American Shtetl

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A compelling account of how a group of Hasidic Jews established its own local government on American soil, Kiryas Joel was settled in the mid-1970s by a small contingent of Hasidic families. This town is unique in Jewish history, yet shares parallels with other religious communities in the United States. The narrative details how this pious, Yiddish-speaking community has evolved into a thriving enclave and a powerful local government in upstate New York. Rejecting mainstream American norms, Kiryas Joel has successfully created a distinct world by utilizing the secular political and legal instruments it disavows. Nomi Stolzenberg and David Myers provide a richly textured portrait of daily life in Kiryas Joel, examining the community's religious, social, and economic norms. They trace the roots of Satmar Hasidism and its charismatic founder, Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, from nineteenth-century Hungary to post-World War II Brooklyn, where he envisioned an ideal Jewish town modeled on eastern European shtetls. The authors document Kiryas Joel's rise as an official municipality with its own elected government, highlighting how ongoing legal and political battles have defined and strengthened the community. This success has paralleled the rise of political conservatism and multiculturalism in American society over the past four decades. Timely and accessible, the work explores the cultural and legal conflicts that shaped this vibrant r