Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish | Abigail Pogrebin

Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish | Abigail Pogrebin | Enlightening

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Stars of David: Pr...

	Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish Abigail Pogrebin Broadway, 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 33 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

?When my mother got her nose job, she wanted me to get one, too. She said I would be happier.??Dustin Hoffman

?It?s a heritage to be proud of. And then, too, it?s something that you can?t escape because the world won?t let you; so it?s a good thing you can be proud of it.?
?Ruth Bader Ginsburg

?My wife [Kate Capshaw] chose to do a full conversion before we were married in 1991, and she married me as a Jew. I think that, more than anything else, brought me back to Judaism.??Steven Spielberg

?As someone who was born in Israel, you?re put in a position of defending Israel because you know how much is at stake.??Natalie Portman

?Jewish introspection and Jewish humor is a way of surviving . . . if you?re not handsome and you?re not athletic and you?re not rich, there?s still one last hope with girls, which is being funny.??Mike Nichols

?I felt not only this enormous pride at being a Jew; I felt this enormous void at not being a better Jew.??Ronald O. Perelman

?American Jews, like Americans, have a very consumerist attitude toward their identity: they pick and choose the bits of this and that they like.??Leon Wieseltier

?I thought if I had straight hair and a perfect nose, my whole career would be different.??Sarah Jessica Parker

?I?ve always rebelled a little when people say, ?My Jewish values lead me to really care about the poor.? I know some Christians who care about the poor, too.??William Kristol

?There were many times when I kept silent about being Jewish as I got older, when Jewish jokes were told.??William Shatner

??Jew bastard? was something I heard a lot.??Leonard Nimoy.

?I always liked shiksas.??Larry King

?It specifically says in the Torah that you can eat shrimp and bacon in a Chinese restaurant.??Jason Alexander

?Yom Kippur is something I do alone, with nobody else, because I believe that my relationship with God is mine and mine only.??Diane von Furstenberg

Sixty-two of the most accomplished Jews in America speak intimately?most for the first time?about how they feel about being Jewish. In unusually candid interviews conducted by former 60 Minutes producer Abigail Pogrebin, celebrities ranging from Sarah Jessica Parker to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from Larry King to Mike Nichols, reveal how resonant, crucial or incidental being Jewish is in their lives. The connections they have to their Jewish heritage range from hours in synagogue to bagels and lox; but every person speaks to the weight and pride of their Jewish history, the burdens and pleasures of observance, the moments they?ve felt most Jewish (or not). This book of vivid, personal conversations uncovers how being Jewish fits into a public life, and also how the author?s evolving religious identity was changed by what she heard.

· Dustin Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, Gene Wilder, Joan Rivers, and Leonard Nimoy talk about their startling encounters with anti-Semitism.
· Kenneth Cole, Eliot Spitzer, and Ronald Perelman explore the challenges of intermarriage.
· Mike Wallace, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ruth Reichl express attitudes toward Israel that vary from unquestioning loyalty to complicated ambivalence.
· William Kristol scoffs at the notion that Jewish values are incompatible with Conservative politics.
· Alan Dershowitz, raised Orthodox, talks about why he gave up morning prayer.
· Shawn Green describes the pressure that comes with being baseball?s Jewish star.
· Natalie Portman questions the ostentatious bat mitzvahs of her hometown.
· Tony Kushner explains how being Jewish prepared him for being gay.
· Leon Wieseltier throws down the gauntlet to Jews who haven?t taken the trouble to study Judaism.
These are just a few key moments from many poignant, often surprising, conversations with public figures whom most of us thought we already knew.

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Funny, wise, self-centered, painful --- and did I say funny?

Desmond Tutu can beg for peace all day, and he's lucky if he gets a squib in the press. Let George Clooney stand next to him, and the whole world perks up. And you can say all you like that American culture is shallow and that our cult of celebrity makes it impossible for serious ideas to get a hearing --- but even as you say it, surely you realize what a total bore you've become.

America is what it is. Celebrities rule.

So Abigail Pogrebin set out to interview Jews whose names you know to discuss their religious beliefs and practices. Very clever. A theologian talks, we snore. But 62 Jews from Hollywood (Dustin Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, Kyra Sedgwick), the Supreme Court (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer), television (Sarah Jessica Parker, William Shatner), journalism (Mike Wallace), fashion (Diane Von Furstenberg, Kenneth Cole), and sports (Mark Spitz, Shawn Green)? Tell us more.

For those who know celebrities, the punch line should not be surprising: The famous are very much like regular people. That is, it's all about them. On other topics, like their religion, they're a lot of talk and not a lot of action --- there are a great many "cultural Jews" in the celebrity class and very few who can be found in shul with any regularity.

But there is, of course, one thing that celebrities do better than others. Talk. Smart celebs are fun to listen to, no matter the topic. They're provocative. Funny. Sometimes even wise. And because we feel we know them, we relate.

Some snippets from the book will tell you all you need:

Steven Spielberg: "I'd ask my dad, `Why can't we put lights up? We're the only house on the block that doesn't have lights.' And my dad would say, `We have a porch light.' I said, `Dad, you know what I mean.'"

Natalie Portman: "My dad always makes this stupid joke with my new boyfriend, who is not Jewish. He says, 'It's just a simple operation.' "

Mike Nichols: "I once said to Jerry Robbins, `I'm worried that all the great monsters of narcissism in show business are Jewish.' And I named some names. And there was a long silence, and he said, `Yes, well: Mickey Rooney.'"

Jason Alexander: "It specifically says in the Torah that you can eat shrimp and bacon in a Chinese restaurant."

Dustin Hoffman (on demanding a revision in the script of "Marathon Man"): "I won't play a Jew who cold-bloodedly kills another human being. I won't become a Nazi to kill a Nazi. I won't demean myself. I don't care what he did. Even though he tortured me, I won't do it.'

Joan Rivers: "The Jews take care of everything, and everyone hates the Jews. The blacks hate the Jews. You fools. Who marched with you? Not the WASPS. Trust me; not the WASPS."

Sarah Jessica Parker: "If I had straight hair and a perfect nose, my whole career would be different."

Nora Ephron: "I am probably the only young woman who worked in the Kennedy White House whom the president did not make a pass at. Perhaps it's because I'm Jewish. Don't laugh, think about it --- think about that long, long list of women JFK slept with. Were any Jewish? I don't think so."

It's not all amusing. There are overtly serious responses. And there is one that comes with fire and brimstone. It's from Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic. He walked away from Judaism; in his return, he's devout. And hypercritical of American Jews who aren't: "I can respect heresy, I can respect alienation, I can respect Karamazovian rebellion, even Oedipal rebellion. I don't mind renegades or apostates... My point is that American Jews aren't renegades; they are slackers."

All those voices --- funny, profane, holy --- resonate with Pogrebin. "Being Jewish is powerful and, in a sense, unavoidable --- whether one embraces it or leaves it on the shelf, whether one lives a visible life or an anonymous one," she concludes. "And that, in the process of writing this book, it's become more vital to me than I ever expected."

Indeed: At 40, Abigail Pogrebin was bat mitzvahed.

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Enlightening

It was very enlightening to see that "famous" people struggle with the same issues of faith that the rest of us do. While most don't hold on to traditional Jewish customs, most are fiercly loyal to their heritage.

A very interesting read.

A Real Joy for Any Ethnic Jew!

I grew up in a neighborhood completely devoid of Jews. It was even more confusing because my mom is Catholic, but it was my Jewish father that regularly attended services, and he would often take me along. I've always felt Jewish, but wasn't sure how or why my feelings about it were so strong. I never knew any other Jews when I was young except for my father, as all of his family had died before I was born (his parents having immigrated from Russia in the 1930s). My mom knew how strange I felt at times, and would point out to me celebrities she knew were Jewish. The idea that some of the people I admired so much were also part of this community that I so desperately wanted to know better somehow encouraged me, especially since some of the ones in this book are also half-Jewish. The stories retold in this book answered so many questions I'd had for Jewish celebrities, and were so interesting to read. The things these people tell would be interesting whether they were famous or not. I love it because we get to see a different, more personal side to them. We finally get to know their Jewishness! I couldn't put this book down. It was so well-done; the interviews are long enough to give you a good feeling for the interviewee, but short enough to make you want to keep reading. This is an entertaining book for everyone, but I think Jews will be the most interested in it; and with reason.

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Stars Of David by Abigail Pogrebin

I purchased 10 of the books to be used in a short story study group. The women of the group love the book as it invites interesting and thoughtful discussion. We started with the prologue and will continue through each story. Everyone feels a connection to celebrities and each story will result in much conversation which is the object of the group.

Fun & makes you want to be more Jewish!

I do feel alot of prominent Jews were left out & some of the people interviewed weren't really Jewish (ie: Sarah Jessica Parker). I can only assume that the author was able to get the people she got. As a Jew it made me want to be more Jewish. I also identified with many of the problems that other Jews felt was the reason that they didn't stay in touch with much of the religious customs but do cling & relish the traditions!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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