When I looked at the title of “Sex, God, Christmas & Jews: Intimate Emails about Faith and Life Challenges,’ I thought no book could deal seriously with so many issues.
Then I looked at the small print, which turned my attention to its conceit: the 281-page book is based on email discussions (primarily by Jews) on 40 subjects. To keep it from ranging out of control, Gil Mann capped responses at 20 per subject, including his own responses and summaries.
Besides sex, Christians, etcetera, writers air their views on body-piercing, organ transplants, the lack of equality between men and women in Judaism and whether Jews by choice were considered equal to Jews by chance.
The subject that received the most reaction was the challenge to circumcision, with critics arguing that it’s barbaric and should be abolished and defenders citing its health value of this tradition, which has been adopted by many gentiles.
Most of the Jewish responses, however, cite its religious or ethnic value, not its health value.
Mann describes himself as an open-minded, committed Jew who brooks no compromise when it comes to the brit milah that has been part of Jewish history for nearly 4,000 years.
Perhaps the most poignant reactions came as a result of a posting by a woman Mann terms “a modern-day Job” — so angry at God for what has been happening to her that she can no longer pray as she once did.
Mann and many who read her posting offered their sympathies as well as some practical advice on how to restore at least some of her lost faith.
The subject I found least appealing was “Bizarre Jewish Sex,” which piqued my curiosity but proved to be a rehashed discussion of whether it is true that when Orthodox couples have sex they use a sheet with a hole.
It would have been sufficient to quote haredi circles in Jerusalem, who have never heard of such sheets, although I would have preferred if the subject hadn’t been included at all.
Nevertheless, Mann should be commended for his effort to make Judaism more relevant to less committed Jews. Plus, the book introduces the reader to the approach of teaching Judaism in the spirit of the Talmud, where we find differing opinions on almost all subjects, with the Internet as the classroom.
Joshua J. Adler is the managing editor of the Jewish Bible Quarterly. This article first appeared in the Jerusalem Post.
“Sex, God, Christmas & Jews: Intimate Emails About Faith and Life Challenges’ by Gil Mann
(281 pages, Leo & Sons, $14.95)