Customer Reviews

Mudhouse Sabbath

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In her memoir GIRL MEETS GOD, journalist Lauren F. Winner talked about her conversion from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity and her attempts to bridge the two religions by letting her Jewish faith inform her new Christian faith. After seven years as a Christian, MUDHOUSE SABBATH finds Winner exploring eleven Jewish spiritual practices and traditions that she finds indispensable to her Christian life. In short, she finds herself returning to her roots. "This is a book about those things I miss," she writes. "It is, to be blunt, about spiritual practices that Jews do better. It is, to be blunter, about Christian practices that would be enriched, that would be thicker and more vibrant, if we took a few lessons from Judaism."

This slim volume, noteworthy for Winner's engaging voice and lucid prose (one wonders if she could rewrite the "Yellow Pages" and make them intriguing) is full of personal anecdotes mixed with spiritual musings. For Jews, action is the heart of faith, she writes. While she acknowledges "spiritual practices don't justify us. They don't save us," she realizes that the practicing of the spiritual disciplines "teaches us how to live as Christians."

Of all the Jewish practices, observing "Shabbat" or the Sabbath is the one Winner says she misses the most. A little aimless without the framework of the Jewish Sabbath of her past, she often spends her Sunday afternoons with a cup of hot chai and a good book at the Mudhouse, a coffee shop in Charlottesville, "not at all sure that I have opened my heart in any particular way." As she seeks to remedy this, she looks at the capitalistic misconception of the Sabbath --- "resting one day a week makes you more productive during the other six" --- and finds that it is at odds with the spirit of Shabbat. Rather than honoring ourselves, in observing the Sabbath "one is both giving a gift to God and imitating Him," she writes. For Winner, this realization brings about changes. She joins a Sunday Bible study, visits shut-ins, and forswears Sunday shopping ("A bigger sacrifice than you may realize!"). Nothing earthshaking, but important growth in faith journeys often starts with these types of small steps.

Winner also discusses spiritual disciplines such as fasting, prayer and hospitality; rites of passage including weddings, aging and mourning; traditions such as candle-lighting and affixing symbols of faith to doorposts; and more esoteric things such as our view of the body and making good food choices. She avoids romanticizing her past (kashrut or "keeping kosher," she admits can at times be "a royal pain in the neck"), while refusing to spare her new faith from critique ("Liturgy can be dull, and its dullness can be distracting"). Winner then flips the coin and looks at the positives --- when she kept kosher, she brought thought and intention to what she ate; when she uses her prayer book, she is freed from her narcissism and repointed toward confession, praise and a concern for others. There's a balance here that was likely difficult to achieve between acknowledging the most desirable traditions of her past and embracing the best of her new faith.

As of the writing of the book, Winner was working on a doctorate in the history of American religion from Columbia University. Although she's an academic, her scholarship is evident in her understanding of where and why some of the practices of Judaism and Christianity evolved. The glossary included is helpful in understanding unfamiliar Jewish or Yiddish words that appear in various chapters. But unlike many books written by academics, her knowledge is an almost invisible underpinning for the text, her prose is free of jargon and her voice is conversational. Readers will feel as if they are chatting over coffee with a long-time friend.

Toward the end of GIRL MEETS GOD we find Winner, who had gotten rid of most of her Jewish commentaries and books, rebuilding her Jewish library. In MUDHOUSE SABBATH, she likewise begins adding back into her new faith those essential "volumes" that she had left behind that she now finds necessary for a deeper relationship with God. Although unabashedly Christian, Winner is evenhanded in her treatment of both faiths: both obviously dear to her, both important to her understanding of God. Readers who long for a deeper sense of tradition and more vibrant, active faith practices will find Winner's book a good place for reflection.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

"Mudhouse Sabbath" happened to be the first book I read by Lauren Winner, because I wanted to learn more about Judaism, and it was in the Judaica section of a New York bookstore. I really enjoyed the reading because I learned about Judaism differently, in terms of Lauren Winner's personal anecdotes and stories. The book appeared to be so convincing that, at the end, I thought: "But WHY did she convert to Christianity if she loves Judaism so much?" But things are not that simple and reductive.

In Mudhouse Sabbath, Lauren Winner, who comes mainly from a Jewish background, describes the Jewish spiritual practices and ways that still make sense in her new life as a Christian, and that should maybe also make sense to all Christians and people of all faiths. It is with a rare insight that she is able to put the Jewish and Christian practices in parallel, and make a plea for Jewish light in everybody's life. One of the key-practices, the Sabbath, towards which the week turns in Judaism, is probably the one practice she misses (or would miss...) the most, and suggested the title of her book.

All the Christian practices of her new life simply do not manage to supersede or replace her past Jewish practices. These Jewish practices encompass many everyday aspects of life, and were so enriching to her that she came over time to the following logical conclusion: Why not incorporate (or re-incorporate after all) all these Jewish practices and ways in my Christian life? The book even goes further, and is most convincing in this regard, in that it offers support in favour of integrating (or re-integrating) all these practices and ways in the lives of all Christians.

Among these practices and ways, are thus the Sabbath, the laws of Kashrut, the mourning process, the hospitality, the prayer, the being of a body, the fasting, the aging, the candle-lighting, the weddings, and the doorposts.

But for those who still want the answer to the question of the first paragraph, it is only in the light of her memoir, "girl meets God", that one will fully grasp the reasons why Lauren Winner converted to Christianity WITHOUT however, leaving Judaism. And the answer is this: There is a way to live by one faith in the light of another, this being ultimately in the service of God, and Lauren shows us this way.

As One once said to His people, "I have set you for a light of the nations; to open the blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon". (ISAIAH 42:6-7)

Mudhouse is the second book of Lauren Winner's that I have read, and I was not disappointed. Reading her books is like sitting down with a friend over coffee and discussing life. I share alot with her, growing up Jewish and converting to Christianity as an adult. Lauren's heart felt spiritual travels have left her a deep knowledge and understanding of her roots and how they play a part in her christian life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a deeper understanding of judiasm, and wants to increase their spiritial knowledge of the judeo-christian life we live in in the USA. As a convert, I see christianity as a deepening of my faith.

In a beautifully designed book from Paraclete Press, Winner reflects with fond yearning on eleven facets of Judaica, ranging from the Sabbath (shabbat) to hospitality (hachnassat orchim) and prayer (tefillah); from fasting (hiddur p'nai zaken) to candle-lighting (hadlakat nerot) and the artistry of mezuzah doorpost reminders.

Winner points out in her introduction that, "the spiritual disciplines... can form us as Christians throughout our lives.... " Toward that end, she takes these eleven timeless forms -- devoting a chapter to each -- and expands her readers' knowledge of scriptural and midrashic reasons for the various observances and traditions. She then views the disciplines through her insightful and personal lens, focusing on the ways her past is shaping her present Christian journey.

As 21st Century Christianity moves from a knowledge toward pragmatism, and as headlines turn toward daily Middle Eastern tensions, Mudhouse Sabbath gracefully returns our thoughts to the beautiful practices that God's People have quietly undertaken for thousands of years.

This book is a pretty quick, easy read... but it could end up taking a big bite out of your current allotment of "free time." That is if you decide that you want to implement any of Winner's suggestions, especially in relation to Sabbath or Lord's Day observances. I admit I am intrigued by her description of Jewish Sabbath practices.

I appreciated her observation on the liturgy:

"Even my friend Meg, who left the too-liturgical Episcopal Church for a praise-song-singing, spontaneous-prayer-praying charismatic church, will, I suspect, discover that she is doing liturgy: After enough time, the rhythm of the praise songs and the (seemingly) spontaneous prayers will become familiar and even routine, a liturgy of its own."

As a Lutheran who is a former "charismatic" I am often amused and sometimes annoyed by people who look down their noses at the liturgy because everything is written down and repeats itself week after week. My own experience has taught me that the free-flowing-move-of-the-Spirit churches can be just as repetitive and more so. After singing the same twelve word praise chorus for the thirteenth consecutive time, I start pulling out my beard.

Thank God for diversity! I have shed buckets of tears in both kinds of services and God has met me and ministered to me in both places. There are positive aspects to each; and there is always danger of spiritual stagnation no matter where you choose to go to church. What you take away from worship will depend in large part by what you take with you going in.

Okay, enough from me... back to the book. I am giving this book four stars. It was enjoyable and it was interesting. It held my attention through its brief pages, but I don't think it changed my life. That is probably more of a statement about where I am spiritually than it is about the content of the book. I agreed with much of Winner's commentary on Christian life and practice and perhaps that's why I held back one star. I pretty much believe what she believes so I wasn't forced to examine my beliefs or practices. We're already on the same page. That doesn't mean that this book couldn't be life changing for someone and I would definitely recommend it.

I admit it: I was delighted when a friend gave me this book, because it looked short and sweet. It's small enough to fit in your purse! But, despite its small size, this book is packed with wonderful information, a million suggestions about how to incorporate spiritual practices into your life, all accompanied by hysterical stories about the author trying to live out these practices herself. So don't be decived by the small size. This book is bursting with information and charm.

I love the little insights that spring up in this book. I sat there and then went 'duh! of course!' After seeing the traditions written down and how they impact daily life it seemed so obvious what we have lost. And why I treasure so very much some truly unusual friendships I have. I have created in my own life, by the grace of God, a community that is willing to help each other out and ask each other the hard questions.

What a wonderful book on what we have lost, and why we need to work to regain it. We don't necessarily need to live by the letter of these laws the way an orthodox Jewish community would, but we can be so enriched by understanding what they mean. We can apply the concepts in our lives and the lives of our friends and see what a difference it will make!

I looked forward to Lauren's second book after reading "God Mets Girl". I didnt relate to that book but this one I did merely every single page. Im not Jewish by any means but she helped teach us born and raised Christians out there how to apply practices from the Jewish culture. There are many things we can learn from one another and Lauren Winner express that all over this book. I could read this for a devotional or a bible study. Id recommended this book to anyone looking to understand faith in a richer way.

This was exactly the book I was looking for. I have always been interested in spirituality (in particular Christian spirituality) but I've not been able to do spiritual things. Instead, I mostly thought spiritual thoughts and felt spiritual feelings. Mudhouse Sabbath gave me 11 different things I can do that will help me draw spirituality into my everyday life. Eating, bathing, and dressing, plus the usual spiritual acts of praying and fasting...these are the kinds of practices Mudhouse Sabbath suggests. It is lively, and funny, and Lauren never suggests she is perfect. But she has produced the perfect companion book for my spiritual walk.

This is a very good book, and very easy to read, that gives insight into Jewish practices. It offers some Christian significance to these practices without unnecessarily offending Jews.