More Than Matzoh Balls has a lot to offer book clubs interested in exploring themes like identity, faith, marriage, and parenting, among others. Linda herself is available for book club appearances, but has some suggested potential questions for book clubs to use as well.
Example book club questions:
1. After reading this memoir, how has your understanding of Jewish-American identity changed, if at all?
2. Did the book prompt you to think differently about your own family’s stories—what’s been told and what’s been kept silent?
3. Is there a tradition from the book (for example, Nana’s open kitchen, Shabbos candles, Passover seders, baby namings, bar/bat mitzvahs, family walks) that you wish you had in your own life—or are glad you do have?
4. The book presents four very different relationships to God: David’s belief and connection to prayer in synagogue; Linda’s Dad’s “I guess I have to say no;” Linda’s Mom’s private nightly prayers; and Gary’s comfort in participating in Hebrew liturgy even when the meaning isn’t fully clear. Which perspective did you most identify with, and why?
5. The fight in high school when Daniel hits a classmate over a Holocaust joke brings out different responses from Linda and Gary. Whose perspective did you find more compelling—nonviolence and process, or the need to fight back? What do you think is the best response?
