A True Believer Explores the Strains of the Jewish Faith

Like many members of the generation of American ex-servicemen to burst upon the literary scene in the wake of World War II, Herman Wouk is Jewish. But unlike Norman Mailer, Irwin Shaw, Leon Uris, Saul Bellow or Joseph Heller, Wouk is also Orthodox. In 1959, at a time when the vast majority of American Jews was becoming less observant, Wouk, by then the well-known author of “The Caine Mutiny” and “Marjorie Morningstar,” published a book called “This Is My God” explaining his religious beliefs. Clearly, the book struck a chord with many readers, some wondering why a well-educated, fully Americanized novelist was hanging on to such antiquated rituals, others wondering if perhaps they’d been too quick to cast off a faith that might have been a source of spiritual sustenance.

In the years that followed, Wouk returned to writing fiction, including a pair of magisterial novels of World War II and another pair chronicling the history of modern Israel. Now in his 80s, he has decided once more to resort to the personal essay to offer his views on the heritage and future of Jews and Judaism. He is especially eager to address such momentous and problematic modern developments as the Holocaust, Zionism and the continuing tendency toward assimilation. Conceived as a kind of sequel to “This Is My God” and subtitled “This Is Our Heritage,” his new book is a lively blend of personal reflections, thumbnail history and anecdotes involving all sorts of people from Israeli leader David Ben-Gurion and physicist Richard Feynman to Wouk’s grandfather, who was a Hasidic rabbi. Primarily aimed at his fellow Jews, particularly the many who know little about their heritage, his book will also be of interest to non-Jews.

Wouk takes us on a whirlwind tour that includes biblical history, Mosaic law, the prophets and the Psalms. He also describes the origins and structure of the Talmud, the body of commentary based on the Hebrew Bible. He outlines the dissension that arose between Jews who embraced the freedom of the Enlightenment and those who held to the strict code of their tradition. He even provides some account of Jewish mysticism, although he admits he finds all forms of mysticism beyond his ken. Readers already knowledgeable about these subjects may find Wouk’s summations somewhat thin. But many others will appreciate his clear, forthright explanations.

Examining various areas of contention--between believers and skeptics, between “hawks” and “doves,” among Reform, Conservative and Orthodox branches of the religion, and, within Orthodoxy, between the mystics and the rationalists--Wouk takes pains to understand all sides of a question, even though he does not hesitate to tell us which side he believes is right. Far more important than arguing over which strain in Judaism is the most “authentic,” he feels, is ensuring the survival of Jews and Judaism in general. Wouk adopts an inclusive attitude, reaching out to anyone, religious or irreligious, who feels some sense of Jewishness. But although he acknowledges that many other Orthodox Jews do not share his big-tent attitude, he neglects to mention the alarming fact that there is now actually an ultra-Orthodox political movement in Israel whose goal is to legally redefine “Jewish” in a way that would exclude all Jews who are not Orthodox.

Wouk follows the great 17th century Christian thinker Pascal in seeing the decision to believe in terms of a wager. If God exists, the believer has made the right decision; if not, he’s lost nothing. Wouk also cites a scrawled fragment found among Pascal’s papers: “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not the God of the philosophers and scholars.” The Hebrew Bible inspired two other major religions, Christianity and Islam. Although the ancient Jews suffered two catastrophic destructions, the first by Babylon, the second by Rome, the people, their religion and their memories of their past endured through many hostile centuries, and will, he hopes, continue to flourish even in the wake of the third and greatest destruction--the Holocaust. This, Wouk feels, is a heritage worth cherishing.