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        <title><![CDATA[“Unorthodox” writer details struggle to flee Hasidic community]]></title>
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        <lastBuildDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:22:30 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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            <media:title type="html">“Unorthodox” writer details struggle to flee Hasidic community</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The woman who inspired <strong>Netflix</strong> hit &#8220;Unorthodox&#8221; has revealed that she was forced to sell her eggs to make some quick cash after fleeing Williamsburg&#8217;s Satmar Hasidic community.</p><p>Writer Deborah Feldman entered an arranged marriage at 17 years old and left the ultra-orthodox Jewish sect when she was 23 with her 3-year-old son in tow.</p><p>Her memoir, &#8220;<strong>Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots</strong>&#8221; has been turned into a Netflix miniseries. Now, Feldman &#8212; who lives happily in Berlin with her son &#8212; explains how she struggled for money with no family or support when she first left Williamsburg.</p><p>She told fans during a Reddit Q&amp;A on Thursday: &#8220;I was engulfed in panic for pretty much the first three years after leaving. I always felt like I was teetering on the edge of a cliff, about to drop down into an ignominious fate of homelessness and starvation. But my strategy was always to take it day-by-day, keep expectations low, and think outside the box in terms of my resources for survival.</p><p>&#8220;At one point that meant selling my eggs in order to hang on financially for a few more months.&#8221;</p><p>Feldman believes life would have been easier in Europe with a social welfare system. &#8220;The consequences of living in that kind of desperation are far-reaching, they still impact my life today.&#8221;</p><p>The show strays from Feldman&#8217;s book, as lead character &#8216;Etsy&#8217; &#8212; played by Israeli star Shira Haas &#8212; runs off to Berlin a year into her marriage after her husband asks for a divorce, just as she discovers she&#8217;s pregnant.</p><p>Feldman said she wanted to &#8220;let the story go, set it free&#8230;I don&#8217;t want to carry it on my shoulders alone for the rest of my life.&#8221; Asked if she still speaks to her ex-husband, Eli, whom she divorced in 2012, she said: &#8220;My son&#8217;s father left the community less than a year later. He is happily remarried today, living a secular life and has regular contact with his son.&#8221;</p><p>On the contrary, she added: &#8220;My biological family sent me hate mail asking me to commit suicide&#8230;.telling me they had already prepared my grave and couldn&#8217;t wait to dance on it.&#8221;</p><p>However, she said she had &#8220;no regrets&#8221; about anything, adding: &#8220;The best thing about my life right now is honestly EVERYTHING.&#8221;</p><p>She has not been back to the US since leaving in 2014 and doesn&#8217;t speak to her family.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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