Customer Reviews

Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls

5 star:		(16)
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2 star:		(3)
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I loved "Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers." Levine portrays a wide range of Chassidic teenage girls with depth and respect. Rebels, mystics, popular girls, and geeks all come to life on these pages. I had so much fun getting the inside scoop on the Lubavitch community and the girls' various thoughts and adventures.

"Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers" entertains like the best novels, but the fact that it's nonfiction gives it even more power because we're reading the truth (Levine does explain that some aspects were fictionalized in order to maintain the girls' privacy). The pages abound with perceptive characterization, rich description, and a wonderful sense of place.

My favorite part of this book involves wonderful chapters that describe individual Chassidic girls. Also, I was amazed how much I learned about Orthodox Jewish observance and Chassidic thought from reading this book. Dietary laws, prayer, holidays, dress codes, sexual relations, Chassidic philosophy, and so much else comes up.

What really surprised me was how much insight this book gives into the lives of teenage girls, and people in general, outside the Chassidic world. In the introduction, and more thoroughly in the conclusion, Levine discusses how surprisingly well-adjusted many of these Lubavitch young women are, and she offers thoughtful, sensitive suggestions about what this community can teach the rest of us. But she never lets us forget that the community is terribly hard for the girls who can't or won't fit in, like those who stop believing, or who lack the desire to become Chassidic wives and mothers.

What impressed me most is this: "Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers" describes a small pocket of the world in a way that makes it seem universal. Even though I am a non-Chassidic man who barely remembers his teenage years, I related to the girls' struggles and process of growth. Anyone can learn from this community, and anyone can relate to the diverse and fascinating people described in this book.

MYSTICS, MAVERICKS, AND MERRYMAKERS is an incredible read. Who would have thought that Hasidic girls would be so diverse, or that one writer could capture each one of these teenagers' spirits with such depth? I'm still thinking about the young women: the charismatic but hard to control kid with passionate faith, the brilliant nonconformist who flirts with suicide, the intense nerd who is so religious her peers have trouble understanding her, and so many others. This book is a masterpiece of creative empathy-it's incredible how well the author communes with each girl's hopes and struggles.
Levine's writing is exquisite. I still have lovely phrases of hers etched in my mind. I can't remember when I last read a book that taught me so much in such beautiful language. The conclusion's ideas about how readers could learn from the Hasidic community as they try to negotiate their own lives are fascinating-this book really has wide relevance beyond Hasidic borders. Levine's analysis at the end of what it all means will blow you away.
Levine is a wonderful storyteller; I got engrossed in these girls' lives. It was incredible to see how different they were from most Americans, with their strict laws and intriguing rituals, and yet how well I could relate to their struggles, thoughts, and triumphs.
When I say this book is fabulous, I mean it as a sincere and honest critic. I can't recommend Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers highly enough.

I read this book as a non-Jew who was interested in Hasidism. This particular book attracted me because I am the parent of two teen-age daughters. Having close contact with the problems my daughters face in the modern world I felt would help me understand the issues of Hasidic young women. Although the book is not designed to give a rigorous introduction to Hasidism, I am quite delighted by Stephanie Levine's work and the chance it has given me to have a glimpse into the spiritual and mundane issues of modern Lubavitch Hasidism.

Far from being a broad review of young Hasidic women, Levine focuses on the Lubaticher sect of Hasidism and its community in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. She spent over a year living with and interviewing the students, teachers, and parents associated with the Bais Rivka Lubavitch high school, a girls-only school.

Hasidic girls have very little contact with males outside their immediate families. Their religious beliefs allow them only the slightest contacts with the world outside their community. Popular videos and music are not allowed and dietary restrictions only allow eating in the most kosher of restaurants. The "mavericks" part of the title has to do with the rebellious response that the young women sometimes bring to these severe restraints.

The "mystics" aspect of the title has to do with the deeply spiritual aspects of Hasidism where every thought and action of an individual's life has cosmic implications as the community does all it can to bring about the coming of the messiah. The last chaper of this book, "Into The Future," begins with a wonderfully clear and concise description of Lubavitch mystical beliefs.

The irrepressible joy and exhuberance of the young women, that the spiritual practice of Hasidism seems to promote, leads to the author's use of the term "merrymakers" to describe the subjects of this book.

Levine starts off the book with a general introduction to the Crown Heights Lubavitch community and the background to her study. She talks about the Bais Rivka school and its students.

Then in a series of seven chapters she takes in depth looks at seven of the young women she was able to get the closest to in her year of research. We meet their families and see their day to day life. We hear them describe their current life and aspirations. As the most important duty of a Lubavitch woman is to marry and have children, their mate selection and preparations for married life are part of these chapters.

The last chapter contains a look at the future for both the young women and the Hasidic movement. This is a wonderful book for anyone like me who is interested in Hasidism or the lives of young women in the modern world. Levine is a wonderful writer and she treats her subjects with fondness and respect. Yet she is honest and direct. So this study has both objectivity and admiration, a delightful combination in such a work.

I loved this book. I really got an inside view of a world far different than the secular one I live in. The author was honest about her own points of view and her own biases. I really feel like I understand and know about the Lubavitch lifestyle after reading this book. As a secular Jew, I felt like I related to the author and how she viewed the unique culture of Crown Heights. A wonderful ethnography!

Having been Lubavitch, I read Levine's book as both former insider and outsider. Her portrayal of the Lubavitch world captured its essence, and her description of the variety of personalities within it was also apt. Unlike an earlier reviewer, I considered the deliberate care taken to obscure the identities of the girls to be important and in keeping with academic ethics.

The Lubavitch world holds within it a certain comfort and certainty, simply because all the answers are there. Unfortunately, as we read in the cases of several of the girls portrayed in this book, there is little to no place for the girl or woman who thinks critically, questions the tenets of Chabad-Lubavitch, or who is called to higher education. For example, I wonder if one of the women portrayed ever completed her medical training.

An excellent study that offers the reader insightful glimpses into the world of Lubavitch girls.

What a wonderfully-written and touching book. I was fascinated by the portraits drawn by the author, and I appreciated her honest and loving portrayal of these young girls' lives. I highly recommend this book, especially for anyone who believe that women are completely marginalized in traditional Judaism. There is so much more to it than that! An engaging and eye-opening book.

After seeing several fantastic reviews and feature articles of this book, I had to read it for myself. Now I feel compelled to share my own praise. "Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers" is sensitive, profound, humorous, and incredibly well written. This book makes the world of Hasidic teenage girls seem so real. Levine brings each young woman to life in ways that defy all the stereotypes of meek, docile Hasidic girls. Readers see the girls' talents, weaknesses, and internal struggles. We join them on adventures that are so adolescent, and yet so Hasidic. Just one example: a car ride home with a Hasidic young man inspires both guilt and exhilaration, for Hasidic males and females are not allowed to socialize outside the family.

This book offers deep, enduring observations about the beauty of Hasidic life. Levine believes we have much to learn from the Hasidism as we go about our own lives. She also brings out the pain of those cannot conform because their beliefs or desires fall outside Hasidic boundaries.

"Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers" taught me so much, on many different levels. The beautifully developed Hasidic characters seemed like people I know, but in a totally new, fascinating world. I learned a lot about Judaism, mystical thought in general, and the power of leading a religious life. I also learned more about the Lubavitchers, the particular Hasidic group Levine discusses; I was fascinated to see how modern they seemed in some ways, and yet how removed from key aspects of mainstream American life. If you want to help teenage girls boost their confidence, this book is filled with relevant insight. For that matter, these insights could help any human being, regardless of gender, background, or age. Perhaps most fun of all, the book is filled with wonderful stories, told with literary flair.

I short, this is an all-round terrific read. The author's level of empathy for each of these very different Hasidic young women is astounding. This book makes a very unusual world feel real and deeply relevant, a wonderful accomplishment.

I just finished "Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers," which describes the teenage girls among the Lubavitchers, a particularly interesting Hasidic sect. It's one of those books that will linger in my mind for many years. The poetic language, the engaging characters, and the sensitive, nuanced arguments make this book a wonder. An avid reader, I enjoy both serious books and light-hearted ones. Usually, the two categories don't mix. But this book kept me laughing and thinking. Levine's humor was terrific; I was chuckling out loud with some of her descriptions of the girls' thoughts and adventures. But while I was having fun, I was also thinking hard, and my worldview was rapidly expanding.

The centerpeice of this book is Levine's profiles of actual girls. Both in number of pages and in spirit, they comprise the bulk of the book. They are marvelous portraits of deeply human young women. Levine has a gift for bringing people's personalities out with passion and sensitivity. Many are content, but the rebels struggle daily and often feel pain. These seven profiles of very different young Hasidim read like the best short stories, with suspense, psychological power, drama, and intensity.

Levine also provides us with thought-provoking conclusions. For instance, she finds that many of the girls enjoy surprisingly confident, outgoing personalities and wonders whether their single-sex social lives offer some psychological benefits. She suggests that, for some girls, freedom from the sexual pressures of coeducational social lives can be a great boon. She also reports that the Lubavitch young women often took the wild, impish roles boys can claim in mixed-gender settings. But she does not argue that single-sex lives are best for all teens; she simply offers the observation that perhaps single-sex options (schools, social activities, etc.) might help some young people maintain their confidence. Her ideas are refreshingly open-ended and multifaceted. Levine explores other potential benefits this community offers as well. Her description of Lubavitch philosophy, and how it can bolster the girls' sense of power, is thorough and deeply perceptive. She also discusses the importance of cohesive community and unusual family closeness. The psychologist in me was fascinated by the Lubavitchers' desire to perfect the human soul, and Levine's speculation about how non-Hasidim might draw from this impulse in their own lives, even if they're not at all religiously inclined.

The author makes it very clear that she explores one particular group at one particular time: The Lubavitcher Hasidim of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Her ability to avoid sweeping generalizations (she never claims that her findings pertain to all Orthodox Jews or all Hasidic sects) impressed me. I was equally struck by the sensible, intelligent suggestions she makes to help readers use Lubavitch wisdom to improve their own lives, and their children's.

Read this book. You will learn a lot about leading a rich life from these Hasidic teenagers and have great fun while you're at it.

This is a book version of Stephanie Levine's doctoral dissertation, but don't let that put you off--all it means is that it is very well researched and has some theoretical underpinnings laid out in the opening and closing chapters, which are quite readable in themselves. HOwever, the meat of the book is the profiles of individual Hasidic girls who run the gamut from intensely religious to rebelling against the norms of their enclave. The girls all come across as fascinating individuals and Levine is a sympathetic portrayer of them. She can appreciate both the strengths and the confining aspects of the Hasidic world, and marvels at the strong assertiveness of these girls who have been educated and largely socialized in a single sex environment. For anyone who has looked at these communities from the outside and wondered what it's like to live or grow up within them, particularly as a woman, this is a fascinating book that in no way reads like a textbook or a heavy academic tome. Excellent!

This was such a wonderful eye-opening book about the variety of girls in the Lubavitch community in Crown Heights. This book breaks the stereotype that says that girls from very religious families become "drone-like" or don't have their individuality. Within their very prescribed world, because of the teachings and influence of the rebbe, there are countless opportunities for personal exploration and expression. It was inspiring to me as a mother of a girl as well; I want my daughter to have some of the passion and commitment displayed in these pages!