What are the successful literary ingredients of a successfull newly emerging OTD - off the derech, leaving the fold - literature (especially memoir)? Add some details about how insular and inadequate according to the standards of the 21st century those Hasidic Jews are living, include a spicy detail about arranged marriages (which happen in other traditional non-Jewish communities as well), don't forget to mention some hard-core information about the lack of sexual education and the family purity laws. If you have some references to the Kabbalah, so popular for all the wrong reasons, you can call it a recie for success.
The non-religious Jewish and non-Jewish audiences will easily roll their eyes while enjoying to have once again a confirmation of their deep doubts about 'very' religious Jews.
On the OTD literature shelf, Becoming Eve. My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman by the very active Abby Chava Stein is unique because it deals with the first transgender ex-Hassid featured in a book. 'A beautiful, traumatic, loving, angry, obedient, rebellious journey'.
However, exactly this transition part is last featured in the book, covering around 40 from the 300 pages. The rest is covering in the small details the daily school and yeshiva program, the intensive 'sexual education' program received before marriage and other exotic details about Hasidic families, for instance the dispute regarding the colour of tights her mother was expected to wear in order to respect the modesty standards in her father's family.
The fact that will lead to the decision of finally coming out as a woman is confirmed many times during the story, with reference to memories as early as of 3 years old. Through hypnosis, maybe it is possible to have such recollections from such an age.
Personally, I was waiting for this memoir for months, but probably I had too many expectations.
Descending from the line of Besht, the founder of Hasidism, Abby Chava Stein belongs to the Hasidic royalty, whose representatives 'have to be role models, (...) have to be careful with everything (...)'. From her early school years, Abbi Chava Stein challenged the learning system and the chore of faith itself. So bad that probably a lot from her story got lost due to various commercial reasons probably. I hope there will be a continuation of some kind of this memoir.
As for now, my favorite OTD memoir is Leah Vincent's for the dramatic introspection and insights about what it really means the deep loneliness of leaving your community and starting a completely new life. Some outsiders will clap their hands extatically and praise the move, but how it really is only the person doing it really knows.
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