Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Dancing Idealist

I used to be an idealist.

A blog under the name Hasidic-Feminist (you can imagine that I was excited to find that one) recently wrote about how her Hasidic community marries off their children when they're young and idealistic in order to keep them, "entrenched within the community, tied down by obligations and red tape."

I used to be one of those idealistic kids who, if I'd been "married off" when I was still in that idealistic phase, could have ended up as one of those women who I write about in my blog -- the young married girls without dreams or ambitions beyond their own little families.

As the idealist I used to be, I would have been happy to enter into that kind of life. I would have done the whole dance of the young Orthodox girl who gets engaged, giggles over her fiance with her friends, happily makes wedding and new-home plans, goes on to have her own children and lives to keep her husband and children happy.

Would I have remained happy, though? 

Ay, there's the rub.
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil 
Must give us pause
(Hamlet Act III, Scene I)


3 comments:

  1. that's exactly what happened to me. i had a frum phase in my late teens and they caught me just in time.

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  2. G-d had different plans for me though I'm still not sure what they are!

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  3. Adrian, you might want to read the blog post before referencing dance lessons.

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