I’m reading a terrific 2005 book called "Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels."
It’s by a secular Jewish woman getting her PhD in Sociology — Hella Winston.
On page 104, she quotes an email she got from a guy who had one foot in the Hasidic world:
If you ask them if they regret not ever having been in a loving relationship, most of them would say no.
…In order to survive, their bodies have evolved so that they don’t have those needs; they adapted genetically, they don’t have a physical need for any deep emotional attachments and experiences. Once you separate sex from feelings it’s easy to see how some people become deviant. Sexual gratification becomes an animalistic pursuit, devoid of beauty and passion and meaning.
I was shocked by how unprepared the Hasidim (this book is about the non-Lubavitch Hasidim) were for life in the secular world. I didn’t realize the full extent of their isolation, their inadequate education in the English language and in normal work skills, and how much they depend on gaming the system to get by.
After the author says she finds appalling the massive fraud by the Hasidic enclave of New Square (four village leaders were convicted but Bill Clinton pardoned them), Yossi (a renegade Hasid) "tells me that I can go into any shul or men’s mikvah, where guys are always sharing the latest tactics and strategies, and hear even more for myself… After all, these are men who study law all day and learn how to think critically and spot loopholes." (Pg. 93, 94)
The Hasidim used to distinguish themselves from their Orthodox opponents the Mitnagdim by their veneration for work as opposed to simply Torah study. That changed in the 1960s. "With their very high birthrates quickly driving up the population, and their paucity of educational credentials, the Hasidim had, in a sense, become the victim of their own success. In the decades that followed, Hasidic leaders began to have to look to federal, state and local programs to aid the poor and bring resources into the community.
"…No doubt, the Hasidic rejection of secular education and emphasis on large families have played a major role in Hasidic poverty and reliance on government support, but so have the government’s eternal willingness to court communities that are able to deliver large blocs of votes." (Pg. 42, 43)
