A schism in Ger Hasidim has caused people who left to lose their jobs, communities – and sometimes their children, who are admonished to remain loyal to the rabbi at all cost

The atmosphere in the Sendik home in Bnei Brak the night of February 1 was tense. The family had been through two difficult, intense weeks since they had taken their final step in breaking away from the community they once belonged to. Now it was official. They were no longer part of the Ger Hasidic sect. They left, like other families over the past two and a half years. But as in other cases, things did not go smoothly. The children who are grown and married were against it; they remain loyal to the Ger court. That did not stop the parents, who moved with their six other children to a new home. They did so even though the two older girls, 14 and 17, also wanted to stay in the community’s fold in Ashdod. The relationship between them remains fraught.