Thanks to Moshe Simkovitch for raising this question.
Part of the educational problem with the book from my perspective is the highly subjective view of the author and the unabashedly heroic stance she adopts. This can quickly turn the discussion (with all our best intentions) into a referendum on the author personally or on people like her whom we might know. It is more of a polemical memoir than a thoughtful autobiography, so it risks inspiring these emotions. A thoughtful autobiography about one's spiritual journey, in either direction, would be less problematic as a heuristic tool, in my opinion.
That having been said, given the importance of the issues the book does address, it would be interesting to teach it in the context of other literature depicting those leaving or entering religion. Perhaps, James Joyce's Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, which depicts Roman Catholicism in Ireland, Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus on Victorian Calvinism and Protestantism, or Milton Steinberg's As a Driven Leaf about Hazal in ancient Israel.
This would allow the course to become more than a polemic for or against the book and the authoress. It would also allow it to, in some degree, transcend the MO community the author comes from. Instead of an indictment of or apology for Mirvis' birth culture, it would become an exploration of what it means to stay or leave different religions in different cultures and periods. Certain issues may be local and others universal.
As part of a literature course, this comparative approach would also allow for a serious discussion of the genres of autobiography, memoir, and polemic. How do authors acquire our trust? How do they portray themselves in works of fiction and non-fiction? What techniques are used to seduce the readers? When are they successful?
Perhaps, the students could give religious memoir writing a shot or write private, religious journals/diaries. This might provoke them to seriously consider these issues which in any event are swirling around their unconscious.
All the best,
Meshulam Gotlieb
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2018 07:59PM by mlb.
