Press
Interviews
Milt Rosenberg of WGN talks with guest Sally Srok Friedes about her book The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion. It is the story of how a Catholic girl from Milwaukee became a Jewish religionist in New York.
Sally interviews on Good Morning Connecticut during her New York book tour.
The Contra Costa Times interviews Sally about her Catholic roots and her decision to convert.
The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle: “Pastrami sans mayo: How one Greenfield Catholic became a Jewish mother.”
The Larchmont Gazette, the newspaper from the place of Sally’s conversion, announces the launch of The New Jew.
Sally interviews on ABC Radio National Australia. David Rutledge’s topic on Encounter is on the culture shock of conversion.
Reviews
This breezy memoir recounts how Friedes, a nice Catholic girl from Milwaukee, became a nice New York City Jewish wife, in an adventure that takes her through marriage, motherhood and spiritual transformation.
This easy-to-read memoir describes how a Catholic girl from Milwaukee came to New York, married a well-to-do Jew and gradually decided, despite setbacks and obstacles, to convert to Judaism. She discusses feeling strange at her initial Passover seder but being pleased by the judge who incorporated Jewish elements in the wedding ceremony. She was upset by the rabbi at her first High Holiday service and by the teacher when she tried to take a course on Judaism. Both railed against intermarriage. After giving birth to a son, Friedes attended High Holiday services again and this time felt better about the rabbi’s sermon. When the family moved to the suburbs, she began to study with the rabbi of the local synagogue and that eventually led to her conversion. A side effect of this experience was strengthening the bond with her mother-in-law who, unfortunately, died shortly after Friedes became a Jew. The author’s 10-year journey to Judaism is chronicled in heartwarming terms that will appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish readers
“The New Jew is fresh, funny and engaging even as it takes us to the painful twists and turns of acclimating oneself to the Jewish community. This book has a great deal to teach every movement in the Jewish community about how it treats outsiders and especially, potential converts.
- Aliza Hausman, Memoirs of a Jewminica
“Although she completed her conversion nine years ago, Srok Friedes does a terrific job of reaching back to remember what Judaism looks like from an up-close but outside point of view, and an equally good job at turning some of those moments into comic relief on the page.”
-The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle
“It is in describing her moments of doubt that Sally seemed to me most honorable. She notes that the Reform movement did not require her to convert. Choosing Judaism was not a rite of passage she had to adopt in order to raise her children Jewish. Like others in her congregation, she could choose to be a gentile mom raising Jewish kids. But what started as a journey to raise Jewish children turns into a gift … to Sally herself. It is the end, the reward, of a long road of soul searching.”
As you might imagine, I see quite a few books concerning religion. They are mostly about the Christian tradition as is to be expected in a largely Christian nation, but occasionally a book arrives that addresses the spiritual and cultural traditions of Judaism. Such a book is The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion by Sally Srok Friedes ($19.95, O-Books, softcover). It is an intensely personal story of a Catholic girl from Wisconsin who, upon coming to Manhattan falls madly in love with a handsome, wealthy Jewish lad and is slowly incorporated into “the tribe”, embraced by her mother-in-law and initiated into the traditions of the faith. It is a journey of discovery and ultimately of great solace and joy as the author tells why she chose to become a Jew as the mysteries of the religion fell away as it bedrock philosophy revealed itself to her. I am not sure for whom this book was written except of course the author herself, but it will surely speak to anyone who has thought to themselves that being Jewish would endow their life with a meaning and purpose not found in other spiritual havens. For anyone considering conversion to Judaism, this book will prove useful.
Other Articles
Is it possible to feel like a newcomer to Judaism after converting? Read Sally’s article about her son’s upcoming bar mitzvah on InterfaithFamily.com.
The Jewish Outreach Institute discusses the importance of opening the doors to Judaism to those outside the faith, and thanks Sally for her tenacity in her journey.
