Dr. Dating -- Just in time for Hanukkah

Dr. Dating Review for What to Do When You're Dating a Jew:

Any non-Jew who is dating a Jew will quickly find that they know nothing about the Jewish community and what they are hearing and seeing seems pretty much like, well, Yiddish. You want to stay with your Jewish friend and in order to do so, you've got some reading to do! This book is the complete guide you will need in order to make sense of and maybe even fall in love with the life of the Jew in your life.

Holidays, traditions, beliefs and culture are a very important part of any Jew's life. Not only are these things important to your Jewish friend, but they are a very important part of his family. You will learn about what to expect during any special occasion, how to dress for specific Jewish events and even how to order Kosher when eating out.

This highly informative crash course on Judaism will shed some light on your love's religious beliefs, how to deal with his or her family, what the significance of each holiday or ritual is and how to avoid offending his family or embarrassing yourself when together. This book is far more than a tutorial on the Jewish faith with anecdotes from other interfaith couples, jokes, suggestions and more. While this is a wonderful learning tool for anyone involved with a Jewish person, it can also act as your survival guide!

Shiksapedia

Found on shiksapedia.blogspot.com:

Book Review:What to Do When You're Dating a Jew

In What to Do When You're Dating a Jew, two nice and very funny Jewish girls, Vikki Weiss and Jennifer A. Block, attempt to "keep you from ordering a ham and cheese sandwich in a kosher deli or planning a party to celebrate the Jewish New Year. Think of it as a little advance warning about what you are getting into by dating a Jew. You'll thank us later."

I wish I could have read it many years ago when I fell in love with Fred, but alas--or rather, oy veh--this delightful book wasn't published until 2000. If you want to learn a lot and laugh until your kishkes hurt, it's Must Reading. The authors can be irreverent and politically incorrect in a way we shiksas never could, even if we knew the stuff, which we don't, which is why we need the book....

For example, in the chapter on holidays they write, "Some may be disappointed that the High Holy Days have nothing to do with marijuana. These same people will take comfort in learning that there is a big feast at the end. But you've got to suffer a little to get there."

Have you ever wondered if synagogue, temple, and shul are the same? Weiss and Block explain it all for you: "Orthodox Jews usually use the word shul. Conservative Jews say they are going to synagogue. Reform Jews go to temple, but not often."
This breezy how-to-fit-in book doesn't tackle very serious issues such as conversion, spirituality, and morality. Sprinkled with recipes, anecdotes, and jokes, What to Do When You're Dating a Jew introduces you to holidays, jewish food, and the major stages and rituals in Jewish life, love, and death. So read it already!

Andover beginnings

This cracks me up. From the Memorial Hall Library (Andover, Mass.) site:

OTHER AUTHORS WITH ANDOVER CONNECTIONS
Jennifer Block

What to Do When You're Dating a Jew: everything you need to know from matzo balls to marriage (2000) coauthored with Vikki Weiss. Jennifer grew up in Andover, graduated from Andover High in 1987, and has a Journalism degree from Boston University. She now lives with her husband in San Francisco.

Juicy Jews?

Thanks to whoever is behind the blog Juicy Jews for quoting an article that ran in the J. Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. It was an interview with me and Vikki and mentions the Passover section from What to Do When You're Dating a Jew.

This is actually a very cute story……and one that MOST of us can probably relate to in our own ever expanding family faux pas..:-) ( I think I did something like this once a Catholic Mass while at a wedding with an old girlfriend). I'm not sure if the book is still in print (it's an old story!) but funny nonetheless!

Alison Weiss (née Johnson) was at her first seder at her in-laws. The table was decorated with matzah covers, a seder plate and a figurine of a baby in a basket that her nephew had made in school. "Who's this? Baby Jesus?" Weiss asked. "All surrounding conversations came to a halt. My 2-year-old nephew yelled, 'No! It's Baby Moses!'""It took me a couple of years to live that down," she said.Had Weiss read "What to Do When You're Dating a Jew," she would have been more prepared.Weiss' blunder is one of the many scenarios that interfaith couples share in this amusing new book, subtitled "Everything You Need to Know From Matzah Balls to Marriage," by two Bay Area authors.The idea for the book originated with Vikki Weiss of Mill Valley (of no relation to Alison), whose two sisters and brother all married non-Jews."There were no big faux pas in my family, but I saw the potential," she said. "I realized a handy guidebook would be useful."So, she spoke with her friend Jennifer A. Block, who lives in San Francisco. The pair work in marketing and had met while employed by Wells Fargo. They were both transplants to the Bay Area, Weiss from the Chicago area and Block from a suburb of Boston. Both are 31.With the high rates of intermarriage and their own experience with it — Block is married to a non-Jew; Weiss is single, but has dated primarily non-Jews — they certainly knew there were some people who could benefit from a book such as this.