Title: Yom Kippur A Go-Go
Author: Matthue Roth
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir

5 or 6 months ago my rebbetzin asked me if I would organize a class or reading group at shul. She knows what a voracious reader I am and how much of the stuff I read relates to Judaism in some way. So I came up with an idea for “Not Your Bubbe’s Bookclub.” Part curated reading list, part book club, I’m trying to bring some new ideas and new styles of literature into the shul. At the first meeting I presenting the class with three potential tracks to kick off with. The class unanimously chose the “Tradition Transformed” track which consists of Yom Kippur A Go-Go, Yentyl’s Revenge and The Big Kahn.

We started with Yom Kippur A Go-Go and I am so nervous to find out tomorrow night what the small group thought of this book. I loved it but there are some actually Bubbes in this group and I was blushing just thinking about them because of Roth’s liberal use of “fuck”, his no holds barred descriptions of a friend’s sex toys and all the debauchery he encountered while living the life of an Orthodox Jew he was also a wild-child poet in San Francisco in the early part of the last decade.

What I really want to get into with our discussion tomorrow night is how much room in the Jewish tradition there is for individuality and individual paths and how to navigate those paths to stay close to the heart of our tradition while being true to ourselves. Without any judgement of Roth I say that his self-identity as an Orthodox Jew and his very strict observance of shabbat and kashrut coupled with a lack of any real discussion of any outward manifestations of Jewish ethics was confusing to me. But that’s good because it’s given me a lot to think about.

I’m pretty nervous about the discussion tomorrow night. I can only hope that the Bubbe’s got past the language and talk of trannies and dry humping enough to let the book make them about some big questions as well.

Title: Bloodroot
Author: Amy Greene
Genre: Fiction, Loved

I am normally hesitant to read things that are immensely popular. I don’t really know why, I guess it’s just my contrarian nature. But even though this is spending time on the New York Times Bestseller list the review in Entertainment Weekly intrigued me so much that I had to read it.

While my family was not dirt poor and the men in my family aren’t the kind of men Bloodroot is full of I grew up in the world of this book. The words spelled out like they are pronounced in this word (worsh=wash) brought me vivid flashbacks to my childhood and the women in my life (my grandmother and aunt specifically) growing up. The book broke my heart in several different ways and I couldn’t put it down. That’s the best compliment I can give.

Title: The Gift of Asher Lev
Author: Chaim Potok
Genre: Fiction

I do enjoy Chaim Potok books. They’re such quick reads, they really suck me in. This is the sequel to My Name is Asher Lev which I read last year.

It was interesting to read this book right after reading The Rebbe’s Army because Potok’s Ladover Hasids are the fictional version of Lubavitchers. Potok’s book was written long, long before the Lubavitch Rebbe’s death but the parallels between a movement with such a charismatic leader and the questions posed about succession after a leaders death are striking.

Title: The Rebbe’s Army: Inside the World of Chabad Lubavitch
Author: Sue Fishkoff
Genre: Non-Fiction, Judaism

I think just about every Jew has an opinion on and a fascination with Chabad, on some level. My opinion is of course skewed by the fact that Chabad rejects both my flavor of Judaism (Conservative) and my very status as a Jew (only Orthodox conversions count in their eyes). Even so I recognize that Chabad does very good work in many arenas and this book highlighted that good work even more.

This was a really good book. Well written, well researched and it neither endlessly praised nor condemned Chabad. It answered a lot of questions I have about Chabad and their Rebbe but I’m still left wondering about the strong messianic bent that’s present in some (a lot?) of the Chabad world and how on earth the Rebbe didn’t have a succession plan in place.

Title: Megillat Esther
Author: JT Waldman
Genre: Graphic Novel

This is a very cool retelling of the story of Queen Esther in graphic novel form. Highly recommended if you’re into Purim, midrash or religious storytelling.

Title: Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work
Author: Matthew B. Crawford
Genre: Non-Fiction

I liked but didn’t love this book although there were sections and definitely passages that I absolutely loved. The concept of the book is very interesting. “An Inquiry Into the Value of Work” is a perfect subheading. When the author was talking about “the work” (being a motorcycle mechanic for example) I enjoyed it very much. When he went more toward an academic, theoretical explanation the book, in my opinion, got bogged down and was a bit hard to slog through.

I’m really glad I read it though because it aligns really well some things I’ve been thinking about for the last 6-8 months (since the disaster of employment that we don’t speak of). I think that my generation kind of got conned into thinking that college and then a career in knowledge work is the end all and be all.