Meryl Hyman "Who Is A Jew: Conversations, Not Conclusions."
Sure to generate great controversy as it provides new insights, "Who Is a Jew?" courageously takes on this timely and controversial question. It provides the full range of perspectives necessary to let us draw our own conclusions. A seasoned journalist, Meryl Hyman weaves her own life experiences into this complex and controversial subject, exploring profound and highly personal questions of identity in conversations with Jew and non-Jew. The daughter of a Jewish father and a Christian mother, she set out to find out why so many Jews say she is not a Jew, even though she has practiced Judaism and identified herself as a Jew since birth. She found a people struggling with its own history, customs, and laws; a people who fear that their unity may be sacrificed. Featured in "Who Is a Jew?" are leaders from all parts of the Jewish world, eminent scholars, and others from all spectrums of belief―from Israel, England, and the United States―who speak out on the subject and delve into such questions as: What are the many-faceted "answers" to this seemingly simple question? Why are these answers crucial for all Jews? Why does Jewish identity have a bearing on all cultural, religious, and ethnic groups? Why and how does Israel's answer to the question matter to Jews everywhere in the world?
Hyman's book is an excellent discussion of the debate surrounding the "Who is a Jew?" issue. As a Reform Jew of patrilineal descent, she is able to add a unique perspective to this debate and shows us some of the outright hypocrisy that surrounds such Jews.
The one question one may ask Ms. Hyman is why she is satisfied to let Orthodox and Conservative rabbis control her ethnic and religious identity. I would like to comfort Ms. Hyman and all others with the words Andrew Jackson once uttered when faced with a Supreme Court ruling he didn't like: "The Court has made its decision; now let them enforce it." This is the way I feel about the "Who is a Jew?" issue: Orthodox and (most) Conservative rabbis can say as loudly as they like that only the child of a Jewish mother is a Jew, but it matters not when (at least in America) they have no real power to enforce it.
Ultimately, only an individual person can know whether he or she has legitimacy as a Jew.
Paperback. 1999.
New book. Minor shelf wear from rubbing. Inscription on the first page, typically just a name. Remainder mark on bottom.