KIRYAS JOEL – Orange County Legislator Michael Amo has written a book chronicling his time representing the Hasidic Jewish community of Kiryas Joel and his experiences as a non-Hasidic elected official representing a community with distinct religious and cultural traditions.
“Outside Looking In” examines Amo’s career as a legislator and his efforts to represent Kiryas Joel in the Orange County Legislature. He represents District 7 of the Orange County, NY Legislature, covering the towns of Monroe, Palm Tree, and Woodbury.
Amo writes about how he came to understand the Satmar Hasidic community, the challenges of representing residents whose religious practices differ significantly from those of much of Orange County and the conflicts that have arisen between Kiryas Joel and the broader community.
Distributed by SUNY Press, the book also addresses disagreements within the Hasidic community and tensions between Kiryas Joel residents and the county’s non-Hasidic population. Amo examines the role that theological differences, unfamiliarity, bias and antisemitism have played in those disputes.
Amo drew on conversations with people both inside and outside Kiryas Joel in examining the community’s history and its relationship with the surrounding region.
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