For more than thirty years Julia Haart, 50, lived life as an ultra-Orthodox Jew in the Haredi community. She finally left at the age of 42, going on to become creative director at La Perla.
She is now a successful businesswoman. Here she tells her story... “I always divide my life into two parts. I say that my life until I walked out the door is what was done to me, my life afterwards is what I’ve accomplished.
My parents [Lina and Alan] became really religious when I was nine. First it was kosher, then it was don’t wear pants [trousers], then it was you can’t do dance trials, cheerleading trials.
It just happened so gradually. And by the time you are there, you are just convinced that it’s what God wants, so who am I to argue against God.
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