Best Contemporary Jewish Writing [Paperback]

Jewish culture, identity, and spirituality through the eyes of the brightest and best authors

Best Contemporary Jewish Writing is a treasure trove of short stories, poetry, and essays from such renowned contributors as Naomi Wolf, U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, William Safire, and Marge Piercy. Dive into this rich arrayof writing and you ll see that the Jewish experience reflects universal themes.

The writers in this collection have something to say to Jews, not only to those struggling with their Jewish identity, and also to the wider world. Whether your main interest is in poetry or politics, spirituality or cultural identity, social healing or individual transformation, you ll find Best Contemporary Jewish Writing to be a collection that inspires, excites, and provokes. It also reflects the diversity of thought, opinion, and sensibility of today s best known Jewish thinkers and writers.

This volume is the first in the much anticipated annual series Best Jewish Writing. Introduction: Jewish Writing and Healing the World xiii

The Many Identities of a Jew

To Jewishness 3

The Melting Pot and Beyond: Jews and the Politics of American Identity 8

Poems: Reversion and What Kind of Times Are These 15

Justify My Love 17

Ten Ways to Recognize a Sephardic 'Jew-ess' 29

Redemption on East Tremont: The kindness of Christians and a seder's matzah helps the daughter of Mendel Beilis fix the old fears 36

News About Jews 40

Gay and Orthodox 42

Slipping the Punch 55

The Night Game 70

From The Roots of a Public Life 73

From And What Is My Lifespan? 79

Stories: Grandmother Eve, Consecrating the Ordinary, Blessing, and The Reward 80

The Leglsy