Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life) [Hardcover]

Barbara Kessel (Author)

Book Description

Series: Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life | Publication Date: April 1, 2000

Dramatic personal stories of the unexpected discovery of a Jewish heritage.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stimulated by Madeline Albright's well-publicized 1997 discovery that her parents were Jewish, Kessel, a freelance writer, decided to explore the question of "hidden roots." She placed an inquiry in the New York Times Book Review and on the Internet "seeking people raised as non-Jews who discovered they are of Jewish descent." She received 178 responses. This book is based on her interviews by mail, by telephone or in person with 166 individuals. Kessel classifies her respondents into four groups: crypto-Jews ("descendants of the Jewish victims of the Spanish Inquisition"), "hidden children" (those placed with non-Jewish families to save them from the Nazis), children of Holocaust survivors and adoptees. Her book consists of statements from representatives of each group, accompanied by psychologically oriented analyses. The interviewees' wide range of reactions to the belated discovery of their Jewish ancestry make for fascinating and occasionally humorous reading. An Oxford student, on learning that he was Jewish, ran to a synagogue and shouted, "I think I'm a Jew and I don't know what to do about it!" He is now a New York rabbi. Some interviewees were "shocked or moved or thrilled or distressed"; some were "blas?" while others were "dumbstruck." According to Kessel, they are all bound together by a basic human need for determining their identity. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Kessel, the director of the administration of the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York, interviewed over 160 people who were raised as non-Jews and later learned that they were of Jewish descent. These included Crypto-Jews (descendents of the 15th-century Jews of Spain and Portugal who were forced to convert to Catholicism or be killed), "hidden children" (primarily children of the Holocaust who had been placed in non-Jewish foster homes during World War II), children of Holocaust survivors whose survivor-parents understandably denied their own Jewish heritage, and Jews adopted by non-Jewish parents. While their reactions ranged from shock to disinterest to an enthusiastic embrace of Jewish culture and religion, each gained a fuller sense of self from the discovery. Readers of the diverse first-person narrative accounts in this unique volume will not only come to a deeper understanding of a little-recognized situation that is more common than we may have thought but will themselves breathe a sigh of recognition and relief. A valuable addition to public and academic library collections.DMarcia Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Brandeis; 1st edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584650389
• ISBN-13: 978-1584650386
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,246,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SUDDENLY JEWISH IS COMPLETELY INTRIGUING, July 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life) (Hardcover)

SUDDENLY JEWISH catalogues the personal histories of people raised as non-Jews who learned as adults that they were actually Jewish. Ms. Kessel's theory is that one's religion is basic to one's identity, and she wanted to investigate the shock these people experienced when they found out they were fundamentally something different from what they had been taught.

Each of the stories is intriguing since each subject was forced into re-evaluating his identity upon learning this information. We all as children imagine we have been adopted and wonder who our "real" parents are; these people discovered that their histories had been adopted, and now were faced with learning who they really were.

SUDDENLLY JEWISH is different from so many of the narratives we've seen lately that focus on one individual ( like Kati Marton) learning he/she is "suddenly Jewish." This book is refreshing in that it covers the stories of many people--we get the highlights without all the filler.

I def. recommend it not only to people interested in Jewish topics, but to people interested in books on identity.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Judaism and Identity, October 11, 2003

By 

Liora Hess (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life) (Hardcover)

Barbara Kessel has written an amazing book about individuals who are raised as Gentiles and discover their Jewish roots. She manages to weave many diverse interviews into her book, and manages to somehow connect all these smoothly. The result is a fascinating look at how individuals were told of their Jewish roots, and the wide range of reactions to this news.

The entire book revolves around questions of identity. What is it to be a Jew? Can you be "half-Jewish"? Is Judaism a religion, a race, a culture - or all of the above? What if you know you are Jewish but you lack the documentation to prove it - do you convert? Why do some latch on to the revelation that they're Jewish, while others shrug and say that it doesn't change anything for them? Can you ever really BE Jewish if you were raised with Christian theology - or will you always be playing "catch-up" with Jews who went to Hebrew school and have a lifetime of memories of holidays and bar/bat mitzvahs?

This book was such an enticing read, I could hardly put it down. However, the most fascinating chapter for me was the last, for in it the author discusses the possibility of "collective unconscious" - that a group-specific unconscious memory from the Jews present at Sinai is passed through generations as sort of a genetic memory. This phenomenon could be one possible explanation for why one who seems drawn to Judaism later learns he has Jewish roots. Or maybe there's another reason for these "coincidences."

Barbara Kessel has written a compelling book on Judaism and identity. I highly recommend this book for anyone - Jewish or not. I see that it would also be helpful for anyone undergoing a conversion to another religion or one who is grappling with questions of identity.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting!, June 3, 2000

By 

Mmandelbaum (brooklyn, ny USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life) (Hardcover)

An absolutely fascinating account of a contemporary Jewish experience whose collective reverberations are recorded here for the very first time! I had always assumed that these instances were few and far apart, and was staggered to read how much more commonplace they were than I originally thought.

Ms. Kessel buttresses the true accounts with sharp, penetrating insights of her own combined with gentle compassion and heartfelt wisdom.

A must-read for anyone interested in the question of what constitutes identity, and the endless human yearning for it.