Everything Is Illuminated and Judaism

"Everything Is Illuminated," by Jonathan Safron Foer is a book about a Jew coming of age and Learning his identity as a Jew. I can relate to this in many ways. First, I am Jewish, just like Jonothan and I have to discover who I am as a Jew. Also, my family was uprooted form Europe by oppresion and came to America. Throughout the book, Jonothan goes through the journey of identifying himself as a jew. All Jews go through this same journey including myself. Like Jonothan, I have my doubts about god. But overall, because he's such a Jew, I can identify with Joseph. Although my family had to leave Russia because of the depretion, no direct family of mine was in the Holocaust. This book took me through the cruel curiosity being a descendent of a Holocaust victim would be. It makes me pity the main character. It also reminds me that my family was lucky. All in all, being Jewish is important to both Jonathan and me. So, it helped me relate with him.