Alan Furst Quotes

My father's Jewish, so my world is Jewish whenever I go home.

I've liked being Jewish in America - there's a secular version of Jewishness there that's more about bagels and jokes than going to synagogues.

There's something innately funny and warm about being Jewish. I think it's something to be embraced and respected.

Jewishness is a very big part of my identity. I am a proud Jew, I would say, who doesn't practice very actively.

I've discovered my Jewishness late in life. And I've really enjoyed exploring that world.

As a matter of fact, part of being Jewish is the whole question of what it is to be a Jew.

I'm just a simple Jewish boy from the Bronx.

I believe in Judaism, I was raised a Jew, I'm happy to be one - or proud to be one.

We have our own values; we build our own special, our JEWISH life - and we are proud, so very proud.

When my children were born, I made the choice I wanted them to be raised as Jews and to have a Jewish education.

I've begun to think like a Jew, to feel like a Jew.

I grew up happily immersed in Jewish culture and community.

I am very proud of being Jewish.

I was brought up a Jew but, you know, that way of being Jewish - the New York way. We were stomach Jews; we were Jewish-joke Jews. We were bagel Jews. We didn't go to synagogue. I'm frightened of synagogue to this day.

I'm a Jew. I think every Jew is dark in certain ways.

It matters a great deal that I come from a Jewish background.

I'm a good Jewish boy from Edison, New Jersey, so I went and saw 'Fiddler on the Roof' because you have to: that's part of your bar mitzvah experience.

Judaism is a big part of my background, obviously, and my reality.

Jewishness cropped up and has never successfully been put down since.

If you are trying to raise a child to be a Jew, then you have to create a sense of Jewish identity. You really weaken that sense of identity if you celebrate two religions.

I am very proud of being Jewish. I went to a Jewish school all my life.

Most of the Jewish writer friends I have are American, and I feel closer to them because they're always obsessed with one issue - identity: what does it mean to be an American Jew?

I consider myself a Jewish writer - even if my characters frequently are not Jewish - in the same way, I guess, that I consider myself a Jewish man, even though I don't often attend shul.

I had a Hebraic wedding in New York, so I'm definitely Jewish.

If you are a Rothschild, a Rosenwald, a Gimbel, or even a Waldbaum, growing up Jewish can be a rich experience. For the rest of us, it could be just so-so.