What to Do When You're Dating a Jew : Everything You Need to Know from Matzah Balls to Marriage

Rating:
Summary: Much more than expected
Review: I bought this book expecting it to be a funny book about the trials of interfaith relationships and it was. In fact, it was greatly entertaining. I didn't expect there to be so much information that really tells you about being Jewish for a sheltered Protestant like me. I wish I'd had this book years ago when my non-Jewish friends and I held a surprise baby shower for our Jewish friend -- at her house! (You'll have to read the book to find out why this was a terrible error.) Our gracious Jewish friend never said it word about it. It was years later I found out where we went wrong.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Gift
Review: I bought two copies of What to Do When You're Dating a Jew to give to two friends. One friend's daughter was engaged to a Jewish man and the other friend's son is married to a Jewish woman. I started looking through the book in the book store and decided that I needed a third copy for myself!

I have finished reading it now and found it as entertaining as it was informative. I enjoyed my friend's daughter's wedding so much more by understanding the traditions. I was even able to dance the hora with joyful enthusiasm!

The mother of the bride told me that her daughter had to buy her another a copy of the book. She had taken to her future in-laws home and they could not part with it.

I found the book packed with useful information. I would recommend it for anyone who would like a light-hearted, helpful, readable book. I found it to be a perfect gift for others, as well as for myself.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Helpful!!!
Review: I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is a non-Jew and is dating a Jew. My friends bought this for me as a joke when I (a nice Irish-Catholic girl) started seeing a Jewish guy....and here we are 2 years later in a very serious relationship.
This book helped me understand so much about Judaism. I knew what to bring to shiva calls and I knew not to blow out the candles on my boyfriend's menorah! And my boyfriend even read the entire book...he said it was a refresher course for him. There was some things in there that he had either forgotten or had never even known.
Trust me - this book is worth reading. I always keep it on hand in case I need to look anything up. And there are some great stories in there about other interfaith couples that you can really relate to.

Rating:
Summary: Rings true page after page
Review: Let a Jew read this book, they will laugh out loud. It's full of jokes that ring so true, you may even blush. However, it's also an extremely useful guide for non-Jews looking to learn a bit about Jewish religion and culture.

That said, please don't misunderstand. This is a fun readable book, not a serious reference work. If you need training in Talmudic interpretation, this isn't the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Never order a ham and cheese sandwich in a kosher deli again
Review: OK, I'm one of the authors, so I won't review my own book. I'll just say that Vikki and I had a fun time writing it, did lots of research and listened to great stories from our friends and families. Leeza Gibbons mentioned the book on "Extra!" and Eve Ensler wrote us a very nice note about how her cast reads it backstage at the "Vagina Monologues."

Here are what other people are saying:

-- "It's a sassy but thoroughly accurate guide to the basics of Judaism..." -- Toronto Star

-- "The authors have a wonderful sense of humor -- jokes sprinkled like kosher salt through the pages." -- New Orleans Times-Picayune

Rating:
Summary: Fully converted
Review: Ok, well it doesn't tell you everything you need to know when you are partnering with a person of the Jewish faith, but it does find ways to prepare you for the things you will see and hear in the months to come. I was raised Catholic, but my father's mother was Jewish and so I was familiar with the customs and such of the Jewish faith, but I needed a crash course in how to move from being familiar with customs to celebrating them with my partner and understanding where the faith that I love so much in them comes from. I also recommend making a meeting with a Rabbi to discuss any feeling or questions you might have about living your life with a person of the Jewish faith. I am now converted fully and thanks to this book, I am now reading books about Jewish weddings and I'm less than 10 months away from my wedding day!

Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: The whole point of this book is to help you figure out how to "pass" in Jewish culture and society. It is peppered with cutesy bits of advice and little stories about how someone charmed the Jew-of-their-dreams into forgetting that--hey--they aren't actually Jewish.

My advice is, forget it. Interfaith dating and marriage, when one person is Jewish and the other is not, is a serious issue and deserves thoughtful consideration, not charming anecdotes.

If you are considering dating or marrying a Jewish man or woman, honesty is at a premium, especially honesty with yourself. If you must work so hard to make yourself acceptable, or to make the object of your desire less offensive to yourself, what are you doing?

And speaking of spiritual integrity and moral honesty, do you really want to take advice from someone so desperate to pump up her own book that she writes her own review of it, and asks her husband to do the same?

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Resource
Review: This book is loaded with information about not only Jewish laws, but the little traditions and rituals that aren't exactly covered in most text books. It is often these family traditions that catch the non-Jew off guard and end up putting them ten steps behind in the battle to win the family over.

More than just teach "what" the rules are, the authors do a briliant job of explaining "why". What I really loved was that they present the information in a very easy to read format that allows readers to dive into an issue or simply get a few quick tips.

But this book does more...while it is helpful to learn about the basics of Judaism, it is also wonderful to know that you are not alone "What to do when You're Dating a Jew" is enriched with stories from the front line of those involved in interfaith relationships. Often it is these types of stores and how those involved reacted that offer the best advice. The authors have done a great job of finding a perfect balance of stores that cover issues as light as what to bring for dinner and as intense as preparing for a wedding.

Probably the best part of the book is the use of humor. Those involved in interfaith relationships know how difficult they can be, but if we can't at least find a way to laugh at the situations, then too often the relationship can go sour. "What to do When Dating a Jew" does a perfect job of allowing the readers to laugh at themselves and those involved, yet does not take it too far and lose sight of the seriousness and difficulties involved.

Rating:
Summary: My Jewish Girlfriend (and her parents) Loved It
Review: This book stopped me between the door and the coffee shop this weekend, so I grabbed it to show my girlfriend and ended up not only reading the whole thing but buying it and taking it home with me... and to her parents house for dinner! Although some of the factual information was possibly incorrect (and true to form her parents loudly informed me of each error), the book itself, jokes included, was well received and viewed by all as a good read. I do reccommend this book - don't take it all as fact, but do read it, because it will help you understand a little more about where your partner is coming from, and (more importantly!) where they're going.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book
Review: Very funny introduction for those who know nothing about being jewish. Includes funny stories and helpful good recipies. If you are dating a jew read this before you go to his parents house for the holidays! It doesnt tell you everything you need to know, but it is a good primer for the totally clueless.