Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground [Paperback]

Robert Eisenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 1996

Boychiks in the Hood is your passport to the Hasidic "underworld" -- a destination far different from popular expectations. Join Robert Eisenberg as he hangs out with an ex-Deadhead in Antwerp, makes a pilgrimage to the grave of the revered Rebbie Nachman in the Ukraine, munches mini-bagels with Rollerblading kosher butchers in Minnesota, discovers the last remaining religious Jews in Poland, talks sex with a karate-champion-turned-rabbi in Israel, and more.Simultaneously respectful and hilarious, Boychiks in the Hood is a surprising and unforgettable journey through the world's flourishing Hasidic communities that reveals this vibrant tradition as never before.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A ponytailed secular Jew who grew up learning Yiddish, the lingua franca of the orthodox, modernity-resisting Jewish sect known as Hasidim, Eisenberg has produced an engaging, if not always deep, mosaic of Hasidic life around the world. In Williamsburg and Boro Park, Brooklyn, home of the Satmars and the Belzers, he sees deeply rooted communities, finding himself welcomed and quizzed when he shows up at synagogues. In Los Angeles, the Lubavitchers have helped transform a Jewish community of '60s rejects that "carries the brand of Los Angeles on its back with the stark simplicity of a concentration camp tattoo." He visits tiny communities in Ukraine and Poland and describes how the small town of Postville, Iowa, has been changed by the advent of a Hasidic meat-packing plant. In lively Antwerp, the author observes signs of the vigorous prewar European Jewish community and, in one of his many quirky encounters, finds himself discussing Meir Kahane while listening to Frank Zappa. Indeed, given the Hasids' devotion, resiliency and high birth rate, the author expects them to play a vital role in the American Jewish future.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Eisenberg, a secularist educated at Columbia and Harvard, is a descendant of a Hasidic family. He thereby gains easy access to the various Hasidic circles by use of a key passport: his ability to speak Yiddish, the lingua franca of many Hasids. The author estimates that there are 650,000 Hasids in the world, but he predicts that because of their high birth rate and devotion to their cause their influence will grow by leaps and bounds. His book, lighthearted but insightful, resembles a travelog in some respects and recounts his encounters with various Hasidic personalities and sects. Along the way, Eisenberg shows that Hasidism is not an undivided monolith of thought and opinion. Indeed, it is composed of many sects that proudly emphasize their differences with other Hasidic groups. The work also shows that Hasids are not as cut off from the secular world as imagined. This book makes a nice complement to Samuel Beilman's more scholarly Defenders of the Faith (LJ 2/1/92). Recommended for larger libraries.?Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., Ill.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (September 13, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062512234
• ISBN-13: 978-0062512239
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #763,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read it as a travelogue, not theology..., July 27, 1999

By 

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground (Paperback)

As a Breslover Hasid who has made the pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine and almost moved to Postville, Iowa (both Hasidic communities described in the book)I found myself chuckling with recoognition when I read "Boychiks in the Hood."

It was interesting to see how a secular "tourist" (albeit a Jewish one) had experienced Hasidic culture from the outside looking in. His passport into this world was the fact that he spoke Yiddish and came from Hasidic stock, which enabled him to establish an immediate rapport even though he was not religiously observant.

The author's down-homey, man-on-the-street approach was refreshing, too, in that he tried to show the Hasidim as real people with individual personalities and differing opinions, not a monolith of black coats and hats.

At the same time, the book suffers from the same problems inherent in many travelogues, namely, that the author, as a visitor to a foreign culture, was not always sure exactly what he was looking at. And while the "man on the street" might provide color and interesting conversation, he doesn't always "get it right." The result is a book which could be misleading to someone not familar with the wider context in which some of the remarks are being made. Still, I did enjoy it, and would recommend it as an interesting read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful introduction to a hidden world, March 25, 2004

By 

Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground (Paperback)

The Hasidic world has always seemed somewhat impenatrable, even to other Jews; Eisenberg does a wonderful job at introducing the secular and the non-Jew to this world and the people in it. He is always sympathetic, and never critical. Most importantly, he presents the Hasidm as individuals, not a faceless monolith.

I was raised conservatiove- sort of on the edge of Orthodoxy- and have lived for the last 14 years in close proximity to a large Hasidic community. And yet, until reading this book, I never really had a good understanding of that community or the people in it.

Others note that this is by no means an encyclopedic or authoritative work on the Hasidic world and the people in it. But it is an exceptionally affectionate and humorus one, and well worth reading, and rereading.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It has its own odd fascination, May 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground (Paperback)

I am a reform Jew with little background knowledge of chasidism, although I've read The Chosen and always read the Chabad periodic supplements in The Forward. When I read this book, however, I found myself quite fascinated by it, and a week or two after finishing it, I took the unprecedented (for me) step of reading it again. There is a great sense of authenticity in the descriptions, and also of affection for the many different types of chasidim the author met. It made me wish that I also spoke Yiddish, so that I might have similar experiences. I highly recommend the book to Jewish readers. There is something in it that tugs at the soul.