A Satmar woman takes Deborah Feldman to task for allegations

Executive Member Joined: Sep 14 2011 Posts: 475

A Female Member of the Satmar Community in Williamsburg takes Deborah Feldman to task for her allegations in a recent newspaper interview�

http://www.jewishpress.com/sec.....2/02/24/0/

thought this was well written and interesting.

A fantastic response. Now if I can only slip in this article into my library's copy...

I just checked my library to request this book, I'm 88th in line. I guess that should make alot of you happy, think of all the people that are NOT buying this book.
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I'm second in line now at the library. 2 of 88 holds.

That was very nicely written, not just on content but it was well-written in the grammar/vocabulary sense as well.

Platinum Member Joined: Nov 01 2009 Posts: 8228

Eh, I was underwhelmed.

One line that drove me crazy "she shed her light of spirituality � in exchange for the darkness of materialism."

THat's a statement often thrown around with people who go OTD and its largely not true (IME anyway).
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Platinum Member Joined: Jun 30 2009 Posts: 8231

431 holds at the Brooklyn Public Library.

Gold Member Joined: Aug 23 2011 Posts: 1578

Her book is rated 2 1/2 stars on Amazon. While I'm sure many of her haters contributed to the one star reviews, most of the positive reviews were put up before the book came out. I'm not sure that a sequel would sell too well.

Diamond Member Joined: Sep 16 2009 Posts: 2708

Platinum Member Joined: Nov 04 2008 Posts: 7932

She makes it sound like taking college courses is dangerous.
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Platinum Member Joined: May 22 2005 Posts: 13795

Amazing! And written by a woman with a 4th grade education! Wink

Good for Rachel (the author of this article). Kudos. Kol hakavod.

Gold Member Joined: Oct 04 2010 Age: 43 Posts: 1523

Very well written & well put.

Platinum Member Joined: Nov 01 2009 Posts: 8228

Gold Member Joined: Jan 12 2010 Posts: 2272 Location: US

Dunno. Seems to me that the opposite of spirituality is materialism. Maybe Gashmius is a better word. Doesn't necessarily mean a person wants lots of "stuff". Just means they're choosing the material and tangible over the spiritual and intangible. Hard to imagine that a Jewish girl eating seafood and bacon is still "spiritual", kwim?

My thoughts:

Not a badly written article. The author makes some valid points. Some criticisms:

1. The author is anonymous ("Rachel"). Why? She says she (or rather her sister) know DF. I suppose I will believe her, but we don't really have any more reason to believe her than we do DF. For all we know, the woman who wrote this piece is not even Satmar. It could be anybody. This anonymity damages her credibility.

2. She makes some claims about how DF lived and what she was thinking after she moved away from Williamsburg. How does the author know this?

3. She makes it sound utterly impossible for a Satmar bride to not understand what happens on one's wedding night. I have seen several posts here from women recounting their utter cluelessness and poor kallah class preparation, so it seems feasible that DF could easily have been a clueless kallah. Also, having limited access to a library does not mean one checks out books on anantomy or intimacy. One has to know what to look for.

4. I don't know what a chassidish bathing suit looks like, but I know that nowadays there are modest swimsuits for Orthodox clientelle that do include long sleeves and a skirt over long shorts. I don't know if they made those when DF was growing up.

5. I do think that her point about DF taking her particular experiences and generalizing are valid. It is easy to see how audiences seeing her interviews can think that her experiences are true for all Orthodox Jews.

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 28 2010 Posts: 4876

She's not "Rachel". Rachel is the woman who writes that column. I don't know if they ever put in real names; I think all the columns are anonymous.

Platinum Member Joined: Nov 01 2009 Posts: 8228