By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“Goyhood, he thought – the state of rebounding from one travesty to the next.” – Mayer Belkin in “Goyhood”
What happens when you discover everything you thought about your life was based on a lie? At age 12, twins Marty and David Belkin learn from Ida Mae, their mother, that they are Jewish – that not only was their father Jewish, but their mother’s mother was also Jewish. The impetus behind this revelation is the Chabad rabbi who had just moved into their small town in Georgia. Rabbi Kugel takes both boys under his wing, but only Marty, now known as Mayer, becomes observant. In fact, as readers learn in “Goyhood” by Reuven Fenton (Central Avenue), he not only leaves the South to learn in a yeshiva in New York City, he agrees to spend his life within the confines of his small, Orthodox community. He is aided in this by the head of the yeshiva who arranged for him to marry his daughter, Sarah, and promises to support him as long as he continues to study and never leave the yeshiva, something to which Mayer agrees.

However, Mayer’s life is turned upside down when a phone call informs him that his mother has died. He returns to Georgia to be with his brother – who, after years of flitting from one unsuccessful deal to another, is finally rich – and bury his mother. But he is surprised to learn that Rabbi Kugel wants to see him and David before the funeral, which should have been taking place that day. Kugel shows them a letter he received from their mother, sent just before her death, in which she reveals a secret: she is not Jewish. That means, according to the Orthodox Jewish law that Mayer accepts, that neither he nor David are Jewish. That also means his marriage to Sarah is invalid and all his years of study are meaningless because he believes that it is forbidden for non-Jews to study Talmud.

Ida Mae has also demanded to be cremated and have her ashes spread somewhere meaningful. Mayer is less concerned about spreading her ashes than with quickly arranging for an official Orthodox conversion and finding a way to explain to Sarah that they need to remarry since their first marriage is Jewishly invalid. But his relationship with Sarah is not the usual one of man and wife: they have been unable to have children and she has walled off a part of herself from him. Since the brothers, not being Jewish, are not required to sit shiva, David ask Mayer to join him on a short road trip. Mayer is horrified by David’s behavior during their travels, particularly when David invites a woman he sort of knows to join them in New Orleans. 

The trip does gives the brothers an opportunity to better know each other, but also shows the many ways they differ. David is impulsive and fun seeking. Mayer can be extremely self-righteous and has a low opinion of anyone who isn’t Jewish, which is funny considering that he now doesn’t consider himself a Jew. (He adamantly refuses to accept patrilineal descent.) However, he also shows an amazing ability to talk to people, as shown in the wild and funny section when the brothers and their new friend visit a fireworks store. Because Mayer has lived such an isolated existence, readers will soon guess the underlying problem with his and Sarah’s relationship, which shows just how clueless he is.

The novel’s ending is also wild, although when thinking back, it doesn’t feel completely believable. However, that won’t bother most readers because it was so satisfying. In fact, the plot contains numerous semi-believable coincidences, but those just add to the fun. What does work is watching Mayer struggle after learning the truth about his life and trying to find a way to live in his new reality. Grappling with his ideas about God, Mayer must also decide if God really only cares about Jews, a puzzle whose answer may change the direction of his life.