Alan Lew (1943–2009)

I read this in real time this year: a chapter for Tisha B'Av, a chapter for the rest of Av and so on, through Sukkot. R'Lew had me dead to rights: the holidays had fallen into a rut of tradition and ritual, but I needed to be shaken up and see them anew. And he got to me: I couldn't stop thinking about this book for months. Thinking about why I get angry when I want to be sad or empathetic; about the imagery of being completely unprepared, about mortality, and the books of life we write. show more

This book is really for all Jews: R'Lew makes clear that he has no expectations on what you believe, or if you believe anything at all. Whether you believe in G-d, whether you participate in any ritual life, whether you even acknowledge the HH, what is real is that we have on fewer day each day; our lives matter, but also will inevitably be forgotten and it is our responsibility to write the books of our lives how we wish them to be. And that we will fail at that responsibility. Those are the undeniable, intolerable facts of life. R'Lew died suddenly at a relatively young age, and that made his work more poignant to me.

(It's not aged perfectly: the passage about what an amazing and virtuous person Giuliani is made me cringe, reading it in 2019.) show less

I really liked the idea that without Freud, there could have been no Einstein, because Freud showed us that the invisible is more important than the invisible, thus paving the way for quantum physics. Interesting idea.
And I was shocked at the fact that WWI began in the Pale, thus displacing many Jews who then became far easier prey in WWII. Why do our history books not mention this?
Also inverting the famous 'those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it" by saying that one must in show more fact repeat one's history, acknowledge it, in order to let it go.

Otherwise this book mostly strikes me as a memoir with the rituals and weekly Parshiot between Tisha B'Av and Sukkot described woven together with the author's family history. show less

I was first introduced to this book after reading the chapter on Kol Nidre in a class, and I was left weeping at my desk. So, in honor of the latest High Holy Day season, I obtained a copy.

This accessible, anecdote-heavy description of Elul through Yom Kippur was a joy to read. Those who are looking for a practical guide should choose something else (maybe Anita Diamant's Living a Jewish Life), but those searching for spiritual and personal meaning will appreciate Rabbi Lew's blending of show more traditional biblical interpretation and New Age practices. show less

I really liked the idea that without Freud, there could have been no Einstein, because Freud showed us that the invisible is more important than the invisible, thus paving the way for quantum physics. Interesting idea.
And I was shocked at the fact that WWI began in the Pale, thus displacing many Jews who then became far easier prey in WWII. Why do our history books not mention this?
Also inverting the famous 'those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it" by saying that one must in show more fact repeat one's history, acknowledge it, in order to let it go.

Otherwise this book mostly strikes me as a memoir with the rituals and weekly Parshiot between Tisha B'Av and Sukkot described woven together with the author's family history. show less