As A Jew

Having greatly enjoyed Sarah Hurwitz’s first book, Here All Along, in which she rediscovers Jewish tradition after a life of mostly what she refers to as secular or cultural Judaism, I knew I had to read her latest book, As A Jew. I went in expecting the continuation of her Jewish Journey. I was unprepared for the breadth and depth to which she tackles some of the most difficult topics Jews face today.

As noted in my review of Here All Along, Hurwitz and I are from very different backgrounds. As A Jew opens with an honest discussion of the internalized antisemitism and shame many Jews who grow up in majority non-Jewish or secular Jewish communities face. As a minority, even within the Jewish minority (ultra orthodoxy, the Judaism that even other Jews often sneer at), I had a big advantage in that regard. I grew up immersed in the ‘iz gut tzu zein a Yid – it is good to be a Jew’ mentality. In fact, one could argue that Hassidism is the OG Jewish Joy movement. The very pride and joy that Hurwitz notes many Jews lost during the enlightenment and associated cultural assimilation that followed, was ever present in my community. Probably because while our communities may have lacked walls and gates, they were still self imposed ghettos. Shame wasn’t our problem (and I am honest enough to admit we have many problems that other branches of Judaism do not). However, I did grow up in a majority Christian country, and I couldn’t help but notice how the world at large treated us like sad relics. People toured our neighborhood as if it was a living history museum – except significantly less national pride inducing than colonial Williamsburg. I understood why Jews who grew up in more open communities seemed to regard our form of Jewishness as embarrassing, or something to be covered up when out in the larger world.

Hurwitz is extremely thorough in examining how the worlds stereotypes for Jews came into existence (this was my favorite part, as we don’t tend to learn history of Christianity and Islam in yeshiva, just the associated crusades, expulsions, and pogroms), as well as how they have infiltrated the Jewish psyche. She is measured, she is clear, and she is a joy to read. Sometimes I was terrified and in despair of the endless cycle of history repeating itself, but always there was hope. For Jewish readers, even those with firm grounding in Judaism and Jewish text and culture, As A Jew, will give you back a piece of yourself. For non-Jewish readers, it will ask you to rethink certain internalized prejudices you may not even realize you are carrying around and make you a more critical receiver of information.

I am sure every person will have their own favorite chapter, but mine was when Hurwitz proclaims that even secular Jews should study and access our textline. Scholarship and knowledge – even from people who have no intention of ever being Rabbi’s – is a hallmark of our tradition. Forging more connections with Jewish texts has been the highlight of my adult spiritual life. As you can probably tell from this blog, I consider myself a person of the book. We’re even going to be announcing a special new Torah relevant feature for BookishlyJewish next week, trying to get more of our readers to engage with both ancient and modern Jewish texts.

There’s too much in As A Jew to go over piece by piece, so instead I will assure you that if there is a topic in Judaism that makes you squirm, feel uncertain, or wish other people would not ask about – Hurwitz has tackled it and mapped out why you are uncomfortable and what you ought to be doing about it. I don’t know what ground she’s left for her next book, but believe me, I will be reading it.

Note: BookishlyJewish received an ARC of this book from the publisher after we asked for one.

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