Why would a comfortably affluent, well-educated, secular Jew seek out the rigorous discipline of traditional Jewish observance? This is the intriguing question behind not just David Klinghoffer's personal story, but the growing movement of Jewish ba'alei teshuvah. In recent decades, tens of thousands of young Jews have returned to Orthodox Judaism, responding in a startling way to the spiritual hunger felt by millions of Americans. They have found that Orthodoxy means not withdrawing from the world, but coming to feel God's presence in every facet of life. Klinghoffer, one of these newly traditional Jews, also happens to be a highly articulate, sensitive, and sympathetic writer who states his beliefs so reasonably that readers will be hard-pressed to explain why everyone isn't Orthodox.
Writing with style and wit, Klinghoffer describes his secular Jewish parents; his 1970s Southern California upbringing, complete with professional disco dancers at his bar mitzvah; and his first serious girlfriend, a committed Catholic. Behind all these experiences are nagging questions: Why do some Jews persist in observing Torah commandments that to the uninitiated seem impossibly esoteric? After three millennia, why is the Jewish tradition still so puzzling and disturbing, to Jews no less than to non-Jews?
Slowly, at first clumsily, young David explores traditional Judaism. Wanting to do the right thing, he tries to ceremonially re-circumcise himself in a bathtub at home -- at the age of twelve. By adulthood he feels that God is guiding him in some particular direction. An adoptee, he often thinks of the line from Psalm 27, "Should my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will gather me in." Yet even after two more conversions, he doesn't understand the heart of Judaism until after he has set out to find his Swedish birth mother, a non-Jew, who reveals to him a family secret that sends David on a research mission to Stockholm. There, among 200-year-old birth and death records from a Swedish church, he discovers what it means to be a Jew.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Some Flaws; Many Precious Moments:
I first became aware of David Klinghoffer when I saw articles by him on the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion." I appreciated his comments and wanted to read more by him. So, I picked up this book.
I have mixed feelings about it. At times I got the strong sense that someone had informed the author at some point in his life that he was brighter than other people and that he didn't need to do the same intellectual work that others do. Further, I got the impression that, thanks to that... more info
Where does personal experience end and religion begin?:
An illustration of the highly personal nature of religious experience. If you have struggled to relate the scripture of a spiritual tradition to your life there is something to appreciate here, but not the insight that one might be hoping for.
I Agree--Shallow!:
I spent the better part of a Shabbos afternoon poring through this book at my local Barnes & Nobles. Rarely have I considered a book a greater waste of time than this one.
I hoped that, in reading the story of a fellow convert, I might develop a better picture of the Orthodox community than I have developed over the past three years. Instead, what I found was worthless, self-centered drivel by a man far too ignorant to teach anything useful about Judaism.
I was disappointed that this book relied so... more info
Caustic and simplistic view of Judaism:
Kudos to the 'reader' from North Brunswick NJ for his observations. Just to briefly give some detail to his comments: regarding Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith "to which every Jew must assent," no less an (Orthodox) authority than Nachmanides (the Ramban) takes issue with the 7th principle, that Moses' level of prophecy exceeds that of all others. See "Kitvei Ramban" (ed. Chavel) page 322/323, where after discussing the relative insight of Abraham, Moses and the angels, Ramban states that Mashiach will... more info
