The Rebbe's Daughter: Memoir of a Hasidic Childhood

by Malkah Shapiro, Nehemia Polen (Translator)

Malkah Shapiro grew up in Poland, the daughter of a noted Hasidic master. The Rebbe’s Daughter tells her a rare glimpse of the world of the Hasidic Jew in pre-World War I Eastern Europe. This is a learned text, filled with biblical, talmudic, kabbalistic, and hasidic allusions and direct quotations, demonstrating that, in contrast to the stereotype of traditional Jewish girls’ education at the turn of the century, the author was blessed with a thorough education in Judaic classics. Shapiro’s tale, translated and presented in Rabbi Polen’s capable hands, is poetic and sensitive, providing a rich and inviting history for its readers.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2002

Reviews

[Danny Dubin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful account of Hasidic life in Poland from a much-needed female perspective full of fervor and intellect.

[Frieda Vizel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not a memoir in the traditional sense. It contains snippets of descriptive scenes of the author's life. If you anticipate to get to know Malkah Shapiro and read her life story, the book will be a disappointment. The writing and storytelling is very uneven. Part of the book is written in third person, describing the experience of a major Hasidic Rabbi's daughter in Poland at the age of 12, while the last few chapters are written in first person from the adult perspective. The style is so excessively descriptive and overdone it's hard to get through the book.

However, the book has a lot of value and is worth reading since: firstly, this book describes the court of a major Hasidic sect before its annihilation in the Holocaust, and secondly, because it is written from the unusual perspective of a girl/woman. Often descriptions of Hasidic courts come from men.