As Judy Gruen walked down the aisle and into her Orthodox Jewish future, her bouquet quivered in her shaky hand. Having grown up in the zeitgeist that proclaimed, "If it feels good, do it," was she really ready to live the life of "rituals, rules, and restraints" that the Torah prescribed?
The Skeptic and the Rabbi is a rare memoir with historical depth, spirituality, and intelligent humor. Gruen writes with refreshing honesty about what it means to remain authentic to yourself while charting a new yet ancient spiritual path at odds with the surrounding culture, and writes touchingly about her family, including her two sets of grandparents, who influenced her in wildly opposite ways. As she navigates her new life with the man she loves and the faith she also loves―surviving several awkward moments, including when the rabbi calls to tell her that she accidentally served unkosher food to her Shabbat guests―Gruen brings the reader right along for the ride. Reading this wry, bold and compelling memoir, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and when you're finished, you may also have a sudden craving for chicken matzo ball soup―kosher, of course.
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Susanna Burney has appeared in a wide range of plays on stages in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis, and Seattle. Her favorite roles include Hamlet, Olga in Three Sisters, Mrs. Wilcox in a stage adaptation of Howard’s End, and as the solo performer in Man to Man, for which she was named best actress of the year in the Seattle weekly, the Stranger. She received her BFA in acting from Boston University.