Bad Jews

A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities

By: Emily Tamkin

Narrated by: Kendra Hoffman

A journalist and author of The Influence of Soros examines the history of Jewish people in America and explores their ever-evolving relationship to the nation’s culture and identity—and each other.

What does it mean to be a Bad Jew?

Many Jews use the term “Bad Jew” as a weapon against other members of the community or even against themselves. You can be called a Bad Jew if you don’t keep kosher; if you only go to temple on Yom Kippur; if you don’t attend or send your children to Hebrew school; if you enjoy Christmas music; if your partner isn’t Jewish; if you don’t call your mother often enough. The list is endless.

In Bad Jews, Emily Tamkin argues that perhaps there is no answer to this timeless question at all. Throughout American history, Jewish identities have evolved and transformed in a variety of ways. The issue of what it means, or doesn’t, to be a Good Jew or a Bad Jew is particularly fraught at this moment, American Jews feel and fear antisemitism is on the rise. There are several million people who identify as American Jews—but that doesn’t mean they all identify with one another. American Jewish history is full of discussions and debates and hand wringing over who is Jewish, how to be Jewish, and what it means to be Jewish.

In Bad Jews, Emily Tamkin examines the last 100 years of American Jewish politics, culture, identities, and arguments. Drawing on over 150 interviews, she tracks the evolution of Jewishness throughout American history, and explores many of the evolving and conflicting Jewish positions on assimilation; race; Zionism and Israel; affluence and poverty, philanthropy, finance, politics; and social justice. From this complex and nuanced history, Tamkin pinpoints perhaps the one truth about American Jewish identity: It is always changing.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Too many mispronounced words!

Didn’t anyone who speaks Hebrew or practices Judaism help her with Hebrew terms? Super annoying to hear common words badly mispronounced !

Guess I’m a bad Jew

I enjoyed the book. I learned a lot. I was raised in an ashkenazi environment. I was essentially told I was a bad Jew in a chavurot, supposedly a group of like minded Jews. That was disappointing. It would be interesting to attend Sephardic-based or other services just to see and appreciate the difference, if at all. But I’m a bad Jew watch out.

Bad Jews, Good Book

The book was very good. Unfortunately the performance was lacking. It was clear to us that the reader is not Jewish, as there were multiple mispronunciations. It’s surprising that they were not caught.

Great book, frustrating reader

Emily Tamkin’s book is great. Its thesis is nuanced and compelling; it’s well-written and well-researched; it weaves together a lot of history and a lot of information in a way that stays interesting from beginning to end.

Unfortunately, the narration isn’t great, particularly when it comes to pronunciation. She emphasizes the wrong syllables in Hebrew and Yiddish names and words more often than not. She tends (inconsistently) to pronounce the Hebrew gutteral “ch” like the “ch” in “cheese.” And the stress in “Judaism” is on the “Ju,” not the “ai.” The repeated mispronunciation of words that come up again and again distracts and detracts from this substantively excellent book.

Biased

A great and necessary read but it slants to one side often and becomes more autobiographical and political towards the end.