My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith

by Benyamin Cohen

Book Overview

Part memoir, part spiritual quest, part anthropologist's mission, Benyamin Cohen's My Jesus Year is a humorous, personal, ultimately inspirational exploration of Evangelical Christianity by the son of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061245178
• ISBN13: 9780061245176
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Thank you

Mr. Cohen may have come closer to his faith by his year of observing the Christian church, but he helped me to come closer to my Savior. In his observations of the Christian church I was able to view things from the perspective of an outsider and regain the freshness and awe that is my faith and relationship with Jesus. This review is not the typical, analytical thesis, but I was not able to read this book analytically. It was a spiritual, funny and moving memoir that I will suggest to anyone as well as continue to mull over and over, I was sort of sad that his year ended!

Deserves Ten Stars!!!

Benyamin Cohen's book is a brilliant expose of both Judaism and Christianity. Cohen is a very witty writer, with a sharp eye for detail and the ability to turn an ironic phrase. One of the best scenes in this book is when he fakes a confession to a Catholic priest but ends up revealing to himself (and the priest) some genuine issues that need resolution. The only thing that disturbed me about this book is Cohen's readiness to see the good in Christianity - virtually unprecedented for an Orthodox Jew - but his reluctance to acknowledge the Good in Christianity's founder, Jesus Christ. The other thing I found perturbing (but not Cohen's fault) is that during this amazing year of spiritual seeking, not one Christian he met tried to convert him or to tell him that he too is a sinner in desperate need of salvation. Only his wife's grandmother made some efforts in this direction when she took him to a Pentecostal faith-healing service. (In another amazing twist to this remarkable book, Cohen's wife herself is a convert to Judaism and the daughter of a former Christian minister!) Cohen received rabbinical permission from his overseers in Atlanta to embark on this mission, since normally an Orthodox Jew is totally forbidden even to step inside a church, let alone to participate in a service or - Heaven forfend - write something positive about it. It seems that the Orthodox Jewish establishment in Atlanta wished to use Cohen to seek out the positive developments in Christianity, particularly its ability to fill its churches with enthusiastic crowds for long periods of time, and to learn how they might be incorporated into Judaism. In the course of his year sojourn, Cohen was required by his rabbis to wear a press pass at all times, in order to make clear to the churches he would visit that he was there to seek answers but not necessarily salvation. This enabled him to feel "safe" from undesired pressures. But even so, a number of times Cohen almost falters. At an Episcopalian service that he found very moving, he thought about going forward to receive communion. Another time he says that he felt a closeness to God from the impassioned worship in a church that he had not felt for a very long time. Cohen admits at the outset that this book was personal and not just pecuniary, since he had become jaded from his Jewish practices. One of the most clever aspects of the book is that each encounter he has with another denomoination of Christianity leads him to compare and contrast his experiences with a parallel concept in Judaism. Thus this book is extremely educational to both Jews and Christians. This book would make a fanstastic movie, because there are so many spiritually powerful and dramatic encounters, such as Megafest in Atlanta's Falcon stadium, Easter sunrise on top of Stone Mountain, and of course the incredible confessional booth. Cohen's father, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi of many talents and interests, actually suggests semi-j

A charming spiritual journey in which an Orthodox Jew discovers that "Hanging out with Jesus has mad

First off - this is not one of those stories of conversion. Rather, Benyamin Cohen does not feel fulfilled by his experiences with the synagogue or the hundreds of rules that an Orthodox Jew must follow. He decides to go to the other side of the street and see if the grass is greener (he literally grew up across the street from a Methodist church that seemed so much more vibrant and alive and happy than the synagogue that was attached to his house). Cohen gets permission from a Rabbi to spend a year with the Christians - he goes to church every Sunday (after synagogue on Saturdays this makes for some long weekends I am sure) and treats the experience as a wandering anthropologist looking into the strange and wondrous world of Christianity. What follows is a remarkable journal of one man's exploration of Judaism and Christianity - some of it mainstream, some odd (Christian professional wrestling, for example) but all of it treated respectfully by a man who is searching for what he's missing in his own faith. On the way he finds it and the reader is blessed with wonderful writing, witty insights, touching observations and, quite simply, the experience of a great read. I am writing from the perspective of an active, involved Christian and I find myself chuckling at some of his offbeat observations about the quirky things we do. I also learned a lot about Judaism along the way. I am sure some would find offense, but...whatever. It was not written in the spirit of offense and if they are offended they should grow up some. One of the best books of the year for me.

Open, honest and moving

It might seem paradoxical that an Orthodox Jew can be considered a seeker. After all, isn't the heart of orthodoxy its rigid (even joyful) adherence to minute regulations? Benyamin Cohen is the odd man in his family. The son of an Orthodox Rabbi in Atlanta, he is the only one among his siblings not to have become a rabbi or to marry one. Unwilling to shuck his faith, he is nonetheless desperate for something deeper than what he sees as a sort of bondage to the continual blessings and washings that are part and parcel of Orthodoxy. While not wanting to become Christian, he is curious about the majority US faith, and wonders whether Orthodoxy can learn something from it. The result is a year-long odyssey among the goyim, starting with his convert-wife's evangelical family and penetrating into the often strange world of Christian worship. It would have been easy for Cohen to have lampooned Christianity as practiced in the Bible Belt. He quickly runs into the kind of hucksterism that often gives the faith a bad name. The purveyors of the Prosperity Gospel, who sells believers on the idea that God wants you to be rich, fill stadiums while cynically emptying bank accounts. But Cohen also encounters Christians whose quieter faith sustains them through illness and difficulty. It's the good heart of this book that Cohen is genuinely moved by the sick who find strength and solace (if not physical healing) in God's presence. "My Jesus Year" is very funny, smart and well-written. While shining a light on seldom-seen corner of the Christian experience (Christian *wrestling*, anyone?) it also provides a rare glimpse into the world of Orthodox Judaism as experienced by one young man. Cohen's description of the Orthodox New York dating scene -- to which he literally had to fly across the country several times a month during his twenties -- held all the cute desperation of dating the world over. Cohen has written about the spiritual quest from a very real and very modern point of view. His book should be an inspiration to any open-minded religious person looking to deepen their faith journey from the perspective of their own religious idiom.

A Funny, Friendly and Ultimately Wise Look at Christianity by a Jewish Pilgrim

Some of the best recent books on faith and spirituality are from "outsiders." Secular scientist E.O. Wilson wrote "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth," atheist Hemant Mehta wrote "I Sold My Soul on eBay: Viewing Faith through an Atheist's Eyes," and, let's face it, Anne Lamott's popular persona is built on her outsider status. It's in that spirit that I strongly recommend Benyamin Cohen's "My Jesus Year." He's funny. I mean, he's Anne Lamott funny. And, he's friendly as he's having fun with others and with himself. You'll find yourself chuckling as he describes trying to slip into an enormous Pentecostal megachurch to learn what's drawing thousands upon thousands of Americans to these venues. This "five-foot-two bespectacled Jewish kid in a mosh pit of faith" suddenly discovers that the church's video crews have zeroed in on his face and he's shocked to discover: "My Jewish face on Jesus' JumboTron for all to see! Oh, God, forgive me." We learn a lot about Benyamin's Jewish life, his family life, his vignettes from this year-long Christian pilgrimage and, in the end, his conclusions about faith in America. In closing, he writes a pitch-perfect summary of how millions of young Americans see our national smorgasbord of faith: "Despite the gospel choirs and Christian rockers, despite the baptismal baths and Christmas trees, despite the wine, wafers, and confessional booths, and even despite our theological and philosophical differences, there is a deeper thread running throughout. There are many roads leading to spiritual maturity and even to God Himself, and all of us have to find our own way." This is an important new voice. His journey is fun to follow and, when it's done, you'll begin to realize that many of us feel like spiritual outsiders today, looking in on houses of worship and wondering how we might fit inside.