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Sunday, November 13, 2005

Hella Winston, author of the book Unchosen, speaks at the Brooklyn Public Library

While most of the people at Hella Winston's book reading of her doctoral thesis at the Brooklyn Public library were not frum Yidden, there were a handful of Heimishe present. However what was even more interesting to see were the few 'upgefureneh' Satmare that were there. Though they did not where a black hat and 'lange reckel' or even a yarmulka for that matter, they were easily identifiable by their absence of certain English linguistic skills, their cynicism towards Chasidim and their well-known pronounced 'Yoily lisp'. All in all the semi-quasi knowledgeable Ms. Winston tried to answer as many questions as possible without sounding too anti-Chasidic. Though she has had some connections with some of the 'rebellious' Chasidim in Williamsburg, this is not to say that she has any real knowledge of how they conduct themselves in their everyday life. Ironically even though Hella claims to be a doctoral sociology student at the City University of New York, her speaking style reflected no more eloquence than the Satmar Chasidim that she disavows.

Comments:
is it mr. & mrs. chaptzem?

 

http://amshinover.blogspot.com/2005/11/do-me-somding-ya.html

Last night I heard Hella Winston author of the book Unchosen : The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels speak, many of the quests at the reading were not orthodox, but ' Baruch Hashem' there were some ex-/ neo-/ post-/ quasi-/ pre-Heimishe present. The post Heimishe were easily identified as their Austro-Hungarian accents reared its’ ugly head, heck even famed Shtriemel was present (maybe ?).The overall atmosphere was anti-clerical or at least charged with rage against the Chasidic community. Yada , Yada , Yada ....

Some Points of Interest to Me:

-One woman wanted to know how the ‘Chasidics’ though ‘all’ poor, can ‘all’ afford big expensive cars. To which yours truly shut her down by heckling “All? All?”

-One gentleman who looked like his ancestors came from Puerto Rico asked several poignant questions, his annunciation though gave him away as a post-‘Yoli’.A very angry one at that.

-Some oldhag wanted to know why her grandson wanted to become " a Lubavitch".(Duh the hot girls , think Mid'yan).

-After the lecture we sat around guessing who’s’ who, which one of us was or is which blogger.

-We had 15 men with a yeshiva education and no minyan.

-In the elevator with a mix of neo-/ post-/ quasi-/ and pre-s one post-bobver named ‘Motti” claimed that a presumptuous fellow of the U/O Litvish persuasion said “Motti I’m glad you are no longer chassidish , why don’t you become a Litvak”

-I met someone once named Tully, who introduced me to his friend (?) [life's partner (?)] and had managed to lose his accent, the two of them are making a documentary about faith in America......................

 

I just read her book, and thing I wondered was whether she and "Yossi" had a little fling. It sounded like they spent lots of time together and talked about very personal matters.

 

Yes She and "yossi" did have a fling and we all know who yossi is and we all know who "Dini" is, and the rumor is that Yossi and Dini also had a fling. Why yossi and Dini d'ont leave their spouses and marry each other is still a mystery

 

you are all a disgrace to yiddishkeit with your loshon hora and your lack of compassion for frum yidn who suffer. you are a shonde.

 

since you blocked my last comment i will try to make it again: you are all a shonde with your loshon hora and your lack of compassion for yidn. you should all be ashamed by the chilul hashem you are making.

 

Anyone that knows anything about higher education is aware that the receipt of a Phd is no inidcation that the title holder is knowledgable or accomplished wahtsoever.

Chapzem, frumsingle, and all the other jealous nutjobs.
Did you ever finish high school? ( Your spelling skills give me a good idea) did you ever conduct any research or write a book in your miserable lives? You guy's know about Hella and her world as much as I know about calculus. I wonder why you guys feel so threatened by her revelations.

Yes She and "yossi" did have a fling and we all know who yossi is and we all know who "Dini" is, and the rumor is that Yossi and Dini also had a fling. Why yossi and Dini d'ont leave their spouses and marry each other is still a mystery

Admit you would love to do that, would you not?

 

hoile - Just a little tip - when you're quoting other people, you have to put what they say in quotes so people can see clearly what you're saying and what they're saying. It was actually pretty funny, when I read your comment - the part where you quoted anon - "Yes She and "yossi" did have a fling..." at first I didn't realize that you were quoting and I was wondering why you were referring to yourself in the third person!

 

"yossi" doesn't have a spouse. he is divorced, but maybe you guys cant read.

 

"at first I didn't realize that you were quoting and I was wondering why you were referring to yourself in the third person!"

Thanks. I guess I wanted you to break your head (not your heart) for a change.

 

sounds more to me like MELROSE PLATZ

 

I purchased this book as soon as it was released and stayed up late reading it. Ever watched a movie which felt like it was going to become interesting in a second, only to suddenly realise that the end credits were rolling, and the expected interesting bit never materialised?

This book is just like that.

Furthermore, it dwells quite a bit on the story of a rebel who has some mental health issues, clearly not your run of the mill rebel, and not at all representative of the other rebels out there. The book doesn’t contain much real insight into the minds of Chassidic youngsters who are “going off”. Being one such “rebel” myself (albeit in secret) I could have written a better book.

It doesn’t live up to it’s promise. Don’t buy it.

Read our blogs instead, they’re free, and they’re more interesting. :)

 

it's so funny to hear how chassidish people think that whenever a man and woman become close, they must be having sex! it just shows the obsession this group has with sex and how their repression causes them to think much more about sex than anyone on the outside.

 

frumsingle,
why don't you reveal who you really are and your own credentials? without doing so, your comments hold no weight and reveal only your ignorance. i would like you to enlighten us as to who is on this "committee" and what is their vested interest in the subject matter?

 

I don't think that Ms. Winston and Mr. Yossi had a little something.

 

This blogging thing is blogg-o-licious and very addictive.

I would like to know if anyone knows what's going on with Yossi the main character on Unchosen.

 

I heard this Yossi is so crazy frei that he slept with his shiksa girlfriend's sister!

 

This is all very juicy stuff.
So, what did happened to yossi and ms. winston? Did they have a fling?
Is it just me or not too many of you blogger think too highly of ms. winston and her academic credentials? Now, why is that? As of yet I have not heard her talk. Does anyone know where she will be appearing next and is it as bad as it sounds?

 

I am a secular Jew who read this book and felt quite sympathetic for Yossi and anyone who is so torn between two worlds. I have a brother who is very religious (long beard, observant, children all in Yeshevias) and I was afraid that he would distance himself from me. That is not the case. I am close with his children and go to his home. They can't come to me because I am not kosher and observant. However, I admire their discipline and love for Hasham. This book is just a book and there are certain truths that are uncomfortable to read.

 

Winston's work is an important piece of social history and, no doubt, much of it is accurate. I suspect, however, that she had some preconceived notions to begin with, and therefore her research and conclusions are inaccurate, incomplete or somewhat biased. Nevertheless, in sum and substance she has done a service. My own experiences suggest many similarities between the Taliban and Hasidic social structures, except to my knowledge the Hasidic community hasn't beheaded anyone yet, for shaving their beard or showing an elbow.

 

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