The Ultra-Orthodox Movement: Defection Analysis

This paper will look to analyze why certain Jews in the Ultra-Orthodox movement decide to defect from their upbringing. It will examine what commonalities, if any, there are between defectors, in leaving their community. The transition between a religious and secular life is dramatic, confusing, and lonely. What happens after one decides to make the switch and leave their community? What are the major struggles they face during and after transition? Do all Jews that defect become completely secular, or are there different types of defection? These are the questions that will be answered through this paper. This topic is interesting because it is an area that has not been fully analyzed. Due to the nature of Hasidic groups, and their insular …show more content…
The three typologies were Disengagement, Dissent, and true Defection. Disengagement is the belief that a religious organization/sect should not have autonomous control over oneself. The belief in God remains, but there is a denunciation of total spiritual authority over one’s personal life. Dissent, on the other hand, rejects religious institutions entirely but this rebuff of group is not necessarily tied to a rejection in God. Defection, however, is the complete rejection of anything religious, including the belief in …show more content…
The most complicated section is that of the Transition stage. Jews, during this period, tend to be in a confused state; they are neither part of their insular world, or part of the secular world. Jews going through this stage tend to experience many different emotions, such as stress, anxiety, and even suicide. The process of leaving one’s community, friends, and family is a huge undertaking emotionally. In the journal, Characters in Search of a Script: The Exit Narratives of Formerly Ultra-Orthodox Jews, it highlights a defector by the name of Leah. She describes her transitioning stage as “passing” between two worlds. She describes herself as existing in a paradox of being in both the Haredi world and the secular world at once. Her struggle, like so many other defectors was difficult because of the precarious nature of trying to balance both worlds at once while transitioning. Since the nature of the Hasidic community to ostracize people who leave its insular community, it is of no surprise that these are common feelings defectors experience when transitioning to the secular