Tra norma halakhica e autonomia individuale: l’ebraismo ortodosso nella narrativa d’esordio di Tova Mirvis
Abstract
This study focuses on Tova Mirvis, an author who, despite enjoying considerable public success, has been largely overlooked by academic criticism. The present paper aims to fill this gap through an analysis of her debut novels, The Ladies Auxiliary (1999) and The Outside World (2004). These two works explore daily life within the haredim – contemporary Orthodox Jewish congregations – depicting the crucial conflict between the rigid halakhic demands imposed by the community and the legitimate desire for individual autonomy. In this sense, Mirvis’s work belongs to the so-called «Third Act» of Jewish-American literature, engaging in an ideal dialogue with the heartfelt appeal for a return to a «liturgical» narrative expressed by Cynthia Ozick over thirty years earlier. While Ozick reflected in universal terms on the moral responsibility inherent in Jewish experience and belonging, Mirvis renews this reflection from a more domestic and communal perspective, bringing to light the complex tensions that define contemporary Judaism.
Submitted: April 21, 2026 | Accepted: July 23, 2026 | Published Oct. 12, 2026 | Language: it
Keywords Halakhah • Orthodoxy • Tova Mirvis • Haredi • Cynthia Ozick • Jewish-American Literature
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