To Be a Jew Today

“Judicious, sober … Invite[s] a more capacious understanding of Jewish lives and Jewish futures in the diaspora … Important … Cannot be written off.” –Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker

“Feldman’s analysis is notably free of judgment or bias; while he glancingly refers to his own Jewish path and predilections, he is refreshingly open in describing the theology (or lack thereof), the politics and the challenges of his fellow Jews.” –Jane Eisner, The Washington Post

”[To Be a Jew Today] reconciles competing understandings by putting forth his vision of Jewishness: that to be a Jew is to struggle lovingly, with ourselves, with other Jews, and with Israel, because Judaism itself is a loving struggle … [Feldman] has written an appealing guide, or at least mapped out a starting point, for being a Jew today.” –Emily Tamkin, The Forward

“An impres-sive, insight-ful assess-ment of the com-plex-i-ties of mod-ern Jew-ish existence … Incredibly rel-e-vant in a post-Octo-ber 7 world.” –Jewish Book Council

”[A] personal, analytical, nonpolemical work … Feldman employs deep scholarship and a nondidactic tone to revisit the essential stories of Jewish struggle and faith … An eloquent, accessible, well-written reflection on the significance of being a Jew.” –Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A welcome resource for readers curious about Judaism’s past, future, and purpose.” –Publishers Weekly

“To Be a Jew Today is a beautiful book, a necessary and important book. Written with learning, insight, and anguish, it is a provocation to be argued over (I certainly did) and wrestled with, but it cannot be ignored.” –David Wolpe, rabbi emeritus of Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, and author of David: The Divided Heart and Why Faith Matters

“More than with any book I’ve read in years, Jewish readers will draw new insights into their own Judaism from Noah Feldman’s fresh, fascinating, and compelling analyses of contemporary Jewish life. Feldman exhibits the gift of all great teachers and influential public intellectuals: the ability to take even the most complex ideas and convey them with clarity, context, and honesty.” –Rabbi David Saperstein, director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom

“To Be a Jew Today is an instant classic, not only because it explains being Jewish in our lifetime, but also because it talks about timeless universal Jewish themes in a magnetic and accessible way.” –Rosalie Silberman Abella, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and Pisar Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School

“In this exciting and passionately argued new book, Noah Feldman offers us a lifetime of thinking and struggling with being a Jew, and thinking with Judaism, in America today. Broad in scope, sparkling with new insights, often provocative and daring, and deeply rooted in the Jewish textual tradition, Feldman deftly weaves memoir, philosophy, legal theory, and sociological analysis to paint a complex yet accessible portrait of being a Jew and taking Judaism seriously in this crucial time of transition. Highly recommended.” –Shaul Magid, professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and author of The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance

“To Be a Jew Today takes the reader on a rich and nourishing journey that is at once spiritual, emotional, and intellectual while deeply engaged in untangling and understanding and holding space for the mysterious and the unknown. It speaks to those ready to be welcomed into a sacred conversation.” –Rabbi Lila Kagedan, New York Medical College

“To Be a Jew Today is a field guide to a richer, more meaningful spiritual life–and not just for Jews. Feldman’s answers to the question of ‘What’s the point of being a Jew?’ offer a whole new paradigm for how to think about Jewishness, one that will change how you walk through the world, whether you’re Jewish or not.” –Rabbi Benay Lappe, president and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva

Noah Feldman is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law and chair of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University, where he is also the founding director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law. A leading public intellectual, he is a contributing writer for Bloomberg Opinion and the author of ten books, including Divided by God and The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State.