On Being Jewish Now

Reflections from Authors and Advocates

By: Zibby Owens - editor

Narrated by: Zibby Owens, various

An intimate and hopeful collection of meaningful, smart, funny, sad, emotional, and inspiring essays from today’s authors and advocates about what it means to be Jewish, how life has changed since the attacks on October 7th, 2023, and the unique culture that brings this group together.

On October 7th, 2023, Jews in Israel were attacked in the largest pogrom since the Holocaust. It was a day felt by Jews everywhere who came together to process and speak out in ways some never had before. In this collection, 75 contributors speak to Jewish joy, celebration, laughter, food, trauma, loss, love, and family, and the common threads that course through the Jewish people: resilience and humor. Contributors include Mark Feuerstein, Jill Zarin, Steve Leder, Joanna Rakoff, Amy Ephron, Lisa Barr, Annabelle Gurwitch, Daphne Merkin, Bradley Tusk, Sharon Brous, Jenny Mollen, Nicola Kraus, Caroline Leavitt, and many others. On Being Jewish Now is edited by Zibby Owens, bestselling author, podcaster, bookstore owner, and CEO of Zibby Media.

All of the profits received by Zibby Media from the sale of this audiobook will be made available by Zibby Media to Artists Against Antisemitism, a 501(c)(3)

©2024 Zibby Media LLC (P)2024 Zibby Media LLC

So relatable!

Each essay is as different as its author and yet the common thread is how we are all experiencing, processing, responding to living in this time post 10/7. I found it extremely comforting that I’m not alone.

An Important Book for Our Times

I so appreciated this book! The length of the essays was perfect: short bursts of meaning and/or laughter. This important book is one everyone should read or listen to.

Rocked my Jewish World and Soul

I didn't listen to this book, I inhaled it. Each essay was a gem that helped to piece together my broken scrappy resilient outraged heartfelt Jewish soul. Writing like this gives voice to something that is in our Jewish DNA whether said spoken or felt. I laughed, I cried, I oooed and awwwwed my way through it. I came away with a new found declaration of pride of what the Jewish experience is and who our people are at our core not hiding from the systemic antisemitism that has metastasized through the world but more resolved in honoring our presence contribution and determination to create community healing and impact. Thank you Zibbie Owens for this timely brave and delicious anthology. Lois Barth

Great accounts of recent atrocities

This is an impressive anthology of modern and contemporary Jewish accounts of what has happened to Jews in the post-October 7, 2023 attacks, and the ensuing war in the past year. This is entirely compiled by, and includes short essays by mostly women, (although there are some essays by men) describing the feelings, thoughts, reflections and opinions on modern Jewry, and the challenges faced by the Jewish diaspora. I would recommend this audiobook because, although there isn't much in the way of performance (obviously) given the subject matter covered, it is a very interesting and relatable account of primarily New York, Northeastern US, and Israeli Jews. It is well organized and compiled, and is very relatable to Jews especially, looking to find people to connect with in a challenging modern life and experience coping and dealing with things such as racism, religious isolationism, antisemitism and overall discrimination, and the ways to overcome these difficult circumstances.

The Joy and Pain of Judaism in a Post October 7th World

This collection of essays is like a balm, helping me know that in the wake of the horrors of October 7th, Jews around the world are grieving, living, loving and reaffirming their connections to Judaism. Kudos to the artists against antisemitism who refuse to silenced and erased by hate!