Making the Cut

‘“I liked the Jewish jokes,” she says.
“Oh, it’s OK”, I say. “I’m allowed to make them.”
Her eyes light up.
And so it all begins.’

When Max meets Eliana, a dazzling modern Orthodox Jewish girl, in a bar in Edinburgh one night, he never expected it to kickstart an agonising identity crisis. While their connection is instant and deep, Max discovers a devastating truth: that to millions around the world, including the girl he’s fallen for, he is deemed non-Jewish.

Determined to build a future with her, comedian and writer (and uncircumcised liberal Jew) Max Olesker embarks on the world’s most demanding religious conversion process. He attempts to navigate the dizzying complexities of Jewish law, the challenges of maintaining a relationship without physical contact, and the looming prospect of a date with a scalpel. From moving into the home of an Orthodox family for eight months to enduring gruelling interrogations by a high court of Rabbis, Max’s journey is a rollercoaster of humour, heartbreak, and self-discovery.