Englander's attention to the problems of contemporary Jewish-American identity places him in the company of several contemporary authors with similar concerns.

Published, like Englander's collection, in 1999, Ehud Havazelet's book of short stories, Like Never Before, focuses on the conflict between the twin Jewish needs of assimilation and traditional practice. The stories all center on one family and the generational differences it experiences. The patriarch, Max, is angered and hurt by his son David's desire to fit in with the people of his new home. Max worked hard to bring the Old World with him, and he cannot comprehend his son's desire to live fully in the New World. Such tension is explored in many of Englander's stories. Most notably, "Reb Kringle" and "The Gilgul of Park Avenue" consider the difficulty of balancing secular life and religious needs.

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges also has precedents...