Book Rewiev: All for the Boss, by Ruchoma Shain

Most part of the book I've read lately regarding the beginning of Jewish life in America during the 19th and beginning of the 20th century are written in a pessimistic tone: Shortly after landing on the "New World" soil, the Jewish life and religiousity is disappearing. Probably the phenomenon continues today among the young Israelis arriving in the big American cities, although in comparison with the "old times" you have nowadays all the possible choices to continue living your Yiddishkeit. Long time ago, such a situation wasn't possible or easy at all and the struggle to survive and work for obtaining enough money for bringing your family and dear ones left in "the other land" was powerful enough to push the newly Americans-in-process to leave their old ways of Torah living. Working on Shabbos and Yomim Tovim, neglecting the daily prayer and laws of kashrut were in some cases also the consequence of the absence of the community feelings and role models, the effect of the the deep alienation and cultural shock.

A completely different image is reflected in this interesting book on the life of Yaakov Yosef Herman, written by his younger daughter, Ruchoma. We are acquainted with the image of a family and its practices that we can hardly imagine sometimes in our busy 21st century: the strict Torah education and way of life, whatever the immediate social risks - for example the wedding invitation of his children mentioning the need to be dressed tzniut or to refrain dancing together prompted some of the guests to leave the event - or financial price - encountered every time when while on a business trip he needed to adjust his schedule to pray in time or to observe Shabbos; the dedication of the wife, carefully chosen through shidduchim, assuming the hard task of taking care alone of the children and the house allowing his husband to dedicate his life to the Torah (in the book we'll find many such examples of dedicated wifes sharing the shadows of the learning life of their husbands).

Recently, I saw again - with a different company and in a different interpretation and language - the Fiddler on the Roof. Some of the main tensions in the story are created by the conflict between tradition and the emerging modernity: the increased presence of secular Jews, the danger of intermariages - very often a direct consequence of the anti-semitic environments, the mind laziness encouraging a lenient approach on Torah and mitzvot - which you can find in the Conservative and Reform movements.

Is it easy or hard to continue and practice an observant life? Does it make any sense to be shomer mitzvot when nobody around you - meaning fellow Jews - is doing it? Yaakov Yosef Herman's inspiring story is proving the opposite: as long as you believe it is difficult to understand why some could follow the difficult path of separating of tradition. It's so easy to be inside...