The Center for Jewish Civilization invites you to a lecture by Dr. Ayala Fader.

During this talk, Dr. Fader will explore the emergence of religious (frum) therapy as a treatment for ultra-Orthodox Jews with life-changing doubt. Married and with children, these ultra-Orthodox men and women often live “double lives,” no longer believing in divine revelation, but continuing to practice publicly to protect their families. When double lifers’ doubting is uncovered or confessed they are often sent by a rabbi to a religious therapist, triangulating their care. This is part of a new attention to the interior of ultra-Orthodox Jews, their hearts and minds rather than their bodies. Rabbis and religious therapists claim medicalized reasons for doubt, rather than moral weakness. This pathologizing of doubt is part of a broader communal effort to “cure” loved ones and keep them in the fold, while upholding structures of religious authority.

Dr. Ayala Fader received her PhD from New York University and is currently Professor of Anthropology at Fordham University. She is the author of the award-winning book Mitzvah Girls: Bringing Up the Next Generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn (Princeton 2009) and has published numerous articles on Yiddish-English bilingualism and language socialization, New Age Jewish spirituality, the Occupy Judaism movement, sex abuse, and changing notions of media and belief. Her articles have appeared in American Anthropologist, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, Hau, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, The Immanent Frame, The Revealer, and Anthropological Quarterly, among others. Recent fellowships in support of her work include the National Science Foundation (2014-2016) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (2017-2018) both for her book, Double Lives: Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age (Spring 2020). Fader is the founder and co-convener of the New York Working Group on Jewish Orthodoxies at Fordham’s Jewish Studies Program.

Light refreshments will be served prior to the event. RSVP is encouraged.

Any person with an accommodation request is welcome to email us at cjcinfo@georgetown.edu. We will try to meet these accommodation requests to the best of our ability.

RSVP at afader2019.eventbrite.com