Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry

by Samuel C. Heilman

In this first in-depth portrait of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel today, Samuel Heilman introduces a community that to many may seem to be the very embodiment of the Jewish past. To outsiders who stumble upon these neighborhoods and find bearded men in caftans, children with earlocks, and women in long dresses, black kerchiefs and stockings, it may appear that these people still hold fast to every tradition while turning their backs to the contemporary world. But rather than being a relic from the past, ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim , are very much part of the contemporary landscape and are playing an increasingly prominent role in the Jewish world and in Israeli politics. Defenders of the Faith takes us inside the world of this contemporary fundamentalist community, its lifestyle and mores, including education, religious practices and beliefs, sexual ethics, and marriage. Heilman explores the reasons why this group is more militant and extreme than its pre-Holocaust brethren, and provides insight into the worldview of this small but influential sector of modern Jewry.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Religion, Anthropology, Judaica, Nonfiction, Israel

421 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the Hasidim in Israel. Draws nicely on Levi-Strauss.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is all about the Hasids in Israel, and barely touches on those in Brooklyn. That said its an easy read, though it seems to move very slowly, because the author focuses in depth on specific encounters that he has seen and presents them in a lot of detail, operating under the assumption that everything he sees is a microcosm of the rest of the community. He spoke a lot about the way they consciously other themselves, the way they speak about fearing the outside world but are economically intertwined with it, and the sort of subtle contradictions between their fervent theory and actual practice: the women often wear modern clothing, many lean pro-Israel despite their absolute opposition to Zionism and so on. There is an absolutely humungous focus on education, and the image that comes up again and again is of the deep longing to be close to the rebbe, and to feel at one with him, to eat food off of his plate and so on. There is a deeply embedded hierarchy, all centered around the rebbe and being close to him. I really liked the point he made about how the Hasidic community's rituals are crafted so as to reinforce communal identity, namegiving, all feelings of happiness, sadness, closeness, love, devotion, all are filtered through a communal framework. Social relationships and hierarchies are all filtered as well, and anchored in the ideas of continuity and tradition (even if its not as ancient as it seems.) The inter-sect feuds are also hilarious, and the not-so-subtle turning up of the nose at the Sephardim is pretty funny. Good, but slow.

[Arthur Goldgaber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is outdated at this point, but I thought it was very well written and benefited from the excellent entree into several Haredi communities and interviews with people from these groups. I enjoyed reading his chapters about attending one sect's friday night tish and the bar mitzvah of the son of another sect's rebbe. He also spent quite a bit of time at Hasidic schools. It is rare that you can read about the Hasidic educational methods for three-year-olds and four-year-olds.

He has an interesting conversation with the rosh, or dean, of a yeshiva, and he was given a reason why the ultra-orthodox young men do not serve in the army or pursue different types of professions. For example, their young people do not become doctors, but they have to depend on people who are less religious than they are to pursue those professions; otherwise they would not obtain necessary medical treatments.

Although Heilman is an academic, the writing was geared more towards the layman and I found it to be a quick read. I look forward to reading some of his other books, especially the one about the Lubavitcher Rebbe from 2013.

[Nadya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to the inside of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. At times I was a little overwhelmed (read: bored) with facts about the historical development of the community etc, but overall it provides a great balance of historical analysis and contemporary ethnography. The author's use of actual dialogue he hears during his time in the community is fascinating. I really recommend this to anyone interested in learning about the lived tradition of of this traditional (and understudied) Hardeim sect of ultra orthodox jews.

[Craig Bolton]

Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry by Samuel Heilman (1999)

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focuses on Israeli Chareidim, especially Belz and Reb Arelach. This book is basically about boys.

[Foxglove · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing, albeit outdated book that really opened up the Yeshiva and Hareidi world to me. Very well written, very interesting, very fairly written

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book with plenty of insight into Isreali Hasidim.