43 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
from an orthodox perspective-very authentic, October 27, 1999
This review is from: Lord Will Gather Me In: My Journey to Jewish Orthodoxy (Hardcover)
I always read books written on the subject of Othodoxy with scepticism. Having been born and raised Orthodox, I can tell if the book or movie is authentic. Movies where,for example,the Chasidim wear their Talit to the meal, proves to me that most people that write about the subject, clearly do not live it. Klinghoffer's book, however, is totally authentic. His explanations into the origins of words, and his insight into the nature of the Halacha, not as law, but as a way of life, is refreshing.
I know that the bulk of Conservative and Reform Jews probably do not agree with his spin on their religion, however, I have to agree with him. History will bear out the fact, that Judaism by association of blood alone, will not survive. In my neighborhood we have an exceptionally large amount of Baaley tshuva and converts. I find it extremely impressive and am in awe of a person that generally gives up all that he has been raised to beleive, in search of something almost illusive: the truth.
After my divorce, I became semi-orthodox. I was angry at G-d, whom I held responsible, and felt that if he deserted me, certainly I had no obligation to maintain contact with him. On the outside I continued all the ritual, but inside I knew it was just a show. After my remarriage and subsequent death of my second husband, I reevaluated my religion and my beliefs and came to much of the same conclusions as Klinghoffer. G-d walks with me and I know that he is watching me...and not from a distance.
It would be simple if our religion could be relegated to an occasional temple trip, and not eating pork, but in our hearts, we all know that this is not what binds us together and maintains us as Jews. It is not only in the blood. It is in the heart and in the concrete observance of the Torah as well. From Abraham, to Unkelus to Ruth, some of our greatest Jews have come to us through conversion. I admire the author and other converts that have sought out the truth and the beauty of Judaism. You are an inspiration to those of us that take it often for granted.
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolute MUST-READ for all Jews -- SUPERB!!!, July 29, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Lord Will Gather Me In: My Journey to Jewish Orthodoxy (Hardcover)
David Klinghoffer's book is high on my list of books as a must read for all Jews, especially those who are searching for some sort of meaning and value behind Judaism. Klinghoffer makes it clear that Judaism in American has become a Judaism of vague cultural association which generally means nothing to the younger generations who are seeking meaning in their lives. Hebrew school offers no solutions, so young Jews seek out other paths, not knowing that all the meaning and spirituality that they want in life is located in the parts of Judaism that the Conservative/Reform temples voted out. I went to a very traditional Conservative Hebrew school and came out apathetic towards everything Jewish. Thank G-d, today I am a baal teshuvah. I was amazed how similar Klinghoffer's attitude towards Judaism at that point in his life was to mine and so many other Jewish children who have come to scorn Judaism through Hebrew school.
Contrary to what many other reviewers say, Klinghoffer's book is anything but condescending. He presents the truth from a Jewish perspective, even at the risk of embarassing himself with his own failings along the way. He presents the inevitable problems faced by so many baalei teshuvah when religious observance and current lifestyles start to clash. The confusing world where one might date a non-Jew but keep kosher and shabbos is where many baalei teshuvah can end up. Klinghoffer makes it clear that such illogical actions are a part of this process of discovering authentic Judaism and the confusion of leaving old habits behind. He goes through what seemed to be a logical progression to him, seeking truth through Reform and Conservative, even going to JTS, before coming back to Torah Judaism. In each step, he noticed something was lacking. For instance, he went to JTS to learn Hebrew to read the bible. They wouldn't teach biblical Hebrew to him, but suggested he go to the Christian Seminary down the street.
To those other reviewers who think that he is condescending to Conservative/Reform, I will remind them that he did not come into the process prejudiced against anything but Orthodoxy. It was after experiencing Conservative/Reform, and then fully experiencing Judaism that he could look back and realize the truth.
Klinghoffer's candidness and straightforward honesty make this book necessary information for anybody wondering more about the Judaism which they have been denied. His enjoyable and easily relatable writing style makes this book a pleasure to read--Five stars!
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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some Flaws; Many Precious Moments, April 30, 2004
This review is from: Lord Will Gather Me In: My Journey to Jewish Orthodoxy (Hardcover)
I first became aware of David Klinghoffer when I saw articles by him on the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion." I appreciated his comments and wanted to read more by him. So, I picked up this book.
I have mixed feelings about it. At times I got the strong sense that someone had informed the author at some point in his life that he was brighter than other people and that he didn't need to do the same intellectual work that others do. Further, I got the impression that, thanks to that perception, the author is a bit contemptuous of other people and a bit lax in presenting the facts.
I don't mean to make ad hominem attacks on this author, but if my perception is correct, it is unfortunate. Klinghoffer writes about Judaism and Christianity and troubled interactions between the two faiths. This interface is of world importance. One must be very circumspect when addressing these issues. For this reader, Klinghoffer was not adequately circumspect.
An example of intellectual laxity: Klinghoffer claims that Paul converted to Christianity from Judaism because he did not want to, or could not, follow Torah. This statement alone renders every reported fact in Klinghoffer's entire book suspect.
People who know nothing else about Paul often know that he converted as a result of one of the most famous conversions experiences in history. Paul's dramatic conversion is so famous that "road to Damascus" has become a phrase to describe a conversion experience of any kind, Christian or non-Christian, indeed, religious or secular.
Too, Klinghoffer implies that Catholics sing "Deutschland Uber Alles" as part of the mass. I'm a lifelong Catholic and I've never heard the German national anthem sung during mass. There is a Christian hymn that uses the same music, but I've never heard that in mass, either. Klinghoffer never makes any of this clear, which is unfortunate, given one incorrect current trend that equates Christianity with Nazism.
Klinghoffer is no kinder, in some ways, to Judaism. His description of a synagogue bar mitzvah in Los Angeles where rude Jews speak at football-stadium volume while a rabbi inveighs against evil "Goyim" creates, however inadvertently, a negative stereotype of Jews. This may be an accurate description of a real service, but it was not presented with enough context to render this passage comprehensible as anything other than an anti-Semitic caricature.
An example of the author's condescension is the misogynist way he discusses his Catholic girlfriend, Maria. Three times when talking about her, he says, "Women cry so easily." When Maria creates something artistic, the author describes her as "adorable" in a very condescending way.
Also, as a person of faith who struggles with the misogyny and homophobia in my own faith tradition, I found Klinghoffer's attempts to explain away the Levitcal association of menstruating women with abomination not at all convincing, and his association of homosexual love with death to be truly alienating.
In short, Klinghoffer works too hard to make God -- or our human understandings of God -- rational. In general, this reader was uncomfortable with Klinghoffer's tendency to set Judaism and Christianity against each other as if they were horses competing in a race. Certainly, Klinghoffer himself set these two traditions in competition with each other when he was deciding, like the nuns in "Sound of Music" how to solve the problem of Maria, his Catholic lover, but the stance of competition is not the happiest one for Judaism and Christianity to be assuming vis a vis each other right now. Rather, the two faiths had better learn to coexist.
On the other hand, this book offers truly precious moments that make up for the book's failings. At times the author loses his arrogance, his lax hold on important facts, and his contempt, and he writes of his own experiences from his own heart, and it is at those moments that this book is most valuable. When the author is most himself, and most vulnerable, he is the most powerful as a writer.
When the author, early on in the book, compares Judaism's appeal to him with the appeal a sunken ship holds for an explorer, his writing reaches its poetic height. When the author confesses that Catholic Maria married someone else and has children, and, yet, when he sees her, his former love for her seems to hover in the air as an almost palpable presence, when the author admits his yearning for his roots, biological or spiritual (the author was an adoptee), the sensible reader will not be able to avoid being moved, being taught, and being changed.
Too, at other times, Klinghoffer does a good job of presenting key facts. He is entirely correct in telling Maria that Jesus did not fit every model for a Messiah as presenting in Jewish scripture.
This reader hopes that Klinghoffer will continue to write in a confessional, memoirist vein, which was his strength here. This reader further hopes that Klinghoffer will sharpen his fact checking skills, and consider the impact of episodes like his description of his visit to the LA synagogue, and place such episodes in some illuminating context, if he does use them. This reader also hopes that Klinghoffer will lead with what he revealed here as his greatest strength -- reporting with courage and honesty his own unique experiences.
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