Making the Cut: An Unorthodox Love Story

by Max Olesker

‘“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 that despite his upbringing, 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 one of the world’s most demanding religious conversion processes. 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.

A hilarious and moving true account of one man’s quest to marry the love of his life, Making the Cut will make you laugh, cry, and believe in the transformative power of love.

Genres: Nonfiction

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 5, 2026

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to get to the end of the circumcision chapter without scrunching up my eyes so much I couldn't read!

[Lydia Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago I had the unfortunate need to apply for a visa to live in Australia. From the moment the jobsworth at the embassy peered over his pince nez and told me not to hold my breath, I knew this was going to be a ghastly frustrating business, full of pointless delays, intrusive questions, medical and general bureaucracy. The six agonising months it took, however, pale into insignificance compared with Max Olesker’s journey to become an Orthodox Jew after falling in love with Eliana, a modern orthodox Jewish girl. In ‘Making the Cut’ both in the literal and spiritual sense of the phrase, Max is forced into the most labyrinthine rules of Ashkenazi Judaism, much stricter than the more rational Sephardic variety although you don’t get a choice as it depends on your particular heritage. Max and Eliana’s tortured journey, including inevitable rows and no touching, is described with such wit and wisdom you’ll be standing on the sidelines cheering them on to their vanishingly distant happy ending. Read this book if you want to laugh, cry and rend your garments all at once.

[Chloë Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this. Read a great review, seemed up my street. Funny, informative, touching, terrifying. A unique insight into a big ol' thing to go through.