Lovesong: Becoming A Jew
Julius Lester was born the sonof a black Methodist minister in the south. His book Lovesong isa beautifully written account of his spiritual journey away from theconventions of his Southern heritage and Methodist upbringing, culminating inhis personal self-discovery through a conversion to Judaism. Growing up inthe turbulent civil rights era South, Lester was often discouraged by thedisconnectedness between the promises of religion and the realities of hislife. He used the outlets available to him to try to come to grips with thissplit and somehow reconcile the injustices he was witnessing with the purity ofreligion. He became a controversial writer and commentator, siding with neitherblacks nor whites in his unconventional viewpoints. He became a luminous figureof the times, outside of the conventional labels of race, religion, politics,or philosophy. Lester’s spiritual quest would take him through theexistential landscape of his Southern, Christian upbringing, into his ancestry,winding through some of the holiest places on the planet and into the spiritualdepths of the world’s major religious cultures. His odyssey of faith wouldunexpectedly lead him to discovering Judaism as his true spiritualcalling.
Lester writes of the eventful odyssey that culminated in hisconversion to Judaism. The private journey was often at odds with his publiclife. As writer, radio commentator in New York and college professor at theUniversity of Massachusetts, Lester’s outspoken and unconventional views oftenangered blacks as well as whites, and placed him in a political andphilosophical fray between blacks and Jews. His spiritual quest, begun herewith a lovingly detailed sketch of his southern heritage, took many turns, involvingvisits to sites of faith (Gethsemani Abbey, Wounded Knee, Shakertown) andintensive exploration of religious cultures, until he acknowledged the pull ofthe Jewish faith. He discusses his interracial marriage and fatherhood, andpays moving tribute to the fulfillment he finds in celebrating the Jewishfaith.
