Masechet Yetzi’ah: Yehuda Shohat and Yossi Kalar (Paperback) / מסכת יציאה יהודה שוחט ויוסי קלאר

The movement of leaving has countless faces and shades. It includes people who are militantly secular, wear knitted kippot, are only partly Haredi, or are “anusim”—those who feel compelled to remain within the community. Every year, thousands more choose to leave Haredi society and set out on a new path, sometimes alone and sometimes within various frameworks. Along the way, they face hardships, upheavals, obstacles, and challenges—but also countless amusing moments as they adjust to their new society.

Masechet Yetzi’ah tells their story—and ours. It is a story of strength, resilience, complexity, and struggle, but above all, of courage: crossing boundaries, breaking down walls, daring to change, and setting out on a new path. It contains moments of pain and anger, as well as moments of spiritual uplift.

True to its setting, the book is divided into three “tractates,” or sections, drawn from the Babylonian Talmud. It is written as a series of monologues, all based on real-life stories:

Bava Kamma recounts the first stirrings of leaving, while still within the Haredi world. Bava Metzia explores the twilight zone between the Haredi and non-Haredi worlds. Bava Batra presents stories from the other, new world.

About the authors:

Yehuda Shohat is a graduate of both the Chabad Hasidic and Religious Zionist communities. He lectures at Ono Academic College and is a researcher, editor, author, social entrepreneur, and activist in the movement to leave Haredi society. He is the father of Bar and Ariel and lives in Modi’in. This is his second book.

Yossi Kalar grew up in the Haredi education system and is a social activist in the movement to leave the Haredi sector. He founded and leads Mityatzvim El HaDegel, an organization that helps graduates of Haredi education enlist in military and national service. He was among the first activists in the Yotzim L’Shinui organization and also served as its co-CEO. He is married to Miriam and lives in Jerusalem. This is his first book.