Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots

by Deborah Feldman

An empty vessel clangs the loudest. That’s the adage I hear continuously, from Chaya, from the teachers at school, from the Yiddish textbooks. The louder a woman, the more likely she is to be spiritually bereft, like the empty bowl that vibrates with a resonant echo. A full container makes no sound; she is packed too densely to ring. There are many proverbs repeated to me throughout my childhood, but this one stings the most.

Money is always paired with scholarship. So it has been for countless generations.

(In Orthodox Judaism)

piety and absentmindedness, two qualities that would be considered interchangeable by many.

I understand that Jews and Zionists are two different things; one cannot be both. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the only real Jews are Hasids, because to add even a drop of assimilation to the mix instantly disqualifies anyone from being a real Jew.

I would come to the conclusion that a society that was honest about its perils was better than one that denied its citizens the knowledge and preparation needed to fend off their approach.

“I don’t want to fight for anything. I want to just be and do, with no one saying they’re letting me.” —From The Romance Reader, by Pearl Abraham