May 2, 2003

'Lubavitchers as Citizens: A Paradox of Liberal Democracy'

By NINA C. AYOUB

When might a civic virtue become a civic vice? When it is practiced by an illiberal group, says Jan Feldman. It is a view she explains but criticizes in Lubavitchers as Citizens: A Paradox of Liberal Democracy (Cornell University Press).

Ironically, writes the author, Lubavitcher Hasidic Jews have been labeled "bad citizens" by some theorists "not for being politically passive or disengaged, but for being politically active." They have been condemned, she says, for what would count as