This is My God

This is a bit of a time capsule; post-WWII, just at the cusp of Israel existing. Wouk presents Judaism in a way that suggests its completely foreign to the reader, and does his best to articulate why it's a faith just as valid as its big brothers, and describes how the religion functions and the religious experience of the worshipper from a relatively liberal position. Though it's clear throughout that Wouk has a lot of love for the more traditional, orthodox ways.
As a guide to judaism it perhaps struggles from Wouk writing this from a persuading position, and not as a scholar, let alone a master of religious studies for the comparisons between other religions. It builds very much toward the object of zionism in the sense of a homeland show more for jews being both natural and necessary. The afterwords from the six day war (1969) and the 40 year anniversary (1987) are also fantastic time capsules of perspective from someone who saw the state come into existence.

That said, the apologism used here is very dated and an echo of christian arguments (probably deliberately so). You can probably glean more insight about judaism from a modern text in comparative religion. If you're interested in the historical perspective it's a great text. show less

This was a really important book for me; it was one of the first non-fiction books I had read at the end of high school/early college and it was one of the books that allowed me to discover not only a love of reading for the first time, but also insight to the complexities of the Jewish relationship to God. I felt validated in my own relationship with God by the struggle Wouk depicts with his own version of God.

Herman Wouk's introduction to modern Orthodox Judaism is a contemporary classic in Jewish writing. Written with the same consummate style that graces his fiction, This Is My God is one of the best introductions to Judaism there is. It lacks the scholarly writing and detail that is so often found in books by modern Rabbi's, it isn't a how-to or a guide to Judaism, but rather it is a book that shares the great Abrahamic faith like a fireside conversation. It is an explanation by an educated layman. Herman Wouk writes about his faith from a place of great passion, he clearly loves his faith, his people, and his God, and it shows in his writing.

A fine summary and history. Dated. And, oddly I know, not personal enough. I'm usually complaining about the opposite. But I wanted more of the feeling that comes through Sacks' books.

Religion is a complex thing. It is personal, but necessarily defended at some points. And that is often through logic. But, this time, I wanted his inexplicable emotions. And I didn't seem to see them.

It’s mostly centrist, albeit in a post-Victorian (1959) kind of a way. He does have opinions, of course, but it’s not really an Orthodox polemic. It tends that way, just enough to be perceived, but mostly it’s just a useful popular introduction to someone without any formal background in the subject.

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One doesn’t know how Greek one is, until one studies the Jews.

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Something more than your own little pleasures.

.... Because it’s not for nothing.

Re-read in August 2024 probably rate it as 3.5/5

Thoughts on the Jewish way of life