The X-Chasid

The ex-Hasid has become a very popular phenomenon. Ex-Hasidim comprise those men or women who somehow disenfranchised themselves from Hasidism and — complete with language barrier and culture shock — set out to make a new life for themselves. People who did the same some twenty years ago tell me of the loneliest journey, in which they alone set out to disentangle themselves from their extreme past and make a life in the overwhelming Americhka, without another Yiddish soul to understand them. But things are very different today. Ex-Hasidim are to be had a dime a dozen of every stripe and personality. There are formal and informal groups of social support, there are online forums and there’s Footsteps, an organization specifically founded with the goal to aid those who leave the Hasidic community.

But of course, cha! What kind of weasely Hasid doesn’t know how to take it up two notches and become an xxx-Hasid?

Rumor has it that indeed, the provocative xxx-Hasid who despite his full pious garb behaves sexually suggestive exists a dime a dozen too. Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s one of those skewed incidents that exist less frequently but have nonetheless become a common stereotype to most outsiders.