“...examines the complex relationship between the practical and the passionate self, the realist and the dreamer, and the importance of those moments in life that make you feel 'airborne.'”
—Erin Kodicek
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Sep 2005
15th
Library Journal
"...a provocative and enjoyable book for Jews and gentiles alike."
-Library Journal
Journalist Pogrebin interviewed 61 successful Americans to elicit their thoughts on being Jewish and how - if at all - this heritage influences their lives. The profiles are engaging, intimate, brief (ranging from two to 14 pages), and frequently surprising and insightful. Interviewees include actors, directors, business tycoons, writers, politicians, journalists, designers, Supreme Court justices Ginsburg and Breyer, athletes Shawn Green and Mark Spitz, and architect Richard Meier. While Pogrebin explicitly does not draw conclusions about the state of Judaism in America, even just among the rich and famous, it is striking how rarely God is mentioned across the dozens of interviews. The subjects differ on such packed issues as Israel, intermarriage, and anti-Semitism. The personal importance of their Jewishness also varies widely. But while many are passionate about the culture and history of the Jewish people, few are particularly observant and fewer still involved with theological Judaism. In a thoughtful epilog, Pogrebin notes that this widespread lack of religiousness actually inspired her to return to synagogue and study the Torah. Altogether, this is a provocative and enjoyable book for Jews and gentiles alike. - Janet Ingraham Dwyer, Worthington Libs., OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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