Tradition and Individualism in Suburbia: An Ethnographic Study of Orthodox Jewish Women

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of Orthodox Jewish women in suburban New Jersey, conducted in 2013-2014. The central goal is to analyze how observant, Jewish women negotiate maintenance of religious tradition and individual choice in suburbia. The dissertation identifies religious pluralism within Orthodox Judaism that can be attributed, in part, to the suburban location. These women reside in the two Central New Jersey communities of East Brunswick and Highland Park and showcases the changes that are occurring in religious practice of the observant Jewish women how their lives reflect the changing nature of contemporary Orthodox Judaism.\ud The study uses ethnography to examine these women’s sense of piety and how they apply Jewish law in several aspects of their lives. It examines how these women narrate their own backgrounds as Orthodox Jews or, in the case of ba’alot teshuva (newly Orthodox women), their turn to Orthodoxy as adults. It also looks at the role of feminism in their lives, their definitions of modesty, and their creation of a diversified and traditional religious environment