Donald Kraybill on Simply Amish (Q-and-A & Giveaway)
Donald Kraybill is the author of over a dozen books on the Amish, and currently serves as Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College.
I asked Don if he’d answer some questions for us today on the Amish and his newest book, called Simply Amish: An Essential Guide from the Foremost Expert on Amish Life. From the description
From America’s most trusted expert on Amish life comes Simply Amish, an essential guide to Amish life, culture, and faith. Why do the Amish reject technology and education or do they? Why do their young people choose to stay Amish when their beliefs and practices put them so at odds with modern society? How are they different from the Mennonites?
When it comes to learning about the Amish, it can be hard to sort out fact from fiction. Donald B. Kraybill has lived among, studied, written about, and befriended the Amish for many years, and Amish people read his books to learn more about themselves. Through stories from his friendship with the Amish and studies from his forty-year career, Kraybill takes readers on a gentle journey among a people known for their simplicity, rootedness in church and family, and commitment to peaceful living.
Win a copy of Simply Amish
You can enter to win a copy of Simply Amish courtesy of Herald Press.
To enter, simply (no pun intended) leave a comment on this post.
As usual, I’ll draw a winner at random, and post that here next week.
Donald Kraybill on Simply Amish
Below, Don answers questions about the book, the Amish in Lancaster County and in general, and his personal experience with the Amish. I hope you enjoy it.
Amish America: What is Simply Amish about, and who should read it?
Donald Kraybill: This book offers a sweeping overview of Amish faith and practice across North America. It’s for anyone who wants a quick introduction to Amish culture.
But it’s not an Amish for Dummies book. It does have steak and substance. Its price is remarkably low for a hardback.
You are a Lancaster County native. What are the big changes in the Amish community since you have lived there and have been studying the Amish?
I was born in Mount Joy about 7 miles from where I now live. Several things come to mind: widespread use of technology in barn, shop and fields; the growth of the settlement from about 20 church districts to over 220; and a huge shift from farming to business.
What makes the Lancaster Amish different from other Amish?
The Lancaster Amish are the largest of some 40 Amish tribes. Although they originate in the Lancaster area, the Lancaster tribe is also found in Central Pennsylvania and other states including Kentucky, Indiana, New York, Wisconsin and Missouri.
Have you seen any new practices recently?
Recently I spoke with an Uber driver who transports Amish people. At first I was surprised, but then realized that it fits within the widespread Amish practice of hiring English “taxi drivers.”
In fact it has the advantage of being anonymous—particularly for youth who don’t want the local regular “taxi driver” to know where they’re going, or heaven forbid, gossip about it to other Amish people.
We recently learned about motor-powered scooters being used by Amish firemen to get to the station faster. Which technologies, besides the smartphone, do you think are the most controversial or “gray area” currently among Amish?
The use of solar energy is difficult to control. Many Amish people use solar panels for producing electricity to charge batteries, operate small appliances, and office equipment such as a fax machine.
However the church generally disapproves of using large solar systems to electrify an entire home which would mimic an English house with a wide array of electric appliances and technology.
Another growing issue is the separation between the use of technology for the operation of businesses and for things at home. The growth of this indicates a shrinking of church authority to primarily the home and family, with less control over business operations.
If you had to guess, how do you think the Lancaster County settlement might look in 50 or 100 years? Will the community be significantly larger or will land prices prevent it growing so rapidly at some point?
It’s risky if not even foolish to make long-term projections. Over the past two years the collapse of milk prices has forced some Amish people out of dairy farming. I expect Amish people who continue farming will focus on small acreage and specialized produce and other goods that only require a few acres of land.
Those who want to continue general farming will likely migrate to more rural areas of the country.
The Amish are tenacious about maintaining a distinctive identity, even though their practices may change substantially in the coming decades.
Can you think of a unique practice that might emerge in the future?
Yes, it’s conceivable that sometime in the future the Amish might rent driverless electric cars. How so? It fits within their traditional practice that it’s okay to use certain technologies but not own them. For example hiring taxi drivers.
The Amish have always accepted the use of electricity from batteries. So a driverless electric car would seem to fit within their traditional practices, which is an important criteria for what they are willing to accept.
What is one of the most common misconceptions about the Amish you’ve encountered?
That they don’t pay taxes is a long-standing myth of outsiders who don’t live near Amish communities.
What’s the most interesting or unusual Amish experience you’ve had?
About five years ago, seeing my first 3D printer (actually a bank of 8 of them) in an Amish lantern shop. And receiving my first explanation of how 3D printers work from a young 25-year-old Amishman in that shop.
What are you up to lately?
I’m cleaning up old projects: trashing, filing, and transporting papers and correspondence etc. to the archives of Elizabethtown College where they will be available to scholars.
I’m also drafting a short book on things I’ve learned from the Amish, which a publisher has solicited. As time permits, I’d like to revise The Riddle of Amish Culture for a 3rd edition. There’s been so much change 15 years since the 2nd edition was published.
And finally, what’s your favorite Amish food?
Schnitz pie (dried apple) often served for lunch after a church service and eaten by hand without utensils.
Thanks to Don for taking the time to share with us. Check back next week for the winner. In the meantime, you can find Simply Amish at Amazon
Update: Simply Amish Book Winner (Plus: Excerpt on Amish Marriage & Family)
Simply Amish is Donald Kraybill’s latest book, described as “an essential guide to Amish life, culture, and faith.” We’ve got a winner today of last week’s giveaway contest. But first, an excerpt from Simply Amish, on Amish marriage and family.
Marriage and Family
Donald B. Kraybill
Excerpted from newly released Simply Amish: An Essential Guide from the Foremost Expert on Amish Life by Donald B. Kraybill. (Herald Press, 2018). All rights reserved. Used with permission. www.HeraldPress.com
Church and family are the primary social units of Amish society. Young people move into adulthood early and usually marry by their early twenties. Marriages are not prearranged, but both bride and groom must be baptized members of the Amish church before marriage. They usually come from subgroups with similar practices but typically are not from the same church district. In rare cases a bride or groom may have grown up English and joined the Amish. Since divorce is forbidden, marriage is permanent.
Daylong weddings are festive moments of celebration in Amish society. The ceremony follows a lengthy church service, held on a weekday at the home of the bride or a close relative. Several hundred guests join the festivities, which often include a lunch and an evening meal.
Amish couples, on the average, have about seven children, and in the most traditional groups, ten or more. Most families do not use artificial birth control unless advised by a physician for health reasons; however, some do use natural methods of family planning. Some babies are born in hospitals, but most greet the world in a birthing clinic or at home, under the supervision of a physician or a midwife.
Amish families reflect traditional gender roles, in which the man serves as the spiritual head of the home. He is seen as responsible for its spiritual welfare and matters related to the church and the outside world. Women often hold considerable sway in family and parenting matters. Quipped one husband, “I’m more afraid of my wife than my bishop.” Another man described marital roles in this way: “The wife is not a servant; she is the queen, and the husband is the king.”
As in most families, gender roles in Amish marriages vary by personality. When husbands work at home, spouses often share some roles. Women assist in the barn, shop, or field; men help in the garden, greenhouse, or around the house. Wives rarely hold full-time jobs outside the family when their children are young, although some operate small businesses from their home.
Networks of extended families provide a strong sense of identity in Amish society. The extended family system is muscular and significant. The typical Amish person has more than two dozen aunts and uncles and more than seventy-five first cousins, many of whom live nearby. The family provides a dense web of social support from cradle to grave. For instance, two or three relatives often assist a family during the arrival of a new baby. Adult sisters may gather once a month for a “sisters’ day,” a work frolic that blends chores and fun while women harvest vegetables, clean house, or make quilts. Family members help each other during a crisis or difficulty such as a fire, flood, or death.
Because families are so large and names are similar, many people have a nickname related to a special trait, or one that shows their family connection. “Horseradish Jake” may refer to someone who raises horseradish, or who eats a lot of it. A person named Sara may be known as “Ben’s Hannah’s Sara,” referring to her grandfather and mother. The large Amish community near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has more than one hundred women named Mary Stoltzfus and at least ninety Katie Stoltzfuses.
Extended family undergirds the elderly. The Amish do not operate retirement homes. The elderly normally live in a Grossdawdy Haus, a small adjacent “grandfather” house, or apartment, at the home of one of their children. Some grandparents have more than eighty grandchildren and two hundred great-grandchildren. Esteemed for their wisdom, the elderly find meaning and dignity as they assist their adult children. And surrounded by droves of grandchildren, they pass on the wisdom of Amish ways to the rising generation. Amish people typically die at home. More progressive communities accept hospice service from outside caregivers.
Donald B. Kraybill is internationally recognized for his scholarship on Anabaptist groups. His books, research, and commentary have been featured in national and worldwide media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, CNN, and NBC. He is distinguished college professor and senior fellow emeritus at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. Kraybill is the author, coauthor, or editor of many books, including Amish Grace, The Amish Way, Renegade Amish, and The Riddle of Amish Culture.
Simply Amish Book Winner
I chose a winner using random.org. Congrats to Carol (comment #139), you’re the winner. Send me your shipping info (ewesner[at]gmail[dot]com), and I’ll pass that along to the publisher.
If you didn’t win, you can pick up Simply Amish at Amazon among other places.
Love reading about the Amish. I’ve visited several times Amish country in Ohio and spent a week in Lancaster, Pa.
Simply Amish
I’ve read other books by Donald Kraybill and looking forward to this one. I love learning about the Amish, I really find their way of life fascinating, although I could never do it myself!
Always fascinating
Have enjoyed many of your books. Thanks for the straight scoop!
Thanks
Thanks for your good work.
Simply Amish Q & A
Donald,
Thank you for all of your work and effort put forth in sharing your insights into this fascinating culture with others. Considering that there are various Amish “sects” that fall under the culture, is it natural that a Swartzentruber would only marry another Swartentruber or could they marry an Old Order Amish companion?
Amish culture
I am always amazed at the ways of the Amish. We love to go to PA and drive the backroads.
Simply Amish Giveawya
I’ve read many of Donald Kraybill’s books on the Amish, he is a good writer and very knowledgeable on the subject.
Where in the world are the Amish
Besides America and Canada where else do the Amish live?
Thank you
Thank you. I enjoyed this article. I try to visit Bird in Hand as much as possible. We stay in a families Dauwdi Haus and are very comfortable there.
Reading about the Amish
Hello Donald,
I love to read about the way the Amish are living.
Would be great if a would win the book.
With kind regards,
Albert Hendrix
I have always been interested in the Amish culture and would love to win the copy of Mr. Kraybill’s book.
simply Amish
I don’t have a question. I just really like learning about the Amish. It all starting with reading fiction books.
Local eating
I’ve been traveling to Lancaster since 1980 on a regular basis and was wondering if you ever make recommendations of local places to eat.
We always seem to end up having one meal at the counter in the corner at the Farmer’s Market in Bird-In-Hand.
Lancaster holds a special place in my heart.
I was so sad to see the gas lights leave Zook’s after he English bought it.
Angela
The Amish culture is fascinating. I envy their piety, productivity and family values.
Admiration for the Amish
My husband and I participated in a Road Scholar program comparing Amish and Mennonite cultures. As part of the preparation for the trip, we read one of your books and found it extremely helpful. We loved going to the museum in Shipshewana, Indiana, visiting Amish businesses and farms, having an Amish couple come–he being a minister in their Amish district–talk to us and answer our questions, making egg noodles by hand, eating a meal in an Amish home, etc. As a retired teacher, my favorite part of the experience was visiting an Amish school while in session–observing the instruction, singing a couple of songs with the scholars, participating in a question and answer session with the lead teacher, and observing the students playing softball during their recess. I admire the dedication of the Amish to God and to their families and communities.
Interesting interview
Loved this interview – always learning something new on here!
Book giveaway
Would love to win this book for a Christmas gift to my mother!
Book
I have always been fascinated about the Amish because of their steadfast and loyal practices regarding family and community. I only wish there were more people as dedicated to upholding the family as they.
Nourishing Moments
We live in Ohio and travel regularly to the Amish and Mennonite settlements. There is something calming and wonderful about merely driving through the lovely and welll kept countryside that is Amish farmland. We love the farm-sold produce and count as precious the interactions we have had during those purchases.
New Amish Book
I read Mr. Kraybill’s book The Amish Way. I’m certain this new book is as good and fascinating.
LOVE
I have always been fascinated with the Amish lifestyle. I read cookbooks, non-fiction , and attend Amish quilt shows. I like the simplicity of how they live.
Thanks for the opportunity to have your book.
Well done Friend Kraybill.
I have no long appreciated thy writings.
Also watched a documentary about this
This book sounds very interesting! I also watched a documentary about the Amish recently. It’s a new one called breaking the silence. Such a fascinating culture!
Interested to read
this book looks like a great read! 🙂
Fascinated by the Amish culture
My grandmother was part PA Dutch and I have always had a fascination of the Amish. I read a lot of novels and my favorite writer is Wanda Brunstetter. Beverly Lewis is my second favorite. My husband and I two years ago visited Lancaster and it was the most amazing experience from the foods, quilts and visiting an actual diary farm in a horse and buggy and experience what was involved in their daily life. The most exciting was the 7 years old Amish girl selling homemade root beer and sugar cookies. Made my day. They do live somewhat differently but their life is simple but rewarding, maybe we all should take a chapter out of their book and smell the roses.
Kraybill Books are Great
As an avid observer of the Amish, I highly recommend his work to anyone who wants to know more about our American treasure, the Anabatist communities among us. I think that in our (English) highly mobile, sometimes frenetic society we envy their enduring ties to family and faith. There’s a saying that “If you don’t go out, you don’t miss anything”. We’d do well to stop some of our chasing the external and emulate their focus! I can’t wait to read this book and look forward to the revision of The Riddle of Amish Culture.
Enjoying your Site
I’ve been friends with many Amish folks. The differences are vast. I’d like to read this book.
Simply Amish
Looking forward to reading this book. His others were valuable in my writing career.
Yay
So excited to have a new book about the Amish available!
Other Amish
The Lancaster Amish community was started from the original Berks county community as was the Somerset County community in the mid 1700s. The Somerset Co. group is said to be the second oldest Amish community in the US. What historical records and research of the Somerset Co. group exist? I have reason to believe that my family is in direct lineage of the original Somerset Co. group.
Thank you
Thank you for your shared expertise. Enjoyed hearing you at last years Brubaker reunion
Thank you
Thank you for your shared expertise. Enjoyed hearing you at last years Brubaker reunion. Appreciate the courteous manner in which you teach about Amish life
Simply Amish
It is sad to see how the world is forcing the Amish to compromise their values in order to make a living. I grew up in the generation that wanted to get back to the land and re enforce community only to get caught up in the tide of greed and false prosperity. Living Simple, working Simple, eating Simple, building Simple. “Simple” is everyone’s dream yet expensive to achieve. I fear Simple is no longer achievable, even for the Amish.
Looking forward to getting my hands on this new title! Enjoyed the post.
Quick read
Sounds interesting and looks to be a quick read. Thank you for writing it.
Discover Lancaster-Genes Amish Tours
Have your books -I am
semi-retired and enjoy sharing the Amish culture
with out of town guests.
http://www.discoverlancaster.com/members/genes-
amish-tours.asp
I'd Like One
I consider myself an Amish expert here in Silicon Valley, but actually, I could use some updating and humility. lol
Your comment made me smile Diane 🙂 Thanks for sharing
Q & A
I am very interested in Amish culture. I’d like to know more about how Amish incorporate modern technology intontheir lives without violating their religion and beliefs.
Big modern houses
I wonder what Mr. Kraybill thinks about the current trend that many young Amish couples have of building huge modern homes with all conveniences (that can fit with Amish rules), and decorated much more than the old style homes?
Donald Kraybill
We moved to Lancaster County to retire, and I never tire of learning more about the Amish. As my father was a PA Dutchman, your research gives me greater insight into the culture he was born and raised in. Thank you for all your books and research on the Amish! I would love to win a copy of your new book.
Giveaway
I really enjoyed your question and answer session. I love to read about the Amish. Have A Blessed Day.
What about diversity?
It’s not clear from the Q&A whether Prof. Kraybill’s new book takes fully into account the diversity of the Amish that we see here in northern Ohio, and which Amish America has so often highlighted. It does seem clear that it deals with the unprecedented changes in Amish life in recent years, and I hope it reflects on the increasing diversity that has resulted from that change outside (and perhaps within?) Lancaster County.
Question and comment
What is the average size of an Amish immediate family? Has that been changing with inflated property prices, taxes, and cost-of-living?
PA or Ohio
I have read that there are more Amish in Ohio or that it has the largest settlement. Often PA, particularly Lancaster makes the same claim.
I’m looking forward to reading this book
I have been intrigued and fascinated by the Amish for many years. I would to read this book by the expert in this culture.
Love the book cover
book
Liking forward to reading this book.
Interested
Hi, Mr. Kraybill
I’m interested in knowing, what drew you to the Amish all those many years ago and to having a career in learning about them and their culture?
Thanks, Linda
amish book
Can’t wait to read this book! Fascinating to know how the Amish are adapting technologies to their home and work lives.