Chapter 23

“So, no, Shai,” said Jared, “I did nothave a real Bar Mitzvah. Not like a real Jewish one in the synagogue with a rabbi and the reading and all that. I got pizza from my mom, and a college savings account from my dad, who never even bothered to send me a card.”

“Still bitter, are we Jared?” said his mother, rolling her eyes. “It’s okay, Shai, it’s fine. I don’t know what he wants me to do about it now. Huh, Jared? All kinds of kids resent their parents for raising them in strict religions, and now suddenly you wish I’d been more religious with you?” She obviously did not want to start a fight with a guest in front of them, but she was getting defensive.

“It’s not that, Mom,” said Jared, exasperated. “It’s just that you keep telling me that we’re Jewish, but there’s all this stuff I don’t know. I don’t know Hebrew, or any of the prayers, or all this stuff Shai’s family does—we never do anything Jewish.