- Hardcover: 280 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press (27 July 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0691139164
- ISBN-13: 978-0691139166
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Mitzvah Girls
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Review
Mitzvah Girls is a rigorous ethnographic study of the education of Hasidic girls in Brooklyn. It is entertaining and engaging, combining personal accounts and subjective prose with critical analysis. . . . [Fader] analyses the use of language in contexts such as the classroom, playtimes and mealtimes to demonstrate how notions of Hasidic femininity are inscribed and transmitted through ordinary linguistic discourse.
(Giulia Miller Times Higher Education )
A compelling and intimate picture of a society largely closed to outsiders, tracing the girls' upbringing from early childhood until marriage.
(Miriam Shaviv Jewish Chronicle )
As a monitor of socialization in the very personal, private worlds of Hasidic women, this book is fascinating. Although it focuses on this very special group, it opens many avenues of thought for readers not generally familiar with Hasidic women and their lives.
(Sybil Kaplan National Jewish Post and Opinion )
For a window into the rarely seen and little understood (at least by secular Jews) world of Hasidim, read Mitzvah Girls. . . . Fader, an anthropologist, focuses on girls and how they view their lives. . . . She captures their voices, their dreams, their moral vision.
(Sandee Brawarsky Jewish Woman )
Fader relies on years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn during which she delved deeply into girls' everyday life and what she terms 'Hasidic English,' a Yiddish-inflected hybrid evolving among these women.
(Josh Lambert Tablet )
Fascinating. . . . The work maintains a scholarly character and possesses the intellectual nature of a scientific exploration, while remaining a pleasurable casual read.
(Jewish Book World )
Fader in effect presses the pause button and allows the reader to observe the moment girls become Jewish women. . . . Fader explores words themselves to illustrate how meaning shifts in relationship to religion and gender. . . . An extraordinarily fascinating read.
(Jeanne Vaccaro Feminist Review )
Reveals how through everyday talk Hasidic women teach their daughters to discipline their bodies and their minds to serve God. . . . Fader's reflections on fieldwork, such as when she agonizes over whether or not to wear a bathing suit with a group of Hasidic women and girls at a pool with gender-segregated hours, or how her young daughter peppered her with challenging questions when they visited Bora Park ('Why are the these girls wearing skirts?' 'What's modesty?' 'Do we follow what's in the Bible?'), personalize the fairly academic tone of the book, inviting us further into the world it explores.
(Susan Sapiro Lilith Magazine )
Clear, crisp, and compelling. . . . Mitzvah Girls is a thoughtful look at the world of Jewish girls who grow up in 21st-century America, but don't really.
(David Wolpe Commentary )
She breaks new ground by examining the formal and informal education of girls and the effort to enculturate them into the appropriate roles acceptable to their society. As a participant-observer with special capabilities in ethnolinguistics, the author is acutely sensitive to subtle variations in mother-daughter and teacher-pupil communication. . . . A brief review cannot do justice to the breadth and depth of insight that this exceptional study provides about ultra-orthodox Jewish American life.
(Choice )
(Giulia Miller Times Higher Education )
A compelling and intimate picture of a society largely closed to outsiders, tracing the girls' upbringing from early childhood until marriage.
(Miriam Shaviv Jewish Chronicle )
As a monitor of socialization in the very personal, private worlds of Hasidic women, this book is fascinating. Although it focuses on this very special group, it opens many avenues of thought for readers not generally familiar with Hasidic women and their lives.
(Sybil Kaplan National Jewish Post and Opinion )
For a window into the rarely seen and little understood (at least by secular Jews) world of Hasidim, read Mitzvah Girls. . . . Fader, an anthropologist, focuses on girls and how they view their lives. . . . She captures their voices, their dreams, their moral vision.
(Sandee Brawarsky Jewish Woman )
Fader relies on years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn during which she delved deeply into girls' everyday life and what she terms 'Hasidic English,' a Yiddish-inflected hybrid evolving among these women.
(Josh Lambert Tablet )
Fascinating. . . . The work maintains a scholarly character and possesses the intellectual nature of a scientific exploration, while remaining a pleasurable casual read.
(Jewish Book World )
Fader in effect presses the pause button and allows the reader to observe the moment girls become Jewish women. . . . Fader explores words themselves to illustrate how meaning shifts in relationship to religion and gender. . . . An extraordinarily fascinating read.
(Jeanne Vaccaro Feminist Review )
Reveals how through everyday talk Hasidic women teach their daughters to discipline their bodies and their minds to serve God. . . . Fader's reflections on fieldwork, such as when she agonizes over whether or not to wear a bathing suit with a group of Hasidic women and girls at a pool with gender-segregated hours, or how her young daughter peppered her with challenging questions when they visited Bora Park ('Why are the these girls wearing skirts?' 'What's modesty?' 'Do we follow what's in the Bible?'), personalize the fairly academic tone of the book, inviting us further into the world it explores.
(Susan Sapiro Lilith Magazine )
Clear, crisp, and compelling. . . . Mitzvah Girls is a thoughtful look at the world of Jewish girls who grow up in 21st-century America, but don't really.
(David Wolpe Commentary )
She breaks new ground by examining the formal and informal education of girls and the effort to enculturate them into the appropriate roles acceptable to their society. As a participant-observer with special capabilities in ethnolinguistics, the author is acutely sensitive to subtle variations in mother-daughter and teacher-pupil communication. . . . A brief review cannot do justice to the breadth and depth of insight that this exceptional study provides about ultra-orthodox Jewish American life.
(Choice )
Review
Mitzvah Girls is a rigorous ethnographic study of the education of Hasidic girls in Brooklyn. It is entertaining and engaging, combining personal accounts and subjective prose with critical analysis... [Fader] analyses the use of language in contexts such as the classroom, playtimes and mealtimes to demonstrate how notions of Hasidic femininity are inscribed and transmitted through ordinary linguistic discourse. -- Giulia Miller Times Higher Education A compelling and intimate picture of a society largely closed to outsiders, tracing the girls' upbringing from early childhood until marriage. -- Miriam Shaviv Jewish Chronicle As a monitor of socialization in the very personal, private worlds of Hasidic women, this book is fascinating. Although it focuses on this very special group, it opens many avenues of thought for readers not generally familiar with Hasidic women and their lives. -- Sybil Kaplan National Jewish Post and Opinion For a window into the rarely seen and little understood (at least by secular Jews) world of Hasidim, read Mitzvah Girls... Fader, an anthropologist, focuses on girls and how they view their lives... She captures their voices, their dreams, their moral vision. -- Sandee Brawarsky Jewish Woman Fader relies on years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn during which she delved deeply into girls' everyday life and what she terms 'Hasidic English,' a Yiddish-inflected hybrid evolving among these women. -- Josh Lambert Tablet Fascinating... The work maintains a scholarly character and possesses the intellectual nature of a scientific exploration, while remaining a pleasurable casual read. Jewish Book World Fader in effect presses the pause button and allows the reader to observe the moment girls become Jewish women... Fader explores words themselves to illustrate how meaning shifts in relationship to religion and gender... An extraordinarily fascinating read. -- Jeanne Vaccaro Feminist Review Reveals how through everyday talk Hasidic women teach their daughters to discipline their bodies and their minds to serve God... Fader's reflections on fieldwork, such as when she agonizes over whether or not to wear a bathing suit with a group of Hasidic women and girls at a pool with gender-segregated hours, or how her young daughter peppered her with challenging questions when they visited Bora Park ('Why are the these girls wearing skirts?' 'What's modesty?' 'Do we follow what's in the Bible?'), personalize the fairly academic tone of the book, inviting us further into the world it explores. -- Susan Sapiro Lilith Magazine Clear, crisp, and compelling... Mitzvah Girls is a thoughtful look at the world of Jewish girls who grow up in 21st-century America, but don't really. -- David Wolpe Commentary She breaks new ground by examining the formal and informal education of girls and the effort to enculturate them into the appropriate roles acceptable to their society. As a participant-observer with special capabilities in ethnolinguistics, the author is acutely sensitive to subtle variations in mother-daughter and teacher-pupil communication... A brief review cannot do justice to the breadth and depth of insight that this exceptional study provides about ultra-orthodox Jewish American life. Choice
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was recommended to me because I had already bought a book on a similar topic and although Fader's work is rather technical in places it is nevertheless well worth the effort. I would say that this book is a must for anyone with an interest in either education and socialization in semi-closed conservative religious groups or anybody who is interested in contemporary Judaism (especially if they have a particular interest in Hasidic Judaism). It will however be of interested to anyone who would like to get a view of what would otherwise be a closed off world and I would argue that any reader will get pleasure from reading it. The only reason that I gave this book four rathe than five stairs is because of its more technical content. Some of the argument of the book is centered on the usage of different dialects of Yiddish (my familiarity with Yiddish is very limited and I had to re-read some of the examples a number of times before I spotted the differences being highlighted). Mitzvah Girls uses some methods of Linguistic-Anthropology which is by its very nature rather technical and although I have studied a little social-anthropology I found it a little difficult at times. That said there is plenty to keep any reader interested and entertained. It is also worth noting that this study focuses on some off the less accessible hasidic groups so I learned more about Satmar and others rather than about Habad-Lubavitch who are the focus of other books. I also learnt about the 'class-structures' within hasidic society. Fader has managed to turn an academic study into an erudite yet enjoyable read. It will repay the effort that the reader puts in. And am glad that I read it and will certainly retain it to read again at a later date.
Format:Paperback
This is a fascinating innsight into a New York Hasidic Jewish community. The author has an engaging style, which makes it an easy read. Although the research was undertaken for an academic study, the book is not at all dry. The methodological background is explained at the beginning of the book, and then referenced in the text in a very light manner. I recommend it for general interest, as well as for study.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
intriguing but oddly miscellaneous study
18 Oct 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mitzvah Girls is an anthropological study of Hasidic girls, somewhat in the spirit of Liz Harris's Holy Days and Stephanie Levine's Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers. It offers an intimate peek into several of Brooklyn's Hasidic communities, especially into girls' elementary schools and the home lives of mothers and children. Ayala Fader has a strong background in linguistics, and much of the study focuses on the roles of Hasidic English and Hasidic Yiddish in the community. Another intriguing thread of the study examines Hasidic women's striving to be "with it, not modern." I was fascinated to read about the manner in which Hasidic mothers and teachers blend mainstream child psychology with traditional approaches and prescriptions. Overall, Mitzvah Girls provides a rich portrait of the values that inform Hasidic child-rearing.
Though I learned a lot from the book, I was frustrated by some of Fader's omissions. She mentions Hasidic children's literature, games, and summer camps only to brush them off; I would have loved to learn more. In writing about the school curriculum, she focuses overwhelmingly on grades K-2 and gives little sense of what the curriculum is like in later years. And while Fader writes at length about modesty and courtship, she never addresses the topic of menstruation. Fader indicates that some Hasidic girls are more or less unaware of the facts of life until they become engaged, but that simply begs the question of what mothers, teachers, and other adult women tell them about their changing bodies in the years between puberty and marriage. Though there is plenty of human interest in the book, the anthropological framework is sometimes heavy-handed. While I enjoyed Mitzvah Girls, I found that it did not provide quite as well-rounded or as approachable a survey of Hasidic girls and Hasidic home life as Harris's and Levine's works do. Its greatest strength lies in Fader's compelling analysis of Hasidic English, Hasidic Yiddish, and gendered speech patterns.
Though I learned a lot from the book, I was frustrated by some of Fader's omissions. She mentions Hasidic children's literature, games, and summer camps only to brush them off; I would have loved to learn more. In writing about the school curriculum, she focuses overwhelmingly on grades K-2 and gives little sense of what the curriculum is like in later years. And while Fader writes at length about modesty and courtship, she never addresses the topic of menstruation. Fader indicates that some Hasidic girls are more or less unaware of the facts of life until they become engaged, but that simply begs the question of what mothers, teachers, and other adult women tell them about their changing bodies in the years between puberty and marriage. Though there is plenty of human interest in the book, the anthropological framework is sometimes heavy-handed. While I enjoyed Mitzvah Girls, I found that it did not provide quite as well-rounded or as approachable a survey of Hasidic girls and Hasidic home life as Harris's and Levine's works do. Its greatest strength lies in Fader's compelling analysis of Hasidic English, Hasidic Yiddish, and gendered speech patterns.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Read for Class but a Good Read
27 Nov 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For my anthropology class we were given a choice of books to read; I selected this one (living in Brooklyn I was somewhat familiar with the subject of the book). For an assignment book this one provided many interesting insights into the Hasidic community. The author uses interviews, and what is referred to as being a "participant-observer."
While their was an occasional slow spot or two I found it an altogether engaging reading.
While their was an occasional slow spot or two I found it an altogether engaging reading.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Excellent book
4 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A truly excellent book. A fascinating look into the Hasidic culture, unknown to many Americans. Fader helps us understand how girls are educated and what is expected of them in this unique community.
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