JANUARY 27 • 2022 | 51

thinking do not often con-
sider what Kanye West did
when presenting an award
to Taylor Swift at the 2009
Video Music Awards —
interrupting her presenta-
tion to imply that Beyonce
deserved the award. Levine
judges Kanye West’s opinion
correct — Beyonce deserved
the award — but the action
inappropriate.
Levine uses this incident
to illuminate the complex
Talmudic discussion of a
Kohen who seizes the agri-
cultural tax that the farmer,
by law, must donate to a
Kohen of the farmer’s choice.
If the court allows the Kohen
to keep his ill-gotten gains,
the farmer loses his right to
choose a recipient, a right
that perhaps should have no
significant value. The farmer
must not get paid for choos-
ing one Kohen over another.
Still, the court does extract
the tax from the Kohen,
according to Tosfos, as
explained by Levine, because
“grabbing is simply not the
appropriate course of action.”

Many writers could evoke
pop culture and sports to
illustrate Talmudic dis-
cussions and still write
desert-dry prose. Levine’s
jazzy, improvisational and
eccentric diction succeeds in
conveying his meaning while
inspiring an amused smile or
even a good belly laugh.
But this book is not for
everyone.
One limitation comes
because Levine sprinkles his
text with a generous supply
of Hebrew and Aramaic
terms and names, transliter-
ated in Ashkenazic pronun-
ciation.

Levine assumes his reader
has at least some level of
familiarity with the terms of
Jewish law, with the sages of
the Talmud and later contrib-
utors to rabbinic literature.
A second limitation comes
from the opposite direction:
Some people who know
which end of a Talmud is up
have kept away from popu-
lar culture. They might feel
lost or offended by Levine’s
examples.
The final limitation: Your
reader has to have a sense of
playfulness. I would not ask a
somber person to try to read
this book.
But, if you can navigate
through a little Talmud,
know some sports or pop
culture and have a sense of
humor, do yourself a favor
and get a copy of Are You
Sure? While you are at it, get
some as presents for other
folks who fit the description.
This is a happy book.
Reading it makes me smile.
One aspect of the book, how-
ever, inspires sad thoughts.
In a few years, the
Talmudic analysis will still
come across as fresh and
accessible; anyone who stud-
ies Talmud would find them
useful. By then the references
to sports and popular culture
may have become as obscure
as anything in the Talmud;
people might need detailed
historical notes to make any
sense of them at all.
The legal analysis in this
book will retain relevance for
decades, while other parts
might become incomprehen-
sible. Maybe that will create
opportunities for future
scholars.

IF ONLY LIFE WERE AS EASY AS PIE
IF ONLY LIFE WERE AS EASY AS PIE

MUSIC HALL • MARCH 15-20, 2022

MUSIC BY SARA BAREILLES
(“LOVE SONG,” “BRAVE”)

ON SALE NOW

BroadwayInDetroit.com | Ticketmaster.com | Box Office

Groups (10+) BroadwayInDetroitGroups@theambassadors.com (subject: Waitress) • OC - March 18 - 8:00pm

Love Lift US Up

Opens Tuesday February 1-13, 2022 Fisher Theatre
BROADWAYINDETROIT.COM | TICKETMASTER.COM | BOX OFFICE

Groups (10+) BroadwayInDetroitGroups@theambassadors.com (subject: An Officer and a Gentleman)
OC open-caption performance February 6 at 7:30PM