On Being Jewish Now
Edited by: Zibby Owens
Nov 1, 2024 Zibby Publishing
342 pages
It’s been a weird two years. Which is a generous adjective to use, but I’ve always liked to think of myself as a giving person. It’s difficult, even for writers who trade in words for a living, to describe what it’s like to exist as a Jew right now. Even my choice to use the word “exist,” rather “practice” or “observe” required debate and conscious thought. That’s because Judaism is not simply a religion. It’s a culture, a faith, or if we want to get fancy, an ethnoreligion. It’s almost as if being Jewish is an accident of birth that can be converted into but not out of. Jews come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Therefore, “being Jewish” means a whole lot of different things to different people. The charity anthology On Being Jewish Now, edited by Zibby Owens, collects the reflections of Jewish writers and entertainers on what being Jewish in this moment means to them.
There’s a mistaken notion that On Being Jewish Now is a book about Israel and/or antisemitism. It is not. As I said before, Jews have a very wide variety of experience. Some of the essays will necessarily touch on Israel and antisemitism because they are relevant forces in the author’s life, but plenty of them do not. The unifying factor is exactly what is promised by the title. These reflections are about being Jewish and what that means for each of the 75 individual contributors. Some pieces are funny, some are tragic, some involve religious observance and some are as secular as watching football on Shabbat while munching bacon strips. Short of actually meeting and talking to Jews (note that talking implies respectful exchange of words and ideas, not unilateral shouting), reading On Being Jewish Now might be the best way to actually get to know us and our wide swath of diversity.
In that vein, I’ll share a little about what being Jewish now means for me. Some days, I’m afraid to leave my house. I leave anyway, because I firmly believe that minority groups should not voluntarily exclude themselves from public spaces due to fear. I push the raging anxiety down, which results in a host of unhealthy effects ranging from hair loss to hives to weight fluctuations. I put on a happy face anyway, reminding myself that I might be the only Jew some people ever meet in their entire lives. Basically, I’m an ambassador to people whose collective ancestral psyche tells them I’m the bogeyman.
I’m a living fossil, and an endangered species.
I’m also fiercely proud and find tremendous joy in my religion. This is not new. Jews – including atheist Jews!- have clung to Jewish identity even when pressed by thousands of years of crusaders and inquisitors. One of the few good things I’ve seen come out of the dumpster fire that is the current state of affairs on planet Earth is the Jewish Joy movement. Jews from across denominations have stopped apologizing for our existence. Instead, writers are publishing Jewish stories that have nothing to do with persecution and hate. Casual Judaism is appearing in stories and on the media. As a person who has only ever practiced one form of Judaism, it has been so moving to interact with and learn about the full spectrum of our people.
In short: being Jewish now is complicated. Which is actually what On Being Jewish Now is about. Was this anthology perhaps a bit rushed? Did a few pieces feel like they were in the wrong categories? Sure. But that’s part of the experience too. Nobody has the luxury of time any more. Existence is a constant series of crises begging that we do something right now, right away. These authors did something.
The piece that moved me the most was contributed by Lihi Lapid, but there were many worthy contributions, each giving insight into a different experience. The world would like to think Jews are a monolith (an evil monolith at that). We are not. We contain multitudes, and if you crack open On Being Jewish Now and read even 2-3 pieces at random, I think you’ll realize that. This isn’t just a book for Jews. It’s a book for everyone willing to try and understand.