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9780199380503

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Reviews

""An important contribution.""--Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion ""A fascinating view of the conflicts, both internal and external, faced by those who leave tightly cohesive and socially restrictive Jewish groups This solid book, an important contribution to the body of work on shifts in religious identity and affiliation, also illuminates the force and importance of ritual in Jewish life.""--Publishers Weekly ""Lynn Davidman offers us a window into the hearts and minds of young Jews who have left the world of ultra-Orthodoxy. Offering a range of reasons for their departure, they describe both their love and frustration with pious communities, as well as with the constrictions and, at times, lovelessness, and even abuse they experienced in their families. An excellent study of an important and growing phenomenon."" --Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College ""This is the best-written and most insightful study yet of those who abandon Orthodoxy, breaking with the religious worlds in which they were raised. Award-winning sociologist Lynn Davidman highlights the role played by rituals of the body in the whole process of becoming un-Orthodox. Her broad lens and rich comparative insights elevate this study into a major contribution to the study of religion."" --Jonathan D. Sarna, President, Association for Jewish Studies; Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, and Chair, Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, Brandeis University ""This is a beautifully-written and important book. It is not only a masterful contribution to scholarship on contemporary Judaism, but the rare and moving story of those who have turned away from Orthodox Judaism, losing the only identities and communities they have ever known and endeavoring to reinvent and reconstruct them."" --Robert Wuthnow, Andlinger Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University ""A learned, imaginative study of defectors from Orthodox Jewish communities; Davidman's analysis of identity narratives and the process of transformation is original and provocative."" --Joyce Antler, Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture, Brandeis University ""...[The] discussions of theory, methodology, and interview questions are enlightening. This is a resource for those interested in religious change or American Judaism."" --CHOICE ""Becoming Un-Orthodox is clear and readable, eschewing the jargon so prevalent in contemporary anthropological studies that touch upon identity transformation.""-- Yoel Finkelman, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews

This is a beautifully-written and important book. It is not only a masterful contribution to scholarship on contemporary Judaism, but the rare and moving story of those who have turned away from Orthodox Judaism, losing the only identities and communities they have ever known and endeavoring to reinvent and reconstruct them. --Robert Wuthnow, Andlinger Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University

Lynn Davidman offers us a window into the hearts and minds of young Jews who have left the world of ultra-Orthodoxy. Offering a range of reasons for their departure, they describe both their love and frustration with pious communities, and with the constrictions and, at times, lovelessness and abuse they experienced in their families. An excellent study of an important and growing phenomenon. Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College This is the best-written and most insightful study yet of those who abandon Orthodoxy, breaking with the religious worlds in which they were raised. Award-winning sociologist Lynn Davidman highlights the role played by rituals of the body in the whole process of becoming un-Orthodox. Her broad lens and rich comparative insights elevate this study into a major contribution to the study of religion. Jonathan D. Sarna, President, Association for Jewish Studies This is a beautifully-written and important book. It is not only a masterful contribution to scholarship on contemporary Judaism, but the rare and moving story of those who have turned away from the Jewish Orthodox faith, losing the only identities and communities they have ever known and endeavoring to reinvent and reconstruct them. Robert Wuthnow, Andlinger Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University A learned, imaginative study of defectors from Orthodox Jewish communities; Davidman's analysis of identity narratives and the process of transformation is original and provocative. Joyce Antler, Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture, Brandeis University

"""An important contribution.""--Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion ""A fascinating view of the conflicts, both internal and external, faced by those who leave tightly cohesive and socially restrictive Jewish groups This solid book, an important contribution to the body of work on shifts in religious identity and affiliation, also illuminates the force and importance of ritual in Jewish life.""--Publishers Weekly ""Lynn Davidman offers us a window into the hearts and minds of young Jews who have left the world of ultra-Orthodoxy. Offering a range of reasons for their departure, they describe both their love and frustration with pious communities, as well as with the constrictions and, at times, lovelessness, and even abuse they experienced in their families. An excellent study of an important and growing phenomenon."" --Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College ""This is the best-written and most insightful study yet of those who abandon Orthodoxy, breaking with the religious worlds in which they were raised. Award-winning sociologist Lynn Davidman highlights the role played by rituals of the body in the whole process of becoming un-Orthodox. Her broad lens and rich comparative insights elevate this study into a major contribution to the study of religion."" --Jonathan D. Sarna, President, Association for Jewish Studies; Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, and Chair, Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, Brandeis University ""This is a beautifully-written and important book. It is not only a masterful contribution to scholarship on contemporary Judaism, but the rare and moving story of those who have turned away from Orthodox Judaism, losing the only identities and communities they have ever known and endeavoring to reinvent and reconstruct them."" --Robert Wuthnow, Andlinger Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University ""A learned, imaginative study of defectors from Orthodox Jewish communities; Davidman's analysis of identity narratives and the process of transformation is original and provocative."" --Joyce Antler, Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture, Brandeis University ""...[The] discussions of theory, methodology, and interview questions are enlightening. This is a resource for those interested in religious change or American Judaism."" --CHOICE ""Becoming Un-Orthodox is clear and readable, eschewing the jargon so prevalent in contemporary anthropological studies that touch upon identity transformation.""-- Yoel Finkelman, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews"

Author Information

Lynn Davidman is the Beren Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Studies and Professor of Sociology at the University of Kansas. She is the author of Tradition in a Rootless World, which won a National Jewish Book Award, Motherloss, and Feminist Perspectives in Jewish Studies, co-edited with Shelly Tenenbaum. Her research has appeared in such journals as Sociology of Religion and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. She serves on the advisory board of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University and is a member of the editorial board for Qualitative Sociology.

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