Explaining to My Son Why Some People Don’t Think I’m Jewish
Last week when I was at the JCC, I saw a girl I knew from our old Ultra Orthodox community. Not thinking twice about it, I took the boys over to say hi. She saw us coming and walked toward us smiling...
View ArticleI Left The Hasidic World But Now My Son Wants to Keep Kosher
When my son was nearly 5, he and I moved to a new home. It was only 30 miles away, but those 30 miles changed everything. We left the insular Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel, and settled into a...
View ArticleThat Time My Son Felt “Like a Goy”
My 8-year-old son Seth and I were out at a baseball game on Saturday when he suddenly turned to me and said, “Mom, I feel like a goy.” I was horrified. It never, ever occurs to me not to feel like a...
View ArticleMy Husband Left Orthodoxy, but I Didn’t Leave Him
“It’s not going to work.” In a quest to find himself, my husband of many years had left the path of Torah. I am an ultra-Orthodox woman, and when I married my husband, he was also ultra-Orthodox. My...
View ArticleThis Woman Left Hasidism So She Could Become a Woman
To say Abby Stein is brave would be an understatement. She is transitioning into a woman, but coming out to her Hasidic family has meant she’s not only outraged many, but is no longer welcome,...
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