired the spiritual/intellectual dedication of the Lubavitcher girls, and called for more community among teenagers. It's striking, though, how the bulk of the conclusion focused, however, on the tired old prescription of single-sex education, as if it's a new thing to state that single-sex education/culture builds confidence. I wish the apparently evergreen "girl power" movement would come up with something more sophisticated. It seems like it's becoming very easy to romanticize all-girl environments, pairing that romantic view with the simplistic assumption that adding boys means adding sex. I find that confusing, as personally I've often found all-female environments to be breeding grounds for the "mean girl" behavior the girl-power advocates are positioning themselves as being in a position to prevent. As a girl and as a woman, I've always found relationships with men, especially platonic relationships (gasp!), as a welcome corrective to all-female environments. I'd like to see more nuanced discussions of boy-girl relationships that aren't limited them to sexualized relationships. Spiritual or intellectual bonding -- or the kind of community bonding that Levine mentions -- seem like one possible way to do that.
It's easy to bash Carol Gilligan for fostering a girls-only kind of essentialism, but Gilligan's more recent work (Birth of Pleasure) also focuses sympathetically on the damage inflicted by prescriptive masculinity on boys and men. Maybe someday we'll be able to model more balanced relationships
April 26, 2014
Stephanie Levine's Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers is an interesting read, but it could have been better if the author had been a little less concerned with paying proper respect to every mystical element of the Lubavitch Orthodox society. In a way, yes, it was necessary for Levine to use the utmost care in how she handled the girls who are the subjects of this book; however, when it came to evaluating them on an overall level, I find it odd and somewhat of a failing that she never broaches the topic of "What if this isn't the truth?" with them. I also find it disturbing that she doesn't delve into the after effects of growing up with such extreme censorship in all of their art/media/life exposure other than how that lack of outside input seems to increase their bond to Orthodoxy.
On the other hand, Levine is (beyond) complimentary about her subjects. She emphasizes how likable they are, how "normal" despite their Orthodox dress and faith. She is able to get them to genuinely open up to her and show themselves to her, which is admirable, considering how insular most Orthodox communities can be. I enjoyed the interviews and descriptions of her subjects. That said, I suppose my overall impression is one of disappointment that Levine was so worried about doing a disservice to the girls she included in this book that she ended up doing a disservice to the book itself with her lack of criticism.
On the other hand, Levine is (beyond) complimentary about her subjects. She emphasizes how likable they are, how "normal" despite their Orthodox dress and faith. She is able to get them to genuinely open up to her and show themselves to her, which is admirable, considering how insular most Orthodox communities can be. I enjoyed the interviews and descriptions of her subjects. That said, I suppose my overall impression is one of disappointment that Levine was so worried about doing a disservice to the girls she included in this book that she ended up doing a disservice to the book itself with her lack of criticism.
April 27, 2011
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 the Rabbi's wives, and one of their daughter's that lives in Crown Heights. They were not happy with the book. Of course not, the book painted a few girls very feminist, and outcast the girls.
But did teach us a thing or two that was not mentioned in the book.
Speaking about the book, I read it a few years ago. It was a very informative about the lives of the adolescent girls. Some rebellious, others followed their parents rules.
I think the Chabad movement has alot of good things, but not for me. It is very community oriented. Not much privacy for yourself if you are in the community.
They are not waiting at every corner looking to turn you to Teshuvah. We actually had a book discussion with Chabad members mostly the Rabbi's wives, and one of their daughter's that lives in Crown Heights. They were not happy with the book. Of course not, the book painted a few girls very feminist, and outcast the girls.
But did teach us a thing or two that was not mentioned in the book.
Speaking about the book, I read it a few years ago. It was a very informative about the lives of the adolescent girls. Some rebellious, others followed their parents rules.
I think the Chabad movement has alot of good things, but not for me. It is very community oriented. Not much privacy for yourself if you are in the community.
March 29, 2013
I am disappointed this was not designed as a longitudinal study as it would be interesting to track these individuals as women. Ten years has passed since this was published and these girls are now getting into the third decade of their lives. I agree with other reviewers that this book would benefit from a good editor. Many years ago, I worked in Manhattan as a computer programmer and the office was full of Lubavitchers, mostly men but a couple of women. I did learn a lot about the lives of these people as they were enthusiastic chatters and were as interested in my life as I was in theirs. I was even invited to a wedding and a bar mitzvah, two fascinating occasions that I have never forgotten. I realized as I read this book, that this was only possible because they were Lubavitchers. It was not possible to maintain friendship over the years however and we have fallen out of touch. I remember them all fondly as they opened my eyes to an entirely different way of life.
July 5, 2015
The author spends a year living among Lubavitcher Hasidim to see how adolescent girls fare in that world. Her conclusion - very well, because their religious views give them a sense that they are important as individuals, and because they spend so much time in single-sex environments, allowing them to express themselves in ways that they would not otherwise.
She does a wonderful job of presenting a community, but I think her conclusions are slightly skewed. It is possible that girlhood is extended into adolescence, giving young women more time to develop as individuals without the distraction of sexuality. However, we do not see these same young women as they progress into dating and marriage. I imagine that much of the protective power of high school wears off in a competitive dating market. I would love to read a sequel devoted to that fraught period in a young woman's life.
She does a wonderful job of presenting a community, but I think her conclusions are slightly skewed. It is possible that girlhood is extended into adolescence, giving young women more time to develop as individuals without the distraction of sexuality. However, we do not see these same young women as they progress into dating and marriage. I imagine that much of the protective power of high school wears off in a competitive dating market. I would love to read a sequel devoted to that fraught period in a young woman's life.
November 5, 2007
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 did interview some that hated it. But for girls who could "get into" the mysticism of their particular sect, they found some peace. I was struck, in fact, by the loving, connected families.
May 26, 2007
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 job of offering a very well rounded and respectful intimate portrayal.
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 job of offering a very well rounded and respectful intimate portrayal.
November 7, 2013
Fascinating glimpses into the lives of several Lubavitcher (a branch of Hasidic Orthodox Judaism) teenage and post-teen young women and their kaleidoscope of personalities, beliefs, and styles/levels of attachment to the strict sect of Orthodox Judaism in which they were raised. The author seems to have truly succeeded in what she intends: to offer insight into various girls' beautiful and strong souls.
Recommended to anyone interested in teenage girls, in young women's spiritual and religious lives, or in Orthodox Judaism, specifically the Lubavitchers.
Recommended to anyone interested in teenage girls, in young women's spiritual and religious lives, or in Orthodox Judaism, specifically the Lubavitchers.
January 2, 2014
A quick, easy read and a good look into the world of Orthodox Jewish girls, but it felt pretty superficial. The author's analysis at the end overlooked a really negative point to me -- sure, maybe these girls are self-actualized and do a great job of staying true to themselves in a single-sex world, but the fact that so many options are cut off to them by definition of their membership in this community undercuts her message of empowerment.
That said, I'm glad I read it. Very interesting to get a glimpse into a very different world.
That said, I'm glad I read it. Very interesting to get a glimpse into a very different world.
January 2, 2018
This was a fascinating read. I really appreciated Stephanie Levine's focus and transparency, though I actually agree with one of the more frum girls covered, who complained that she was including a majority of rebels because she thought that's what people want to hear. Overall, I also feel like I wanted more context of the lives of women, especially the girls' mothers, than I got. However, the lives these girls live and the ideas they carry with them were fascinating and I sped through the book overall.
May 12, 2008
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.
September 17, 2014
A candid view inside the world of Hasidic teen girls living in the tight-knit neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The author herself, a secular Jew and research student from Harvard, immerses herself in the everyday lives of these girls to capture their hopes and aspirations, as well as documenting their struggles and doubts which at times conflict with the conformity that is often expected of them.
February 22, 2017
This book provided a fascinating inside look at girls' and women's lives in the Lubavitcher sect of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The author, a doctoral student, begins her study wondering how girls handle the restrictive gender roles, what choices they can and do make, and how it affects them as they grow older. Her conclusions about the benefits of some aspects of the Lubavitch community and how they might be adopted by society at large, were surprising and persuasive.
December 30, 2018
Read this for my dissertation. The author's affection and respect for her subject group came across loud and clear. This wasn't a hagiography of the Crown Heights community, and Levine didn't hesitate to notice and explore sensitive areas. At the same time, she brought an attitude of curiosity rather than judgement to her encounter, and this allowed her to extract some interesting strengths worthy of future examination and study.
December 5, 2007
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.
April 13, 2009
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).
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