He could have done better
Samuel Heilman is an eminent sociologist and ethnographer. However, his chapter on Chabad Lubavitch is sorely deficient. It is as though he had few primary sources and informants.
This contrasts with the research for his earlier book "Defenders of the Faith" when he practically lived among an Ultra-Orthodox community for an extended time.
I am intimate with Chabad and could have shown him primary sources from the shelves in my home library as well as served as a reliable informant.
This deficiency makes me wonder how accurate the chapters on four other Hasidic dynasties are. Heilman knows how to do rigorous research. Has he?
