Joshua Hammer, Little, Brown & Co., 2001
Not one of my favourite recent reads, this book nonetheless provides an interesting insight into religious change and the response it generates in others. Hammer, a journalist charts his rather rocky relationship with his brother. Originally from an American secular background, Hammer’s brother is a Baal Teshuvah with quite extreme inclinations. For the first few years of the brother’s religious journey, they have very little to do with each other, but Joshua decides to re-establish contact with his brother. He spends many Shabbatot with his brother’s family, engaging fully with his lifestyle to try to understand it as best as possible. Hammer describes his brother’s life-changes, and the factors he believes were significant in his background. He also considers his brother’s poverty, his constant need to seek new religious authority figures, as well as the struggles he has with his own children. The book is annoying in parts, as there are some inaccuracies. Examples are ‘8th Av’ – the commemorative fast and the reference to ‘Stalin-Kolin’ Chassidim. I think he meant ‘Karlin-Stolin’!
