How to Get More Out of Being Jewish Even If: A. You Are Not Sure You Believe in God, B. You Think Going to Synagogue Is a Waste of Time, C. You Think Keeping Kosher Is Stupid, D. You Hated Hebrew School, E. All of the Above

by gil-mann

Much has been written by rabbis and other Jewish professionals about American Jews, assimilation, intermarriage, and continuity. This unique book, based on focus groups and interviews with more than 150 Jews in the U.S., gives voice to the Jewish population. Filled with potent arguments, challenging questions, raw emotion, and insights into Judaism, this book helps answer the question: Why be Jewish?

Genres: Jewish, Judaism, Religion

167 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Zane Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very relevant to my reading.

[Zhelana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I was the intended audience for this book. But nonetheless, what the author tries to do is break down ways to be Jewish to three different interconnected ways. She acts like this is unique to her, but honestly, I'm pretty sure they are three of the points of the star of David when I was taught what the symbolism of that was supposed to be. So the basic take away is one can be proud of being Jewish as a part of the Jewish people without necessarily having to believe in God or keep a proper Sabbath or kosher. Which. Well. Yes. This seems blatantly obvious to me. I also didn't like the way this book was written - as a conversation rather than a text. It made it hard to follow her line of argument. Also since the conversations were made up with made up people, she could have them say whatever she wanted them to say, and that was annoying. Also, I don't know how to get more out of being Jewish than I did 2 months ago.

[Jo Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good simple explanations of often asked questions.

[Elizabeth Behrman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than I thought it would be; very pleasantly surprised.
would love to talk with someone about it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, I may already be Jewish. I kid a bit, but I think that quite a bit of what Mann has to say is very similar to my own philosophies. I'm not Jewish, but I have some good friends that are, and I've always found the religion very intriguing. This book reads almost like a handbook (a user's guide to Judaism, perhaps?) with its question and answer format, and end-of-chapter summaries, but this isn't a criticism. In fact, this format works very well for what Mann tries (and succeeds) to achieve. His style is informal, friendly, and conversational and he comes off as compassionate, understanding, realistic, and self-deprecating. In short, although he is not a Rabbi himself, he ends up resembling the sort of Rabbi that you suspect a lot of the people in his focus groups wish they had. The book is divided up into chapters that address a selection of contemporary Jews' major complaints about Judaism (and the practice of it), and whether or not you choose to buy into Mann's three-pronged approach to defining Judaism and Jewishness, he has quite a bit to say that is provocative (in a good way) and yet also reassuring. Since I'm not Jewish, I may be forced to pull a LeVar Burton here and say that readers don't have to take my word for it. Mann did manage to garner praise from rabbis representing conservative, reform, and orthodox Judaism, which says something. For those who are curious, it's a fast read and one of those books that's ideal for picking up here and there when you only have little pockets of free time.

[Kez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the latest book the Rabbi at synagogue has given me to read. It feels like the latest in the long line of books, but it kept my interest. The dialogue style was definitely jarring for me. Since I'm a big reader I found it stylistically odd, but it did help convey the point, even if it pulled me out of the text now and then.

I did very much enjoy his Venn diagram of Jewish-ness or Jewish personhood. It was an interesting way of putting an issue that I'm always getting information about, even in Jewish books. Still, for me, coming at the book from the view of someone looking to convert, I couldn't share in a lot of the feelings expressed in the book: the hating of Hebrew school, the experiences of one's bar/bat mitzvah, the feelings of being forced to shul, and not feeling anything from synagogue.

As such I wasn't the target audience as it were, but I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to people who were the target demographic in a heartbeat.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a humor book than an informative one this late in the 21st century. It reads like a televised PSA attempting to convince little Jimmy from the suburbs to not do PCP, except convincing disaffected but materially successful Jews from the suburbs to engage with Judaism. I didn't find Mann particularly compelling as a convert, since I don't need to be convinced that my terrible Hebrew school experience shouldn't define my adult relationship to Judaism, but he has some good points and I had a laugh.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This unique book is composed of a series of interviews with a number of disaffected Jews. Throughout, the author explains the meaning modern Jews can make of the traditions that some find alienating in order to stay connected to their religious community.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, really. It wasn't awful, it just didn't have enough redeeming qualities to make it three stars. The style annoyed me, tbh.