Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls

Stephanie Wellen Levine's Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers about teenage Lubavitcher girls. Levine lived in the Crown Heights, Brooklyn area for a year doing the research, which was academic, but the book succeeds and reaches far beyond its substantial academic roots. Anyone who has ever lived in Brooklyn knows the Lubavitcher Hasidic sect--claimed to be the largest Jewish organization in the world. They are the group that does outreach to other Jews, trying to bring the Messiah through an accumulation of good deeds done by Jews, such as lighting candles on Shabbos. They used to drive a truck called the Mitzvah tank around New York City, blasting music and inviting participation in their practice to anyone Jewish. Today, they are famous for their welcoming Chabad houses all over the world (and the brutal terrorist attack on one of these in Mumbai in November, 2008). Their outreach is unusual, as Jews, unlike Christians, don't generally give a high value to proselytizing. Even a staid, mainstream Protestant church like the one I grew up in had an ideal of going out into the world and witnessing and converting, even though we didn't do it much--everyone in town was pretty much already affiliated with one church or another. I have always been fascinated by people whose belief is strong enough that they feel privileged to grab people by the lapel and try to convert them. I am also fascinated by closed systems, whether religious or political, that have all the answers. It seems wonderfully comforting to me-- and also stunningly wrong-headed. The Lubavitchers are one of these groups with a complete, self-referential system and all the answers. They also prove to be, in Levine's book, a varied, warm, intelligent, supportive and enthusiastic community. They welcomed Levine into their homes, confided to her about their lives, and seemed genuinely puzzled and hurt that in the end she returned to her secular life in academia instead of joining them. The book is organized around representative individual girls who range from those who are deeply enriched by the mystical teachings of Chabad--indeed uplifted, glowing with delight at the insights their study and meditation give them-- to some serious rebels who drink, socialize with men (and Lubavitchers keep high walls between the sexes) and eventually leave Crown Heights, albeit with sadness over the loss of their warm and nurturing community. One of Levine's fascinating and perhaps broadly applicable insights is how strong and lively the girls are in their largely single sex lives: they make deep friendships, tease their teachers and disrupt their classrooms, delight in clothes and parties-- and then switch quickly to religious studies and rituals. All of them are expected, of course, to marry early and produce many Jewish babies. The complexities of these lives-- the success and the failures-- make up the texture of this wonderful book. I'm so happy Stephanie Levine has told us about her year with the mystics, mavericks, and merrymakers.

In her book, Mystics, Mavericks, & Merrymakers, Stephanie Levine tells the stories of seven teenage Hasidic girls from the Lubavitch sect of Judaism. Levine, a Harvard grad student and a secular Jew, spent a year living in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn New York, at the heart of this devout Hasidic community. The Hasidim adhere to rigid gender roles and dress codes, and forbid coed socializing and education.Levine enters this community doubting that these girls would ever be given a "free voice" and the means for true self-expression. What she discovers in Crown Heights surprises her and she shares those discoveries by bringing her readers inside the lives of the girls and their families.Levine's narrative style and vivid portraits makes it an approachable book for those readers who are merely curious about Hasidic culture and Orthodox Judaism. She writes like a storyteller, and honors the individual personalities she profiles. Because they are all peers, their stories often overlap. So, for the reader seeking a scholarly discussion of the Hasidic religious tradition's influence on the feminine psyche, this book may seem too repetitive; but, for the reader expecting a storyteller to reveal the complexities and variations of the Hasidic teenage girl's experiences through a sympathetic series of portraits, this book should be satisfying.In the end, Levine's exploration of Lubavitch culture epitomizes the adage that "you can't judge a book by its cover" and enlivens the old idea that we can find insight into our own culture by examining another. What she offers for most readers is the chance to challenge preconceptions, and come away with a fresh perspective on American life.

While not particularly artfully written, this bit of qualitative referrals what goes on in a Hassidic girls school as well as in the community. The author brings insight into the structure of the movement and especially the role of gender desperation in the development of Hasidic women.

Book describing many the many different personality types of ultra orthodox girls/women. An enlightening read.

Really good for required school reading!

A book which takes you into to a world you may not know and makes you think about the world in which you live now.

This was such a wonderful eye-opening book about the variety of girls in the Lubavitch community in Crown Heights. This book breaks the stereotype that says that girls from very religious families become "drone-like" or don't have their individuality. Within their very prescribed world, because of the teachings and influence of the rebbe, there are countless opportunities for personal exploration and expression. It was inspiring to me as a mother of a girl as well; I want my daughter to have some of the passion and commitment displayed in these pages!

The book has been covered, it was quite good, though best as an introduction for people totally unfamiliar with the culture.Particular to the Kindle Edition - no page numbers, and indexing is not linked. It's a book you might want to go back to using the index, and the index just has a list of subjects with no page or location number, or link back. If you are using this in a scholarly way, it might be best to get the hard copy.

I really can not recommend this book highly enough. It really manages to be both academically interesting and insightful whilst at the same time being a very enjoyable read. For me the best sections of the book are the short sketches of the individual girls. That said the author's insights and comments are also most interesting. The girls who are featured come from a range of social classes, of course all within the Lubavitch community of Crown Heights, they are also examples of different attitudes towards their communities and what is expected of them. The book is, at least to a certain extent, a courter argument to the thesis that in a male-centered religious community women are faced with a choice between compliance and out-right rebellion as becomes clear in the course of Gilligan's book is that there are a range of alternative options. This book is a must for anyone interested in contemporary Judaism in general and Chasidute in particular. It will also be of interest to those who are found of anthropological studies. But I would recommend it to anyone because it takes the reader into a world that otherwise would almost certainly be closed to them. It is one of the most interesting and enjoyable books I read in 2009.

Very informative. I can see what one reviewer meant when she thought the writer analyses too much but I think Levine tries to be careful in her views. Those families with problematic lives but still quite obsevant probably would not agree to be written about. It is worth looking at Lis Harris' book from the 1980s too.