Combines powerful first-person accounts with incisive scholarly analysis to understand the phenomenon of ultra-Orthodox Jews who leave their insular communities and venture into the wider world.

In recent years, many formerly ultra-Orthodox Jews have documented leaving their communities in published stories, films, and memoirs. This movement is often identified as "off the derech" (OTD), or off the path, with the idea that the "path" is paved by Jewish law, rituals, and practices found within their birth communities. This volume tells the powerful stories of people abandoning their religious communities and embarking on uncertain journeys toward new lives and identities within mainstream society. Off the Derech is divided into two parts: stories and analysis. The first includes original selections from contemporary American and global authors writing about their OTD experiences. The second features chapters by scholars representing such diverse fields as literature, history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, religion, and gender studies. The interdisciplinary lenses provide a range of methodologies by which readers can better understand this significant phenomenon within contemporary Jewish society.

"Off the Derech tells an important story of a growing community of disaffiliated members who are living on the margins of their previous worlds and are building new spaces for themselves with new identities." — Nova Religio

"An important and eye-opening work for those of us who have been off the derech for ages or who are eyeing an exit ramp. The essays and memoirs reinforce each other beautifully. A true must read." — Gary Shteyngart

"This is an impressive collection of personal narratives, conversations, and historical and sociological analysis. Its greatest strengths are the diversity of voices offered and the honesty of the contributors. I found it compelling." — Nora L. Rubel, author of Doubting the Devout: The Ultra-Orthodox in the Jewish American Imagination