Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living

All of us carry around stereotypes of every culture, including our own. Jewish culture in America, nurtured within and in spite of the broader American culture for more than two centuries, has its own special niche. Daniel Jaffe has opened a new niche for us, has invited us into his world of the American Gay Jew, and asks us to consider all the ways in which maybe we are more alike than different, as well as how our differences challenge us to develop. For all of his dependence on the inside Jewish jokes, the Yiddish references and the stereotypical nonchalance, Jaffe has an important message - where we stand is just as important as the forces that pushed us to that point, that formed us, that gave us a beginning and a platform from which to create our own understanding of the world. For a gay Jew, perhaps the difficulty is not in defining how one of those forces accommodates the other, but rather how do they enrich each other. A tender, provocative, thoughtful, and engaging discussion, at times gritty, at others pure wit, Jaffe's book invites us into the discussion as equal partners.

Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living
Daniel M. Jaffe
White Crane Books, 2011.
$15.00