Live a Large Jewish Life (but be prepared)

 

This is a very difficult book to review.  Dara Horn gets right at the heart of the conundrums, fears, and anxieties of Jews in America in the age of Trump and post-Trump.  And why not?  The rise of anti-Antisemitism and the violence it has spawned is deeply concerning.  American Jews sense looming danger.  

As a Jew, it is nearly impossible to read Horn’s book, People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present, without the baggage we haul along as the topics she explores hit right at an existential Jewish dichotomy: we are not in existential danger, the place we live is safe or we are in existential danger (or soon will be) and the place we live is dangerous.

Shaul Magid has written, as of this moment, one of the few largely negative reviews of this book.  He thinks that seeing Jewish history as a series of catastrophes warps our sense of Jewish history.  As a Jew influenced by Bratslav, I understand his concerns; the Jewish life we live should be approached b’simcha, with joy.  Otherwise, Judaism becomes a nihilistic entity, enshrining victim-hood, and instilling a dangerous sense of entitlement to our own sufferings (after all, many other peoples have suffered catastrophes).  Why can't we Jews just deal if it?

I think we fail to because Horn’s sense of Jewish history, across a certain spectrum, is just as correct as Magid’s.  It is prudent, even wise, to enjoy our lives as Jews to the hilt, while at the same time realizing that our history has given us ample reason to be afraid of certain trends, and plan to protect ourselves.  

There is nothing inherently contradictory in holding these two views at once.  This is not an all or nothing proposition.  After all, this is how we approach life.  Every day we wake up, and we know, at least in the back of our mind, that something terrible might happen today. This may be our last day in a job, a marriage, or as living beings. But we get out of our beds and we move on and live with as much joy as possible.  We live the most we can in the face of existential uncertainty; but we also plan for the worst.