AM I A JEW?

A literary journey into identity, spirituality,and finding your place in the world.

Theodore Ross was nine years old when his mother forced him to convert to Christianity. They had just moved from New York City to a small southern town. Ross’ new faith was a ruse—he never formally converted—but he was enrolled at an Episcopal school, where he studied the Bible, attended church each week, received Communion, and even sang in the choir. For the years of his childhood in Mississippi, then, Ross lived a minor sort of double life: fake Christian in Mississippi and secular Jew in Manhattan, where he returned to visit his father for holidays and summer break.

As an adult Ross realized how uncomfortable he was with the practitioners of his birth religion. He worried that if they knew of his past they might not accept his as Jewish, and, at the same time, he wondered why he would want their acceptance in the first place. The result has been a furtive fascination with Judaism, one that compels and repels in equal measure. Moreover, with the distance that his experiences have put between him and the Judaism of his forebears, he found himself forced to ask a simple question: Am I a Jew?

Am I a Jew? It’s an obvious question but one that even the most sophisticated minds struggle to answer, a simple question but one that has cost millions their lives depending on the answer. Jewish writers and thinkers have always asked it of themselves and others, Hitler wanted to know, Israel has its definition, and Jesus had some thoughts on the matter worthy of consideration.

Following in Shalom Auslander’s footsteps, Ross set out to answer this fundamental question. This thoughtful, articulate, and accessible book, based on Ross’ article in Harper’s Magazine, answers the question for himself and also shows how many ways there are to practice a religion (quite without, as Ross would say, getting it right).

Theodore Ross’ essays, journalism, and short fiction have appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, Saveur, Tin House, and elsewhere. He is the Articles Editor of Men’s Journal, and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and children.