As soon as I finished the book, I emailed several of my "mommy friends" to recommend the book. I've read many nurturing and education-related books over the past 3 years and The Jewish Phenomenon is by far the most instructive and enlightening on this topic. The book is a lot of things:
-- A sociological study on the successes of the Jewish people (Basically, the Jews emphasized education and books because they have long realized that real power is portable knowledge. This is owing to the history of persecution as a minority group in foreign lands who were forbidden to own land. Therefore, instead of being farmers, Jews became craftsmen and artists, tradesmen, etc. They also learned that circumstance can change (e.g. the Holocaust) so they must be ready to meet whatever challenges lie ahead by having power. And what is power? Wealth is power. And what creates wealth? Knowledge. Silbiger also explains that the long history of persecution also created a framework of support for each other.)
-- An educational guide for parents who want to cultivate the love of learning in their children (e.g., Teach them to be verbally confident by encouraging them to ask questions and challenge authority as the Jews do when studying the Talmud. Allow your child to be creative and confident by not demeaning them. Let them pursue their own passions. Let them take risks. This explains why there are so many Jewish entrepreneurs in the Forbes top 400 list.)
-- A psychological analysis on what traits and cultural norms lead to success... and the list goes on (e.g., the need to prove oneself, thinking creatively and critically, being aggressive, being frugal with money yet being generous when it counts such a philanthropy or funding the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s).
The book is also very easy to read. Silbiger's writing is succinct, crisp and his thoughts are well-organized. But what I really, really liked about the book was its boldness. Silbiger doesn't tiptoe around ethnic and religious sensitivities; rather, he is not afraid to make ethnic generalizations in this age of political correctness. He states a premise, provides support for the premise in hard data, and gives bulletpoints for how even non-Jews can achieve success. I especially enjoyed all the politically incorrect Jewish jokes.
I bought this book because a lot of comparisons have been made over the years between Asian-Americans and Jews. Asians have been called the "new Jews" in numerous articles due to their success rate at top educational institutions. So I wanted to debate in my head the similarities or differences between the two groups. My observation is that education is emphasized in both groups. Thus, it wasn't surprising that responses to Chua's Tiger Mom article were written by Jewish moms. Both groups, as immigrants in the US, encouraged their children to obtain professional degrees while the parents sacrified by working around the clock as seamstresses under harsh working conditions. This has led to both groups having a disproportionate number of doctors and lawyers. But where these groups diverge, in my opinion, is the approach they take in child rearing. In Asian cultures generally, children are taught not to challenge authority and elders; to question them would be disrespectful. In Asia, children are taught by rote memorization instead of debating and exercising critical thinking mentioned in Silbiger's book. And as Chua demonstrated, Asian children are often pushed and disparaged by their parents until they achieve the level of excellence that satisfies the parents. In many instances in the past, Asian children were advised not to participate in social and extracurricular activities because that would detract from studying. [Of course, this is changing now and the second generation of Asian parents are less severe in this regard than the first generation.] I don't know enough about this issue to say one way is better than the other. I think an analysis on this issue would be an interesting one. All I know is that if there is a different way of achieving success than badgering a child to study instead of engaging in their hobbies (by letting a child free to be creative and innovative while still emphasizing the value of a solid education), then that is a way every education-minded parent should explore.
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