Page 31 - C.A.L.L. #36 - Summer 2013

Book Review: Inside the Ark by Yossi Katz & John Lehr

At a hefty 400+ pages, Inside the Ark traces the religion, history, economics,
education and governance of the Hutterite communities in North America.
Today numbering 40,000 souls, living in 480 colonies, the Hutterite community
was originally formed in 1528 in the Czech Republic. Mostly due to religious
persecution, but not only, the Hutterites found themselves wending their way
through Slovakia, Romania, Russia, and eventually into North America at the end
th
of the 19 century. Today, three quarters of them are situated in Western
Canada, with nearly all the rest in the Northern United States. In addition,
there is a lone colony in Japan.

Inside the Ark takes its title from the analogy that sees the colonies as a
“heavenly ark on an often-stormy secular
ocean”. Authors Yossi Katz and John Lehr
take us sailing through the turbulent
history of the Hutterites – from
protection under the Russian nobility to

high profile court cases, defections and
the fear of the influence of the world wide
web.

With access to a treasure trove of
internal documents previously unseen, and
invited into the homes of the subject of
their research, Katz and Lehr have
succeeded in piecing together a rich and
enlightening picture of the Hutterite way
of life – past and present, and outlining
their main challenges for the future.

I have to admit that the best bit of the whole book can be found not in the main
narrative, but in the extensive appendices (In fact, the appendices make up just
under half of the book). Dan Katz, the author’s fifteen year old son, writes a
piece about his experiences of spending time living with the Hutterites during

the frequent family visits which occurred for the purposes of research. Here,
Katz Jnr describes, amongst other things discovering contraband (personal cd
players and cameras) in the locked wardrobes of the Hutterite teenage boys.

We’ve been fortunate at the International Communes Desk to have hosted co-author
Yossi Katz at our meetings on more than one occasion. His presentations on his
research into the life of the Hutterites have always been enlightening and absorbing.

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