Recent election results have really gotten me thinking about what it means to have pride in your particular ethnicity. Is it possible that if the person running for president this year was Jewish that I would vote for him solely for the fact that he or she is part of my tribe? Yes. What about that makes sense though? Why do we have this fascination with Judaism that transcends just our practices and the foods we eat or when we do or do not go to Synagogue. Why do we need a Jewish President, a Jewish Senator, Jewish magazines, Jewish organizations and for that matter, Jewish books. Growing up in a religious Orthodox home, the Jewish books we had around mostly consisted of Torah and Gemara texts. Judaism surrounded us, but we still had a firm grip on secular society. Why do I want someone in office to be Jewish? Because he or she understands me. They know where I am coming from, they know what issues I face when I walk out the door and into the real world. Why do we care about Jewish books? For the same reasons. They get me, they know what I like, they know what I’m interested, and they bring forth to me characters that I can relate to. I was reading the book The Rabbi’s Daughter by Reva Mann and I felt connected to her. Granted I have never done half the things she experienced throughout her life, but I was connected to her honesty. To her doubting the religion, and then coming back and realizing it was worth giving it a try. She is so different from me but her words came out to me and brought me in. In her story, Reva, the daughter of a big Rabbi in London and granddaughter of the Chief Rabbi of Israel finds herself off the path and makes her way to Israel to find herself again and live life as an ultra orthodox woman. She finds that life is not that easy, and change who you are isn’t so easy. This is worlds apart from some of the other Jewish themed books that sit on my desk waiting to be read, but that’s what I love about a good Jewish book. It is not easily definable, but when it’s there, it’s there for you.