Mazel

Mazel, by Rebecca Goldstein, was a hard copy novel given to me by a fellow book club member that I read at the same time that I was reading Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale on my kindle. It was interesting to be reading two books where Judaism is an important component at the same time. Yet the stories could not be more different. I wonder if reading them at the same time made me like Mazel less than I might have had I read it at a different time.

The novel starts with Phoebe's marriage to a traditional Jew in suburban New Jersey, a lifestyle that neither her grandmother, Sasha, or her mother, Chloe, can understand. Sasha's rejection of traditional Judaism and traditional women's roles is implied and easily comprehended as the story jumps back in time to Sasha's childhood in the shtetl in Poland. Sasha, then Sorel, is the daughter of a rabbi. She's one of six children. She and her two sisters are very close. One of their favorite ways to pass the time was to create stories together.

After tragedy strikes the family, Sorel and her parents move from the shtetl to Warsaw where her life changes when her aunt introduces her to the Yiddish theater. This takes Sorel's storytelling to a new level.

Sorel's mother's guiding force is mazel - or luck - and that becomes Sasha's guiding force as well. I felt that the author talked more about the mazel rather than showing it. I also wish that Sasha's story was shared directly with Phoebe rather than the story jumping back in time without the connection. For me, the story dragged a bit when dealing with he relationships amongst those in Sasha's original Yiddish theater group in Warsaw. For these reasons, this book was just an okay read for me. It would probably lead to a good book club discussion, but I doubt that I will recommend this as a title for my synagogue book club.