What's Up With the Hard Core Jewish People? A guide for coping with newly Observant Jews »

This is the first book about newly Observant Jews and Orthodox Judaism written by a Secular Jew. It s heart-warming, entertaining, and a compendium of Jewish knowledge. People who don t even think they have an interest in Judaism will find it captivating.

This is the true story of a casually Jewish family s struggle to cope with the divisiveness caused when one son becomes an Orthodox Jew. When the author s youngest son, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, blew off law school and decided to study in Israel to be an Orthodox rabbi, the family was in shock. Why would a comfortably affluent, well-educated, Secular Jew seek out the rigorous discipline of traditional Jewish observance? The mom, author Margery Isis Schwartz, needed to understand what the hell just happened to her kid, why it happened, and what needed to be done in order for her son to be comfortable in their house. Losing her son to religious devotion was not an option.

There was no cram course or simple to-the-point book available to expediently learn about Judaism so the author could be on the same wavelength as her son. All of the books available about newly Observant Jews and Orthodox Judaism are by rabbis, newly Observant Jews, or traditional Jews whose perspective is very different than the author s. Furthermore, these books are typically way too detailed and include terminology that is foreign and nearly incomprehensible to non-Observant Jews. The author did extensive reading and research on the Internet and felt compelled to write this book: (1) To share her story and provide the reader with consolation, guidance, entertainment, and suggestions on how to deal with religious devotion, and (2) To impart her Jewish knowledge in a user-friendly way to help people understand what it means to be Jewish.