Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey Among Hasidic Girls (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780814751923)

A rare look into the lives of Hasidic youth

From the ardently religious young woman who longs for the life of a male scholar to the young rebel who visits a strip club, smokes pot, and agonizes over her loss of faith to the proud Lubavitcher with a desire for a high-powered career, Stephanie Wellen Levine provides a rare glimpse into the inner worlds and daily lives of these Hasidic girls.

Lubavitcher Hasidim are famous for their efforts to inspire secular Jews to become more observant and for their messianic fervor. Strict followers of Orthodox Judaism, they maintain sharp gender-role distinctions.

Levine spent a year living in the Lubavitch community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, participating in the rhythms of Hasidic girlhood. Drawing on many intimate hours among Hasidim and over 30 in-depth interviews, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers offers rich portraits of individual Hasidic young women and how they deal with the conflicts between the regimented society in which they live and the pull of mainstream American life.

This superbly crafted book offers intimate stories from Hasidic teenagers' lives, providing an intriguing twist to a universal theme: the struggle to grow up and define who we are within the context of culture, family, and life-driving beliefs.

Author: Stephanie Wellen Levine
ISBN-10: 081475192X
ISBN-13: 9780814751923
Publisher: New York University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/26/2003
Pages: 255
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.08lbs
Size: 9.27h x 6.32w x 0.95d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 09/29/2003 pg. 59
Library Journal 10/15/2003 pg. 87
Choice 06/01/2004 pg. 1967
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2004 pg. 14 - Recommended/Special Interest