A recent New York magazine story about a young woman exiled by Kiryas Joel inspired Hasidic women, including Rachel Freier, left, Eve Friedman, center, and Rachel Schmidt, to speak to the media about the community and the Hasidic lifestyle. Shots taken at Freier\'s Woodbury bungalowKiryas Joel, NY - Some of the Hasidic women read the story about Sterna ''Gitty'' Grunwald soon after it came out in New York magazine. Others read it after hearing about it from friends.
''Tremendous pain that this happened,'' said Eva Friedman.
The five women, all of whom live in New York City, joined two local women from the ''haredi,'' or ultra-orthodox Jewish community, to respond to what they say was a biased depiction of Kiryas Joel and Hasidic life.
''Everything written was a total distortion,'' Friedman said.
Many Hasidim share the values and customs of Kiryas Joel residents, so an attack on the Orange County village is seen as an attack on all Hasidim, the women said.
''People have been calling me from our (non-Hasidic) community and asking me if everything Gitty said about Hasidic women is true,'' said Chana Burston, a Lubavitcher with a Chabad mission in Monroe.
The leaders of Kiryas Joel long ago decided to remain silent when faced with such secular attacks on their culture. But that decision was made before the Internet and when the secular interest in Kiryas Joel remained confined to Orange County, said Rachel Freier, a local attorney who arranged the interviews with most of the women.
A story last year in the Times Herald-Record about villagers who vandalized a young woman's car after she wore immodest clothing, as well as a story about the village in one of New York's premiere magazines, drastically raises the stakes for the village's silence, Freier said.
''The repercussion of not responding at all can be so damaging,'' she said.
Located within 50 minutes of New York City, Kiryas Joel is home to the most conservative of the haredi population, as well as the fastest growing with more than 20,000 villagers. Its people follow ultra-strict codes of dress and behavior, including the regulation of marital relationships.
But its residents are also known as some of the kindest and most generous of the Hasidic world, according to the women. Their picture of the village contrasted sharply with that of the magazine story, which centered on the perception by a disgruntled young exile that the village, and by inference all of the haredi world, consisted of intolerant religious extremists.
''We don't view our rabbis and their clergy as the Taliban,'' Freier said, referring to the characterization of rabbinical leaders, as well as the ''Vaad Hatznius,'' the Hasidic ''modesty'' police.
Unlike stories about the village's land disputes or taxes by local newspapers, the magazine story struck at the village's core beliefs.
''It violated the three core tenets of Hasidic life: Shabbos, our Kosher dietary laws, and family purity,'' Freier said.
A friend of Freier's from Kiryas Joel, who asked to be called ''Esther'' to protect her identity, said a few people leave the village because of the restrictive religious lifestyle, but rarely if ever does anyone carry the type of resentment held by Grunwald.
''Most will not say 'I want to belong to the secular world,' '' she said. ''They'll say, 'I want to belong to a more modern world.' ''
Grunwald said in an e-mail that she was advised by her attorney to hold off on responding to the news media for now. Marc Jacobson, who wrote the story, said his intention was to focus on Grunwald's story and not so much the nuances of Hasidic culture, which he said he was unfamiliar with. Jacobson, a contributing editor, said he's written countless articles for the magazine over many years.
''The last thing I wanted to do was make people mad,'' he said. ''All I wanted to do was write about being a Jew in a different way in this world.''
Sam Heilman, an expert on Hasidic culture at the City University of New York, agreed with Freier and the other women about the tone of the story, but still believed the piece had journalistic merit.
''Is (Grunwald) the perfect example of someone who left the community? No. The perfect example is likely those who don't have all the complications she has,'' Heilman said. ''But ultimately, the individual has to learn to adapt to the needs and demands of this community, and if they can't, it is viewed that there's a problem in 'them' and not a problem in 'us.'''
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