Zalman Newfield – From Tradition to Transformation
Summary
Rabbi David Ingber interviews sociologist Zalman Newfield about his memoir, Brooklyn Odyssey, detailing his departure from the Lubavitch Hasidic community. Newfield discusses growing up as the child of baalei teshuva, the intense veneration of the Rebbe, and how his brother’s death and secret secular reading gradually eroded his faith. He describes the slow, non-linear process of leaving the insular world to pursue academic life and broader societal engagement.
Topics discussed
Introduction and guest background in Lubavitch
Baal Teshuva status and secular studies
The Rebbe's messianic role and community rituals
Brother's death and crisis of faith
Leaving Orthodoxy and navigating dating
Marriage, family dynamics, and therapy
Current life, children, and advice for leavers
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