Speaking of Foreskin…

June 12, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog 

Speaking of foreskin (that’s not something I get to say often! – but see my previous blog entry), have you read Foreskin’s Lament, a Memoir by Shalom Auslander?  It’s great book about a porn-obsessed young man who has a traditional Jewish education and a relationship with his family of origin that he compares to oil and water.

The book provides snippets of his life – from childhood and adulthood, including his wife’s pregnancy and his fears around that.  While the book is entertaining, anger is a central theme.  Auslander coins the term “theological abuse: It involves adults, known or unknown to the underage victim, telling them a Lunatic runs the word, that He’s spying on them, and that He’s waiting for them to break a rule.  God is here.  God is there.  God is truly everywhere!  So watch it, kid…” (page 112).

As for circumcision, Auslander writes that he feels God has spited him by giving him a son.  He (being quite the cynic) would have prayed for a girl, but he assumed God would not listen.  So, instead, Auslander thought about using reverse psychology – but then he figured God would really “screw him” and give him twins.  At one point, Auslander even compares himself to foreskin: singled out, cut off, and cast forth.

Auslander explores his relationship not just with Jewish traditions, but with God.  Orthodox teachers have tried to drill into his head what he should believe.  This picture of God is “an abusive, belligerent god, a god who awoke millennia ago on the wrong side of the firmament and still hasn’t cheered up.”  Auslander spends most of his life worried God is going to kill him; when he sees a truck with “G.O.D.” written on it, he of course assumes it’s God out to get him – rather than realizing it stands for “Guaranteed Overnight Delivery.”

Auslander hates that “man plans and God laughs” and would prefer a religion in which “man plans and God does His best to bring those plans to successful fruition.”  Sounds nice.

In some ways I can’t relate to Auslander at all – we come from very different backgrounds.  Also, he argues that theologically he has more in common with a Christian than with a Reform Jew.  I don’t know about that.  But, what I do know is that although we come from very different places, what defines Auslander’s life and is a big part of mine is struggle (in a good way).  Struggling, asking questions, grappling with big issues, changing your mind.  Now, that is fun!

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