I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired By The Last Words Of Daniel Pearl

Being Jewish. What does it mean—today—and for the future? Listen in as Jews of all backgrounds reflect, argue, and imagine.

When Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was brutally murdered in Pakistan, many Jews were particularly touched by his last words affirming his Jewish identity. Many were moved to reflect on or analyze their feelings toward their lives as Jews.

The saying "two Jews, three opinions" well reflects the Jewish community’s broad range of views on any topic. I Am Jewish captures this richness of interpretation and inspires Jewish people of all backgrounds to reflect upon and take pride in their identity. Contributions, ranging from major essays to a paragraph or a sentence, come from adults as well as young people in the form of personal feelings, statements of theology, life stories, and historical reflections. Despite the diversity, common denominators shine through clearly and distinctly.

This inspiring collection presents answers from Jewish people around the world—artists, entertainers, government leaders, authors, media personalities, scientists, community organizers, scholars, rabbis, and others—covering the religious, professional, and political spectrum. They explore:

• Identity—Our relationship to ourselves, how we define who we are in the most fundamental way.
• Heritage—Our relationship to family, community, culture, tradition, and our collective history.
• Covenant, Chosenness, and Faith—Our relationship to God, our understanding of the relationship between God and the Jewish people, and our understanding of Judaism as a religion.
• Humanity and Ethnicity—Our relationship to others who are not part of the Jewish people. How does a sense of particularism relate to the universal themes and teachings of Judaism?
• Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) and Justice—Our relationship to the larger world, and what "I am Jewish" means for what we do with our lives as we address our responsibilities in the world.

In this critical time in our history, I Am Jewish will motivate people throughout the Jewish community to think about their lives as Jews, and have a profound effect on the way younger Jews shape their identity in years to come. It will help people of all faiths and backgrounds to better understand Jewish people and Judaism.

Contributors include:

Ehud Barak
Sylvia Boorstein
Edgar M. Bronfman
Alan Colmes
Alan Dershowitz
Kirk Douglas
Richard Dreyfuss
Kitty Dukakis
Dianne Feinstein
Tovah Feldshuh
Debbie Friedman
Milton Friedman
Thomas L. Friedman
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Nadine Gordimer
David Hartman
Moshe Katsav
Larry King
Francine Klagsbrun
Harold Kushner
Lawrence Kushner
Shia LaBeouf
Norman Lamm
Norman Lear
Julius Lester
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard Lewis
Daniel Libeskind
Joe Lieberman
Deborah E. Lipstadt
Joshua Malina
Michael Medved
Ruth W. Messinger
Amos Oz
Cynthia Ozick
Shimon Peres
Martin Peretz
Dennis Prager
Anne Roiphe
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
Vidal Sassoon
Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi
Daniel Schorr
Harold M. Schulweis
Lynn Schusterman
Natan Sharansky
Gary Shteyngart
Sarah Silverman
Michael H. Steinhardt
Kerri Strug
Lawrence H. Summers
Mike Wallace
Elie Wiesel
Leon Wieseltier
Sherwin T. Wine
Ruth R. Wisse
Peter Yarrow
A. B. Yehoshua
Eric H. Yoffie