Mensch Marks: Life Lessons of a Human Rabbi—Wisdom for Untethered Times

Rabbi Hammerman (Seeking God in Cyberspace) doesn’t meet his goal of offering guidance to readers on how to be a mensch, which he defines as “a more fully realized, morally evolved human being, a person of character.” Although he indicates he will explore different “mensch characteristics,” the connection between his objective and the content is often elusive. Most of the 42 chapters are derived from previously published essays, making the book feel like a loose collection rather than a focused work. Some entries show their age, as when he ponders whether a 2003 episode of The Simpsons in which Krusty the Clown has an adult bar mitzvah marks a cultural milestone. Others don’t live up to their potential, as when Hammerman describes the challenge of balancing his family responsibilities with those toward his congregation. In this story, both his child and a synagogue member’s child are admitted to the hospital at the same time; Hammerman wavers over his responsibility (his congregant’s child is in a more serious condition) but ends up being comforted by the parent of the other child, calling into question what lesson was learned. He also makes some underdeveloped statements with little context, as when he bluntly confesses that if his mother knew his twin brother would have a significant mental impairment, she would have chosen not to have either of them. Hammerman’s haphazard stories fail to clearly explain the life lessons he professes. (Apr.)