The Kosher Pig: And Other Curiosities of Modern Jewish Life

From Booklist Rabbi Israel's collection of essays is 'about modernity and being Jewish, about the ironies that result from trying to appropriate the Jewish tradition while at the same time attempting to live fully in the modern world.' Israel discusses such important topics as keeping kosher (there is a separate essay on kosher wine), praying, synagogue attendance and decorum, hospitality, fasting, weddings and funerals, sports, spiritual discovery, and even bees (the author is a beekeeper, and, yes, so he argues, Jews can eat honey). Israel, director of the Rabbinic Program at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, writes with a touch of humor, but his underlying message is thoughtful and astute. Both Jew and non-Jew will enjoy the book. George Cohen

Reflections on the mismatch between traditional Jewish living and contemporary lifestyles. Richard Israel was the only rabbi in Bombay, India, a beekeeper, a successful marathon runner, and the director of Hillel Jewish Student Centers on various college campuses. These diverse experiences give him a unique vantage point on the chaos which is modern Jewish life. He gets caught in the tension between being a traditional Jew and being a modern American...and suspects that, indeed, he may be neither.

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