Product Description

Hasidic Williamsburg recounts the dramatic emergence of this unique community in the face of major crises. It is the story of the loyalty of its members to their rebbes and their teachings and to the milieu they created in an old Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Based on his previous book Williamsburg: A Jewish Community in Transition, which reported the transformation of this moderately Orthodox Jewish community and its rise to prominence after the influx of numbers of refugees from Nazi persecution and the Holocaust, George Kranzler presents the findings of a decade of research into the survival and life-style of Hasidic Williamsburg as a functioning community. Hasidic Williamsburg portrays the desperate struggle and relentless efforts of its leaders, foremost among them the Rebbe of Satmar and other prominent hasidic rebbes, to stem the progressive disintegration of the Jewish neighborhood. It presents their valiant attempts to provide the vital resources for its survival in the face of persistent poverty and other grave problems and to develop programs that would secure the future of this unique hasidic community. Kranzler concludes with the assertion that at the beginning of the '90s its inhabitants are hopeful of being able to weather the present crisis and to continue to function as one of pluralist America's viable religious communities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1834864 in Books
• Published on: 1995-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 332 pages

From Library Journal
In this thorough and well-documented study, Kranzler builds on his 1961 book, Williamsburg: A Jewish Community in Transition. In his earlier report, he concluded, somewhat pessimistically, that this old Brooklyn Jewish neighborhood might not survive. Now, Kranzler reports that in the three decades since his first study the Hasidic community has stabilized. The author attributes this reversal of fortune to the central role of both observant religious values and the Hasidic ideology. He covers such topics as Jewish residential patterns, efforts at economic revitalization, the role of education, the family structure, and women in the Hasidic community. Kranzler also describes the principal institutions of Satmar Hasidic life. In this way, he both updates and complements Solomon Poll's The Hasidic Community of Williamsburg (1962). Recommended for Judaic studies collections and larger popular collections.
Mark Weber, Kent State Univ. Lib., Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Exellent study of the Satmar community
To the average New Yorker, the Satmar Hasidim seem like a mysterious anachronism, with their long black coats, hats, and beards. To the mainstream Jewish community, they are reviled for being anti-Zionist and not supporting Israel. Yet there is so much more to this traditional Jewish culture. Here is a people who have managed to become successful in America without assimilating into the dominant culture's melting pot. George Kranzler takes you behind the scenes into this community, to explore its religion, sociology, politics, and economics.

The book is really a follow-up to Kranzler's earlier 1961 work, "Williamsburg: A Jewish Community in Transition," in which he predicted the eventual decline of the neighborhood and the loss of the Hasidic culture there. Happily, Kranzler was wrong. The Hasidim not only survived, they flourished and prospered. Today, Satmar Hasidim in the Williamsburg neighborhood number in the tens of thousands.

The book contains a great deal of first-person material quoted directly from the Hasidim themselves, and is especially valuable for its positive chapter on the communal contributions of the Hasidic women. Contrary to the negative stereotypes, the Satmar women are not wimpy dishrags with no rights. No indeed! These are strong, assertive women, who choose to be Hasidic, and who take great pride in their roles as wives, mothers, charity workers, etc. Hasidic culture strongly centers on the home, elevating the womens' roles to extreme importance in passing down the traditions to future generations. In addition, many Satmar women have their own successful businesses, actively contributing to the family and community finances. This chapter alone will change your perception of the Hasidic world.

All in all, this is a fascinating and very readable book. My only complaint is that, as with so many Jason Aronson books lately, the price is way too high for the average reader. I would like to see a paperback edition make this book more accessible to lower-income scholars. But, if Hasidism is your field of interest, then this is a valuable addition to your library or personal collection.

overly flattering but still informative
It seems to me that this book lays the praise on a bit thick in its attempt to glorify and defend the Satmar sect; for example, in describing low-level lawlessness by Satmar hasidim; he writes that "too much attention was paid" when some Satmar yeshiva boys cut off the beard of a Lubavitcher, "the media exploited the torching of the cars" of fellow Satmar, and the theft of papers from a hasid who was rumored to be forming a splinter group was the sort of incident "bound to occur in any large movement." When describing a controversy over whether to hold Hasidic classes in public school buildings, the author states without much explanation that "the media, which generally do not deal favorably with the hasidic community . . . blew the case [] all out of proportion."

Even so, a careful reader can get a more balanced portrait of the Satmar from this book. On the positive side, the Satmar rebbe managed to turn a tiny band of Holocaust survivors into a significant sect by persuading his followers to have seven or eight children apiece and persuading most of those children to stay in the Satmar sect, and has managed to create a cohesive community in a marginal neighborhood. The author asserts that Satmar hasidim have engaged in innumerable acts of Torah study and kindness, and I have no reason to doubt him. The author also asserts that Satmar hasidim are, to a much greater extent than other Orthodox scholars, trained in practical halachah (Jewish law), thus enabling them to serve the broader community as halachic judges, kosher supervisors, scribes who write Torah scrolls and tefillin, etc.- undeniably a useful achievement. And Satmar day schools provide breakfast as well as lunch, thus taking some of the pressure off overworked Satmar mothers.

On the other hand, I do find it a little troubling that the Satmar community essentially is a gigantic charity case. According to the author, Satmar schools provide secular education to boys only between the ages of 7 and 14, and even then for only part of the afternoon; college education is of course unthinkable. (Girls are given only slightly more secular education, and far less Jewish education; for example, rather than learning the Torah in English or Hebrew, religious subjects are taught through Yiddish workbooks). As adults, Satmar hasidim function primarily in Yiddish; the author's survey of Satmar women revealed that only 18 of 175 women surveyed read the New York Times and 10 read other English newspapers. (The author does not state whether these groups overlapped). Only 82 of the 175 read any books at all, and 61 of those 82 read only Yiddish books. (The author inexplicably did not conduct a similar survey of Satmar men).

As a result of their low level of education and literacy, Satmar hasidim, to a much greater extent than most Orthodox Jews, fit poorly into the modern economy; professional jobs are of course off limits. According to the author, 1/3 of Williamsburg Hasids have incomes below the poverty line, and the median Jewish income in Williamsburg is one half the median family income in New York City (which in turn is below the median family income for NYC suburbs). In several parts of the book, the author goes out of his way to brag that in 1984, the Satmar were "offically designated a disadvantaged minority" by the U.S. Commerce Department(by which I assume he means that they are eligible for easy access to federal contracts under affirmative action regulations- though the author is not very clear about this). In fact, he states that this decision was "the most significant factor" in "the development of the entreprenurial spirit" among the younger hasidim. Somehow I find it troubling that a community can, by undereducating its members, become voluntarily poor and then gain "affirmative action" protections that were intended for communities that become poor through discrimination.

Kranzler also explains how the Satmar sect differs from other Hasidic groups (most notably Chabad/Lubavitch): while Lubavitchers are outreach-oriented and pro-Zionist, the Satmar crave isolation and oppose the state of Israel on the ground that the restoration of an Israelite government should await the return of the Messiah. In addition, Satmar is much newer: while the Satmar sect was founded in the 20th century by R. Joel Teitelbaum, Chabad/Lubavitch was founded in the 18th century.

On balance, the successes and failures of the Satmar present a challenge to other American Jewish communities: is it possible to combine the demographic successes of the Satmar with the education and affluence of the rest of American Jewry? I don't know.

Party Like It's 1799...
To read this book is to be transported to another time and another place. The Hasidim of New York have recreated the lifestyle of their forebears who lived in Eastern Europe prior to the Holocaust. These ultra-orthodox Jews have managed to become a part of American society, but have not given up their strongly held ritualistic beliefs, old world customs and manner of dress, which to the uninformed, may seem very strange and anachronistic at the start of the 21st century. A wonderful story of a religious people who have not compromised their "old-world" beliefs, yet have managed to thrive in the American "melting pot". I have spent many hours with Chabad Lubavitch in South Florida. They emanate such joy and peace of mind, that one starts to believe that they truly have "THE ANSWER." These followers of the Rebbe Menachem Schneerson (who died in 1994)believe that he is the "King Mashiach" or Messiah, and that he will return to bring peace and harmony to the world and return all the Jews to the land of Israel, where they will once again be permitted to sacrifice in the Beis Hamigdash, or the Temple of Solomon, which will descend from heaven and take it's rightful place in the center of Jerusalem. Now, in all honesty, I can't comfortably accept their system of belief, but I can tell you that these folks are genuine in their openness to those who don't subscribe to their brand of religion. They are always celebrating some holiday or event, and I have found them to be loving and true to the spirit and intent of religion; to love one's fellow man. Yes, there is a certain level of "soft sell", but it is so non-threatening as to be inviting. For further information on Chabad Lubavitch, please refer to the book, "The Rebbe's Army", which deals specifically with the Lubavitch movement. I give that book 5 stars as well.