Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots

by Deborah Feldman

I cannot even comprehend how people’s desires can be small, their ambitions narrow and limited, when the possibilities are so endless.

You leave when there’s nothing left to stay for; you go where you can be useful, where people accept you.

I am hungry for power, but not to lord over others; only to own myself.

I see a woman who took life into her own hands, who took action! The idea of her being fearless instead of passive thrills me.

If you are forced to confront your fears on a daily basis, they disintegrate, like illusions when viewed up close.

When a woman is niddah, her husband cannot touch her, not even to hand her a plate of food. He cannot see any part of her body. He cannot hear her sing. She is forbidden to him.

How appropriate that just as the very foundations of my faith are nearing total collapse, the foundations of my childhood home disintegrate as well.

if my mind cannot be tied down, if my dreams cannot be diminished, then no amount of restraints can really guarantee my quiet submission.