by Oren Yaniv, November 3, 2003 – Translated from Ma’ariv

In one of Brooklyn’s Hasidic communities lives a yeshiva student, married with children, who struggles to leave his religious universe and move into the secular world. Once in a while he takes the subway to Manhattan, visits a museum, watches a movie, peeks at the forbidden culture. Trying to feel temporal, he removes his yarmulke when in the city, but he still wears the black suit, the long beard and the traditional tassel. He appears as ultra-orthodox as the next guy, but sees himself as a model atheist. ‘œIt’s the funniest thing,’ said an acquaintance who himself completed the transformation from an ultra-religious Jew to a secular person.

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