``JEWISH LIFE, JEWISH HUMOR''

Former executive vice president of England’s Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, American-born Rabbi Brichto has written a lighthearted but substantial book. In answering those questions that “non-Jews wish to have answered but do not feel comfortable about asking their Jewish friends or associates,” this volume takes on touchy issues: Jews’ reputation for being cheap and oversexed, Jewish thinking about Jesus and Christianity, Jewish attitudes toward the Holocaust. Brichto has a curious occasional blind spot when it comes to women. In “Jewish Husbands and Wives,” he unpacks the overbearing Jewish mother stereotype, but he fails to adequately address the Jewish American Princess. He occasionally betrays hostility towards Orthodox Judaism (see, for example, his description of Orthodox Sabbath observance). On other points, though, he handles tricky issues with care, explaining that “choseneness” doesn’t mean Jews think they are better than everyone else and describing how he negotiates feeling loyal to Israel and America and England. In addition to dispelling stereotypes and assumptions about Jews, Brichto provides some useful basics for non-Jews (and Jews not too learned about Judaism): he explains why mirrors are covered during mourning and why the groom breaks a glass at a Jewish wedding. Kudos to Brichto for answering many sensitive questions. (illustrations)