Unorthodox, the scandalous rejection of my Hasidic roots: a memoir by Deborah Feldman
is an intimate portrayal of a young woman growing up in an environment
of religious constraint and slowly freeing herself from that
environment.
That
is her story, on the surface. If you read it from that perspective it
will enlighten and provide you with an insight into her particular
religious environment and beliefs. Her personal journey will also stand
as an inspiration and testament to anyone else who wishes to move out of
the confines of their particular religious constraints.
However,
I recognize Deborah. In my opinion, she is much more than that and her
story involves much more than that, in reality. So I’m not surprised
that there is some controversy over her book and challenges to it.
She
is one of us. She is the rebel, the square peg who can’t fit into the
round hole, the person who is never satisfied and cannot be satisfied
with the status quo, whatever it is. Whether that status quo be the
constraints of creed (religious or otherwise), culture, gender, etc.
Her
drive to be free, that hunger for freedom runs deep and it is firmly
founded in her strong natural curiosity about everything.
That
is what makes Deborah different. It’s what makes me and numerous others
different. People like us exist across all cultures, creeds, genders,
etc. And no matter what our environment is we do not and cannot fit into
the status quo of that environment.
I
can’t explain why. I don’t understand it myself. I only know that we
exist and that we can identify and empathize with each other. Once we
understand that we can’t fit in and don’t try to fit in, we can begin
the process of accepting and appreciating ourselves for who we are. When
we can do that, others will accept and appreciate us for who we are.
Well, at least some will.
It’s
okay not to fit in. It’s okay to be different. We can’t be any other
way no matter how much humiliation and abuse is heaped on us; no matter
how many constraints are placed on us in our respective environments; no
matter how much we are smeared for speaking our truths.
We don’t understand the sheeple and their passive acceptance of the status quo.
We
are the innovators, the artists, the creative thinkers, the one’s that
can think outside of the box. We are the ethicists, the one’s who
consider social injustice an outrage and we can’t be silent about it. We
have a driving need to change the status quo to better our world for
ourselves and those around us.
We
produce what we love to produce whether we get paid to produce or not.
Our lives are driven by our passions and not by personal gain. Once we
accept our difference and don’t allow it to stand in the way of our
self-confidence (“faith in ourselves”) personal gain almost always comes
along with the ride at some point because we are good at whatever it is
that we choose to do.
If we didn’t exist, society would never advance because there would be no driving force for change.
Welcome to the club, Deborah. I look forward to reading more of what you have to offer.
