A Single Life

Abstract

A Single Life John J. Fitzgerald (bio) Daniel Ross Goodman. A Single Life: A Novel. KTAV Publishing House, 2020. 289 pp. $24.95 hardback. Published during daniel ross goodman’s prolific summer of 2020, a Single Life: A Novel, one of his first two books (along with Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Wonder and Religion in American Cinema [Hamilton, 2020]) is as eclectic as the writer himself. A rabbi with a PhD in Jewish theology, Goodman also has completed graduate-level coursework in English and Comparative Literature and engaged in Jewish-Christian dialogue in other published works. A Single Life displays a compelling and evocative fluency in these areas, as well as in the vexed matters of dating and race relations in our contemporary world. In addition, the lead character’s struggle with Jewish identity may particularly resonate with readers of Philip Roth. The protagonist of A Single Life is Eli Newman, whom we are introduced to in Part I as a yeshiva student in Baltimore with an unenviable romantic résumé; he hasn’t made it to a third date in eight years. Proclaiming to his roommate Yoni that he has resigned himself to a life of holy celibacy like the rabbinic sage Ben Azzai and many Christians, Eli initially presents as self-absorbed, whiny, and neurotic (and perhaps inspired by the identically named central figure in Roth’s short story “Eli, the Fanatic” [1959]). While his anxiousness perdures, he becomes a more familiar and sympathetic figure as the novel marches on and we are gradually introduced to his background. (Even in the first chapter, there are suggestions that his “appearance” and love of secular literature aren’t facilitating his dates with religious Jewish girls.) Yoni invites Eli to go out with his sister Rena, who shares Eli’s interests in literature and film but not his devout religious practice, which quickly sinks a promising start. Part II fast-forwards to Eli’s life in his early thirties as a Talmud teacher at a Modern Orthodox high school in Connecticut. Here some readers will recall Roth’s representations of romance in academic settings, as we find Eli visually and intellectually smitten with English teacher Emma Yates, who appears to feel the same way about him. While they only glance at each other from afar due to Eli’s reticence to engage publicly with a non-Jewish woman, Emma sends him a Facebook friend request and they begin exchanging messages and background stories. At this point, it’s revealed [End Page 112] that Eli is half Black and Emma (who is white) was raised Catholic but presently rejects all religion. The third and final part of A Single Life begins with a flashback to Eli’s time as a twelve-year-old in Houston with his fellow book-loving classmate Jessica David. Like Eli, Jessica is Jewish and at least partially Black, although their hand-holding mutual crush is abruptly severed by Eli’s father’s decision to relocate to Baltimore. Part III then returns to Eli’s exclusively virtual relationship with Emma, which soon progresses to video chatting. Still, he constantly frets—both in real life and apparently fantasized interactions—about whether their religious, racial, and other differences will pose insurmountable obstacles. (The reader may be reminded of the similar dilemma faced by the Jewish-Christian couple Nathan and Maria in The Counterlife [1986].) Rena and Jessica are also still in the back of his mind, and Goodman skillfully holds the reader in suspense until the end about whom—if anyone—the ever-indecisive Eli will end up with. Certainly, A Single Life is an essentially Jewish novel. Eli and his fellow faithful pepper their thoughts and mutual conversations with Hebrew, Yiddish, and Aramaic terms, which provide a vivid sense of culture without being confusing to non-Jewish readers. (The author includes copious footnotes that translate these terms into English.) In particular, the book is thoroughly Talmudic in spirit and letter; Eli chronically wrestles with himself over the proper course of action regarding women, often citing the Talmud itself or other religious authorities. But A Single Life also demonstrates an interreligious acumen. For instance, Eli considers the childless and...