A bildungsroman if ever there was one, this story of a Jew in New York who grows embittered with modern living and decides to become a traditional Jew in Jerusalem is fascinating for the insights it provides into the religious mind. ( )

Jews come in all flavors and backgrounds. For Joseph Shapiro, survivor, and then seeker of meaning, crisis becomes a complete embrace of a religious worldview and lifestyle. For me, this story is an interesting view from inside the Jewish tribe itself, of Jewish intra-tribal conflict and diversity, not only among diaspora American Jews but particularly within Israel, where those differences can be fierce. The useless Jews who pray vs the corrupted Jews who fail to pray, and everyone in between. I could see the same sort of conversion process that struck Joseph Shapiro happening with a secular Christian, or Muslim, which made this more than a "Jewish" book, The added Israel element, makes it a way to feel the ongoing political conflict that goes on in Israel and among Jews today. ( )

Americans--Israel--Fiction.