Leaving Eastern Parkway

I am always intrigued by the hows and whys of very religious people, mostly Jews, who leave the fold. What was their thinking? Why did they leave? How did they leave? What was their transition like? Matthew Daub's debut novel, Leaving Eastern Parkway, fit the bill. It's the story of Zev, a young teen living as a Hasidic Jew in Brooklyn. Zev's sister has already left the Hasidic community so Zev lives alone with his mother and father.

Zev has a rebellious streak in him. He lives to play handball and he plays in a tournament one Shabbat rather than attending synagogue. Not only that, when he gets hungry, he eats a non-kosher hotdog. He figures he'll get in trouble when he gets home. When he gets home, though, a rabbi is sitting in his living room waiting to tell Zev that his father has been killed by a car while crossing the street. His distraught mother is with friends.

The rabbi has tracked down Zev's sister, Frida (like the artist Frida Kahlo) who used to be called by the Yiddish name, Frayda. She drives from Illinois to New York to attend the funeral. The morning after the funeral as she and Zev are preparing to sit shiva, they make the decision for Zev to accompany her back to Illinois. Right at that moment. Off they go. 

Growing up in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn leaves one very isolated. Education is limited to religious instruction and the very bare basics of secular studies. The community is very insular so Zev hasn't had any exposure to non-Hasids. He's never watched TV. He has no understanding of popular culture. It's nearly impossible to find kosher food in Urbana, Illinois. The only synagogue is a reform temple. Zev wonders if these people are even Jewish? When he arrives in Illinois, it's like an alien landing on Earth. There's so much he doesn't know and nothing seems familiar.

Even in his new home, all he wants to do is play handball. That becomes his connection to  the larger world. Through everything, though, even though Zev isn't sure what he believes in or doesn't believe in, he's determined to remain a Jew. He continues to wear a yalmulka. His explanation towards the end of the novel really struck home for me. I nodded my head thinking, "Yes. Yes. This is exactly it." (I had a conversation with myself in synagogue a few weeks ago that was remarkably similar.)

This novel isn't for everyone, but I really enjoyed it a lot and recommend it for the right person.
 

The Sisters Weiss

I really wanted to like The Sisters Weiss by Naomi Ragen better than I did. I liked the story. A girl coming of age in the early 1960s decides the constrains of Orthodox Judaism are too much. She wants a fuller life than that of being married to a Torah scholar. Or worse - the owner of a delicatessen! The night before her wedding, she runs away.

Rose's departure puts pressure on her beloved younger sister, Pearl. Not only does Pearl feel as though she has to be "the perfect daughter," her chances of landing a good match for her marriage are limited due to the family scandal.

Fast forward 40 years later. Pearl's daughter, Rivkah, also runs away from the Orthodox Jewish community of Williamsburg. Her reasons are different and less defined than Rose's. And she runs away before a wedding date is set for her.

What did I like about the novel? I liked the idea of the story. A sister running away only to help her daughter's sister do something similar 40 years later. I grew up as a secular Jew, always on the fringe of a modern Orthodox community. I've always been fascinated by the lifestyles of the ultra-Orthodox. And I always like a novel set in Brooklyn, my hometown.

As a little girl, Rose had a savings account at the Dime Saving Bank. (I had my elementary school passbook account there, too.) By depositing a certain amount into her savings account, Rose is able to receive a prize of a cheap Brownie camera. She loves the idea of a camera, but she's always disappointed with her photographs. In high school, while still living with her family in Williamsburg, a father of a school friend introduces Rose to serious photography. She lies to her family, telling them she's volunteering to visit the sick once a week, when actually she's taking a photography class in Manhattan. Rose's dream is to become a professional photographer. Not a wedding photographer, but one who captures the greater world. I love photography so any mention of photography really enthralled me.

What didn't I like about the novel? I didn't like any of the characters. I think the portrayal of many of them was probably right on the money. But couldn't we get to see the warmer side of Pearl? Or Rose? I thought Rose's daughter, Hannah, was most unpleasant. Yes, she had her reasons for being a bit cold. But she was particularly unlikable to me. As was Rivkah. None of the characters were particularly nuanced. If they were, it was not in a way that I found sympathetic.

I loved Deborah Feldman's Unorthodox, a memoir about the author's escape from the Satmar community. I expected this to be a fictionalized story about sisters similar to Unorthodox. Perhaps that was why I was disappointed.

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris got very mixed reviews on goodreads.com. After reading it, I totally see where the differing reviews make sense. I was in the camp that really liked this novel about two Orthodox women. One, Chani, a young woman just beginning her married life, and the other, Rivka, an older woman contemplating her own married life.

I think what really drew me into this book was that I was able to relate to the Rivka character. Rivka, previously known as Rebecca, spent her gap year between high school and university in Israel which is where she met her husband, Chaim. I spent the second semester of my junior year of college as an overseas student at Tel Aviv University. I'd be lying if I said I never wondered from what my life might have been like had I fallen in love with an Israeli - or a religious Jew - while studying in Israel. Rebecca feel in love with Chaim and that completely changed her life path. She was in Israel just a few short years after I was. Could my life have been anything like hers? That's the thought that kept popping into my mind as I read this novel.

I was totally okay with the ending of the book, but I do wish that the Rivka's parents had played into the storyline in some way. What did they think of her marriage to Chaim? What did they think of her becoming an observant Jew, the wife of a rabbi? That's my only real criticism of this novel.

This novel isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy reading books about the observant Jewish community, you might enjoy this one.