On my way home from Israel last month, I had a lot of time to cool my heels in between flights at JFK. I had packed two books to read in the quiet moments but these proved elusive, so when I hit American soil, I still had one whole book that had been touched only when I unpacked and repacked at each new hotel.

I had picked up The Wonder Spot months before because I had liked Melissa Bank's debut work, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing. I remembered its nominally Jewish protagonist and its wit. The Wonder Spot has the same wit and a similar nominally Jewish heroine. And though I enjoyed the writing, I found the author's approach to Judaism troublesome.

As the story begins, Mrs. Appelbaum is forcing her adolescent daughter, Sophie, into tights and then into the family station wagon to attend the bat mitzvah of a both distant and perfect cousin in Chappaqua, N.Y., on "a perfect beach day." Sophie, clearly annoyed and bored, spends the majority of the reception smoking cigarettes in the woods behind the synagogue with a cute boy one year her senior. In the following chapter, the protagonist agrees to try Hebrew school but spends most of her time in the bathroom, once again sneaking cigarettes.

The story follows Sophie as she grows and includes two other minor bouts with Jewish ideals. The first battle is with her younger brother over her complete disregard for his live-in girlfriend's desire to maintain a kosher kitchen. The second is with her grandmother, who does not conceal her wishes that Sophie date Jewish men. Though Judaism is the backdrop for these arguments, it is the linguistic equivalent of wallpaper; the specific subject matter is less important than the larger motif of difficult family relationships. In Bank's hands, Judaism becomes nothing more than stage dressing, an annoyance to be brushed aside.

There has been a spate of popular novels over the past few years whose characters openly struggle with questions of theology and Jewish identity. There have been just as many, perhaps more, whose authors and main characters just happen to be Jewish. In these types of books, we learn that Grandpa was the synagogue president or that Dad went to Russ & Daughters every Sunday morning to pick up lox and bagels. Here Judaism--or Jewish culture--is one of a number of elements that provide color and texture to a story.

in some ways, I prefer the novels of the "just-happen-to-be-Jewish" variety to the kind of writing found in The Wonder Spot, which perpetuates stereotypes that Shabbat services are interminable, Hebrew school is insufferable and Orthodox Jews are unreasonable. In the former type of novel, the characters often hold some nostalgia for the Judaism they keep at arm's length.

If popular literature both reflects and influences society, then the challenges that lie before us are great. In the book, members of the Jewish community had a number of chances to provide engaging Jewish experiences and failed.

Having just shepherded 50 college students on a trip through Israel--the underlying purpose of which was Jewish engagement--I had spent a lot of time thinking about how to provide meaningful opportunities for connectivity. Having read The Wonder Spot, I began to think of this problem with more urgency.

Over the past number of weeks, the temple Board of Directors and staff have looked at how we can connect members of the Micah community more deeply to Judaism and to one another. Toward this end, we have developed a menu of activities for students who have become bar or bat mitzvah and are looking for ways to continue their involvement. If you come to our Purim festivities early next month you will not only see an expanded intergenerational cast in the Purim Schpiel, but also a number of congregants participating in the service by reading the megillah.

Please keep your eye out for further opportunities for connection in the coming months. In the meantime, we hope to see many of you as we go "Bowling Together" in just a few weeks.