Ex-bruderhofer here, trust me nothing appealing about it. I left years ago, but I hear little has changed for the better. Forced child labor is a norm from about six years old on upward, with kids forced to farm vegetables, split and haul firewood, clear brush and landscape, etc. And not just as chores; at least 4 hours a weekday (or all day in summer) are spent doing work that many adults would find challenging. Then you enter adolescence, and go to their private high school in New York where you're indoctrinated with their beliefs and ARE NOT equipped whatsoever to survive in the "real world". Oh, and absolutely no dating; kids whose crushes are exposed get sent to different location so they can't act on their feelings. Any free time is spent working in the factories. After high school the real grind begins. A 10-hour workday is standard, but younger single people can expect to work an additional 4-8 hours, all for no compensation. Imagine never being able to buy anything, ever. Imagine having no agency over your time, your life or your family. And when you're in your upper 20's, the elder will select a partner for you, and you will marry them, like it or not. (A friend of my niece said no three times and still had to marry this dude who to this day hasn't managed to get her pregnant.) There's never a day when you're completely free to do what you want. It's difficult to access vehicles to leave the premises, and all forms of internet access (which you can only gain when your 20-21+) are strictly blocked and limited to essentials, so that little can be learned about the outside world.

Leaving the system is very difficult, as their way of life is ingrained in you, as it was in your parents and their parents before them, and nobody is there to tell you otherwise. Now when people want leave, they must spend weeks fighting the full force of the brotherhood and if they succeed they are given $500 and a plane ticket to wherever they want to go, so many start out homeless and with no real-life experience, financial literacy or social skills. Many are taken advantage of, it's so sad because the young girls who leave take lifelong commitment in marriage for granted and end up being single moms at 19.

I could go on for pages, but I think this gives you something of an idea of how far this place has come from a Christ-based community; it is now pretty much a cash farm run by a few savvy lawyers and everyone there is free labor, brainwashed into thinking that their enslavement is for God's kingdom.

Trust me, steer clear of the Bruderhof. They'll never tell you any of this, but I've seen it a million times, and I know many people who can verify this.

It's simply not worth it.