Jay Rayner: Jay is for ‘Jewish’ despite an atheist upbringing
Jay Rayner speaks to Francine Wolfisz about his newly republished novel, his upbringing by atheist parents and his love for his mother Claire’s chicken soup
Despite being brought up by atheist parents – both of whom were born Jewish – Jay Rayner embraces fun Jewish culture Photocredit Bella West)
September 17, 2015
At first glance, the title of Jay Rayner’s second novel is something of an enigma. It’s called Day Of Atonement and yet the well-known author and food critic describes himself as “entirely Godless” and plans to spend this year’s High Holy Day meeting his deadlines for Observer Food Monthly. Not exactly what one would call “observing” Yom Kippur.
And yet for all his atheist leanings, The One Show broadcaster is keen to stress the book is a celebration of all things culturally Jewish and the community he embraced during his teenage years growing up in north London.
As he tells me: “You could say I am quite rabid in asserting my cultural Jewishness, without having any religiosity whatsoever.”
Day Of Atonement, which was nominated for the prestigious Jewish Quarterly Prize for Fiction when it was first published in 1998, is indeed so Jewishy in its references to chicken schmaltz, pickles and Yiddishkeit, that Jay’s own mother, the late, well-known agony aunt Claire Rayner, was taken aback by her first reading.
http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/jay-rayner-jay-is-for-jewish-despite-an-atheist-upbringing/
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How expected from that one.