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Jewish Book Fair
`BEING JEWISH' from page 86
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The book was highly praised, yet he
was criticized by some who suggested
that he should be studying Judaism,
not other religions.
"This new book," the 51-year-old
author writes, "is my effort to examine
not the faith of others but my own faith,
to look deep into its practices and histo-
ry and try to invigorate it with new
meaning and purpose. I undertake this
examination not as the yeshiva boy I
once was but with the insight of a
Gulliver who has seen the lives of others
and can now reflect better on his own."
His own perspective is Orthodoxy
"I'm a proudly modern Orthodox Jew
That doesn't mean I'm a perfect Jew.
Many tried to write me out of the camp
after my last book," he says. "My ideolo-
gy, my affiliations, my kishkas are in
Orthodoxy"
He likes to describe himself as "1950s
Orthodox," recalling the Young Israel he
grew up in as having social dancing in
its auditorium, and everyone was fine
`TODAY I AM A BOY' from page 86
"Theater was a wonderful part of
my life, and I was good to it," says
Hays, who remembers drinking lots of
Vernor's ginger ale as he worked at the
Fisher Theatre. "Now I'm writing.
"As I spent a good deal of my life
designing in New York City, [I learned]
that sometimes you have to sit down in
front of a blank piece of paper and let
the pencil point carry you along. It
teaches you things and shows you
about eating tuna sandwiches out.
He's very much a "pluralist
Orthodox," open and respectful of other
people's practice. "Just as I was able to
see the beauty of other religions, like
Buddhism, in the first book, I can also
see the beauty of other streams of con-
temporary Judaism," he says.
Being Jewish is divided into three sec-
tions: "The Jewish Life," "The Jewish
Year" and "The Jewish Day" Among the
topics he covers are coming of age, wed-
dings, all of the holidays and Shabbat,
prayer, study, traditions inside of the
home like honoring parents, hospitality
and sex, and practices outside of the
home like charity and visiting the sick.
The chapters provide a historical
overview, emphasizing the meanings as
well as the rules; each chapter concludes
with a glossary-like explanation of "The
Basics." Sidebars throughout the text vary
in theme, from kabbalistic teachings to an
explanation of tickets for holiday services.
Goldman includes many personal
asides, written with warmth, about his
own family. In the chapter on mourn-
ing, he tells of his mother's death and
the process of saying good-bye, and, in
the section on beginnings, he writes
about the comfort of naming his son,
born five weeks later, after her.
In sections labeled "Variations on a
Theme," he offers examples of idiosyn-
cratic practices. These are his favorite
parts — "the characters who animate the
book," he says.
There's the stockbroker who makes
only outgoing calls on the Sabbath but
never takes incoming calls, so that one
day a week, he gets to set the telephone
agenda. There's the woman who con-
verted to Judaism who can't fast on Yom
Kippur for health reasons but instead
refrains from speaking for 25 hours.
He writes of people whose observance
of the laws of kashrut ease up outside of
a 50-mile radius of their hometown and
those who "won't keep any rituals but
wouldn't think of buying a German car,
listening to a Wagner opera or reading
Ezra Pound."
Goldman encourages Jewish learning,
along with the search for what is mean-
things you didn't think you knew You
remember while you're writing and find
yourself writing something you never
thought you would."
When Hays travels with his book,
he hopes audiences will ask lots of
questions, either during the formal
presentation or while he is signing
copies afterward. Because his book
conveys the personalities of real peo-
ple, he let them review it before send-
ing it to his publisher.
"I discovered a belief in God that I
wasn't sure I had and find myself rein-
vented and reinvigorated," Hays
reveals about the results of his writing.
"As for the ceremonies, I believe that
I'm no better than a 13-year-old boy. I
aim to be inquisitive."
Hays, who has described himself as
the one student not required to pro-
vide permission slips for outings, keeps
in touch with some of the bar mitzvah
classmates he came to know well. From
his interactions with youths and the
lack of emphasis on religion in his ear-
mtmity. How are you doing that?
NG: I'm still dealing with the edge. Its
just that this edge has to do with people.
Even though my book is trying to
correct what I think is an imbalance in
the way pop culture views spirituality
today, I recognize that there's probably
been an imbalance in my own life,
favoring raw experience over more inti-
mate interpersonal relationships.
Historically, for me, those have been a
lot tougher than jumping out of an air-
plane or facing down a grizzly bear.
Two months ago I was taking a canoe
trip in the Arctic Ocean. That wasn't
hard for me. What's harder is finding
God through the daily interactions with
people. But it's something I'm becoming
more comfortable with, as I'm develop-
ing balance in my own spiritual life.
rabbi" and "rabbicop." Which term
best describes you, and how do you
juggle your many roles?
NG: Like any label, they're all kind of
stupid. I don't call myself any of these
things. Sometimes I don't even call
myself a rabbi. I don't know what I am.
I say in one chapter that I'm trying to
harmonize the call of the wild with the
call of my faith. On one level that's a
sound byte, but on another it's true.
I mean, I fundamentally view myself
as a teacher, and sometimes as a guide,
but not as a functionary. I didn't go to
graduate school for five years to say the
Hamotzi before the sisterhood lunch-
eon. Anybody can do that. My job is to
educate people the best that I can, so
they can live their own Jewish lives.
Its really been a struggle. There's
been a lot of pressure for me, both
financial and otherwise, to take the
conventional path, and I'vejust
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`GOD AT THE EDGE' from page 87
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Experiencing the death of a loved
one, breaking up with a relationship,
going through a major life transition
there are lots of triggers like the experi-
ences I write about.
A lot of the different thinkers I write
about in this book view the human
condition as one of struggle and con-
flict and sometimes pain. If you view
the human condition itself as one of
struggle, then everybody's at the edge.
So it's not that much of a leap to think
that you can find spirituality at the
edge, because all it means is that you
can find spirituality in everyday life.
JN: In the last chapter of the book, you
talk about your transition from being
focused on your own spiritual quest to
integrating yourself into a Jewish corn-
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JN: You've been called "new-fangled,"
I,
very modern, postmodern, cyber-
CC
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