Religion and Politics

The High Price of Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Life

For The New York Times Magazine, Taffy Brodesser-Akner writes on the challenges of leaving ultra-Orthodox Judaism and becoming “off the derech,” (O.T.D.) or path. Brodesser-Akner profiles Footsteps, an organization that assists Jews in leaving the tight-knit ultra-Orthodox community. Lani Santo, the executive director of Footsteps, said, “I can’t think of many members who haven’t, at one time or another in their journeys, contemplated suicide because they have felt they have no other options.”

Read at The New York Times Magazine

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