Published in a Book

Almost two years ago, I was contacted by a woman who was working on her Master's thesis on 20's and 30's Jewish life in America.  I had written a pretty easy going post on the in-your-face Jewschool blog about joining Shaaray Tefila, my New York congregation, and its young adult program JeTSeT's Shabbat Unplugged and this student was interested in using the post for her work.

Sure, go for it. It would be my honor.  She then asked if she could put it in her book.  I said great! Thanks.  That was December of 2010.

A few weeks ago, I got an email saying that the book was out.  I looked at the cover, recognized a number of friends and "Liked" their links on Facebook but didn't think I was in the book because I didn't remember anything besides the brief interactions in October and December of 2010. 

Today, I thought, I should check to see who else made the final cut for the book.  And I found my name on the contributor's list.  A nice way to start a Monday.

Unplugging Expectations, By Donald C. Cutler

So I am now a published author. 

You may want to buy this book.  So here is the link: Living Jewishly: A Snapshot of Generation.

I have yet to get my copy, and I look forward to reading the other essays, but I got to say I am pretty proud that my essay made it into print.  I have written a lot of this subject and had another blog post (which I think is better) that was published on RJ.org on a very similar topic around the same time. The more we learn about engagement of younger people in the Jewish community, the better we will be in the longer term. And if my point of view will help make our communities and congregations stronger, then I am a very pleased, published author.