A Mental Shtetl

Children Of Israel Are Never Alone

Hey, beloved tribe.

What an incredible event last night with the luminous Sarah Hurwitz!

Before I get into that, I need to issue a heartfelt apology.

Around 140 people had told me they were coming and the waiting room was filling at lightning speed, but then at 100, it just stopped cold, which I thought odd. And then it didn’t waver, even though some people told me they’d be rushing to join the moment something else ended and they would necessarily be 10 or 15 minutes late.

Never have I been simultaneously so elated and so upset after a book club meeting, because the event could not possibly have gone better.

It feels as if every single book club meeting is so special, but last night was over the top.

I’ll say more about that in a moment, but for now, imagine this: I say good night to audience members and sign off, high as a kite, only to find dozens and dozens of messages telling me that people had tried to enter the meeting but were told it was at capacity.

My cherished friend serves as a moderator for these events, because I need someone to take care of tech stuff and let in latecomers, etc., so I can give my undivided attention to the author.

She volunteers for this gig and often has to arrange childcare for it, and she’s a wonderful moderator, and I am wildly grateful for her assistance, but for this event, she accidentally supplied a link from the wrong zoom package, one that capped out at 100.

Fam, I’m just sick over this. I am so sorry to anyone who tried and was unable to join. My only consolation is that we have a recording to offer, and the knowledge that I’m going to be beyond neurotic in the future to make sure this never happens again.

At any rate, as you’ll see if you watch the video, not one, not two, but three — count ‘em, three — different people in attendance all had stories about how Sarah’s books have profoundly altered their lives.

One is a longtime member of the Righteous Among The Nations, who had been considering conversion for a while, and reading Sarah’s thoughts about converts — her identification with them and her gratitude for them — sealed the deal.

One was a former antizionist Jew, who turned after reading Here All Along, and was even inspired to start a very labor-intensive Daf Yomi practice.

And one is a therapist specializing in treating intergeneration trauma, who was inspired by As A Jew to design a special therapeutic protocol around the insights in that book, for Jews who have internalized lifelong negative messaging about Jewish people, our culture and our heritage.

Beyond all this, Sarah spoke with such wisdom and realism and grit about the issues all of us are struggling with. The ways we’re caught between two ghastly hate movements which are each tanatamount to a full-blown cult. The way we each come to reside within a kind of “mental shtetl” where we know exactly where all our friends and acquaintances live in relation to us, and we privately open and close internal gates accordingly, resigned to the knowledge that this is what it means to be a Jew.

I was overwhelmingly grateful for her authenticity, her willingness to speak openly and share her real thoughts on any topic, from Zohran Mamdani to Michelle Obama.

I’d written to her ahead of time to gauge her comfort level with a certain kind of conversation. Here is an excerpt of that inquiry:

One really nice thing about the book club is it feels like an intensely safe space of left-leaning Zionists, as that’s who I attract. Often these convos feel less like a formal book presentation and more like girlfriends (and some men) speaking intimately within the safety of community.

I know many people understandably feel it makes sense to present as at least nominally non-partisan in public Jewish spaces, but I really believe this is an overwhelmingly like-minded community.

I guess what I’d like to ask ahead of time is: are there any questions or topics you’d like to keep totally off limits? You’ve been a career Democrat and your love for the Obamas (which I wholeheartedly share) is touched on in As A Jew, so is it fair to ask you, for instance, to what degree you personally experience tension within the current moment as a leftist and a Zionist? This is something the whole Never Alone community is grappling with constantly.

There are other ways I’d just love to receive and amplify your counsel as a leader of Jews — are questions of this nature okay? I will tie anything I ask to the themes of the book to keep the focus on that, but if you feel it’s still too personal, I totally understand.

She immediately replied that I could ask her anything at all. It’s hard to overstate how rare this level of unguarded candor is at this time, and it was so wonderfully freeing.

As someone who aspires to serve the Jewish community, I look to figures like Sarah for mentorship and guidance. It was such a relief to be able to ask:

Do you think there’s any real point to fighting a PR war when the deck is impossibly stacked against us, when our numbers are so tiny and we’re living in a post-truth society where no one really cares what the facts are anymore? Is the inherent power of knowing the truth ourselves and knowing our own story enough?

Do you feel personally disoriented in relation to your former bearings within the Democratic party and the progressive left?

I recognize the deep value of Jewish unity and I want to be a force for bringing Jews together, AND I think it’s very important to oppose evil, so it’s very hard — if not impossible — for me to be in intimate community with Trump supporters. Do you feel the same tension? And if so, what ways have you found of navigating it?

I know so many of you are grappling with exactly the same questions and tensions, so again, I am so glad to be able to offer you a recording of her wisdom and counsel.

The link to the recording is HERE.

The passcode is ^3$Ei74c.

Please let me know if you have any problems accessing the clip!

I’ll be leaving town this week after Wednesday, so I’m planning on being back with you tomorrow to make up for being gone for the rest of the week.

I hope if you watch the recording, you’ll find it as nourishing and restorative as I did.

Much love and light until tomorrow.

Am Yisrael Chai.