Searching for My Brothers: Jewish Men in a Gentile World

""Jewish men are in trouble,"" declares Reform Rabbi Salkin (Putting God on the Guest List), arguing that, despite the religion's patriarchal nature, Jewish men should delve into their identity the way Jewish feminists have done over the past generation. His exploration is thought provoking but incomplete, relying mainly on biblical interpretation with a few dollops of memoir. The biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, he observes, enshrines the latter as the classic passive Jewish man, yet the relationship of Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro, is ""the essence of bonding between men."" He provides a too-brief exploration of how Zionism represents a rebellion against Jewish emasculation. Better are his musings on what Judaism says about lust: learn to channel the good energy that comes with the bad. Concerning ambition, he advocates finding a balance and using the Sabbath as a place of purity. He suggests a useful reconceptualization of the bar mitzvah ritual incorporating physical, spiritual and community rites of passage. And he argues that, although God is beyond gender, ""the image of God as father can actually teach men about fatherhood."" The book would benefit from a consideration of Jewish masculinity in Orthodox communities or contemporary secular Israel. In addition, despite occasional mentions of Jewish figures such as Sandy Koufax or the wrestler Goldberg, Salkin does little to assess the portrayal of Jewish men in literature, film and other forms of pop culture. (Oct.)