Strictly Kosher Reading

H-Judaic

2012-03-07T21:53:00.001-08:00

If you are not familiar with the fantastic collection of academic listserv's, H-net, you should check it out. It is a great source of collaboration and ideas. Their Jewish studies list, H-Judaic, just published a very positive review of SKR.

Life in Israel

2012-02-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

A Beit Shemesh blogger at "Life in Israel," liked SKR but found it hard to read (Sorry!).

Israel's Leading News Website

2012-01-25T22:13:00.000-08:00

Ynet, a major news website here in Israel, summarized the book based on an interview with me. I might have framed things differently, but they seem to have gotten it basically right.

Prof. Martin Lockshin

2012-01-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

Prof. Martin Lockshin, in his regular column in the Canadian Jewish News, offers a thorough and thoughtful review of SKR. It's not available online, but I have posted a PDF here.

Jewish Book Council

2012-01-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

The Jewish Book Council has posted a short "just the facts" review on its website. Check it out here.

Unpious

2011-12-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

Unpious.com, one of the more fascinating and diverse websites for no-longer Haredi Jews, just posted a really nice review of the book. You can read it here: http://www.unpious.com/2011/12/book-review-strictly-kosher-reading/

Congratulations

2011-12-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

The marketing department at Academic Studies Press just let me know that SKR has already sold over 500 copies since publication under six months ago. Not yet Harry Potter, but by the standards of academic monographs on admittedly obscure topics, not bad at all. Ken Yirbu!

Kol Hamevaser

2011-11-23T04:48:00.000-08:00

Yeshiva University's student newspaper of Jewish studies has published a lengthy and detailed review. Click here to read it.

Amazon Prices

2011-11-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why Amazon has hiked the price of the softcover up to some ridiculous amount, but if you are interested in a more reasonably priced copy, please email me and I should be able to arrange something.

Jewish Ideas Daily

2011-11-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

Jewish Ideas Daily has published a thoughtful review, connecting the book to wider theories of American marketing.

Short quote: "This book almost explodes with fascinating information about Haredi authors, critics, and debates in the pages of magazines unknown to outsiders. Finkelman may have set out to describe the contribution of Haredi popular culture to the propagation of Haredism, but what he's done is to write an approachable, responsible introduction to Haredi life that demystifies many of its aspects."

A Translation of Rabbi Yonah Goodman's Book Review

2011-11-10T03:07:00.001-08:00

In the previous post, I linked to Rabbi Yonah Goodman's review of SKR on Kipa. Here is a translation for the non-Hebrew readers among us.

Is the Haredi Community Turning Inward or Outward?

R. Yonah Goodman

Outwardly, it seems that the Haredi community remains faithful to Torah as it understands it, while maintaining maximal opposition to modernity. Is that true? A new book focuses on some profound recent changes in the Haredi community. What does that teach us about our own religious Zionist path?

One of the core differences between the religious Zionist community and the Haredi community involves their respective attitudes towards modernity. The emergence of modernity challenged the Orthodox Jewish community. Many asked, "How should we react?" Is modernity an enemy or a blessed challenge? In the face of this complex question, the Orthodox religious community split in two parts. The Haredi community concluded that modernity is a dangerous enemy, from which it is necessary to isolate oneself, with the possible exception of certain technological necessities. In contrast, the religious Zionist community saw in modernity part of God's world, and was prepared to examine carefully each aspect of modernity to determine what should be adopted and what should be rejected. There are subgroups within religious Zionism with different attitudes toward the proper measure of openness, but complete rejection of modernity is not a religious Zionist option.

This description of the two responses is clear and sharp, but there is one problem. It is not completely correct. A new, fascinating book, Strictly Kosher Reading, written by Dr. Yoel Finkelman, uncovers what is happening behind the scenes in the Haredi community. The book shows that the Haredi community's relationship with modernity is much more complex than what it presents outwardly. Practically speaking, Haredim do not succeed in cutting themselves off completely from modern content. In recent years, they are influenced profoundly by modern ways of thinking, and they have various ways of explaining that.

There has already been much research examining the goings-on in the Haredi community, but Finkelman adopts a unique perspective. He chooses to focus on changes in Haredi the encounter with modernity by examining popular literature. In a deep, fascinating (and wonderfully documented) analysis, marked by fair and respectful prose, Dr. Finkelman identifies the ways in which the Haredi community is developing a diverse literature -- children's books, thriller novels, marriage guides, and parenting manuals -- many of which draw directly from Western culture and its principles. He systematically reveals and maps the ways that writers justify this borrowing of modern content (whether by claiming that it is already contained in Torah, by various unconvincing apologetic strategies , or even by explaining why in particular cases it is necessary to draw from a foreign culture [chapter 3]). This analysis leads to a discussion of modern literary styles within much of the Haredi community, and the rabbis’ attitudes toward this development (page 97), as well as discussions of biographies of great rabbis that include discussions of their personal weaknesses (parts of chapter 4), and more. In between the lines, there is a clear conclusion: the Haredi community has also discovered leisure, and it is fascinating to see how they are dealing with that.

Why is this so important for us, the religious Zionist community? Primarily because we face the same processes and challenges. The tension between conservatism and isolationism; the tension between reliance on the tradition and novelty; the discussion of the proper attitude to notions such as “da’at Torah” -- all of these exist among us as well. For example, Finkelman offers a fascinating discussion of the ways in which the Haredi community struggles with internal criticism ("May we wash dirty laundry in public?") and the ways in which the Internet and Internet comments undermine the attempts of authoritative bodies to silence internal criticism (chapter 6). This very issue has occupied us quite a bit recently (and hints are enough in this context).

Put differently, an examination of what is happening within the Haredi community in these foundational issues offer is not only a window into what is happening in that large and important Jewish community, but also places a mirror in front of us, in order to examine the important developments that are occurring so intensively within our community. We are also trying to blaze a trail (albeit a different trail) between the extremes, and we have a lot to learn from what is changing within that community, from their successes and their failures.

A closing thought: the Haredi community succeeded in creating literature and culture of its own (though some might call it "Haredi-lite”), and the community refuses to consume secular culture. In a kind of chicken and egg paradox, Haredi literature reflects the Haredi path even as it forms and changes it. In the religious Zionist community, the market for our distinctive culture is not nearly as big, since so much of our population does consume secular culture (within minimal limits). What is lost -- in our community and education, as well as in larger Israeli culture -- when we refuse to develop a market for culture with a unique religious Zionist voice? The first sprouting some such a literature has appeared in recent years, but it is a mere drop in the bucket. A little more pride and self-confidence would certainly not hurt us.

Yonah Goodman is director of the field of faith studies in Orot College.

Kipa Reviews SKR

2011-11-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

Rabbi Yonah Goodman, a fascinating educator who works at the Orot College in Israel and writes on the Religious-Zionist website Kipa, sees the American Haredi model described in SKR as parallel in many ways to what is happening within Religious Zionism. I agree, though there are certain differences. (If I get permission, I'll post a translation of his review here.)

Hirhurim on SKR

2011-10-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

Gil Student, probably the most prominent Orthodox blogger in English, just posted a very positive review.

My favorite line -- "the must-read book of the year for every “hocker” and armchair critic..."

SKR hits Venice Beach

2011-10-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

Rabbi Eliyahu Fink, a Ner-Yisrael trained rabbi currently leading the Pacific Jewish Center on Venice Beach, has posted a review of the book, mostly positive but with some substantive and stylistic criticisms as well.

Interview in the Jewish Star

2011-10-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

The Five-Towns based Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Star, has published an interview with me, focusing on the book and the issues it raises. You can read that interview here.

Amazon Lowers Prices for SKR

2011-10-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how they figure out how much to charge for books, and why it seems to change all the time, but it looks like Amazon has dropped the cost of SKR to $19+ for softcover.

Failed Messiah on SKR

2011-10-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Shmarya Rosenberg at the website, Failed Messiah, an Orthodox watchdog site, seems to have liked the book very much.

SKR Reviewed on "Bookjed"

2011-10-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

R. Dr. Shalom Berger offers a friendly review in the most recent edition of "Bookjed." (The issue also includes an interesting review of the most recent book on Taglit-Birthright).

Author Interview

2011-09-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

I had a enjoyable and pleasant conversation about Strictly Kosher Reading with my friend, colleague, and former employer, Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, as part of ATID's "Jewish Educators' Book Club." You can download the conversation here.

Purchasing Info

2011-08-15T01:18:00.000-07:00

If you have made it here, you are probably interested in Haredi popular literature. You can purchase the recently published book directly from Academic Studies Press, from Amazon (hardcover or soft), or send me an e-mail (yoel.finkelman@gmail.com) and I might be able to arrange for a discounted copy. Editors who want a review copy can also be in touch with me or the publisher.

Advanced praise for Strictly Kosher Reading

2011-08-14T00:19:00.000-07:00

In Strictly Kosher Reading, Yoel Finkelman introduces, interrogates and theorizes contemporary Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) popular literature of a variety of genres, from fiction to biography to popular theology, revealing the tensions inherent in a tradition that simultaneously rejects American culture while adapting--and sometimes adopting--its values and attitudes. As such, the book provides fascinating insights into an aspect of Haredi culture little known outside of Orthodox Jewish circles in a scholarly, yet highly accessible, way.

MaryAnn Beavis, Founding Editor, Journal of Religion and Popular Culture

Haredi Judaism is still in its early stages of development, but has already been the focus of numerous scholars, most of whom look at the learned writings of this community. In this new book, Yoel Finkelman has opened up for us the world of popular culture and thought in the haredi world. His concern is how haredim view themselves and how they write about their community and history. At the same time that haredi society attempts to create walls between itself and the wider culture, its writings for the masses are very much influenced by general trends, even in areas as important as marriage and parenting. Combining keen sociological insight with historical knowledge, Finkelman is a wonderful guide to the recent trends in haredi society.

Marc B. Shapiro, Weinberg Chair of Jewish Studies, University of Scranton

Yoel Finkelman presents a penetrating and fascinating analysis of the ways in which American “haredi” (“ultraorthodox”) writers and educators use the broader culture to create and maintain clear boundaries between themselves and the outside society and culture. With acute observations and a very effective writing style, this book is for anyone interested in the areas of American Orthodox Judaism, Jewish education, religion and media, as well as the broader social scientific area of culture and cognition.

Chaim I. Waxman, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University