In his new book, Brooklyn Odyssey: My Journey out of Hasidism, Zalman Newfield (associate professor of sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College) writes from the vantage point of a teenager who could not find his place in Orthodox Judaism.

His previous book Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, while not a parenting book, there is a lot, in fact, that parents can learn from it. There, Newfield interviewed 74 former members of the Lubavitch and Satmar communities who left their communities and observance (he terms it exiting) to understand why and how they left, and the nature of their transition.

In Brooklyn Odyssey, he tells his story of his life growing up in the Chabad stronghold of Crown Heights. While Chabad is known for its openness and welcoming of all Jews, Newfield felt stifled in such an environment.

The problem many teens face is that the box of Orthodoxy is often quite rigid. For those who........

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