The Half-Jewish Book: A Celebration

A wonderful collection of stories and quotes about some people you never knew were (half)Jewish and some you thought you did. Humorous and poignant, it really made me think about the mixed attitudes toward them. Most disturbing to me is that it reveals Sean Penn is half-Jewish. Yikes!

The Half-Jewish Book: A Celebration is not only a "celebration," but a brilliant illumination of the unique doubleness of the Jew of mixed parentage as the quintessential insider-outsider. We predict that it will be viewed from the monocular perspectives of religionists, both Jew and Gentile, with rabbinically Jesuitical (an apt oxymoron) dogmatism: "Either you are a Jew or you are not." This book won't dent the armour of certainty worn by such doctrinaires with no sense of paradox, who find only confusion in duality. But the authors'ideas won't yield to the logic of unimaginative Halakhic hair-splitters. No, this book is not for them. Rather, it's for the growing numbers of those who seek affirmation of an identity rooted in their claim to Jewish heritage. As for the tedious old question that some Diaspora and Israeli Jews alike worry at legalistically, "Who is a Jew?": The Half-Jewish Book holds a simple yet infinitely complex answer that describes the uniqueness of selfhood and identity: "It's not what you're called. It's what you answer to." Third-person labels don't count here. The authors insist that the Jew of mixed parentage has a full share of the history of the Jewish people; and like Jews everywhere, he or she experiences the Holocaust as a defining fact of a Jewish identity, a selfhood both unique and common, which can be neither conferred nor denied by others. The book's title is itself disturbing, challenging, and ironic. While the authors refer to half-Jewishness, they reject formulaic fractionalizing: half-Jew, quarter-Jew, and the pernicious Nazi stigma, "Mischling," all reflections of arithmetical minds capable of marginalizing - and murdering - the bodies and spirits of "the Other." Risking an accusation of superficiality, the authors have had the sagacity to skirt the quagmire of genetic, religious, and ethnic definitions of Jewishness. Rather, they stick to real lives - the torments, doubts, and defiant pride of those who haven't "belonged," and the magnificence of the many whose talents and achievements have made them leaders and luminaries in science, the performing arts, literature, and politics. But with so many illustrious examples, speculative hints at an ideal comixture of inherited characteristics are no more necessary or tenable than the "blood" theory the authors otherwise rightly dismiss. However, they may be forgiven an occasional excess coming from an exuberance that soars beyond scholarly rigor. The Half-Jewish Book, at its best when it doesn't try for a dubious "half-Jewish" humour, is in sum profoundly insightful and moving. It IS, after all, a celebration. Novalis wrote, "It is certain my conviction gains infinitely when another believes in it." That is the great gift The Half-Jewish Book has to offer. This critic has written as Celebrant, Jew, and Other - and not by half with gratitude.

This book is a wonderful affirmation of those of us who are half-Jewish. As an adult child of intermarriage (Jewish dad and Catholic mom) who grew up in a secular home, I have struggled with spiritual and ethnic identity issues for awhile and have felt very alone in my mixed heritage. While the Christian religions are very welcoming toward us, Judaism is not accepting of intermarriage in general and is somehow threatened by our existence. Unfortunately many interfaith children, myself included, find that Judaism is their intrinsic "faith of residence." After all the muddling I have done and have yet to do to work out these issues I am so happy to see a book that validates us with humor and seriousness and pop culture references :) Another wonderful book on the subject is "Between Two Worlds: Choices for Grown Children of Jewish-Christian Parents" by Leslie Goodman-Malamuth and Robin Margolis.

"Half-Jewish" is an affirmation and celebration of children who are "Half-Jewish". This book celebrates, rather than denies, who they are, their heritage and unique contributions to the world. A mix of pop culture, humorous anecdotes and an intelligent argument for embracing the idea of a "Half-Jewish" cultural identity, this is a must read for "Half-Jewish" children AND their parents. As a non-Jewish parent of Half-Jewish children, this book has helped me think about ways in which to help my children embrace their "Jewish half." Besides, the book also celebrates Adam Sandler's "Channukah Song". :-)

I didn't want to like this book, since I don't believe you can be half-Jewish in religious terms, since religions have differing beliefs, and one may not believe simultaneously in philosophies with opposing world and cosmic views. But this book is discussing Jewishness as a pop culture, and I have to admit, that it is very entertaining and well designed. I will even overlook that it puts a stereotypical half-bagel on the cover, just as Asian American books use red or a bowl of rice, and African American books use bold colored cover art. According to the authors. in the United States, there are more half-Jews than "full Jews" under the age of eleven. Daniel Klein and Freke Vuijst live in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where they are raising their half-American-Jewish, half-Dutch-Christian daughter. Half Jewish is a new and rapidly growing identity (if we disregard the Biblical children of Joseph and Moses (Hebrews)). The Half-Jewish Book celebrates this unique identity that until now has been dissed and avoided. The authors fill this book with profiles, interviews, and quotes from half Jewish literary characters (Margaret Simon from Judy Blume's 1970 book, "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret"); cartoon characters (Tommy and Dyl Pickles from Rugrats); and real part Jewish personalities from American pop culture (Joan Collins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Irving, Paulette Goddard, Jayne Seymour, Lisa Bonet, Barbara Hershey, Michael Douglas, Michael Landon, Oliver Stone, Sean Penn, Kevin Kline, Douglas Fairbanks, Goldie Hawn, Dyan Cannon, Harrison Ford, David Duchovny, Noah Wyle, Alicia Silverstone, Peter Sellers, Geraldo, Ben Stiller, Fiorello La Guardia, Barry Goldwater, Dianne Feinstein, Roseanne Arquette, Boris Becker, Jose Bautista, Proust, Brad Ausmus, James McBride, Courtney Love, Xavier Hollander, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Carly Simon, and General Wesley Clark to name a handfull). The book is filled with entertaining quips, as well as serious topics on identity and life choices. The authors also include an essay on the history of half-Jews in the Holocaust and the Nazi laws about who was a Jew. Also included are holiday cards, some weird holiday menus, poetry, paintings and lots of celebrity photographs. If you're "half Jewish" and you ever felt excluded from both Sunday School and Hebrew School, sit a spell and read this book.