Includes a special introduction by Mayim Bialik, star of The Big Bang Theory and author of the #1 bestseller Girling Up!
Get ready to fall in love, experience heartbreak, and discover the true meaning of identity in this poignant collection of short stories about Jewish teens, including entries by David Levithan, Nova Ren Suma, and more!
A Jewish boy falls in love with a fellow counselor at summer camp. A group of Jewish friends take the trip of a lifetime. A girl meets her new boyfriend’s family over Shabbat dinner. Two best friends put their friendship to the test over the course of a Friday night. A Jewish girl feels pressure to date the only Jewish boy in her grade. Hilarious pranks and disaster ensue at a crush’s Hanukkah party.
From stories of confronting their relationships with Judaism to rom-coms with a side of bagels and lox, It’s a Whole Spielfeatures one story after another that says yes, we are Jewish, but we are also queer, and disabled, and creative, and political, and adventurous, and anything we want to be. You will fall in love with this insightful, funny, and romantic Jewish anthology from a collection of diverse Jewish authors.
*Before I jump in, I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a physical ARC. This has meant the world to me and being able to review this book and get my hands on a copy before the world gets to see it has meant the world to me. And it has in no way impacted my thoughts or opinions on the fact that I have received an ARC. All opinions are my own. I am also quoting from the ARC, so these are all subject to change.*
These fourteen stories have been the first time in my entire reading history that I felt that I was seen. The characters were me, they shared my culture and my religion. They understood the struggles of being “the weird religious Jewish girl.” And what’s it like to be the most Jewish in a group of other Jews, or to feel that you aren’t Jewish enough. I loved how diverse the stories are, each story talking about different Judaism and everyones different connection to being Jewish. It made me appreciate all different Jews and how everyones Judaism doesn’t look the same and thats the way its supposed to be. We aren’t all meant to be the same.
From reading this story, it reinforced something I always stood very strongly by that being Jewish and how we interpret being Jewish is EXTREMELY personal and no one has the right to tell anyone they are doing it wrong.
Indoor Kids by Alex London
This story made me smile the whole time, as someone who went to sleep away camp almost their entire life, I was able to truly understand this story. I related to Levi when he talks about not being able to fit in and feeling that he isn’t as Jewish as the other Jewish kids. I became more observant on my own when I was very young and I remember feeling like I wasn’t as Jewish as my classmates, even though I was literally just as Jewish as they were.
2. Two Truths and an Oy by Dahlia Adler
Amalia is starting college, and she feels like she sticks out more than she wanted to. While I go to a Jewish college, when I was in summer camp I was always the most obviously Jewish and a majority of the other staff members weren’t Jewish either so I always had to have the “oh well, I don’t think we would know any of the same people.” And the “Well, that sounds really delicious but I can’t eat it” conversations. The story takes place at NYU, somewhere I have spent a lot of time hanging out with my friends and I liked being able to picture the setting really well. The fear of not having enough to eat is one that I constantly live in and I really enjoyed this story.
3. The Hold by David Levithan
In this story, I connected to how the characters were talking about different ways to connect to being Jewish. Unfortunately, religion isn’t always the most accepting to those who aren’t straight and it’s a shame because it isolates people who are members of our community. It was a story of discovery and growth and finding your place in the community.
“To me, Jewish is holding on to the people you love. To me, Jewish is dancing and kissing and loving no matter who’s watching and what they might say. To me, Jewish is helping the world. To me, Jewish is helping each other.”
4. Aftershocks by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Rachel is my all time favorite author. This story was sweet. I related to Aaron and his family. I understood how uncomfortable Miri felt during certain moments during the meal. Religious insecurities is something that is extremely common and its hard when being around people who are more or less observant than you are. Miri’s anxiety and OCD was something I connected to, as someone who is always anxious I understood all of the feelings Miri was feeling. As someone who is usually one of the most religious/observant people when I am around certain groups of my friends I understood how Aaron was feeling.
“I don’t even- what’s a fake Jew? Actually, what’s a real Jew?” He sounded almost amused, genuinely interested in how she’d answer the question.
This stood out to me because being Jewish is being Jewish. You’re not a “fake Jew” if you’re not observant or religious (I use the terms differently. Because to me religious is more connected to a spiritual feeling and observant is doing the acts, you can be one without the other.)
5. Good Shabbos by Goldy Moldavsky
THIS STORY!! Oh my! First of all, thank you Goldy for writing a story where one of the main characters is named Kayla. This was the first book I ever read where a main character shared the same name as me. The antics in this story just made me remember every single home hospitality shabbaton I have been on since I was in elementary school. (A home hospitality shabbaton is when you go to a different community for shabbat and you are hosted by people in the community.)
While none of the shabbatons I have been on have ever been nearly as eventful as this one, I do remember the thrill of meeting people in the different communities and getting invited to places that are regular hangouts for the kids in the neighborhood. Shabbatons are how I made a lot of my closest friends, whether through youth groups or high school or even now in college. The girl who lives next door to me in college is now one of my close friends because we spent shabbat together last year and became really good friends.
There is always that person who drinks too much or somehow does something they shouldn’t on a shabbaton. Shabbatons usually have strict rules, always ending with a threat to put you back on the first bus/train to wherever you came from. S.T. is a great friend to Kayla, making sure she doesn’t get sent home.
Sruly. Our hero of the story. He is just, I don’t know how to put it in words. I connected to Sruly because of his family life and how for him shabbat seems to be a stressful time of the week.
“My parents aren’t religious,” Sruly said. “They don’t really do the whole Shabbos thing. But I love it so . . . the Wexlers have been really good to me.”
6. Jewbacca by Lance Rubin
Rye is neurotic which is a very common trait in the Jewish community. Dara’s family Hannukah party reminds me of the ones my family has every year, but the role are reversed for myself. The majority of the people at the party aren’t observant or religious and myself and my mother are the only two who are strict on Kosher laws and are obviously observant and religious. My heart went out for Rye when Rabbi Goldfarb aka Jake, put him on the spot. I hate being the person put on the spot to answers peoples questions or to recite the blessings, which I am not comfortable with in any way shape or form. I understood how Rye felt. But I love how Dara doesn’t care and why should she? Rye is still Rye no matter how Jewish he is or isn’t.
His neuroses about not being Jewish was, in some ways, the very thing that confirmed he was Jewish.
7. El Al 328 by Dana Schwartz
Oh, Birthright. The trip where everyone goes to Israel for free, gets drunk and kisses everyone in sight. Okay, not actually but there’s a lot of that that happens on these trips. I am not eligible for a Brithright trip because I spent a year in Israel when I was 18, and I have been on many different educational and recreational trips to Israel since I was 10.
But man, this story. Fi’s insecurities about not being as experienced or getting as much out of her trip than she was told she was supposed to get reminded me of my year in Israel. Don’t get me wrong, it was by far one of the best experiences I had, I went to Israel and I got to meet my best friends.
But most of my memories are me staying in at my school for shabbat by myself. Those aren’t exactly the memories you want to share with your friends and family when you come back and they want to hear you raving about the best year of your life.
My heart broke for Fi, wanting this to be the trip of her life but it wasn’t. In the wise words of one of my mentors when I was in Israel for the year “Do you know unfortunate this would be if this was the best year of your life? That means your whole life is destined to go down hill from here. I wish this not be the best year of your life, but a great one.” Fi, do you know how unfortunate if this was the best trip of your life and that means every other trip you go on is going to suck? Also, Max is a butthole.
8. Some Days You’re The Sidekick; Some Days You’re The Superhero by Katherine Locke
A fan fiction site dedicated to stories that are re-written to be Jewish?? Is this thing real?? I need this.
Gabe. Sweet, sweet Gabe. I love how close he is with Davey. And I love Davey’s style. But Gabe, you done goofed.
I really loved this story and how so much of it takes place in shul (another term for synagogue) because your congregation is somewhere you spend a large amount of your time.
The guard at the door nods to all of us, recognizing us, and we all smile back, quiet for a few steps before conversation starts up again.
This quote above, made me rethink my relationship with going to shul. I never had to worry about my safety going to shul until recently. You’d think seeing a security guard would make me feel safe, but in reality it makes me terrified. But its the reality we live in and its not fair. But back to the story.
This story shows how important an online community is to people and how we can be ourselves with people in our life sometimes more online than in person. The BIG THING in this story takes place at a Bat Mitzvah, which brought me back to all the really cringey Bat Mitzvahs I went to as kid.
9. He Who Revives the Dead by Elie Lichtschein
This is another Birthright story which I loved. The beginning of the story opens with a conversation between Raysh, our main character, and a fellow passenger on the plane with her. I can not even begin to tell you the amount of just plain weird conversations I have had with fellow passengers on El-Al flights to and from Israel. And no one understands boundaries, I don’t want to talk to you about some personal things in my life. Please let me watch this bad Israeli movie in peace, sir.
I loved how the madrich (counselor), Yaron, is a student at Ferkauf, thats one of the graduate schools at my college and I love being able to really understand the characters and stories I read.
When the story describes the different things that Raysh saw when she was in Israel, when she went to Tzfat (a city with WAY TOO many stairs), Meron (which is also a city that holds a lot of mystical powers. It’s where the rabbi who wrote the fundamental work which is what Kaballah is rooted in. And on the anniversary of his death, people go and visit his grave and pray. There are huge bonfires and singing and dancing. I had the honor of going when I was in Israel for the year. It’s something that meant a lot to me. It’s a strong Hassidic custom to go every year and pray there. So I went for my great-grandparents who never got to go. And it was just plain incredible.)
And then we have the Kotel, the western wall, somewhere I went almost every week for a year. So many tears have been shed there by men and women who come to pray and call out to the Master of The Universe. Some of my favorite memories are at this wall.
Then they go to Ein Gedi, which are stunning springs and bodies of water. This is where Raysh faces her fear, but this time the outcome is different.
He stopped walking. “We are in the desert. And yet there are trees and plants and perochim . . . how you say? Flowers. It’s the miracle of the Jews. When Herzl came it was all . . . mah hamilah? Swamp. The miracle of the Jews is they come to the desert and make it this. Where there is death, they made life.” He dragged on the cigarette.
This passage above, to me, perfectly explains who we are as a people. We take our tragedies and we learn how to live. We learn how to appreciate our lives. I also think the juxtaposition of talking about making life from death while the security guard is smoking a cigarette explains a lot of Israeli culture.
This is a story of culture, connection and friendship. I loved this one so much.
10. Be Brave and All by Laura Silverman
Ah, conventions. The sounds of teens screaming and yelling, more food than you ever wanted to see and no sleep for three whole days as an advisor. Working on conventions is something I love more than anything in the world. I don’t care how many times I get sick or the stupid things I say because I haven’t slept in days, I love going on conventions.
Naomi is an introvert, conventions are introverts worst nightmares.
This is a story of religion and activism. It’s about Naomi finding her people and feeling comfortable. Naomi and Adam are both introverted and want to find their place within the overwhelming convention.
11. Neilah by Hannah Moskowitz
This story is about Tina experiencing her first Yom Kippur while keeping her eating disorder a secret. I thought this story was really great. It contains a lot of emotions.
“And Zusha said, between tears, ‘I’m not worried that G-d will ask me why I was more like Moses. Why I wasn’t more like King David. I’m worried he’ll ask me why weren’t you more like Zusha? And what will I say?'”
I loved how the Rabbi tells the story of Reb Zusha, which is a story I grew up learning many times a year and one I think of often. Reb Zusha was one of the great Hassidic rabbis that we have. He feared G-d and was a tremendous scholar. When he was on his death bed he told his students he was scared when got to heaven G-d would ask him “Why weren’t you more like Zusha?” I remember this when I need a push to be the best me I can be.
I connect spiritually to Hassidic stories and tales, I’m able to understand G-d through these stories. And I think this was a story that had an impact on Tina.
12. Find The River by Matthue Roth
This story. This story made me feel so seen and understood and just wow. I’m something you would call a Kiruv Kid, I was brought closer to orthodoxy through an organization that I now work for and I work with teens who are looking for resources to help them discover their Judaism. I help them find the proper sources and provide them with a mentor, whether that person be myself or someone else on staff.
Being Orthodox, he said, wasn’t about the things you didn’t do. It was about what you did. What you were.
This quote means a lot to me. To me this is what being an Orthodox Jew is, it’s not about the things I don’t do or haven’t taken on yet, IT is about what I do do and what I am now. And what I’m striving towards.
Alex is reluctant at first to join, but once he joins the youth group he realizes its the right place for him.
Effie Spieglman. Effie is every kid who is raised Frum (observant) From Birth but doesn’t want to be Frum anymore, but couldn’t bare leaving the community. He is bitter and tries his hardest to stop people from joining in to a community he hates more than anything.
“Just because you show up, it doesn’t mean you’re never going to turn on the TV on Shabbos in your life,” she said. “But who knows? Maybe it will change you. We aren’t supposed to be the same people our whole lives.”
This. We aren’t meant to stay the same forever, we aren’t meant to make a drastic change in a minute. We are meant to learn and grow, and I think this story shows that growth. It shows the growth and the difficulty of someone so young making such a drastic shift in their mindset and in their way of life.
I felt the struggle of Alex and Alix, both wanting to start this new life of becoming more observant but not sure exactly how to start doing that while still being involved with their old lives. It’s about being part of something that is bigger than giving up some parts of your old life, it’s about being part of a community and a lifestyle that gives you a new outlook on life.
There is always the fear of not being able to fit in, and its hard to see friends that have sat through the same speeches that you have who then go out and do the exact opposite of what you were just told to do. But again, I want to stress, everyones Judaism is different.
13. Ajshara by Ali Alsaid
Tzvi and his friends are on their gap year, traveling to Israel and Europe from Mexico before returning home to start college.
Tzvi can see ghosts, something he hates but at the same time finds comfort in. This story reminded me of stories of the Grand Rabbis who either were visited by those who had passed on in dreams or were able to guide you in a way where they knew what was going to happen.
This story introduced me to a different culture and a different gap year experience. I really liked this story. It had the same urgency of the Birthright stories of making memories and the connection of being in Israel and to your religion, that I got from the other stories too. It was a beautiful story connecting people of the past to the people of the present.
14. Twelve Frames by Nova Ren Suma
Simone’s great-grandfather was a photographer and so was mine. My great-grandfather came over from Russia post WWI, and was an artist. While Simone wants to sell her great-grandfathers camera, my great-grandfathers cameras and paintings are some of the most prized possessions that we have in my house.
Simone has her own style, and for the first time she isn’t scared to go out in her own clothing that she has made. While my style is the same as most of the people I am friends with and choose to surround myself with now, It wasn’t always like that. I remember walking out of my house on a Sunday in a skirt for the first time and having people not understand why I would choose to wear “school clothing” when it wasn’t a school day.
He chose to change it after the war. He wanted to be a photographer, in Hollywood. He wanted to assimilate, to blend in. He stopped paying his dues at temple, and he went to the city clerk’s office and reimagined himself as someone who didn’t sound so Jewish.
This is a struggle a lot of my family had and other Jews had when they came over to America or started getting involved in American culture. My grandfather, may he rest in peace, always wanted to be very American. He tried to hide his background of Yiddish as a first language and his accent, but ultimately he was only able to get rid of the accent for a while. This has been a struggle in the Jewish community forever. We don’t want to be seen as “too Jewish” otherwise we can’t be taken seriously by the rest of the world but we don’t want to be “not Jewish enough” for our fellow Jews.
“These are Jewish heroines. I like to think of our history. What we were known for-the good things. The great things. What we’ve done.”
It felt like this quote couldn’t come at a better time in the Orthodox world right now. Women are the back bone and foundation of the Jewish community, and people are always forgetting about us. Not only are they forgetting about us, but they aren’t even publishing our faces in magazines anymore. Even in magazines geared towards Jewish women won’t publish pictures of women’s faces. We need to know about the strong women before us, the strong women that we have now and the strong women who will come after us.
I can be myself out in the world, I can say who I am, and I can use my whole name when I do. I have to remember there was a time when not everyone in my family felt they could.
Being in Jewish isn’t easy. But the world has changed and its easier while being harder at the same time. But for those of us who can use our legal names without fear of being told “You can’t succeed because you sound too Jewish.” Which now isn’t an issue, we are blessed to be able to have this opportunity that so many of our ancestors prayed and begged for.
This book meant the world to me as you can probably tell from this very long review. Please remember when reading this book, that religion is so personal and Its different for each person. Every community and sect has their own ideas and standards, and I in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM speak for every Jew out there. I am only speaking for myself, I DO NOT speak for my whole community or anyone else. I only speak for myself and my own experiences.
This book comes out on Tuesday, you aren’t going to want to miss this. Here are some links (I am NOT affiliated with these links at all) if you would like to pre-order yourself a copy.