Arts
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en Book Fair
Finding Faith
Three authors from different generations find spirituality in unexpected places.
'Today I Am A Boy'
`Being Jewish'
SANDEE BRAWARSKY
Special to the Jewish News
SUZANNE CHESSLER
very morning, an orthodontist in New Jersey puts on tzitzit, the four-
cornered fringed undergarment, under his shirt. He doesn't keep
kosher, doesn't attend synagogue; in fact, this is the only Jewish ritual he
does regularly. Asked by author Ari L. Goldman why he does so, he replies,
"I feel naked without them."
Goldman, a former reporter for the New York Times who is now on the
faculty of Columbia University's School of Journalism, uncovers many true
stories like this one, of people who connect to Jewish tradition in their own
way. He tells of a family who build a sukkah for all their meals on Sukkot
but don't keep kosher, a man who drives his car on Shabbat but not on the
freeway — that reminds him of work.
In presenting these examples, along with full explanations of Jewish
rituals, traditions, lifecycle events and holidays, he paints a portrait of
contemporary Judaism — truly in living color — in his new book,
Being Jewish: The Spiritual and Cultural Practice of Judaism Today (Simon
& Schuster; $25).
A useful guide for people beginning to re-explore the Judaism they aban-
doned, or those considering conversion, or people who are interested but
feel intimidated or overwhelmed by Judaism's many laws and rituals, the
book also provides new insights for those who already take their Judaism
seriously, whatever denomination.
For all, Goldman is a very appealing companion on the Jewish pathway.
His writing is full of clarity, wit and love for his subject matter, with no pre-
tensions and with the journalist's eye for rich detail.
In some ways, Being Jewish grew out of Goldman's previous best-sell-
ing book, The Search for God at
Harvard. In that book — in
which he reported on his sab-
batical year at Harvard
Divinity School — the author
wrote about the world religions
he studied, and the new under-
standings he gained about his
own past and about Judaism.
D
Special to the Jewish News
E
`BEING JEWISH' on page 88
avid Hays' theater career has helped take major productions around
the world, but the performance he thought merited a book took
place close to his Connecticut home.
At age 66, center stage in his synagogue, Hays celebrated his bar mitzvah.
Today I Am a Boy (Simon & Schuster; $23) is a first-person account of
the religious experience and the person-to-person connection with the
12-year-olds in his bar mitzvah class.
The recent release represents the author's second autobiographical proj-
ect. The retired Broadway theatrical designer and founder of the National
Theatre of the Deaf earlier wrote My Old Man and the Sea, which
recounts how he sailed a tiny boat around Cape Horn with his son.
"I hope Today I Am a Boy is an enjoyable book to read," says Hays,
who spent three years working on it. "People may find [spirituality] in
it, but I intended to make it a funny book about an adventure. I wrote
about what I know, and I hope it strikes a chord."
In part, the humor comes from meeting the people important to
Hays' religious awakening — his family, Rabbi Doug Sagal and the
friends who crossed generational borders. One chapter, for example,
describes going to klezmer camp with his wife, Leonora.
"I've been reading parts of the book as I go around the country on appear-
ances," says Hays, who spent_time in Michigan through touring troupes from
the National Theatre of the Deaf and previews of Broadway shows including
No Strings, the Richard Rodgers musical starring Diahann Carroll.
"My favorite chapter is on my friend who won the Nobel Prize. It
describes a turning point in my own search for whatever spirituality I
found. In order to make any of this sensible to the reader, I tried to
make them care about the person going through this experience so
things like friends, aspirations, successes and failures would come into it,
and that's what this chapter is all about."
Hays was the set and lighting designer for more than 50 Broadway
plays and musicals, 30 dance programs for the legendary George
Balanchine at the New York City Ballet and classical productions for the
Metropolitan Opera Association. While leading the National Theatre of
the Deaf for 30 years, he oversaw appearances on seven continents.
`TODAY I AM A BOY' on page 88
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"Being Jewish
is about feeling
good. It is about
finding meanzng."
— Ari Goldman
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