One of Us

Hasidic Judaism is an unknown topic to a lot of people so it was pretty informative for me. We see how ridiculously backwards these guys' lives are in one of the most modern cities in the world.

It's an interesting documentary about 3 brave people who decided to walk away from the Hasidic Jewish community and talk about how they are struggling with the "outside" life.

Firstly, this documentary had excellent music in it... I grew up in a Pentecostal Christian Church which is kind of the equivalent of Hasidism. I know EXACTLY what these people are going through and their stories need to be told. This documentary captures the lack of humanity when an insulated community isolates people who break their rules.

This documentary made me furious! And incredibly sad that in this day and age the men of this religion are so protected and the women are just incubators.

Disturbing and harrowing, especially the complete failure to address child sexual abuse.

A powerful and personal portrait of ostracism from a community. The documentary itself is a standard format but it's what it reveals about the inner workings of a defensive an insular group that is so affecting. No matter the reason or history I can't agree with how Ety was treated by those she used to belong to.

I just want to say first and foremost that I am in awe of the three featured individuals. Etty, Luzer, and Arye/Ari are former members of Brooklyn's Hasidic Jewish community who, for various reasons, and out of varying degrees of excruciating horror or sadness, have chosen to leave the only community they've ever known—a community that eschews formal education, job skill-building, or co-mingling with a 21st-century secular world. In effect, by choosing to use the Internet or eat cheeseburgers or enter a public library, formerly Hasidic Jews in New York face complete isolation and ostracism.

All three stories are heartbreaking in their own ways, and each person was heroic in their willingness to challenge and question a system that does not celebrate America's "rugged individualism." It's no doubt hard for many of us in the secular world to grasp just how complicated it may be to confront such a world. But the real heroism is within Etty, an extraordinarily articulate woman with such steely resolve and fierce affection for her seven children by an abusive husband she barely knew before marrying. It's a mystery how she became so strong, especially given what happens during the course of the film, but she deserves a standing ovation for never losing sight of her principles and her humanity.

Beautifully shot and scored, this film is a thoughtfully constructed and deeply humane exploration of the role of the American Hasidic community in the wake of the Holocaust. I hope there is a follow-up film from the same creators.