1,003 Great Things about Being Jewish

by Ann Hodgman, Polly Stone, Lisa Birnbach

Book Overview

From the trio responsible for the successful 1,003 series-comes 1,003 Great Things About Being Jewish, the perfect humorous gift book to celebrate being Jewish.

Just a sampling of the gems within:
They say Aunt Rose's matzo balls could sink a ship . . . in case you're interested in doing that. Everyone knows that kosher hot dogs rule. A Hanukkah bush is a lot easier to bring home than a Christmas tree. Cool-looking blue...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0740755293
• ISBN13: 9780740755293
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.0" x 6.2"

Customer Reviews

Cute book, but with some flaws

There are a lot of great and fun tidbits in this book, such as the section on all of the medical and scientific wonders developed in Israel, the many comedians who are or who were Jewish, the real names of some prominent Jewish celebrities, past and present, all of the fun things one can do on certain holidays, and why one can use the Sabbath as an excuse to get out of doing things like mowing the lawn or cleaning the guinea pig cage. However, even considering that this is a work of humor and that it's not fully meant to be taken seriously, I couldn't help feeling that some of the 1,003 tidbits relied on stereotypes or were geared toward one specific group. Some of them seemed rather Ashkenazocentric, like the ones talking about certain types of cuisine or Yiddish expressions. Don't the Sephardim and Mizrachim get their own fun anecdotes about types of food or local languages unique to their own cultural backgrounds? Although at least here the things relying on stereotypes, like the overbearing mother, the family that loves feeding people, or the fact that a lot people wish they had naturally curly hair (I've known plenty of born Jews with quite straight hair!), seem light-hearted and done in fun, instead of self-depricating or cringe-worthy like they can be in the wrong hands. Some of the items also seemed more geared toward an audience for whom Judaism is primarily a cultural thing, not a religious identity. As someone who came to the religion by choice instead of through birth, I just couldn't relate to some of the things mentioning Jewish mothers, Aunt Rose's matzah ball soup, or grandparents from the old country and with very Yiddish names. And since my identity is religious and not cultural, I also can't relate to items about a "Hanukah bush" being easier to lug in than an Xmas tree or what to think about or talk about with one's neighbors during the High Holidays instead of actually praying and paying attention to the services. I think the book would have been even stronger and funnier had it included more items to include a wider audience, not just an Ashkenazic audience who feel more of a cultural than religious connection to the religion. Still, comparatively small flaws aside, this is a really cute book, and does have a lot of great things in it one should feel rightly proud of or be happy about.