Youth Book Tip: Insight into the Jewish Orthodox World

Die Presse, May 5, 2023

Hoodie's parents are strictly religious, he himself prefers not to know the rules too well. Isaac Blum's book tells a lot about life. And also about terror.

Young people don't have too much patience. In terms of reading, that means the first sentence of a book has to draw them in. Publishers know that, so there's no time for gimmicks, weather or the like. And this is especially true for books for which a glossary is offered for download. Well, the first sentence of "The Glory and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen" delivers, anyway: "Later I tried to explain to Rabbi Moritz what was ironic about the fact that I had saved the whole community by my horrible crime, of all things."

Too much drama? No, not at all. The book about the Jewish-Orthodox hoodie who falls in love and into whose life anti-Semitic terror then blows up is really funny at first. For instance, when the teenager reflects on his Orthodox Jewish life of rules. Or when he encounters modernity in the person of a sassy, non-Jewish girl (who is also the daughter of the mayor). One gets a glimpse into a world that probably often seems completely absurd to young readers. And soon suspect that Hoodie's "horrible crime" may not be so horrible in our terms. By then, though, the story has developed its pull. And the glossary? Not only explains words like kosher, gefilte fish or kippa. But also the mourning period Schiv'a, Kofer ba-ikar as a term for apostates and also Cherem - the ban that excludes someone from the Jewish religious community. These are the words that Hoodie uses.

Literature reference

Ruhm und Verbrechen des Hoodie Rosen

Isaac Blum, from the American by Gundula Schiffer. Beltz & Gelberg, Weinheim 2019. 224 pages, 15.50 euros. Ages 14 and up.