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WORK TITLE: Yeled Tov
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 10/24/1956
WEBSITE: http://www.danieljaffe.com/
CITY: Santa Barbara
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born October 24, 1956, in NJ; son of Jonah and Sandra Jaffe; married Leo Cabranes-Grant.
EDUCATION:Princeton University, A.B.; Harvard Law School, J.D.; Vermont College, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, essayist, translator. Former corporate/securities attorney; UCLA Extension-Online instructor.
AWARDS:John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts Literature Competition, first place, 2003; Outstanding Instructor Award in Online Writing Education, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, 2006; Norman Mailer Writers Colony Residency, 2010.
RELIGION: JewishWRITINGS
Translator from the Russian of Here Comes the Messiah!, by Dina Rubina, Zephyr Press (Brookline, MA), 2000. Contributor of short stories to periodicals and journals.
SIDELIGHTS
Raised in a conservative Jewish family in New Jersey, author Daniel M. Jaffe had–as a youth–difficulties reconciling his sexuality with this religion. “There was a clash between my interpretation of Jewishness and my acknowledgment of being gay,” Jaffe told Haaretz website contributor Shachar Peled in an interview. Jaffe was so confused that, as a college freshman at Princeton University, he attempted suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Saved by a college roommate, Jaffe still could not tell his parents about the reason for his attempted suicide. “From a mature perspective looking back, I think the religious issue was indeed part of it,” Jaffe further remarked to Peled. “But it was also more than that–just like any young person not knowing how to cope with this, feeling that my future would not be as I had envisioned, that I would not be accepted by my family … the unfortunately usual list of things.”
Jaffe attended therapy sessions and tried to take small steps away from his conservative religious observance, and also attempted to explain his sexuality to his parents, who found it difficult to accept. Finally, the parents became more understanding and his father even imparted a family secret: Jaffe’s beloved grandfather had a brother who was gay. “Back in those days in the Orthodox community, if you kept your business to yourself then that was OK. All those years, my father had not thought to tell me about it. … If I would’ve known that one of my great-uncles was gay in an Orthodox family and had been accepted as a human being and not ostracized, I don’t think I would’ve tried to kill myself. I would’ve known that there was a place for me.”
This search for identity and acceptance informs much of Jaffe’s fiction, especially in his 2018 young adult novel, Yeled Tov, about a sixteen-year-old male protagonist who is similarly caught in an emotional bind, with his sexuality at odds with his Jewish identity. Jaffe is also the editor of the 2001 collection, With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction, and the author of other works of fiction, including the 2001 novel The Limits of Pleasure (reprinted in 2010), the story collection, Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living, and the 2014 novel told in stories, The Genealogy of Understanding.
With Signs & Wonders
Jaffe serves as editor on the anthology, With Signs & Wonders, a gathering of stories from twenty-four authors from nineteen different countries that celebrate the Jewish experience in the fabulist vein of legends, mysticism, and folklore. These writers come from around the world: Central Asia, Iran, Russia, Siberia, Israel, Morocco, Europe. Latin America, and the United States.
Booklist reviewer Nancy Pearl praise Jaffe’s “thoughtful introduction to this diverse collection of stories” in With Signs & Wonders, adding: “The best aspect of a collection like this is being introduced to new works and unfamiliar writers.” Writing in Library Journal, Gene Shaw also commended the collection, terming it a “diverse and imaginative group of stories, recommended for Jewish studies collections.” Likewise, a Publishers Weekly writer observed: “This creative collection is distinguished by its imaginative stories and international flavor.”
The Limits of Pleasure and The Genealogy of Understanding
In The Limits of Pleasure, the author focuses on a forty-year-old gay man, Dave Miller, who was raised by his Orthodox grandmother, a survivor of the Holocaust. Dave is conflicted by this past and his own present, cruising the gay sex spots from Boston to Amsterdam, and attempting to reconcile the two. “A superb writer, Jaffe has a field day with Dave, who has a love/hate relationship with his heritage as well as with his grandmother,” noted online Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews contributor Jerry L. Wheeler. “The Limits of Pleasure is a satisfying and thought-provoking read that will echo in your consciousness long after the surprisingly uplifting ending. Jaffe is a major talent.”
The Genealogy of Understanding is a fictional attempt at utilizing the Torah and its fifty-four portions to examine modern social issues. Matt Klein, a modern Scheherazade-like character, is searching for answers to his faith. Through fifty-three interconnected stories, the reader is provided with an “an exploration of ‘Jewish spirituality, ethics and community values as well as the nature of human heart, mind and soul’,” as the reviewer Amos Lassen noted in his blog, Reviews by Amos Lassen. “Jaffe has written the book that I always wanted to write and does so with grace and style,” Lassen added.
Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living
In his story collection Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living, Jaffe examines the “dilemma faced by many Jews over their nonstandard sexuality,” according to a Small Press Bookwatch reviewer who added that this is a “fine read with plenty to entice readers.”
Similarly, Jewish Book Council website writer Wayne Hoffman noted of Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living: “Taken together, this is the most powerful collection of short stories about gay Jews since Lev Raphael’s Dancing on Tisha B’Av blazed the trail more than twenty years ago.” The two dozen stories look at various aspects of gay Jewish life, from coming out to one’s parents, the conflict between tradition and sexuality, HIV/AIDS, and others in “intimate stories show [the author’s] sensitivity,” according to a contributor in the online GLBT Reviews.
Yeled Tov
Yeled Tov, which means “good boy” in Hebrew, features teenager Jake Stein who–growing up in the 1970s in New Jersey–wants to be a good boy but has a growing attraction to other boys. Winning a star role in his school play, The Diary of Anne Frank, his emotions are more with another male actor than they are with the sufferings of the Frank family. College at Princeton finds him attracted to his roommate, but still attempting to be a good boy.
A Kirkus Reviews critic had praise for Yeled Tov, noting that Jaffe “writes in a polished prose style that successfully captures Jake’s anxiety from his perspective.” The critic further felt that the author “does an admirable job of locating Jake’s conflict in the particulars of Judaism and Jewish culture while also presenting a story that will feel relatable to a wide audience.” The same critic concluded, “An empathetic story of faith and desire.” Wheeler, writing again in the online Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews, was also impressed, commenting: “Jaffe takes on Jake’s story with a keen eye for detail and a good ear for dialogue. Jake’s discussions with God are very well done, and the one near the end of the book will bring a tear to your eye as both he and God come to peace with each other. It did mine, anyway. And I’m an atheist.“
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2001, Pearl, Nancy, review of With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction, p. 1670.
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2018, review of Yeled Tov.
Library Journal, April 1, 2001, Shaw, Gene, review of With Signs & Wonders, p. 136.
Publishers Weekly, April 9, 2001, review of With Signs & Wonders.
Small Press Bookwatch January, 2012, review of Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living.
ONLINE
GLBT Reviews, https://www.glbtrt.ala.org (July 26, 2018), review of Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living.
Jewish Book Council, https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org (July 26, 2018), Wayne Hoffman, review of Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living.
Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews , https://outinprintblog.wordpress.com (April 3, 2011), Jerry L. Wheeler, review of The Limits of Pleasure; (June 4, 2018), Jerry L. Wheeler, review of Yeled Tov.
Reviews by Amos Lassen, http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com (January 6, 2014), review of The Geneaology of Understanding; (July 26, 2018), review of Yeled Tov.
Ever a daydreamer, I never seem to have enough time to ponder. I can ruminate about one thing and another endlessly. Writing offers a wonderful outlet for my ever-turned-on imagination. I've been at this writing thing in a serious way for over the last 25 years, and am convinced I'll never have enough time to explore all the story ideas that keep coming into my head. How lucky can a guy get!
Daniel M. Jaffe
Works
Yeled Tov
This coming-of-age novel tells the story of Jake Stein, an observant Jewish teenager struggling to reconcile his interpretations of Torah with his growing attraction to men. Temptations that begin during his high school senior year, become overwhelming once he's a freshman at Princeton University. If he gives in to his feelings, will he risk losing God's love?
“Jaffe writes in a polished prose style…locating Jake’s conflict in the particulars of Judaism and Jewish culture, while also presenting a story that will feel relatable to a wide audience…. An empathetic story of faith and desire.” Kirkus Reviews
2018
The Genealogy of Understanding
2014
Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living
2011
The Limits of Pleasure, a novel (reprint--originally published in 2001)
2010
One-Foot Lover (fiction chapbook)
2009
With Signs and Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction
2001
Here Comes The Messiah! (translation)
2000
Awards and Recognition
Fellowship--Norman Mailer Writers Colony Residency (2010)
Finalist--Rainbow Award for "The Genealogy of Understanding" (2014)
Finalist--American Fiction Prize, for "Mauricio Fabiano Weinstein," a short story (2009)
Outstanding Instructor Award in Online Writing Education, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program (2006)
First Place--John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts Literature Competition (2003)
Finalist--ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, for "The Limits of Pleasure," a novel (2002)
Finalist--Unity Fest, NY, for "Bibi and Joe," a one-act play (2001)
Finalist--Sierra Repertory Theatre’s competition, for "Private Matters," a two-act play (1996)
Press and Media Mentions
Kirkus Reviews (Yeled Tov)
Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature
Jewish Book Council (Jewish Gentle)
Edge Boston (Jewish Gentle)
Kirkus Reviews (With Signs and Wonders)
Ha'aretz (With Signs and Wonders)
Interpoezia (Here Comes the Messiah!)
Instructor Biography:
MFA, internationally published fiction writer, essayist, and literary translator whose latest novel is The Genealogy of Understanding, a Rainbow Award finalist and honorable mention. Mr. Jaffe’s other work includes The Limits of Pleasure, selected by ForeWord Magazine as a Book of the Year Award finalist, and Jewish Gentle and other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living. He is a recipient of the UCLA Extension Outstanding Instructor Award in Creative Writing.
Instructor Statement:
Creative writers flourish only in a trusting environment–here we are, exposing parts of ourselves, our imaginations, experiences, philosophies, loves, and hates. I try to foster an atmosphere of comfort and trust where we can feel free to explore our potentials, to experiment, to take creative risks which might or might not merit repetition. We comment on each others’ work in order to learn from one another, to give mutual guidance. What are our technical and inspirational strengths as writers? What are our weaknesses that need shoring up? We’ll probably find ourselves disagreeing at times. The key is to explore why we disagree and how we can learn from contrasting opinions.
QUOTE:
"There was a clash between my interpretation of Jewishness and my acknowledgment of being gay,"
. "From a mature perspective looking back, I think the religious issue was indeed part of it," Jaffe further remarked to Peled. "But it was also more than that--just like any young person not knowing how to cope with this, feeling that my future would not be as I had envisioned, that I would not be accepted by my family ... the unfortunately usual list of things."
How the Book of Leviticus Inspired a Gay Jewish Author's New Novel
Daniel M. Jaffe spent his early years tormented by his sexuality within the Orthodox community. It is a past he revisits in his latest book, hoping his own attempted suicide can now can help others
Shachar Peled
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Daniel M. Jaffe at age 3.Daniel M. Jaffe
Learning from the Pride Parade
Sessions thanks Orthodox Jewish group for help in anti-LGBT court ruling
Islam and Homosexuality: What does the Koran say?
When the 16-year-old protagonist of Daniel M. Jaffe’s new novel comes across a passage from the book of Leviticus, he blinks and clamps his eyes shut. “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination,” it reads.
He then continues to pore over the prohibition, realizing that “anyone who committed such abomination ‘shall be cut off from among their people.’”
It is in those early stages of discovering his sexuality that the character, Jake Stein, is sucked into an emotional vortex, his desires clashing with a religious Jewish identity.
>> What really happens to U.S. Orthodox Jews when they come out
Daniel M. Jaffe at age 2, with his parents Jonah and Sandra in the 1950s.Courtesy of Daniel M. Jaffe
“This is very much autobiographical, reflecting my inner conflict at the time,” says Jaffe, 61, in a phone interview with Haaretz, about “Yeled Tov” (“Good Boy” in Hebrew).
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The grandson of an Orthodox immigrant from the Haredi neighborhood of Mea She’arim in Jerusalem, Jaffe was brought up in New Jersey by a reform mother and moderate Orthodox father, eating kosher food and attending an elementary Orthodox Yeshiva.
The cover for Daniel M. Jaffe's "Yeled Tov."Lethe Press
The character Jaffe created in his own image – also raised in a religious South Jersey family in the 1970s – joins a school play adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” where he falls hopelessly in love with one of the male actors. Upon graduating high school he goes to Princeton, where his predicament escalates further.
Jaffe reflects on his own freshman year in Princeton as his “crisis” year.
“There was a clash between my interpretation of Jewishness and my acknowledgment of being gay,” he recalls.
Like others in the LGBTQ community who grow up in conservative environments, Jaffe felt there was “no way out” and decided, at age 18, to end his life.
He overdosed on sleeping pills and was found by his college roommate. But even after waking up in the campus infirmary to see his crushed parents by his side, he still could not bring himself to tell them the reason for his suicide attempt.
Daniel M. Jaffe at age 16. It was while he was a freshman at Princeton that he tried to take his own life.Daniel M. Jaffe
“From a mature perspective looking back, I think the religious issue was indeed part of it. But it was also more than that – just like any young person not knowing how to cope with this, feeling that my future would not be as I had envisioned, that I would not be accepted by my family ... the unfortunately usual list of things,” he says.
Over time, the pressure eased. Jaffe attended sessions with a therapist and began taking small steps outside the strictness of his religious observance, like eating nonkosher food. He also volunteered with Jewish-Soviet immigrants, who risked everything to assert their identities and to live freely. “If I admire those people, how can I not respect myself?” he thought at the time.
In the book, Jake Stein comes to learn of gay activism on his college campus. Similarly, by senior year Jaffe had joined the Gay Alliance of Princeton and came out to his parents. His voice breaks when he recounts how his mother took his hand and asked, “Is that why you were so upset years ago?”
Daniel M. Jaffe with is parents Jonah and Sandra in Santa Barbara, 2002.ללא קרדיט
Still, it took his parents a long time and various attempts at treating his “sexual disorder” before fully accepting their son. Jaffe says it was not during his bar mitzvah, but rather an empowering confrontation with his father years later that he became a man. “It was when I stood up to my father and defined myself as a man different from him but a man just the same,” he says.
For parents who give the wrong signals
Decades later, before he passed away, Jaffe Sr. let his son in on an old family secret: his grandfather’s brother was also gay.
“Back in those days in the Orthodox community, if you kept your business to yourself then that was OK. All those years, my father had not thought to tell me about it. This is one of the reasons I wrote this novel,” Jaffe says.
“If I would’ve known that one of my great-uncles was gay in an Orthodox family and had been accepted as a human being and not ostracized, I don’t think I would’ve tried to kill myself. I would’ve known that there was a place for me.”
Daniel M. Jaffe with his husband Leo Cabranes-Grant.Daniel M. Jaffe
>> Whisper it, but Israel's ultra-Orthodox community is starting to talk about homosexuality
For the past 25 years, Jaffe has shared his life with his now-husband, Leo Cabranes-Grant, with whom he resides in Santa Barbara, California. After a career in law, Jaffe transitioned to writing, focusing over the years mainly on the gay Jewish experience.
His first novel, “The Limits of Pleasure” (2001), depicted the conflict of a middle-aged gay man who felt he didn’t deserve a good life and that his sexuality betrayed his grandmother’s survival in the Holocaust.
The recurring theme of the Holocaust symbolizes the heritage Jaffe himself felt he was breaking with. “When I had those feelings of betrayal, it was to those who survived to keep a tradition going,” he says. “But then I thought, if the tradition is about survival and adapting, why should I not adapt and survive?”
Yet only after decades of staying silent about the painful personal experience of his suicide attempt did Jaffe decide to open up. “I was actually ashamed and embarrassed by it,” he explains. “But then I realized maybe I can help some people by talking about it – not only young people themselves, but parents who might unintentionally be giving the wrong signals to their children.”
“Yeled Tov” is a story of a young man’s journey to accept himself. In other common threads to Jaffe’s life, Jake Stein tries to date women in college and confronts his father. But Jaffe speaks his message loud and clear through one of the most powerful lines in the book, when a character simply states: “We’re supposed to live by the Torah, not die by it.”
Daniel grew up and attended college in New Jersey, then moved to the Boston area for law school. He worked for several years as a corporate/securities attorney before throwing caution to the winds and pursuing a career in creative writing. After his partner (and future husband), Leo Cabranes-Grant, accepted a university teaching position in California, Daniel moved with him to Santa Barbara.
Daniel's newest novel, YELED TOV (2018, Lethe Press), follows a Jewish teenager struggling to reconcile his devotion to Torah with his growing attraction to other young men. Does he risk losing God's love?
Kirkus Reviews describes this novel as an "empathetic story of faith and desire." Daniel composed a first draft while seated, with pen and notebook, in a rocking chair on Norman Mailer's Provincetown porch. (Thank you, Norman Mailer Center and Writers Colony, for that inspiring residency!)
Several of Daniel's short stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and dozens of his stories, essays, and articles have appeared in anthologies, literary journals and newspapers in many countries and languages. His work has been taught in college/university courses. He holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), Harvard Law School (J.D.), and Vermont College (M.F.A.).
QUOTE:
Jaffe "writes in a polished prose style that successfully captures Jake's anxiety from his perspective."
Jaffe, Daniel M.: YELED TOV
Kirkus Reviews. (June 1, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Jaffe, Daniel M. YELED TOV Lethe Press (Indie Fiction) $15.00 4, 18 ISBN: 978-1-59021-671-2
Jaffe's (The Genealogy of Understanding, 2014, etc.) coming-of-age novel tells the story of a Jewish adolescent attempting to square his homosexuality with the teachings of his religion.
On the cusp of his 16th birthday, Jake Stein notices a prohibition in the book of Leviticus that never caught his eye before: " 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination.'...Jake read further still: anyone who committed such abomination 'shall be cut off from among their people.' " As part of a Conservative Jewish family in 1970s South Jersey, the dictates of his religion are important to Jake--and even more important to his father, Sol. At the same time, Jake has been fantasizing about some of his male teachers and engaging in sexual exploration with his best friend, Dave. Jake joins the school play in hopes of finding a distraction from this identity crisis, but it only makes things worse: The play is The Diary of Anne Frank, a story laden with heavy guilt, and he quickly becomes obsessed with the lead actor, Steve. Jake concocts daydreams around his unrequited attraction but ends up feeling as lonely as ever. He attends Princeton University after high school, still committed to trying to be a yeled tov--a good Jewish boy--but the temptations at college prove even greater than those in high school. Throughout the novel, Jaffe writes in a polished prose style that successfully captures Jake's anxiety from his perspective: "Jake glanced quickly down at his book, but couldn't read what now appeared to be one big blur. His stomach clutched and his breathing nearly halted. Streams of perspiration jetted out under his arms." Along the way, he does an admirable job of locating Jake's conflict in the particulars of Judaism and Jewish culture while also presenting a story that will feel relatable to a wide audience. Jake's road to self-acceptance is a long one, and it will perhaps frustrate some readers. But the details of his experience are so particular and humanizing that most people will stick right with him to the end.
An empathetic story of faith and desire.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Jaffe, Daniel M.: YELED TOV." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540723228/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=74bc9039. Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A540723228
QUOTE:
Nancy Pearl praise Jaffe's "thoughtful introduction to this diverse collection of stories" in With Signs & Wonders, adding: "The best aspect of a collection like this is being introduced to new works and unfamiliar writers."
With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction
Nancy Pearl
Booklist. 97.17 (May 1, 2001): p1670.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2001 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction. Ed. by Daniel M. Jaffe. May 2001. 360p. Invisible Cities; dist. by IPG, $26 (0-9679683-5-6).
In his thoughtful introduction to this diverse collection of stories, Jaffe makes the argument that Jewish fabulist fiction actually begins with the Bible--Moses and the parting of the sea, Jonah's encounter with a fish, Ezekiel's visions--and that the 24 contemporary writers (and seven translators) included here are carrying on a long tradition of fabulist storytelling. Some of the best stories are Moacyr Scliar's tale of a man beset by the competing voices of prophets Elijah and Amos ("The Prophets of Benjamin Bok"), Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer's humorous story about a young woman who is forced to perform an exorcism to rid her mother of the evil inhabiting her ("A Case of Dementia"), and Mark Appleman's unusual travel guide ("A Visitor's Guide to Berlin"). The countries represented include, among others, Brazil, Finland, the U.S., Argentina, France, and Israel. The best aspect of a collection like this is being introduced to new works and unfamiliar writers. A good choice for larger libraries or libraries collecting Jewish fiction.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Pearl, Nancy. "With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction." Booklist, 1 May 2001, p. 1670. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A75249015/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3df553f9. Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A75249015
QUOTE:
"diverse and imaginative group of stories, recommended for Jewish studies collections."
With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction
Gene Shaw
Library Journal. 126.6 (Apr. 1, 2001): p136.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2001 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction. Invisible Cities, dist. by Independent Pubs. Group. May 2001. c.360p, ed. by Daniel M. Jaffe. ISBN 0-9679683-5-6. $26. F
Jaffe (UCLA Extension-Online), a short story writer, essayist, and translator, has collected a group of contemporary Jewish fabulist fiction. The 25 stories are written in seven different languages and come from many countries and cultures, among them Brazil, the United States, Israel, Russia, and Mexico. Biblical themes and modern despair are resolved in many of the stories by kabbalistic insight and reconciliation. A feminist strain, championing women's freedom to explore the world, also runs through the selections. Jaffe's introduction sets the tone and places the stories in literary context. Joe Hill's "Pop Art" a story of love and friendship, is brilliantly imagined. In "Rochel Eisips," Teresa Porzecanski (a writer from Uruguay) writes of loss, memory, and the unity of the Jewish people. Cyille Fleischman's "One Day, Victor Hugo ..." is a charming short fable on life's meaning, and Yakov Shechter's "Midday" is a mystical meditation on political assassination. A diverse and imaginative group of stories, recommended for Jewish studies collections.--Gene Shaw, NYPL
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Shaw, Gene. "With Signs & Wonders: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction." Library Journal, 1 Apr. 2001, p. 136. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A73308598/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0948ee8a. Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A73308598
QUOTE:
"dilemma faced by many Jews over their nonstandard sexuality," according to a Small Press Bookwatch reviewer who added that this is a "fine read with plenty to entice readers."
The gay studies shelf
Small Press Bookwatch. (Jan. 2012):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Jewish Gentle and Other Stories
Daniel M. Jaffe
White Crane Books
c/o Lethe Press
118 Heritage Avenue
Maple Shade, NJ 08052 3018
9781590211878, $15.00, www.lethepressbooks.com
Homosexuality has become more accepted in recent years, but nonconformity still carries its own punishments. "Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay Jewish Living" is a collection of short stories surrounding the dilemma faced by many Jews over their nonstandard sexuality, which like Christian families, can lead to much conflict. Speaking on Jewish life, the many common aspects of Gay life and how Judaism impacts those who want to remain faithful to their faith, "Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay Jewish Living" is a fine read with plenty to entice readers.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The gay studies shelf." Small Press Bookwatch, Jan. 2012. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A277876653/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=26ef2510. Accessed 26 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A277876653
QUOTE:
: "This creative collection is distinguished by its imaginative stories and international flavor."
WITH SIGNS AND WONDERS: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction
Publishers Weekly. 248.15 (Apr. 9, 2001): p50.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2001 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
EDITED BY DANIEL M. JAFFEE. Invisible Cities (50 State St., Montpelier, VT 05602), $26 (360p) ISBN 0-96796-835-6
Readers combing through this anthology can expect a rich assortment of 24 fanciful short stories, with just a few duds. All of the stories are fabulist"--that is, they cull from magical realism in the style of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In Joe Hill's delightfully creative "Pop Art," readers learn the sad story of a boy whose best friend is, due to a birth defect, inflatable; he can't talk, and his very life is threatened by sharp branches, fork tines and other objects that might puncture him. In a tale that suggests what would have happened had Sholem Aleichem ever traveled to the American South, Steve Stem tells the saga of a flying rebbe from Tennessee. Fans who couldn't get enough of Like Water for Chocolate will relish Argentinean author Daniel Ulanovsky Sack's tale "Home Cooking." However, the collection, like most, is uneven. "Tsuris" (trouble), the tale of a quarrelsome student who demands his rabbi explain the dinosaurs, is flat and ill-suited to this anthology: the fabulist transformation here is simply that the student grows attentive. But on the whole, the quirky characters are captivating. Who can forget the curious Siamese twins who complete a minyan in American Joan Leegant's story "The Tenth"? Or Portuguese writer Moacyr Scliar's protagonist Benjamin Bok, whose various body parts are taken over by prophets? This creative collection is distinguished by its imaginative stories and international flavor. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"WITH SIGNS AND WONDERS: An International Anthology of Jewish Fabulist Fiction." Publishers Weekly, 9 Apr. 2001, p. 50. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A73375382/BRIP?u=schlager&sid=BRIP&xid=433843e4. Accessed 15 Aug. 2018.
QUOTE:
"Jaffe takes on Jake’s story with a keen eye for detail and a good ear for dialogue. Jake’s discussions with God are very well done, and the one near the end of the book will bring a tear to your eye as both he and God come to peace with each other. It did mine, anyway. And I’m an atheist."
June 4, 2018 · 7:44 am
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Yeled Tov – Daniel M. Jaffe (Lethe Press)
Buy from Lethe Press
As I started to write this review, I learned that Philip Roth had died. I remembered reading Portnoy’s Complaint and Goodbye, Columbus years ago, though I haven’t revisited them in a number of years. And it struck me certain parallels existed between Roth and Daniel M. Jaffe. I wouldn’t go as far as to call Jaffe the gay Philip Roth because that’s an awful burden to place on any author’s shoulders, and it’s not exactly correct. However, some of the same themes exist in their work, especially the exploration of the “promiscuous instincts” Roth has written about in numerous essays. Those instincts are on full display in Jaffe’s latest work, Yeled Tov.
More than anything, Jake Stein wants to be a “good boy” (yeled tov), but he has much to contend with. He lusts after men at shul. He lusts after the guy who plays Peter Van Daan in his high school’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. He lusts after his childhood friend, Dave. He lusts after his college roommate, Ted. He’s a bundle of lust, which is what he tries to explain to God when he talks to him. But God isn’t exactly sympathetic, and dates with nice Jewish girls don’t help much. All this tsuris and mishegas has to have some long-term consequences, leading Jake to a very bad decision. Suicide.
Okay, that’s not as much a spoiler as you might think. Jaffe doesn’t leave Jake with many other options, and though it wasn’t telegraphed, it was certainly the end of a logical progression. But the real import of this novel is in Jake’s journey and how he gets to that end. The examination of his “promiscuous instincts” aren’t uniquely Jewish or uniquely gay, but those two spins on the concept give the events here a universality I really enjoyed. Gay men and women aren’t as free to act on those instincts as their straight counterparts, and the additional barrier of trying to adhere to the teachings of the Torah only complicates the matter.
And Jake is a yeled tov. Sure, he lusts and gives in to that lust but he pays for it in guilt, and he never puts the moves on any object of his lust. He not only doesn’t want to be found out, but he doesn’t want to add to their burdens by making them reject him. Early on, his father gives him a sage piece of advice, albeit about women: “Whatever you do, never hurt the girl.” Jake has internalized this message, ensuring that he will be a yeled tov no matter who or how he loves. He just hasn’t realized it.
Jaffe takes on Jake’s story with a keen eye for detail and a good ear for dialogue. Jake’s discussions with God are very well done, and the one near the end of the book will bring a tear to your eye as both he and God come to peace with each other. It did mine, anyway. And I’m an atheist.
JW
© 2018 Jerry L. Wheeler
“Yeled Tov” by Daniel M. Jaffe— A Good Jewish Gay Boy
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Jaffe, Daniel M. “Yeled Tov”, Lethe Press, 2018.
A Good Jewish Gay Boy
Amos Lassen
I always look forward to a new book by Daniel Jaffe and that is probably that is because he says what I think (and much better than I could day it). I have managed to get over the Jewish guilt I used to have about my religion and my sexuality and have learned to embrace them both knowing that these parts of my life have made me who I am. I always wanted to be a “yeled tov” or a good boy but it was difficult to do so before reconciling those two important aspects of my life and my being.
Jaffe takes us back to 1974 to meet Jake Stein who also wants to be a good Jewish boy but who finds himself struggling to reconcile his traditional beliefs and his strong faith in God with his growing attraction to other boys (now this sounds very familiar). At school he was in the school play, “The Diary of Anne Frank” and while he should be overjoyed to get cast, he is upset because he knows that he should be thinking about the terrible suffering that Jews went through but instead he is falling for the kid who’s playing Peter van Daan. Things get no better for him when he gets to college and meets his very handsome roommate who seldom wears clothing. Jaffe shares the story of a young boy and man who fights hard to find a middle ground between “desire and devotion”. He asks God for advice and what he hears back is what he imagines what God would say about doing the right thing. do the right thing (I am not sure that God knows how to answer questions about lust). Jake seems, on the other hand, to know a great deal about lust since he deals with it so often—he finds himself lusting after men at the synagogue;, he lusts after his best friend and he lusts after his college roommate, he lusts after schoolmates. He feels that God is not sympathetic with his plight and the more he lusts, the more he feels shut into himself and shut out of society. He sees only one way out and that is abhorrent to God.
I have read many gay coming-of-age stories and there are some that are very good and there are some that are the same old story with different names. Here we have something very different in that we are with Jake on his journey and we feel what he feels (due to the skill of writer Jaffe). Jake so wants to be slutty and promiscuous but he knows that is not the way good Jewish boys act (he obviously does not know the same Jewish boys that I do).
Now let me explain something here. Jewish boys have the same urges and lusts that everyone else does but there is a difference that is based on faith. Those who are raised in Orthodox homes have a great deal of trouble trying to understand how faith and sexuality can work together. It is indeed possible that they can but to make this happen it must come from within. Once you accept who you are it is a great deal easier. Sure, you might lose a seat at the family Sabbath dinner but there are other places that will welcome you quickly. Let me give you an example. When I decided that it was time to come out to my family, I sat down with my father and told him how I felt. To my surprise, he did not say “get out”. Rather, he stroked his beard and said, “I don’t like what you are but I would rather you find someone to love instead of never knowing what love us.” No one was more surprised than me and, in effect, my father saved my life. We later feel out over other things so it did not end well but a brief time, I was very proud of him.
We read the Torah incorrectly and we find admonitions that are not there like the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is not about homosexuality as so many claim but about the lack of hospitality. Misunderstandings can cause dire results. There were several times as I read that I wanted to call out to Jake and tell him to come and sit with me for a while but remember that the story is set in 1974. Things were very different then.
Basically, Jake is a “yeled tov” of the title. He lusts passively and we really never know if the reason he makes no moves on someone else has to do with his not wanting other people to know that he is gay or because he is afraid of rejection. When he was young his father told him that regardless of what he does, he is to never hurt the girl that he is with. Obviously Jake changed that to mean that if he can do this, he will always be a good boy, a yeled tov. However, he can only be a good boy when he himself realizes that he is.
There is so much to like in this book and first among those is the plot that shows Jaffe’s own familiarity with Judaism yet while this is a book about a Jewish guy there is no need to be Jewish to enjoy it. The Yiddish phrases used are all either defined or easily understood by their usage. Jaffe’s dialogue is excellent and is his character development. I just wonder if he anticipated what he was getting into with Jake who appears on almost every page. Jake’s conversations with God are amazing and as you near the end of the book, you should be prepared to shed a few tears. God tells Jake, “There are times when a man must make his own decisions. You’re a man now Jake. It’s time I let you decide for yourself how to live… Yes, being a man is scary, indeed. Give yourself time… I’m going to step aside now. But I’ll always be here. Make Me proud of the life I granted you. Be good to yourself”.
Let me close by saying the same thing to all of you, my friends and readers— “Be good to yourselves”.
QUOTE:
"Taken together, this is the most powerful collection of short stories about gay Jews since Lev Raphael’s Dancing on Tisha B’Av blazed the trail more than twenty years ago."
Jewish Gentle and Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living
Daniel M. Jaffe
White Crane Books 2011
247 Pages $15.00
ISBN: 978-1-59021-187-8
Review by Wayne Hoffman
As the canon of gay-Jewish literature grows – encompassing novels, plays, poetry, memoirs, and nonfiction – Daniel M. Jaffe adds this collection of short stories to the list. The subjects he addresses have, by now, often been covered by others: relationships and infidelity, community and rejection, faith and identity. But Jaffe’s choice of the short story as his medium allows him to focus on specific, thorny issues facing gay Jews, as well as the broader Jewish community, with unique intensity. His tales are concise, clearly written, and widely accessible. His characters are sympathetic yet flawed; their emotional undercurrents are vulnerable and romantic at heart, and their religiosity deeply ingrained, while their sexuality is frequently frank but never vulgar.
The two dozen stories in Jewish Gentle (many previously published in magazines, journals, and literary anthologies) share common traits, but needn’t be read all at once, sequentially. In fact, cherry-picking a few at a time proves more rewarding. “At Blumberg & Fong’s” expertly weaves a tale of adolescent longing around recollections of a family trip to Israel, while “In the Canoe” adds an unexpected ending to a narrative about AIDS. There are terrific tales, too, about sex (the refreshingly matter-of-fact “The Four of Us,” plus the thoughtful title story), coming out as a gay Jew (“Finding Home”), and dealing with family (“Telling Dad”). Taken together, this is the most powerful collection of short stories about gay Jews since Lev Raphael’s Dancing on Tisha B’Av blazed the trail more than twenty years ago.
QUOTE:
"intimate stories show [the author's] sensitivity," according to a contributor in the online GLBT Reviews.
Jewish Gentle: And Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living
Jaffe, Daniel M. Jewish Gentle: And Other Stories of Gay-Jewish Living. Lethe Press, 2011. Paperback. 247p. $15. 978-1-59021-187-8.
This collection of 24 short stories, 18 of them previously published, explore aspects of both gay-Jewish life and gay life in general.
Addressing issues such as coming out to one’s self and family, tradition and faith, child abuse, teenage sexual identity angst, dating and relationships, HIV/AIDS, parenting, and old age, the tales of love, yearning, desire, confusion, loss, and finding oneself are heartwarming and heartbreaking. They all draw readers into situations anyone might encounter. In one story, a respected spiritual leader takes advantage of a young boy, and community ostracizes the boy’s family rather than supporting them. In another, one of a newly-wed couple explains he identifies as trans. Jaffe’s intimate stories show his sensitivity.
Erotic stories may call for the book’s placement in the adult section while a savvy librarian might recommend the collection to some teenagers.
Reviewer: s.n.
QUOTE:
an exploration of 'Jewish spirituality, ethics and community values as well as the nature of human heart, mind and soul'," as the reviewer Amos Lassen noted in his blog, Reviews by Amos Lassen. "Jaffe has written the book that I always wanted to write and does so with grace and style."
Reviews by Amos Lassen
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“The Genealogy of Understanding” by Daniel M. Jaffe— One to Wait For
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the geneaologyJaffe, Daniel M. “The Genealogy of Understanding”, Lethe Press, 2014.
One to Wait For
Amos Lassen
Although Daniel Jaffe’s “The Genealogy of Understanding” is not yet published and will not be until May, I want to let you know about it now. First of all it brings one of my favorite writers together with one of my favorite topics—Judaism and being gay. I am so pleased at the approach Jaffe takes here, Next to reading and reviewing LGBT books and films, I love to read commentaries on the Hebrew Bible or what is known as the Pentateuch (The Five Books of Moses). There have been several attempts to write commentary from the LGBT point of view but as non-fiction (and here I site the wonderful “Torah Queeries” edited by Greg Drinkwater, Joshua Lesser and David Schneer). Jaffe does something completely different here.
The tradition of writing commentary on the Hebrew Bible has been a tradition for thousands of years. In the modern world, commentators use the Torah as a basis for looking at modern social issues. This is what Jaffe does here. The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions of which one or more is read every week, usually on the Sabbath and the readings form an annual cycle. When we finish the fifty-four, we start all over again. Each portion is part of the historical story of the Jewish people and contains rules and regulations, commandments and prohibitions and all in all form a code of morality which is still followed today. There are many themes to be explored. Here, Jaffe gives us fifty-three stories that are inspired by Torah portions but not in the order that the Torah was written thus allowing us to guess which portion a story applies to. We can then check with the Concordance at the end of the book to see if we got it right (the Concordance also gives the page numbers).
I was very lucky to come across an advance readers’ copy—I took the book home and did not stop reading until I finished and in the tradition of the Torah, I was reading to start reading it again.
We meet Matt Klein, a modern Jewish Scheherazade who is looking for answers to questions about his faith and his Bible. He is concerned with issues of religious conflict —“intermarriage, infidelity and prejudice”. These are the very issues that can tear a community apart and this is what concerns Klein who lives in suburban New Jersey. Klein begins by looking at the private lives of his rabbi who has been unfaithful, at a friend who is marrying out of the religion, at a family where the wife and mother were victims of AIDS and lost their lives, at friends who are raising a child who is brain-damaged and who murdered another child. Klein’s own family is dealing with issues as well. His parents differ on religious observance; his mother is suffering with Alzheimer’s and is declining and he is dealing with his own sexuality and coming out as gay even though he knows it will hurt his parents and his community.
The fifty-three stories taken together form a novel and what we really get here is an exploration of “Jewish spirituality, ethics and community values as well as the nature of human heart, mind and soul”. Jaffe has written the book that I always wanted to write and does so with grace and style.
QUOTE:
"A superb writer, Jaffe has a field day with Dave, who has a love/hate relationship with his heritage as well as with his grandmother," noted online Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews contributor Jerry L. Wheeler. "The Limits of Pleasure is a satisfying and thought-provoking read that will echo in your consciousness long after the surprisingly uplifting ending. Jaffe is a major talent."
APRIL 3, 2011 · 2:45 PM ↓ Jump to Comments
The Limits of Pleasure – Daniel M. Jaffe (Bear Bones Books)
51TGU3OZOzL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_Buy from Lethe Press
All grief is complex, feeding some facets of the grieving individual’s personality while starving others. Get two grief-stricken, survivor-guilt ridden men together, and they can’t help having problems communicating, and Daniel M. Jaffe illustrates this brilliantly in The Limits of Pleasure, recently reprinted by Bare Bones Books.
Dave Miller, a forty-year-old Jewish bear, is on extended holiday in Amsterdam, recovering from the loss of his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor who raised him after his parents died in a car accident. He crosses paths with Alexander, a Dutch citizen of Indonesian extraction, who has survived the AIDS death of his partner, Jeroen, and they’re drawn together despite the differences that cause them to repel each other.
A superb writer, Jaffe has a field day with Dave, who has a love/hate relationship with his heritage as well as with his grandmother. Jaffe weaves childhood memories with bathhouse escapades, tawdry alley sex, absurdist rhymes and dirty limericks in a melange of voice, history and philosophy as compelling as it is edifying.
The other narrator, Alexander, is just as interesting if far more distanced and nuanced. Dave is right up in your grill constantly, putting all the gory, vivid details of his sex life and childhood on display but Alexander has a mannered objectivism, all the more intense for its restraint. He never says “I” but uses “One” instead, a wonderful rhetorical device that becomes part of the character the first time Jaffe uses it. Only once does Alexander refer to himself as “I”—one of the most telling moments of the book.
In combination, Dave and Alexander provide some of the most pointed and flat-out sparkling interchanges I’ve read in a while. Dave’s continual sexual innuendo is blunted and effortlessly parried by Alexander’s polite bemusement, yet neither is out-pointed enough to discontinue what seems to be a very barbed friendship on the surface. They get close enough to brush each others’ essential truths before backing off for a breather. The interplay is marvelous. I tried to isolate an example for this review, but the balance is so delicate that nothing I found could typify their exchanges without destroying them.
There are some other sub-plots centered around Dave: his relationship to a boy in the apartment complex where he lives, an encounter with a faux Jew that ends up with Dave undergoing his first HIV test and an extended set piece about an online chat room, and Jaffe uses these to deepen our understanding of Dave as well as to bridge the conversations between Dave and Alexander. It is a testament to Jaffe’s talent that even these sub-plotsnever sag or seem “less than” other parts of the book.
The Limits of Pleasure is a satisfying and thought-provoking read that will echo in your consciousness long after the surprisingly uplifting ending. Jaffe is a major talent, and Bear Bones Books is to be lauded for bringing this wonderful book back into print.
© 2011, Jerry L. Wheeler