Confessions of a Jewish Priest: From Secular Jewish War Refugee to Physicist and Episcopal Clergyman

by Gabriel Weinreich

The Confessions of a Jewish Priest are the reminiscences of Gabriel Weinreich, a secular Jew who was born in Poland and moved to the U.S. as a young adolescent during World War II thus narrowly escaping the Holocaust. The book follows Weinreich as he becomes an American, twice-husband, father, and an award-winning scientist, and shows how his subsequent journey toward Christianity and ordination to the Episcopal priesthood do nothing to impair his sense of "Jewishness." In addition to telling a compelling life story of a boy from an eminent Jewish family, the book takes us on a journey into Christianity as perceived by a Jew who began as a complete atheist--but realizes later in life that he never really was an atheist after all.

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2005

Reviews

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gabi is fascinating. I hold paradox in highest esteem and Gabi embodies several-- Jew and Christian, European and American, physicist and priest-- with thoughtfulness and grace. I learned about tolerance reading this book, as it forced me to see the thought of a "betrayer" -- of atheism, of Yiddish secularist... And I came out seeing how he never left anything behind, only added richness and depth to his emotional, spiritual, and philosophical experience of the world by taking on these new identities. Having had the pleasure to meet and conduct a lengthy interview with Gabi, I can attest to his intellectual and philosophical rigor-- and his gorgeous Yiddish to boot!

[Charlene Mathe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabriel Weinreich is a thoughtful person with an interesting life to share. The non-Jewish reader will learn about the Yiddish-speaking world of European Jews. Through is father Max Weinreich, we learn about YIVO Institute and the conservation and philological revival of Yiddish. As Weinreich digests his life, there is an interesting reflection on Christian, Jewish and Atheist sensibilities, and Weinreich's faith transition in response to congregational music. The book provides a personal window on the history of a generation.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabi is a wonderful man who has had a veryinterestuing life. I thoroughly enjoyed his memoir and am especially grateful to him for meeting with our book group to discuss his ideas on physics, philosophy, religion and life! It was one of our best book group meetings ever - and we've been meeting for over 20 years!