Ha'aretz reports Israel's leading playwrite, Yehoshua Sobol, has written a play about two haredi men who lead double lives, secretly exploring the secular world. Three of the play's stars are former haredim who left the fold. One describes his real life exit this way:
Segal wanted to flee from that jail [the haredi world], and to do it quickly. His escape took him on a circuitous route to a Chabad yeshiva in Kiryat Gat, but the sense of imprisonment remained. The prohibition on talking with girls continued, the daily immersions in the mikveh (ritual bath), with its smelly water, disgusted him. He would fall asleep during prayers. But there was also a ray of light: The Chabad custom of trying to persuade secular passersby to put on tefillin (phylacteries). "This was a way to meet secular people and see girls," he explains.
The Jerusalem Post's coverage can be read here.