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

Cohen, Benyamin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061245186 ISBN 13: 9780061245183

Publisher: HarperOne, 2009

Synopsis

One day a Georgia-born son of an Orthodox rabbi discovers that his enthusiasm for Judaism is flagging. He observes the Sabbath, he goes to synagogue, and he even flies to New York on weekends for a series of "speed dates" with nice, eligible Jewish girls. But, something is missing. Looking out of his window and across the street at one of the hundreds of churches in Atlanta, he asks, "What would it be like to be a Christian? "

So begins Benyamin Cohen's hilarious journey that is My Jesus Year—part memoir, part spiritual quest, and part anthropologist's mission. Among Cohen's many adventures (and misadventures), he finds himself in some rather unlikely places: jumping into the mosh-pit at a Christian rock concert, seeing his face projected on the giant JumboTron of an African-American megachurch, visiting a potential convert with two young Mormon missionaries, attending a Christian "professional wrestling" match, and waking up early for a sunrise Easter service on top of Stone Mountain—a Confederate memorial and former base of operations for the KKK.

During his year-long exploration, Cohen sees the best and the worst of Christianity— #8212;from megachurches to storefront churches; from crass commercialization of religion to the simple, moving faith of the humble believer; from the profound to the profane to the just plain laughable. Throughout, he keeps an open heart and mind, a good sense of humor, and takes what he learns from Christianity to reflect on his own faith and relationship to God. By year's end, to Cohen's surprise, his search for universal answers and truths in the Bible Belt actually make him a better Jew.

About this title

About the Author

Benyamin Cohen is the son of an Orthodox rabbi who married a Methodist minister's daughter who converted to Judaism. He was the founder and editor of the award-winning national magazine American Jewish Life and the online magazine Jewsweek, and is currently an editor at the Mother Nature Network.

Review

“Cohen spends a year on a fascinating and thought-provoking inter-faith exploration. The resulting witty memoir should appeal to Christians and Jews alike (as well as Wiccans, Jains and Bahais, for that matter).” (A.J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically)

“Cohen’s witty and trenchant observations on identity and interfaith relations are like an early Christmukkah present.” (Rob Kutner, author and writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)

“A delicious olio of guilt, longing, surprise, wonder, unease and of course humor, Cohen’s quest has universal appeal. One need not be Jewish, Christian or even a seeker to enjoy this wonderful loop around the Bible Belt.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“Cohen writes that what he learned from the year’s spiritual journey was that there are many paths people take to find faith in God and there are more similarities than differences in various religions. “Hanging out with Jesus has made me a better Jew,” he writes. Amen to that.” (Booklist)

“My Jesus Year stirs together keen-eyed journalism and a spiritual quest to create a book that can be read both for its heartfelt examination of one man’s religous faith and as a revelatory tour of the landscape of Christian life in the U.S. today. ” (Shelf Awareness)

“Cohen is an engaging writer and his book is very well worth reading.” (The Jewish Voice and Opinion)

“Cohen’s prose is insightful, filled with wit, warmth, and wonder.” (Jewish Book World)

“This is the story of how Cohen got his Jew back.” (The Atlanta Jewish Times Online)

“This hysterical book is literally one of those ‘laugh out loud’ books that can be imitated, but never duplicated.” (The Atlanta Jewish Times Online)

“Cohen’s experiences have been quite different from mine, but the life lesson -- that Christians and Jews can learn a lot about their own faiths from the other -- is the same.” (The Jewish Journal)

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0061245186
• ISBN 13: 9780061245183
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272