A fascinating look at the Hasidic community in Brooklyn, One of Us follows three ex-members with uniquely harrowing experiences. Ari is a young man who decided to leave the community and we watch him learn about the secular world for the first time as an adult. The phrase "secular world" sounds so absurd to us but it is the proper way to describe the world outside the community. The modern Hasidic community formed as a response to the Holocaust. The community is insular with very strict rules to ensure the perseverance of the Jews. But going back to Ari, he is hilarious. What happened to him is awful, but watching him talk about discovering Wikipedia is precious. Etty's story is heartbreaking. She is fighting a court battle against the whole community for custody of her seven children, seeking solace in Footsteps, an organization that helps ex-members adjust. And the third character is Luzer, an aspiring actor trying to corner the Hasidic market. He is also quite funny. There are a lot of really astounding rules and practices they have. But I find the most astonishing thing to be that the Talmudic schools do not teach enough secular subjects to produce students with any marketable skills. Without any skills, they must rely fully on the community and welfare and have no ability to leave even if they wanted to. Some of them barely even speak English...born in Brooklyn! And somehow the state of New York willfully ignores this. This is of course a huge generalization, but the state is failing this community. And the secular world that these ex-members face out there is a scary one.
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