Mystics, mavericks, and merrymakers : an intimate journey among Hasidic girls / Stephanie Wellen Levine ; foreword by Carol Gilligan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levine, Stephanie Wellen.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Teenage girls--Religious life--New York (State)--New York.

Teenage girls.

Teenage girls--Religious life.

Habad.

Manners and customs.

Jewish teenagers.

New York (State)--New York.

Jewish teenagers--Religious life--New York (State)--New York.

Jewish teenagers--Religious life.

Habad--Religious life--New York (State)--New York.

Religious life.

New York (State).

Teenage girls--New York (State)--New York--Social life and customs.

Jewish teenagers--New York (State)--New York--Social life and customs.

Habad--New York (State)--New York--Social life and customs.

Crown Heights (New York, N.Y.)--Religious life.

Crown Heights (New York, N.Y.).

Crown Heights (New York, N.Y.)--Social life and customs.

Physical Description:

xiv, 255 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2003]

Summary:

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 charismatic Lubavitcher ecstatic about her upcoming marriage, Stephanie Wellen Levine provides a rare glimpse into the inner worlds and daily lives of Hasidic teenage girls.

Lubavitchers, also known as Chabad 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. They hail from a culture where boys and girls cannot touch each other, even to shake hands, and where religious rituals shape people's lives. But their world is full of drama, intensity, and for some, a craving to break the rules.

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 thirty 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.

Perhaps counterintuitively for those who envision meek religious girls confined within very structured roles, Levine finds that on the whole, these young Hasidim seem more confident and have a greater sense of self than many of their mainstream peers. Levine explores why this might be, and what we can learn from their example for girls' positive development more generally. Along the way, she provides a fascinating portrayal of day-to-day life in the Lubavitch community.

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.

Contents:

Introduction : what I sought, what I found

The community : a cultural and psychological tour

The cast

Esther (Estie) Gutman : wild times and holy designs

Rochel Lehrer : evolving, not rebelling

Nechama Dina (Dini) Rockoff : chutzpah and holiness

Chaya Jacobson : strip clubs and soul-searching

Gittel Kassin : medicine and marriage

Malka (Malkie) Belfer : miniskirts and the messiah

Leah Ratner : mystic and maverick

Into the future : adulthood and insights from the Hasidim.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-239) and index.

ISBN:

081475192X

OCLC:

52587498