Customer Reviews

Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This book seems to be written FOR the secular world, yet written TO other non-religious Jews. This is a wonderful approach because it allows one to enter the underground as "a Jew." The writer seems to want to express his findings with his other lost brothers, thereby giving the reader an indepth and close look inside the Jewish culture, un-edited for the world. (Hope that makes sense.)

In addition, the writer is extremely honest and non-judgemental, providing the reader only with "facts" about his experiences which allows the reader to draw their own conclusions...

I have read SEVERAL books about Judaism, as I am converting soon, and although this was not on my "reading list," I believe this book has been the most insightful and helpful in painting a vivid picture of my new family and that without bias.

This is NOT a theological book... it is a book of heritage in today's modern world.

PS
Captivating and an easy read... I finished this book over two days... Worth this short amount of time!

Sometimes books about Chassidism written by "outsiders" have that outsider feel to them. This excellent book is different. I couldn't put it down. The author travels to many different Chassidic and Orthodox Jewish communities and gives his honest impressions and experiences, in a kind and vastly entertaining way. You come away with an understanding and a "feel" of what these guys in the black coats (a generalization, I know) are all about, and can't help but share the author's respect for the wholesomeness of the Chassidic lifestyle. He predicts, in the end of the book, that in 50 years, the only Jewish life that will be viable will be Chassidic. In other words, "he has seen the future and it is Chassidic". This despite his admission that he is not an "observant" Jew. Since Moshiach (the righteous redeemer who will be spiritual leader and teacher for the whole world) is about to be revealed to us all, the author's prediction may take place sooner than he thinks.......

This book, although some might say was somewhat innacurate, gave ME an easy to understand feeling about various Hasidic communities. As the author writes in the introduction, there is barely any litterature about Hasidism, even though they truly are a fascinating minority within a minority.

The book guides you through about 9 or 10 Hasidic areas, mainly in the U.S., but also some in Europe and Israel too.

I really liked how the author was able to show us the personalities behind the "mask", if you will, that most people seem to have of Hasidism: They all look the same, act the same, feel the same, etc...

It is also helpful in distinguishing between the 200-odd Hasidic groups out there (most people only know about Lubavitch, and maybe Satmar, depending on their environment.)

I recommend reading this in conjunction with the Chosen, or some other such serious work on Hasidism. This book, being light-hearted and filled with funny descriptions, is a very good balance for some of the more academic works out there.

For those religious Jews who say Eisenberg may have taken several "poetic liscenses", I say: You, more than me, probably know what they would say. But in terms of who is going to read this (mainly secular Jews and non-jews), it's a good read. Hasidic Jews have no need to read about what an outsider thinks about them, do they?

Boychicks In The Hood is an enjoyable book, no matter your level of knowledge within the field of Hassidim. The author's style of writing not only provokes thought and interest, but makes you want to keep on reading. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the sociological inticacies of Traditional Judaism or someone who simply wants to enjoy agood book.

Who would have thought that an East European atavism like Hasidic Judaism would be the most--maybe the only--vital form of Judaism today? Maybe, maybe not. In this book the author takes us around to visit many Hasids from all backgrounds. There are interesting facts for the goyish reader to learn--there's something called "glat kosher", when ordinary supermarket kosher isn't good enough. We meet callow young converts, fiery older converts, gnarled old Polish survivors, midwestern Hasidic meccas (so to speak), and more. Any generalization about religion will of course prompt other people to leap into print to rebut it. But this is still a good accessible introduction to this tiny, but growing community of faith. I recommend reading this in conjunction with Elie Wiesel's _Souls On Fire_, which is a collection of his grandfather's tales of the old Hasidic masters, including the original, Israel Baal Shem Tov.

I am amazed by the glow this book spreads over me. While reading this book, I feel like I have spent an afternoon with my favorite Bubbe.

My concern going into this is that the author would write this story from a secular point of view - harsh and judgemental. But this story is told with such gentleness and love that I feel drawn deeper and deeper into it.

I really appreciate that Mr. Eisenberg wants to understand his subject rather than tear their values down or dismiss them all together. Living in Manhattan and living in such close proximity to the Hasidim and yet not understanding their ways, I am excited to finally get a glimpse into a world I have only been able to witness from the most superficial level.

I admit that I bought the book because the title suggested an almost rap-music reality behind the scenes of a New York Hasidic community. Yes, the title is plenty pop-culture, and it probably was part of a marketing plan. BOYCHIKS IN THE HOOD is a far better book than I had expected or hoped for, and the razzle-dazzle title does not at all suggest the complexity of a back-breaking world tour the mostly secular Eisenberg made, in a labor of love, to find and explore Orthodox, Satmar, Lubavitch, Hasidic communities thriving all over the world. As a non-Jew I perhaps know more about Judaism than some, but I have picked up both specifics and general ideas that have vitalized and deepened my respect for the Jewish world. In New York of course I have see "glatt" kosher restaurants, but here I learned that this step "up" from regular kosher means that the lungs of killed animals can show no flaws at all, while animals killed plain kosher can have slight sores---as long as the sores do not allow the passage of air. This kind of detail---and perhaps I pick one that may seem slightly sensational, and for that I apologize, for it is not presented that way by Eisenberg---suggests the level of detail, thought, discrimination, judgement, rule, and inevitable debate that runs through every inch of the Hasidic thought. Eleven nice chapters on the communities in Brooklyn, Minnesota, Ukraine, Israel, Poland, New Jersey, the Catskills, Belgium, and even a dynamite town in Iowa, etc. Full of surprises and wit (the wit sometimes diminished by Eisenberg's rather heavy handed sense of metaphor verging into pop-journalistic zing). But Eisenberg writes well, engagingly and informatively. I've picked up fifty Yiddish words which, discreetly, I'll be dropping at cocktail parties as I finger my rosary. A powerfully readable book about a people's resilience, savvy, spitituality, and about the curious seduction of their unique kind of life.