Acknowledgments; Foreword by Carol Gilligan; Introduction: What I Sought, What I Found; The Community: A Cultural and Psychological Tour; The Cast; Esther (Estie) Gutman: Wild Times and Holy Designs; Rochel Lehrer: Evolving, Not Rebelling; Nechama Dina (Dini) Rockoff: Chutzpah and Holiness; Chaya Jacobson: Strip Clubs and Soul-Searching; Gittel Kassin: Medicine and Marriage; Malka (Malkie) Belfer: Miniskirts and the Messiah; Leah Ratner: Mystic and Maverick; Into the Future: Adulthood and Insights from the Hasidim; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index; About the Author
Summary
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 Lub