Avram Mlotek - Why Jews Do That

What Steph Curry is to the three-pointer, Avram Mlotek is to rabbi-ing. Let him and this bookbe your guide to a deeper understanding of Judaism.

Bari Weiss

Author of How to Fight Anti-Semitism and staff editor and writer for The New York

Times

If you want a Judaism for Dummies with a shmear of snark and potty mouth, this is the book for you.

Jackie Hoffman

Emmy-nominated comedian and Fiddler On The Roof In Yiddishs Yenta, the Matchmaker

Rabbi Avram Mlotek draws people into Jewish life with his enthusiasm, his warmth, his music, and his understanding that people are often embarrassed to ask even the most basic questions. Here, he makes those questions fun and accessible to all.

Eric Fingerhut

President, Jewish Federations of North America and past President of Hillel International

Learning basic information about Judaism is often ponderous and, as a result, many people never learn it. But in the capable, consistently accurate and sometimes irreverent hands of Avram Mlotek, the process becomes both fun and funny.

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

Author of The New York Times bestseller Rebbe and Jewish Literacy

Finally! A book about Jews written entirely in questions! Is that perfect? Reb Mlotek, adank for this bukh! (Thanks for this book!)

Julie Klausner

Creator and star of Hulus Difficult People

As someone who has undergone a conversion journey to Judaism with Rabbi Avram, I can truly say that he is not an ordinary rabbi. And neither is this book. I highly recommend it to people who are seeking to learn Jewish fundamentals but in a modern, hip, and entertaining way.

Ruta Gyvyte

Lithuanian model and Instagram influencer

For Revaya, Hillel Yosl, and Shabtai: keep the questions coming.

Copyright 2020 by Avram Mlotek

Interior illustrations courtesy of Faby Rodriguez and Jenny Young

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Cover illustrations courtesy of Faby Rodriguez and Jenny Young

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-6049-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-6050-9

Printed in the United States of America

Merry Hanukkah! Happy Passover! Tired of Googling every time your grandmother refers to some obscure Jewish holiday? Wish you had an easy-to-read and hilarious bathroom-like book that you arent afraid of leaving in the bathroom when your grandmother actually comes over to visit? Fear no more and welcome to Why Jews Do That? Or 30 Questions Your Rabbi Never Answered.

Like the Bible, this book has five fundamental sections: Time, Props, Purpose, Grub, and God. Unlike the Author of that canonical text, this author is a millennial who serves as a rabbi for millennials. Each question in this book is accompanied by a response, a fun fact (often tangentially related), as well as a Jew, say wha? quote where famous Jewish ideas and wizards are referenced. Cartoons and illustrations have been created by dear students of mine from Base, Jenny Young and Faby Rodriguez.

Judaism is a way of life full of questions and inquiry. From the Biblical Abraham questioning Gods righteousness to The Four Questions of Passover night, questions have always been a fundamental feature of Judaism. Why? Why not? To ask is to wonder, to question is to open ourselves to the ongoing learning of life. Answers are way less important, so maybe dont even read further. No, explanations are definitely needed; just be wary of the autocratic dogmatist rabbi in your midst.

Bottom line: this book is for you, whoever Jew are. Ask away.

RAM

Faby Rodriguez

Weve all seen The Big Lebowski, the cult classic Coen brothers film where John Goodmans character shouts, Im shomer frigen Shabbos! But besides refusing to frequent bowling alleys, what does shomer frigen Shabbos actually mean? Shabbos, or Shabbat, refers to the Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath, which occurs every week. From sundown on Friday afternoon till Saturday night when three stars emerge, Shabbos is considered a weekly holiday in the Jewish calendar. Shomer is Hebrew for guardian or keeper. Hence, shomer Shabbos: a Sabbath keeper.

So, whats a keeper? Note the first question by humankind in the Torah (Cain to God: Am I my brothers keeper?) inferring some type of responsibility or rule following. Speaking of rules, the Ten Commandments appear twice in the Torah: once in Exodus where the command is to remember the Sabbath, and once in Deuteronomy where the instruction is to keep the Sabbath. The sixteenth-century Kabbalist poet Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz wrote, Remember and keep in one utterance, referring to how God can drop a beat and spit lyric at the same time. His liturgical poem is now recited in practically every Jewish house of worship on Friday nights.

JEW, SAY WHA?

Caesar asked Rabbi Joshua ben Chananya: Why do Shabbat foods smell so good? Said he to him: We have a special spice, Shabbat is its name.

Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 119a

Keeping and remembering can mean vastly different things, though. Keeping usually refers to honoring the thirty-nine or refusing to go bowling, Shabbat is a differentiated and sacred time in the Jewish psyche.

@JennyYoungArt

FUN FACT!

Long before WiFi and hotspots, the Sabbath served as the ultimate energizing rejuvenator and to this day strict observers will refuse to use electronics for the Sabbath's duration of twenty-five hours.