The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen is the debut novel by Jewish American author Isaac Blum. The novel follows an Orthodox Jewish teenager whose growing community faces resistance and antisemitism in their town, Tregaron. Hoodie’s friendship with a non-Jewish girl named Anna-Marie (who happens to be the daughter of Tregaron’s antisemitic mayor) causes trouble for both of their communities. Major themes in the novel include The Role of Community in Maintaining Faith, The Importance of Argumentation and Debate in Jewish Culture, and The Dangers of Antisemitic Rhetoric. 

This guide refers to the 2022 Philomel e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of religious discrimination and violence.

Plot Summary

On Tu B’Av, a minor Jewish holiday similar to Valentine’s Day, Yeshiva student Yehuda “Hoodie” Rosen meets Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary, a non-Jewish girl living in his neighborhood. Despite the obvious differences in their background, Hoodie is drawn to Anna-Marie and finds himself distracted from his classes. On his way home from school, Hoodie stops to see his father, who reveals that construction on the apartment building his development company hopes to build has been blocked by citizens concerned about an influx of Orthodox Jewish families in their community. Hoodie’s father attributes the decision to the campaign of antisemitism led by the mayor of Tregaron, Monica Diaz-O’Leary.

Hoodie learns that Anna-Marie is the daughter of Mayor Diaz-O’Leary but decides to befriend her anyway. When Hoodie and Anna-Marie find two Jewish graves defaced with swastikas and hateful messages, Anna-Marie offers to help clean them. Hoodie leaves school to meet her and is thrilled when she touches him, violating his community’s rules. He is caught by his teacher, Rabbi Moritz, who insists that Tregaron’s Christians will never accept the Orthodox Jewish community and urges Hoodie to focus on his studies of the Torah.

Hoodie’s father, Avraham, is furious when he learns that Hoodie washed the graves without taking photos first. He argues that photographic evidence of antisemitic hate crimes will make the citizens of Tregaron feel guilty enough to drop the anti-Orthodox campaign. That night, Hoodie falls asleep watching Anna-Marie’s TikTok videos on his sister’s computer. The next day at school, Hoodie questions his best friend Moshe Tzvi about the pressures of conforming to Orthodox Judaism. Hoodie describes the Orthodox lifestyle as trying to stand straight while wearing many heavy coats at once. Moshe responds that the rules of the Torah are a privilege and a gift.

On Friday evening, Hoodie attends Shabbos (the Jewish Sabbath beginning on Friday at sundown and ending at sundown on Saturday) services at the local shul (synagogue) with his father and sister, Zippy. He misses the grandeur and holy feeling of the shul in his old town of Colwyn. As they leave shul, Hoodie and Moshe run into Anna-Marie and a group of her friends, who make fun of Hoodie and Moshe. Moshe compares Anna-Marie to the daughter of Stalin. That night, Hoodie receives a series of texts while eating dinner with his family—who realize that the texts must be from Anna-Marie, as no Jewish person would text him on Shabbos. Hoodie spends all day Saturday thinking about the texts from Anna-Marie, who he now considers his girlfriend. On Saturday night he finally reads Anna-Marie’s texts inviting him to her house on Sunday afternoon.

At Anna-Marie’s, Hoodie has an awkward first meeting with Mayor Diaz-O’Leary. Anna-Marie reveals that she often feels lonely and asks Hoodie for a hug. While Hoodie is with Anna-Marie, his best friends Moshe and Chaim are attacked by antisemitic teens. News of Hoodie’s relationship with Anna-Marie spreads, and his father grounds him, taking away his cell phone. Hoodie secretly uses his sister’s computer to watch a TikTok video in which Anna-Marie denounces the attacks and alludes to her friendship with Hoodie. The video makes Hoodie like Anna-Marie even more, but he is horrified to find antisemitic comments denying the Holocaust in a linked article.

The next day, Rabbi Moritz takes Hoodie to a small room on the top floor of the yeshiva and orders him to copy portions of the Torah for the rest of the week to atone for his sins. Later, Moshe reveals that Hoodie is in cherem, an official shunning from the community. Hoodie meets with Rabbi Taub, the head rabbi for the Orthodox community in the Northeast. Although he barely understands the rabbi’s Yiddish, he leaves the meeting feeling confident.

Zippy warns that Hoodie is on the verge of being outcast from his community entirely. She urges him to reconsider his relationship with Anna-Marie. Instead, Hoodie develops a new plan: propose to Anna-Marie and attend Yeshiva University while she attends NYU. Anna-Marie is horrified by the idea, claiming she isn’t Hoodie’s girlfriend and that she only became his friend to help her mother’s political career. Confused and embarrassed, Hoodie punches the wall and leaves.

Embarrassed and hurt, Hoodie walks to the local kosher market. While he is there, two people with tactical gear and automatic weapons appear and begin shooting. Hoodie is shot in the arm and the chest, but is saved by Anna-Marie, who came to the market to buy kosher Starbursts for him. She rides with him to the hospital, where a doctor saves his life. A photograph taken of Anna-Marie and Hoodie escaping goes viral, spurring public debate about Hoodie’s relationship with Anna-Marie. Rabbi Taub visits Hoodie and demands the community end his cherem, claiming that the act of saving a life is sacred. Although, for the first time in his life, no one is forcing him to follow a prayer schedule, Hoodie begins to pray independently.

One month later, Zippy invites Anna-Marie to her wedding. As Hoodie is walking her home, Anna-Marie kisses him. Hoodie is thrilled until he realizes that she is just trying to anger her mother. Before moving out, Zippy gives Hoodie an unfiltered smartphone and tells him to make his own choices. Hoodie uses the phone to text Anna-Marie, who sends him information about the dual-degree program between NYU and Yeshiva University. Unsure of what the future holds, Hoodie decides to keep Anna-Marie as a friend.