The Modesty Wars: Women and the Hasidim in Brooklyn. By Ruth Rosen. OpenDemocracy, March 25, 2013. Also at History News Network.
Keeping It Kosher. By Frank Bruni. New York Times, October 7, 2010. Also find it here.
Take Back Our Neighborhood. COLlive, January 22, 2012.
The Orthodox Fringe: Moshiach Oi! Merges Orthodox Judaism and Punk Rock. By John Leland. New York Times, March 9, 2013.
Modesty in Ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn Is Enforced by Secret Squads. By Joseph Berger. New York Times, January 29, 2013.
A Life Apart: Women and Hasidism. Video Clip 4 of 5 from Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance After the Holocaust. POV. PBS, August 30, 2005.
Rosen:
In a
2005 Public Broadcast Network documentary of the Hasidim, called “A Life Apart:
The Hasidim in America” interviewees explained that women must dress and behave
modestly because their greatest spiritual mission is motherhood. Girls, therefore,
are educated separately from boys and rarely study beyond high school. Parents
arrange marriages, although children may refuse their choices and ask for
different matches. Women often work
outside the home, dressed in modest clothing, so that their men may study and
pray all day.
The
vast majority of Hasidim women however, do not view themselves as second-class
citizens. One woman interviewed in the documentary explained why raising and
protecting her family is her greatest joy. “Who cares about running
Westinghouse?” she asked. “Children are your legacy forever.” Another woman pointed out that she finds her
“spiritual fulfilment in motherhood, in raising children, teaching them values,
and thanking God for the breakfast she has laid out for them.”
As the
documentary concludes, “The Hasidic rejection of America’s popular culture and
education has resulted in goals deeply desired by many Americans: stable
families, strong communities and lives infused with meaning. In return, Hasidim
pay a price most Americans would find too high: they adhere to strict rules of
behavior; they live in a traditional society with clearly defined and
prescribed roles for each member; and, within the Hasidic world, individualism
is suppressed for the sake of community.”
Being
part of this community means that Jewish law, as well as the will of their
fathers and husbands, govern women’s entire lives. But equality is not their goal. For the most part, Hasidic women—at least the
majority who do not leave—are satisfied to live in a stable community, dress
modestly, raise their children, and work outside the home. It is in these
closed and cohesive communities that they find spiritual fulfilment. It is here
that they can avoid a secularized and sexualized America that celebrates
individualism, materialism, and consumerism. And it is here, fortified by the
Hasidic way of life, that they can avoid the consequences of modern life—social
isolation, family instability, lack of community cohesion, and a profound
spiritual thirst.
Although
it doesn’t provide the freedoms and opportunities enjoyed and valued by modern
women, it is – with all its rules and regulations – their spiritual home.
