Secular Jihadists for a Muslim Enlightenment: EP39: Escape from Hasidic Judaism Ari Hershkowitz grew up in an insular Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, and was featured in the award-winning Netflix documentary “One of Us.” He spoke to us about the toxicity of religious indoctrination, the horrific abuse he suffered as a child, his descent into […]
“a person’s faith, or lack thereof, is often so important that it affects physical, as well as spiritual, well-being.” The Health Effects of Leaving Religion How a loss of faith can manifest itself in the mind and body Ray has been a psychologist for more than 30 years and founded Recovering From Religion, an organization […]
By Etty Ausch, starring in the Netflix Documentary One Of Us: How I Left My Hasidic Jewish Community & Found My Sexuality Before my engagement, I never heard of the word “sex.” Just before I was married off, I attended bridal classes where I learned the basic mechanics of sex. I felt confused and terrified, […]
THIS NORMAL LIFE: ‘Datlash’ 2.0 – the elephant in the room What’s fueling the growing phenomenon in Israel of datlashim – the Hebrew acronym for formerly religious Jews? And how big is it in real numbers? Based on surveys conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Chotam religious lobbying organization found that, among the […]
Some simple advice on Reddit on Coming Out can be found here. One of the things it offers is a neat overview of when you should come out to your family and friends.
Excellent article from imamother.com: Top Ten Things Not to Say to a Kofer | Imamother People going through religious struggles or an off-the-derech journey are often confronted by well-meaning individuals who make useless and even offensive comments. I did a little survey of my OTD friends and here are the worst offenders, in no particular […]
From the moderators of the Off the Derech Facebook group, a new social media outlet with the following description: Why do people go off the derech? How can we bring frum and frei together? Well, just join the conversation and have a virtual coffee in our OTD FYI group. And, FYI, the group is called OTD FYI.
From the cover: “Dina-Perla grew up in Jewish orthodoxy and a suffocating reality, where nothing is what it seems. As a young girl, she fough for freedom and love, flees her parental home and decides never to return.” Dina-Perla Portnaar’s debut is called “Exodus from the lighthouse” and will be sold in Dutch stores starting […]
Leaving is okay I had an open conversation with a religious friend who watched the One Of Us documentary. She admitted that she hadn’t been planning to watch it, but after reading my blog post, she decided to give it a shot. It touched her.
Dear mom, If only you would be more concerned with my wellbeing and less concerned about religion You would still have me If only you would give me what I need And not what you want me to need If only if only…