As a Jew Reclaiming our story from those who blame, shame, and try to erase us

Former White House speechwriter Hurwitz (Here All Along) makes a full-throated case for Judaism's relevance in an increasingly secular and often openly antisemitic world. Raised on a "cultural Judaism" from which she gleaned mostly "a collection of social justice slogans and self-­help clichés," the author had a tenuous connection to her faith until she signed up for an introduction to Judaism class in her 30s. Shedding "false" notions of the faith, Hurwitz came to understand the Torah as less a prescriptive rule book than an account of "who the Jews are" with instructions for building a more moral society. She also came to see Israel not as an inherent bully but an ancestral homeland recovered after thousands of years of "living and dying by others' whims" (though makes clear that she opposes a number of Israel's actions, including today's war in Gaza), and antisemitism as less a bygone problem than a pressing if sometimes subtly disguised threat. Suggesting that growing up in a Christian society had made her "recoil from my own tradition," Hurwitz makes especially trenchant points about the existential challenges posed by a modern America that ostensibly offers Jews more freedom than ever but asks them to prioritize Judeo-Christian values and suppress more cumbersome elements of their culture to fit in. The result is an important and energetic analysis of what it means to be Jewish in America today. (Sept.)

Living and loving the faith. There's an old comic exchange between two men. One says, "It's hard to make a living." The other says, "It's hard to be a Jew." The first replies, "It's hard to be a mensch!" This book explores just how hard it is to be a Jew in 21st-century America. But more importantly, it explores just how hard it is to be a mensch of any faith--truly humane, open, and accepting, motivated by ethical principles and care for others. The struggle to embrace a heritage has been irrevocably complicated by the struggle to embrace a Jewish nation-state. In fluent, conversational prose, the author (a former speechwriter for the Obamas) outlines some of the major historical principles behind Judaism. In her account, Judaism is a story of survival, a constant reinventing of tradition for a changing world, and a commitment to preserving the past while living in the present. More than any specific list of laws, rules, or observances, this feature of Judaism lies at the heart of the author's story. She writes from personal experience, from historical research, and from a truly literary perspective. Responding to the prevalence of anti-Jewish incidents after the Oct. 7, 2003, attack on Israel, she writes: "Relying on incident counts can be like trying to measure humidity with a bucket, as if it were rain. You can wind up with an empty bucket and a lot of people proclaiming that it's all in your head. Even as you stand before them drenched in sweat and feeling suffocated, they may still insist that you're overreacting, even making it all up." It may be uniquely hard to be a Jew these days. But, Jewish or not, it's even harder to be a mensch. A love letter to a religious and cultural inheritance, written without apology but with humility and care. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.