University Photography

Jonathan Boyarin, the Thomas and Diann Mann Professor of Jewish Studies at Cornell and a professor of anthropology and Near Eastern studies.

The Jewish family’s traditional, unchanging character as depicted in fiction and films is a myth, Jonathan Boyarin says in his new book, “Jewish Families.” To show the many ways the Jewish family has changed over time, he weaves together biblical and Talmudic texts, Roman law, medieval theology and contemporary commentary.

For Boyarin, the Thomas and Diann Mann Professor of Jewish Studies at Cornell and a professor of anthropology and Near Eastern studies, this was an opportunity to explore a topic he’d been thinking about for more than 30 years. The book, he writes, is an effort to “try to understand, contrast and compare the family patterns of Jews in many different times and places with their fellow Jews and with the non-Jewish populations among whom they live.”

“Jewish Families” is not a chronological survey, though Boyarin begins with Abraham and Sarah. “Independent of the question of Abraham and Sarah as historical figures, they’re the paradigms of Jewish parents,” he says. And although gender issues are forefront, they are not the only focus.

As an anthropologist, Boyarin looks at the way fragmentation by denomination is contributing to the emptying out of smaller Jewish communities: “Because if you have a limited number of Jews and not everyone is eligible or appropriate to marry because of the denominational difference, there will be fewer successful, stable new Jewish households being created.”

Boyarin introduces the book as a “fast ride through space, language, bodies and time.” It’s written in an easy-to-read style; Boyarin says he worked hard to be accessible “without losing the critical edge.”

He emphasizes the impossibility of any one definition of the Jewish family, given its variations across time and space. To illustrate his point, he asks, “How can we entertain a simple picture of the Jewish family when one of the most famous Jewish families in history is Jesus, Mary and Joseph?”

Rather than providing answers, he encourages readers to draw on the sources he presents and to think about the complexities involved in any description of the Jewish family.

Boyarin is the author, editor or translator of many books, including “Mornings at the Stanton Street Shul,” “The Unconverted Self: Jews, Indians and the Identity of Christian Europe” and “Jewishness and the Human Dimension.”

Linda B. Glaser is staff writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.