Synopses & Reviews
At thirteen, Danya Ruttenberg decided that she was an atheist. Watching the sea of adults standing up and sitting down at Rosh Hashanah services, and apparently giving credence to the patently absurd truth-claims of the prayer book, she came to a conclusion: Marx was right.
As a young adult, Danya immersed herself in the rhinestone-bedazzled wonderland of late-1990s San Francisco--attending Halloweens on the Castro, drinking smuggled absinthe with wealthy geeks, and plotting the revolution with feminist zinemakers. But she found herself yearning for something she would eventually call God. As she began inhaling countless stories of spiritual awakenings of Catholic saints, Buddhist nuns, medieval mystics, and Hasidic masters, she learned that taking that yearning seriously would require much of her.
Surprised by God is a religious coming-of-age story, from the mosh pit to the Mission District and beyond. It's the memoir of a young woman who found, lost, and found again communities of like-minded seekers, all the while taking a winding, semi-reluctant path through traditional Jewish practice that eventually took her to the rabbinate. It's a post-dotcom, third-wave, punk-rock Seven Storey Mountain--the story of integrating life on the edge of the twenty-first century into the discipline of traditional Judaism without sacrificing either. It's also a map through the hostile territory of the inner life, an unflinchingly honest guide to the kind of work that goes into developing a spiritual practice in today's world--and why, perhaps, doing this in today's world requires more work than it ever has.
Danya Ruttenberg shares the story of her journey toward embracing observantJudaism. What makes this story fascinating and urgent is that Ruttenberg never stops thinking and asking hard questions. She reminds us that loving religion is a matter of heart and soul--and brain. And that it something to which I say, Amen.
--Leora Tanenbaum, author of (forthcoming) Taking Back God: American Women Rising Up for Religious Equality
Danya Ruttenberg marshals beautiful writing and a prodigious intellect, and, leavening it all with a hefty dose of wit, tells a compelling story that has something to teach everyone who picks it up, regardless of how spiritual or religious (or not) they are.
--Lisa Jervis, cofounder of bitch: feminist response to pop culture
Ruttenberg's honesty, depth, wit, and eloquence light up every page.
--Carol Lee Flinders, author of Enduring Lives: Portraits of Women and Faith in Action
The philosopher in me loves the unfettered and deep intellectual challenges to which Ruttenberg subjects religion in general and Judaism in particular. The rabbi in me appreciates how she wrestles with Judaism in as intense a way as Jacob wrestled with the angel. The person in me loves her unmitigated integrity and honesty. All in all, Surprised by God is truly a treat
--Elliot Dorff, Rabbi, Ph.D., author of Knowing God: Jewish Journeys to the Unknowable and distinguished professor of philosophy, American Jewish University
What makes Danya Ruttenberg's engaging spiritual memoir especially unique is Ruttenberg's commitment to her modern values--such as feminism and humanism--and her insistence that she can be both a religiously observant Jew and an enlightened human being. This moderate religious approach is refreshingly mature in aworld of religious fundamentalism and extremism. Ruttenberg's search for meaning in an often superficial American culture should inspire readers to embark on their own spiritual paths, and Ruttenberg herself is living proof that discovering God and even religion does not necessarily mean losing one's inner core.
--Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David, author of Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Toward Traditional Rabbinic Ordination
Review
“Compelling . . . illuminating . . . a thought-provoking memoir.” Jessica Jernigan, Bitch“[A] thoughtful and articulate memoir . . . her style of combining personal experience with a wide range of philosophic responses gives her narrative greater texture. Ruttenberg is as likely to quote Sufi mystics and Catholic saints as she is to refer to Jewish writers; she is seeking a truth that transcends doctrine.”
BUST magazine“At every point, Ruttenberg is sharp in her insights about the world and about herself.”
Tikkun“Although the details of Ruttenbergs experience . . . may be unique, her description of her growing awareness of the power of ritual, the support of community, and religion as relationship will resonate with all sorts of spiritual seekers.”
Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Surprised by God is the memoir of a young womans spiritual awakening and eventual path to the rabbinate. Its a postdotcom, third-wave, punk-rock Seven Storey Mountainthe story of integrating life on the edge of the twenty-first century into the discipline of traditional Judaism without sacrificing either. Its also an unflinchingly honest guide to the kind of work that goes into developing a spiritual practice in todays worldand why, perhaps, doing this in todays world requires more work than it ever has.
Synopsis
At thirteen, Danya Ruttenberg decided she was an atheist. As a young adult, she immersed herself in the rhinestone-bedazzled wonderland of late 1990s San Francisco-drinking smuggled absinthe with wealthy geeks and plotting the revolution with feminist zinemakers. But she found herself yearning for something she would eventually call God.
Surprised by God is a memoir of a young woman's spiritual awakening and eventual path to the rabbinate, a story of integrating life on the edge of the twenty-first century into the discipline of traditional Judaism, without sacrificing either. It's also an unflinchingly honest guide to the kind of work that goes into developing a spiritual practice-and it shows why, perhaps, doing this in today's world requires more effort than ever.
About the Author
Danya Ruttenberg is the editor of Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism, and of a forthcoming book on Judaism and sexuality. She has been published in a wide variety of books and periodicals, including Encyclopedia Judaica, Best Jewish Writing 2002, the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Bitchfest, and The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism. A contributing editor to both Lilit and Women in Judaism, Ruttenberg will be receiving rabbinic ordination from the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles in May 2008.