The Performance of Kinship among Yotzim Leshe’elah in Brooklyn

The term Yotzim Leshe’elah ("those who have left to question") denotes former Haredim who have abandoned their pious lifestyle and have joined secular mainstream society. American Haredi society uses another term for this phenomenon – OTD, which stands for Off the Derech (“off the path”). Based on ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative in-depth interviews, this paper analyzes the construction and performance of voluntary kinship ties of a group of former Israeli Haredim who have settled in Brooklyn. Former Haredim oftentimes have shattered relationships with their biological families which repudiate them for their lifestyle choices. This study shows how Yotzim Leshe’elah establish nurture kinship ties that represent a pseudo-family which creates a supportive and caring environment for its members. Social cohesion of this substitute family is reinforced by a shared cultural background and by similar personal trajectories. The performance of kinship displays an array of modified Jewish traditions and rites which accommodate the traditions of their past and strongly express their new identities.