Stephen Dubner, a former New York Times writer and editor, has written a deeply moving, heartfelt memoir of the struggles of two generations to find a religious home. His parents, both raised in Jewish homes (one devoutly orthodox and the other largely secular) by first-generation immigrants from Russia and Poland, reach adulthood during the turbulent years of World War II. Both his father and his mother grapple with their Jewish tradition and their personal religious beliefs and, ultimately, become converts to Roman Catholicism. Like many converts, the decision by Stephen's parents to adopt a new religion is not made lightly and results in a deeply didactic religious practice. Stephen grows up in a home where devout Catholic religious practice is the norm and where little is ever mentioned about the Jewish tradition his parents have rejected. As an adult, Stephen embarks on his own religious search, inheriting the same "turbulent soul" that had so deeply marked his parents' lives. Dubner aptly quotes John Henry Newman, the famous Anglican cardinal who converted to Roman Catholicism, who says, "who can know himself and the multitude of subtle influences which act upon him." He then explores, in wonderfully clear and readable prose, the many subtle influences which marked his parents' soul-searching religious struggles, as well as his own. Dubner's exploration leads him to learn more about his parents and their lives, the history of his family and its Eastern European Jewish roots, and, ultimately, to an understanding and reconciliation with his mother, who maintains her firm Catholic convictions to the end, even as Dubner returns to the Jewish faith of his grandparents. Ultimately, Dubner's memoir has an important message--that every individual who has a "turbulent soul" and seeks religious faith must be accorded the respect and autonomy of his or her beliefs. It is a message for parents, for children, and for members of all faiths: do not become so certain of your own religious "truth" that you alienate and reject the sincere, but different, beliefs of others. As Dubner says at the end of his narration of the struggle of three turbulen souls, "[i]f I am sure of one thing about God, it is that our most brilliant ideas about Him are sheer guesswork." From Amazon.com
Some people are blessed with the ability to be religious and become true-believers. Others are blessed with the peace of being atheist. When Stephen Dubner wrote an article on how he grew up devoutly Catholic, discovered that both his parents were converts from Judaism, and then returned to his family's Jewish roots, it became The Times's most talked about article of the year. After the Sunday magazine article appeared, he was deluged by letters and calls either inviting him to temples and Sabbath dinners, or criticizing him for returning to the myths and oppression of religion. But now Stephen has expanded on his article by recounting in detail his deeply personal journey from Catholicism to Judaism. It is about religion, spirituality, hidden family histories, confusion, parents, siblings, as well as the tension, comic errors, and confusion his search and return created. Broken into three sections, Dubner focuses on the paths his mother (Miriam/Mary)and father (Solly/Paul) took to Catholicism, their Jewish roots, the reactions from their family members (sitting shiva), their marriage, and early wedded life, in Section One. Section Two begins with the birth of their eighth child Stephen J. (all the kids got a first or middle name of wither Joseph or Mary), and Stephen's life in rural New York that rotated around Mass, the Catholic feasts, and catechism; and Section Three focuses on Stephen's interest in Judaism, his search for Jewish relatives, his quest to learn more about his father (who died suddenly after giving a speech at a charismatic-Catholic prayer meeting), and his trip back. Basically, this poignant tale is a must read for Fall/Winter 98.
From Amazon.com
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