THE MEASURE OF HIS GRIEF
SYNOPSIS of THE MEASURE OF HIS GRIEF 
In The Measure of His Grief, a Berkeley Jewish physician denounces the practice of circumcision—and becomes more deeply committed to Judaism in the process. Dr. Sandor (“Sandy”) Waldman, perceptive but nutty, self-absorbed but a visionary, fails to grasp the extent to which he’s risking his marriage and career as he lives and breathes the circumcision controversy.
As the story opens, Sandy’s father, a Holocaust survivor, has died, and during the ritual mourning prayers, Sandy experiences an intense groin pain for which he can find no explanation. So begins a chain of events that will find Sandy engaging in provocative dialogue with everyone from self-congratulatory Bay Area forward-thinkers to hard-line religious and medical traditionalists.
Told from alternating viewpoints, the story also follows Sandy’s wife, Ruth, an innovative nutritionist and cookbook author, and their adopted daughter, Amy, feisty yet not quite sure-footed at nineteen. Ruth feels shut out by Sandy’s newfound avoidance of sex and inability to face his grief. She secretly indulges the attentions of a surprising admirer, and initiates a marital separation. Amy, while annoyed by Sandy’s clueless attempts to guide and protect her, appreciates his radicalism. But she must separate from both her parents—and grapple with a bid for contact from her incarcerated birth father—in order to move forward with her life.
Meanwhile, Sandy delves into Jewish study, seeking to reconcile his iconoclasm within Judaism. He begins studying for the bar mitzvah he never had as a child. Certain he has the moral high ground about circumcision and everything else, he jeopardizes his status as the heir-apparent for Chief of Medicine at his HMO, and feeds into undercurrents of anti-Semitism around him.
Sandy is appalled—yet intrigued—by a curious online discovery: a local support group for men “restoring” their foreskins. Could this be Sandy’s ticket to redemption—his way to win back Ruth, regain his equilibrium, come to terms with his heritage?
FINALIST, National Indie Excellence Awards' Religion - Fiction category for 2011
Review, Association of Jewish Libraries
Podcast, Q & A following Cut screening
Interview on Beyond the Bris
Review in Tikkun
Jerusalem Report article on circumcision
Review on Beyond the Bris
Review by J. Steven Svoboda
Interview in j. weekly
Review in Clayton Pioneer
Interview with Shelly Rachanow
Article in East Bay Express
Interview on Berkeleyside (abridged in j. weekly)
Story in Contra Costa Times
Review and interview on examiner.com
Video of Litquake appearance on 10/6/10
Review on Jew Wishes
Review by Amos Lassen
Reviews on amazon.com
In The Measure of His Grief, a Berkeley Jewish physician denounces the practice of circumcision—and becomes more deeply committed to Judaism in the process. Dr. Sandor (“Sandy”) Waldman, perceptive but nutty, self-absorbed but a visionary, fails to grasp the extent to which he’s risking his marriage and career as he lives and breathes the circumcision controversy.
As the story opens, Sandy’s father, a Holocaust survivor, has died, and during the ritual mourning prayers, Sandy experiences an intense groin pain for which he can find no explanation. So begins a chain of events that will find Sandy engaging in provocative dialogue with everyone from self-congratulatory Bay Area forward-thinkers to hard-line religious and medical traditionalists.
Told from alternating viewpoints, the story also follows Sandy’s wife, Ruth, an innovative nutritionist and cookbook author, and their adopted daughter, Amy, feisty yet not quite sure-footed at nineteen. Ruth feels shut out by Sandy’s newfound avoidance of sex and inability to face his grief. She secretly indulges the attentions of a surprising admirer, and initiates a marital separation. Amy, while annoyed by Sandy’s clueless attempts to guide and protect her, appreciates his radicalism. But she must separate from both her parents—and grapple with a bid for contact from her incarcerated birth father—in order to move forward with her life.
Meanwhile, Sandy delves into Jewish study, seeking to reconcile his iconoclasm within Judaism. He begins studying for the bar mitzvah he never had as a child. Certain he has the moral high ground about circumcision and everything else, he jeopardizes his status as the heir-apparent for Chief of Medicine at his HMO, and feeds into undercurrents of anti-Semitism around him.
Sandy is appalled—yet intrigued—by a curious online discovery: a local support group for men “restoring” their foreskins. Could this be Sandy’s ticket to redemption—his way to win back Ruth, regain his equilibrium, come to terms with his heritage?
FINALIST, National Indie Excellence Awards' Religion - Fiction category for 2011
Review, Association of Jewish Libraries
Podcast, Q & A following Cut screening
Interview on Beyond the Bris
Review in Tikkun
Jerusalem Report article on circumcision
Review on Beyond the Bris
Review by J. Steven Svoboda
Interview in j. weekly
Review in Clayton Pioneer
Interview with Shelly Rachanow
Article in East Bay Express
Interview on Berkeleyside (abridged in j. weekly)
Story in Contra Costa Times
Review and interview on examiner.com
Video of Litquake appearance on 10/6/10
Review on Jew Wishes
Review by Amos Lassen
Reviews on amazon.com
Related Writings by Lisa:
beliefnet version of Lisa's writings on circumcision
Presentation at NOCIRC Second International Symposium
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