The Orchard by David Hopen

The Orchard by David Hopen – Audio

Book Blurb:

Ari Eden’s life has always been governed by strict rules. In ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn, his days are dedicated to intense study and religious rituals, and adolescence feels profoundly lonely. So when his family announces that they are moving to a glitzy Miami suburb, Ari seizes his unexpected chance for reinvention.
Enrolling in an opulent Jewish academy, Ari is stunned by his peers’ dizzying wealth, ambition, and shameless pursuit of life’s pleasures. When the academy’s golden boy, Noah, takes Ari under his wing, Ari finds himself entangled in the school’s most exclusive and wayward group. These friends are magnetic and defiant—especially Evan, the brooding genius of the bunch, still living in the shadow of his mother’s death. Influenced by their charismatic rabbi, the group begins testing their religion in unconventional ways. Soon Ari and his friends are pushing moral boundaries and careening toward a perilous future—one in which the traditions of their faith are repurposed to mysterious, tragic ends.

My Review: 4 stars

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The Orchard drew me in from the premise and availability on audio. I knew nothing about this young, debut author – but I found the premise of an ultra-Orthodox Brooklynite pitted against a secular high school to be interesting.

Ariyeh, which is later shortened to Ari or even Drew sometimes, is uplifted from his religious community in Brooklyn to an affluent suburb in Florida after his dad loses his job. He is sent to the closest Yeshiva school, which unknowingly leans on the secular side. Ari has been lonely for years, as a sheltered only child who prefers reading to his friends. He plans to reinvent himself in Florida. By default, Ari falls into the popular crowd as the school’s number one athlete and overall golden boy is his neighbor. How this changes Ari is remarkable, in some ways horrifically and outstandingly in others.

The clique of girls and boys that Ari associated with are all well-crafted and relatable. Each one has his own set of strengths and weaknesses and their behaviors all affect Ari in surprising ways. On day one in Florida and he meets girls clad in skimpy bikinis and he’s not sure if he should feel the desire or disgust at their lack of modesty. Basically, the reader gets a first-row seat watching Ari come into his own manhood. This book tackles mental illness, religious freedom, music, literature, affluence, drug abuse, romance, friendship, education and tolerance.

I think my favorite part of the book were the theological discussions between the boys as well as between the boys and the director of the school, Rabbi Bloom.

Quotes I liked:

I had fallen into a group in which I didn’t belong, lied to my parents, neglected a morning of tefillin, drunk myself into oblivion, shattered shomer negiah and, potentially, been slipped some drug Drunk. After some deliberation, I emerged from Shabbat resolved to separate myself from these strange events, to regain a state of stasis. I had moved from Brooklyn with a desire to start anew, yes, but not like this”.

“There are ways to find strength within faith, even when faith is shattered, even when faith reduces, at best, to doubt.”

“This is what I became: a contemplative boy surrounded always by lonely, rigorous books”.

“…some find God while trying to lose Him…others lose God while trying to find Him.”