going together like peanut butter and something that isn't jelly

When I read two books in a row, both good books, but I am too lazy to blog about the first one until I'm blogging about the next one, I am in the tricky position of try to tie them together. Even though I don't have to. You're not my teacher. I have no thesis. My thesis is, Jen is a friggin' rockstar. Bam. But because I'm a nerdy student, I want to connect these two books anyway. So first, we have Orange is the New Black and if that had been the cover of the book at Barnes and Noble, probably wouldn't have bought it cause I do judge books by their covers. And second, Israel is Real. Both non-fiction (check), both about groups of people (check), both brought on unexpected reactions (check).

Orange is the New Black has been written about in a few newspapers and magazines lately and because I developed from my father a taste for voyeur literature (that is, if a book starts with Confessions Of... or The True Story of..., we don't care if it's Kate Gosselin's face on the cover, chances are, we will read it), the idea of reading a book about this young woman who idiotically ran drugs for her girlfriend in her 20s and then realized, hmm, bad idea, turned her life around and ended up in jail for it ten years later was immensely appealing. But while I was expecting my typical voyeur read, "oooh this is what prison is life, badass," I found myself being blown away by what's really a story about learning to ask other people for help, a lesson I can maybe sort of sometimes hear.

AND THAT WAS THE LESSON IN MY COUSIN'S TORAH PORTION LAST WEEKEND AT HIS BAR MITZVAH WHICH BRINGS US TO BOOK TWO! OH SNAP. Excellent transition, self. This is a blog about books and not politics, so I won't go into detail about my thoughts on Israel, as an American Jew, as a Jew, as an American, as someone who assumes relatives died in the Holocaust because apparently some of them were Czech, as someone who definitely went on an indoctrinating trip to Israel in the 6th grade with my temple but spent most of it trying to keep my cds from melting and flirting with a boy from home (I think that was the first and last Jew I've ever hit on for those of you keeping score at home). It's a complex issue. But suffice it to say, I've never seen it as black and white and have always been frustarated by the fact that sometimes I feel my temple and fellow Jews are asking me to. Nothing is as simple as, "I was born Jewish and therefore anything Israel does is a-ok in my eyes." Or at least it's not to me. And that's why I found this book fascinating. Cohen discusses the history of Israel and how, at one point when the Temple stood, Judaism was a temple-centric religion. Everything took place there, everything was for there. When it was destroyed, some scholars made it a book-centric religion, allowing us to wander the globe but retain our Judaism. And then somewhere along the line, Zionism decided to bring it back and make it temple-centric again. It's a really fascinating study of Judaism and Zionism and Israel and why American Jews feel so conflicted about Israel. I'm glad I read it. But I'm also still ok that my Birthright ability expires in 2 months and I haven't done shit about it.


(yes, what I write on the blog is slightly more insane when I write from Cincinnati. there's something in the air here. or it's all the sugar from Graeters.)