And You Thought Your Family Was Crazy!

[onionsoupmix]

There's a new blog out there. The author is an anonymous 26 year old woman with 7 children who is currently pregnant with twins. She was raised in some sort of Jewish cult in which the father abused his daughters and the wife and everyone wore veils and females were not allowed to speak in the presence of males.

The entire blog is pretty

Comments

Sophisticated and Sheltered?

[ext_229051]

Quite frankly, I am very, very skeptical about Dina's story. Her command of the English language is quite advanced, and not what one would expect from someone who grew up as sheltered as she claims.

"He has his own demons from growing up in the same environment I did."

"bastardization"

I may well be wrong, but if I had to place a bet, I would say that this Dina's blog contains a very, very significant component of fantasy.

-- Expatriate Owl

Re: Sophisticated and Sheltered?

[barilanisher]

Well after all she is 7 years (according to her bio) after leaving her farm cult. Since she is very intelegent girl, according to her way to express herself, 7 years is enought to fill the gaps.

Re: Sophisticated and Sheltered?

[onionsoupmix]

What would be the point to making this up? She is anonymous, her father is anonymous, the cult name is anonymous... I am not seeing the psychological thrill that a made up blog like this would provide.

Re: Sophisticated and Sheltered?

[ext_229051]

I don't see the psychological thrill from sniffing women's (or, for that matter, men's) dirty underwear, yet, every once in a while, we read in the news of someone who has such an obsession.

As long as Dina sees the psychological thrill, then whether you or I see it is irrelevant.

I had a client whose now deceased aunt used to write stories for the "True Confessions" type magazines. From the stories the aunt would tell, there apparently is a big market for those kinds of fantasies.

The point still stands

[anonymous]

Well, fake or not, and whatever origin this blog could be, I think OSM's point still stands. We don't *really* know about Gd's true intentions, or at least even when taught the same letter of the Law, our ways of understanding them and experiencing them are modelled by much more of our human experience than we like to imagine.

Actually, a fake blog could even have been created to highlight this, and clearly generate thoughts-provoking discussions.

[anonymous]

There are NO ultra-orthdox who marry at 12. it is not legal in the US or Israel.

ONCE I met a woman who was from Iran (or somewhere in that part of the world) who had married at 15.5 , but that is the lowest Ive ever seen.

Ive only heard of one Ultra Orthodox group in Ramat Beis Shemesh where the women are supposed to wear Burqa's, but they have been roundly condemed.

While sexual abuse likely does occur in the jewish world (Just by statistics) It is not condoned (It might be swept under the rug for embarassement )

[onionsoupmix]

No one said her cult was ultra orthodox, just that it was Jewish.

That much is clear from her writings and beliefs. I doubt that her abusive father cared much about what the legal age of marriage was.

This is why I want you to read Moonwebs

[anonymous]

The blog makes it clear that she's referring to a cult, not regular Judaism

Re: This is why I want you to read Moonwebs

[onionsoupmix]

So yes, that's why I cringe when people go on and on about Daas Torah or kabbalas ol and mesiras nefesh, and use (and twist) these concepts to somehow argue that it's virtuous to sacrifice our own notions of right and wrong to blindly follow someone else.

This essentially takes your beliefs out of mainstream orthodoxy altogether, I think. Modern orthodoxy still accepts using your own brain, but they too are gradually becoming more right wing.

But it's not only about following something that you feel is wrong because some rabbinic authority dictates it, this is more about following something neutral because you have been taught that this is what God wants and maybe it isn't. What if God cares as much about whether I wash on bread or not as He does about whether Dina's toddlers cover their hair?

[anonymous]

Dina made a few comments on another blog post that helps to explain some of the seeming inconsistencies in her story: http://www.amotherinisrael.com/submission-judaism-marriage-women/#comments

Two states seem to allow 12-year-olds to marry:
Arizona: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/25/00102.htm&Title=25&DocType=ARS
Mississippi: http://www.mscode.com/free/statutes/93/001/0005.htm

Of course, it's also entirely possible that she could have been married religiously but not legally.

[anonymous]

Actually, in the blog itself she refers to herself as an "illegal child bride".