Title: Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life – in Judaism (after Finally Choosing to Look There)
Author: Sarah Hurwitz
Genre: Religion
Trigger Warnings: Antisemitism (mentions), antisemetic hate crimes (mentions), xenophobia (mentions), death, death of children, grief
Back Cover:
After a decade as a political speechwriter—serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama, a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, and chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton on her 2008 presidential campaign—Sarah Hurwitz decided to apply her skills as a communicator to writing a book . . . about Judaism. And no one is more surprised than she is.
Hurwitz was the quintessential lapsed Jew—until, at age thirty-six, after a tough breakup, she happened upon an advertisement for an introductory class on Judaism. She attended on a whim, but was blown away by what she found: beautiful rituals, helpful guidance on living an ethical life, conceptions of God beyond the judgy bearded man in the sky—none of which she had learned in Hebrew school or during the two synagogue services she grudgingly attended each year. That class led to a years-long journey during which Hurwitz visited the offices of rabbis, attended Jewish meditation retreats, sat at the Shabbat tables of Orthodox families, and read hundreds of books about Judaism—all in dogged pursuit of answers to her biggest questions. What she found transformed her life, and she wondered: How could there be such a gap between the richness of what Judaism offers and the way so many Jews like her understand and experience it?
Sarah Hurwitz is on a mission to close this gap by sharing the profound insights she discovered on everything from Jewish holidays, ethics, and prayer to Jewish conceptions of God, death, and social justice. In this entertaining and accessible book, she shows us why Judaism matters and how its message is more relevant than ever, and she inspires Jews to do the learning, questioning, and debating required to make this religion their own.
Review:
I knew this book was about Judaism, but I thought it was going to be a lot more memoir than it is. Sarah Hurwitz doesn’t talk much about her personal journey out of Judaism and back after the very beginning (introduction or first chapter, I don’t remember which). She tells the story of how she didn’t vibe with the idea of a big man in the sky as a kid, didn’t bother at all with religion for a long time, joined an Intro to Judaism class to keep herself busy after a breakup, and found a version of Judaism that actually held meaning to her.
The whole rest of the book is basically a summary of what she learned. She describes Jewish holidays and rituals (often illustrating with her own experiences taking part in them), the Jewish holy texts and the Jewish understanding of them, conceptualizations of God and the divine (it is completely possible to be Jewish and also be what a Christian would consider atheist), ethics, rules, right actions, prayer, death, and community. It’s basically an Intro to Judaism book, mostly covering generalities across the religion and specific doctrines that Sarah herself believes, but also touching on different sects where they differ from Sarah’s personal beliefs.
I did actually find a lot of things about Judaism that resonated with me personally. Nondualism is a conception of the divine that I could absolutely get behind. The concept of the weekly shabbat is one I really like, even though some of the rules seem unnecessarily restrictive. The Jewish rituals around death are especially poignant and almost make me wish I belonged to a Jewish community so I could have that kind of support when someone I care for dies. I teared up a couple times.
Growing up Christian, I was taught that Judaism was Christianity Lite – basically the same, but with a bunch more rules because they didn’t have Jesus to set them free from rules. I was pretty sure that was incorrect, but it wasn’t until reading this book that I finally grasped the full richness and meaningfulness of the Jewish tradition. If I was sure I could commit to a religion (I’ve been Christian, pagan witch, Helenistic polytheist, and Shinto by turns and abandoned all of them), I would consider converting to Judaism. There are things in the religion I don’t like (as is true for every religion I’ve looked at), but Judaism has thousands of years of both tradition and reinterpretation and many parts that I find very appealing. If you’re at all curious about Judaism, and especially if you grew up being told Judaism was a less-good version of Christianity, this is a fantastic introduction to the heart and the essence of Judaism.
Bluejay Reads 