Customer Reviews

Surprised by God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion

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Danya Ruttenberg's latest book is a very moving memoir of a young woman's spiritual development. This is more than a biography, it's a guide to developing one's own spiritual path. Rabbi Ruttenberg brings stories and sources from various faith traditions which add to her gripping narrative. I truly couldn't put this book down. I highly recommend it.

This little memoir is the story of an atheist hipster who, after her mother's premature death, becomes interested in God and gradually turns into a pretty observant Conservative Jew (and, at the end of the book, applies to rabbinical school). If you share the author's enthuasiasms for moderately traditional religion and leftish politics, this could be an inspirational book.. If not, probably not so much.

Here are a few lines I liked: "The only archetypes [of God] that I encountered in my upbringing and in the wider culture were of God as fascist dictator, or, maybe, God as the Big Buddy who makes everything okay."

"it was extremely daunting to do such a private, precious thing [as pray] in public..[so in her first visits to synagogue] I never spoke to anyone ... I wanted - needed- to pretend that I was somehow alone at this." I could identify with this- when I first started going to synagogues I mostly wanted to be left alone. It was only after I developed a certain degree of "ritual mastery" (as she puts it) that I felt more of a need to be welcomed.

"[in travel] Rather that holding on to the same identity... as is easy to do amid the comforts of home - we shift and change and become new in every moment." I identified with this because I have found that I have made the most drastic religious shifts only after moving to a new city.

[a rabbi] "instructed me to embrace [feelings of failure] until I got to the place where my failures merged with everybody else's failures .... The next day was Tisha'b'Av- the anniversary of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, a holiday about confronting suffering and disintegration." As the rabbi in question (Alan Lew) has written elsewhere, Tisha'b'Av is part of a cycle, beginning with the recognition of failure on Tisha'b'Av, moving towards repentance and reconciliation during the High Holy Days.

Quick read. I enjoyed it since I was able to relate to how she felt a little displaced with her social circle as she started practicing her Judaism. I only wish she would explain more about why and how she felt more spiritual as she explored her religion besides using meditation.

As a fan from her Yentl's Revenge, I found Surprised by God to be the fulfillment of the promise Ruttenberg showed in that book. This book showcases the writer's ability to blend the personal and political and to make it all so compulsively readable that you just can't put it down.

I absolutely devoured this book. I'm someone who is converting to Judaism after a long religious search myself, so this book really spoke to me. Additionally, however, it's incredibly well-written, thought-provoking, and deep. Ruttenberg manages to seamlessly integrate philosophic and religious critique with mystical texts alongside teenage angst and adult reflections and experiences. It's a wonderful read, not only for Jewish people, but for anyone who has been on a religious journey. Mazel Tov Rabbi Ruttenberg!

This book is a very good book to start you thinking about how to balance Jewish teaching with a secular life. The author went from being an atheism to an observant Jew. It was a journey with a lot of bounces. It was done for the right reasons, to meet a passion to be a better person. It is entertaining and thought provoking. I enjoy seeing some my home town Chicago area bars listed, but I enjoyed more the journey to be an observant Jew even though I myself will not meet that criteria. It helped me think about my journey along that route.

I could relate to a lot of what Danya went through, so it was really great to read her story and to hear from someone who is passionate about religion, Judaism and God without being preachy, judgmental or shallow, and who genuinely confronts religion on its own terms and wrestles with how to define her life. A great read.

I appreciate Ruttenberg's candor in sharing her personal story and the piercing insight with which she examines earlier phases of her life, and I celebrate that she integrated all the threads of her life and spirit into a path that's productive and vital. But it's just one person's story after all that, and doesn't sound much different from what I've heard from other people who come home religiously after much experimentation.

This book is a G-dsend (maybe literally!)- Ruttenberg is so knowledgeable, yet she doesn't beat the reader about the head with facts. Her book is a tender, funny, and inspirational memoir packed with useful facts about Judaism and her own experience.

It's especially a relief to hear from a young, queer, observant Jew- to remind us that it really is possible to be all of these things!

Highly recommended.