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"The Jewish American Paradox" by Robert H. Mnookin

book review by Riley Burnham 8/20/2023

well i thought this was nice & candid

the book uses 'Jewish' & 'Jew' in about every paragraph/other sentence; so it stays on topic hahaha

it's about the many perplexing issues surrounding modern Judaism as it presents itself in Israel, USA, etc.

in Israel, for instance, Jewish is a race & a religion, whereas in the USA the question of Jewish Race is completely ignored...

it discusses what makes a 'real Jew,' however that's parsed/decided​​​​​​​, & the variety of different rubrics that question rests upon, historically & currently

we learn of different sects [Ashkenazi, Sephardid, Cohanim...] which claim bloodlines tracing to biblical characters [he says the Cohens/priests have unique genetic markers for instance]

by the end, acknowledging intermarriage & 'mixing' of bloods/religions, it's harder to pinpoint what "makes a Jew" & thus reaps its social benefits [schooling, Israeli travel, etc.]

the author mentions some of the structural goodness of many traditions [feasts, fasts...] & has a lot of praise for folks traveling to Jerusalem for their prescribed 'return' [i think it's a ~2 week trip, w/ events & sights]

actually good book