The life of Hasidic Rebels

As I dedicated a lot of time lately to stories about returning to faith, I did not hurry up to finish very fast the story of Unchosen. Plus, I had the bad idea to buy the book at the same time with Unorthodox and thus, I kept the bad taste of the clumsy Satmar story.

But, beyond those subjective aspects, the book is authentic and well written, with good stories and real characters, with their own stories. Each rebel has his or her story that impresses the reader and makes you think why and how things turned bad. And, this is what I consider a good writing: when long after you finish the book, you still recount vividly all the details of the story.

If it would be to make a short list of the main transgressions made by those who did not want to follow the Hassidic way of life, there are: eating treif, dressing non-tsniut, entering into contact with the opposite gender for casual or intimate relationships. Not a few of the rebels belong to the Satmar - which could actually explain why they cannot stand any more the strict version of Hasidism, but in general their personal stories lack the kindness of a family and friends and a rabbi that could give the support and comfort when needed. The 'Unchosen' do not want to convert to another religion or to become an Atheist, but simply try to find a middle road and a personal interpretation of Judaism, beyond the strict following of the rules required by the community and the family . 

I was very much surprised by the loneliness of many heroes of the stories, despite living for a long time within such close communities. Very often, they are left even lonelier after they run away and thus, they try to find other people that went through similar experiences of working together and helping the others. The connection to Judaism remains, regardless of the degree of daily observance. It is something that I always feel that it is very important, regardless of the garb or of the length of the skirt: first and foremost, you should have the heart open and the rest will come. If you start by saying and thinking and living according to the belief that you simply ought to follow a certain routine and ignore the human diversity, most likely you will run as far as possible without understanding what you left behind.