Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a very intriguing book because it gives an insight into growing up in the Orthodox Jewish Hasidic community of Satmar. Although I was familiar with other Hasidic sects, the Satmar were new to me. She explains it mostly through the eyes of a child so I had to do a bit of on-line research to learn more about them. The biggest surprise is their complete opposition to Israel - they believe they must wait for the coming of the Messiah to return to their homeland - but much of the daily life seems similar (to me) to other Hasidic communities. From childhood, she longed for more in both learning and reading. She had to sneak to read English language books as they were forbidden but her hunger drove her to take the risk and she became fluent in English. This would help her professionally but also cause her to keep questioning what she saw around her. (Perhaps her elders were right - English leads to trouble, particularly for women!) I know there will be criticism from some in the Jewish community who consider Ms. Feldman an apostate for leaving Orthodoxy, but leaving aside those ideological issues, there is a lot to learn from this book. I think she is careful to write very kindly of her grandparents (who raised her) even though her leaving must have been a great blow to them (she does not write about that) but she is frankly critical of the rigid rules and some of the hypocrisy she saw. I admire her honesty. And in her defense, this kind of expose could be written about many other closed groups - Amish, Morman, Christian fundamentalist, Muslims, Catholic monasteries, etc. In such an insular environment anyone who rebels against the group must appear to be a traitor to those who remain. It takes great courage to break out of such an intensely closed group and it often means being completely cutoff from family and friends. I hope in her case she will eventually get some closure with her family members but sometimes that doesn't happen. But whatever happens I hope she finds the peace and happiness she is searching for - experience says that the adjustment to her new life will take a long time but I think in the end she made the right choice because she would always feel enslaved had she stayed. No matter how good the community was, it was not the right life for her. Good luck to her. And a personal note: I have some experience with such things. When I was much younger I was a cloistered Catholic nun for 10 years and the culture shock of leaving that life was immense. I think only someone who has been through that can truly appreciate it. And to Deborah Feldman I say: Hang in there - it is definitely worth it.