No comments about Representing the Immigrant Experience: Morris Rosenfeld and the Emmergence of Yiddish Literature in America (Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art).

2 comments about The Letters of Martin Buber: A Life of Dialogue (Martin Buber Library).

1. This gem is worthy of 100 stars. Bubar's early writings, the work with Gustav Landaur and Franz Rosenweig in synthesizing "Ich und Du", as well as his editorial comments to writers of Der Jude. A true Passover Feast of wisdom and compassion, even including his letter to Gandhi. The forward by Paul Mendes-Flohr serves as an excellant background.As vital today as he was at the birth of the State of Israel.



2. In a comprehensive review of this collection of Buber's Letters, Werner Dannehauser points out one great paradox of the philosopher of Dialogue and 'I- Thou'. He apparently was not the greatest listener in the world. Nonetheless this collection contains not only Buber's letters, but a sample of the letters written to him. Perhaps for Buber himself the most important were those written by his great collaborator in Biblical Translation, Franz Rosenzweig. Buber courageously calls for the most candid and serious criticism of himself, and thanks Rosenzweig for giving it. Rosenzweig and Buber were divided on the question of the vital significance of Halachah for Jewish life and continuity.
   Buber's world is a vast one intellectually, encompassing the greatest minds of his time. He is masterly and confident in tone , and words of sudden depth and profundity emanate from these pages.
   This is an invaluable collection for all those who take interest in both Jewish and general intellectual history.

3 comments about Boston Boy: Growing up with Jazz and Other Rebellious Passions.

1. Nat Hentoff, who later became famous as a writer about jazz and civil liberties, describes his "coming of age" and discovery of jazz in the Boston of the 1940s. A very enjoyable read.



2. It's great to see a book like this. As another Boston boy, I had many similar experiences that have been hard and perhaps confusing to explain to someone who grew up in another time and place.
   My wife feels that she understands me better now after reading Boston Boy. We are giving copies to our sons.
   The book for me is nostalgic, poignant, and somewhat reassuring. Helps to understand that generation, that time, and that place. We made it in spite of the bastards.



3. Once, jazz was a real and pervasive presence in Boston and in the dim and scruffy clubs of the South End, this American Music-par-excellence thrilled thousands of afficionados, while yet rarely affording its dedicated and colorful creators a living.
   It was the Twenties and the Jazz Age; it was the Thirties and the age of the Big Bands; it was the wartime Forties, the age of The Savoy on Mass Ave and of Sidney Bechet; it was the baby-boom Fifties and the age of Storeyville in Kenmore Square...
   There were Big Bands and great ballrooms but there were, as well, many talented smaller bands, playing inspired improvised jazz and struggling to survive as they enthralled more limited audiences in more limited venues.
   Nat Hentoff eloquently reminisces about a time when the soulful sound of trumpet and clarinet, piano and bass - pained, glorious, yearning, introspective, challenging, alien even - could inadvertently reach out of the smoky, dark, cave-like clubs of Washington and Columbus Avenues, and so mesmerize a young boy that it could change his life.
   Nat Henhoff blends this tale of a city, its cultural glories and its social sins, with the story of the music, light and dark, somber and witty, pure and besmirched - the faithful mirror of the human soul.
   He leaves one desolate that - much too soon! - things changed, and he leaves one wondering why Boston let it happen; why the city - host to The Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, the Symphony as well as The Boston Pops - couldn't swiftly rally to support and, in time, to save a once-thriving Jazz community...
   Oh, economics and changing taste are the answer, of course, but one is left wishing that Boston had been able to sustain its local jazz scene and, failing that, wishing that it should presently choose, at the least and at last, to honor it with a South End Jazz Museum.
   Many of the greatest Jazz Musicians played there once and their presence or passage should not be forgotten.

No comments about Do Not Go Gentle: A Memoir of Jewish Resistance in Poland, 1941-1945.

3 comments about A Daughter's Gift of Love: A Holocaust Memoir.

1. As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, i was touched so deeply by Ms. Birger's account of her years of chaos and persecution during those treacherous years. As a young girl in WWII, Trudi Birger could be compared to Anne Frank, in terms of her resourcefulness and wit in the face of danger and death. She and her mother protected each other in the truest sense, each one kept the other alive time and time again. Would they have been so emotionally connected in times of peace, or did this unfathemed circumstance create a unique bond between a mother and daughter that very few of us can ever understand? No matter what, the reader is deeply affected hearing story after story of how close the author and her mother comes to dying,and how they manage to defy death. Since my mom has been pretty silent about her experiences in concentration camp, I am grateful to Ms. Birger for the details. I now know why "potatoes" stir up deep feelings for my mother, that to find a potato peel in the midst of that bland soup provided by the Nazi's, was like finding a piece of gold. The examples go on and on, some too painful to discuss. Yet, this is an uplifting book because once again it shows that you can keep a person in bondage, but it is very difficult to kill the human spirit and one's basic desire to survive! This should be Oprah's next read.



2. As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, i was touched so deeply by Ms. Birger's account of her years of chaos and persecution during those treacherous years. As a young girl in WWII, Trudi Birger could be compared to Anne Frank, in terms of her resourcefulness and wit in the face of danger and death. She and her mother protected each other in the truest sense, each one kept the other alive time and time again. Would they have been so emotionally connected in times of peace, or did this unfathemed circumstance create a unique bond between a mother and daughter that very few of us can ever understand? No matter what, the reader is deeply affected hearing story after story of how close the author and her mother comes to dying,and how they manage to defy death. Since my mom has been pretty silent about her experiences in concentration camp, I am grateful to Ms. Birger for the details. I now know why "potatoes" stir up deep feelings for my mother, that to find a potato peel in the midst of that bland soup provided by the Nazi's, was like finding a piece of gold. The examples go on and on, some too painful to discuss. Yet, this is an uplifting book because once again it shows that you can keep a person in bondage, but it is very difficult to kill the human spirit and one's basic desire to survive! This should be Oprah's next read.



3. A Daughter's Gift of Love is the amazing survival story of a young girl, her mother, and her expierence in the holocaust. The author portrays this story by the eyes of Trudi Birger, a Holocaust survivor. This is a can't put down book. Where every page there is something new, something dangerous, somthing scary going to happen; it's the truth of the Holocaust.

1 comments about Narrow Escapes: A Boy's Holocaust Memories and Their Legacy.

1. if I was to describe "Narrow Escapes". In fact, I believe that the pain and sorrow that Holocaust survivor Dr. Samuel P. Oliner faced as he tried to escape from the horrible claws of Adolph Hitler during the Second World War, could never be described. The horrors that he faced are too great for words. The most piercing fact in this book is that the war stories in it are not the stories of a man but the ones of a SMALL CHILD who was forced to become a man much faster than lighting and in the most afflictive situations.

   This book is a must read because we all must know the truth about the history of the human race. I strongly believe that every one of us is responsible for what happens today and must keep in mind the future of next generations. Dr. Oliner says, "knowledge of the past may somehow avert similar future...those who remember the past will do all they can to prevent its recurrence."

   This book broke my heart way before the Germans came to Zyndranova, the little village near Czecholovakia, when Little Oliner's mother got sick and he was only six-years old. It was at this time that he began to make sense of his world. After his mother's death he exclaims, "My mother is dead. But that is only for a short time, isn't it?" And like if his mother's death was nothing, his father takes him away from his love ones, into another village, in the house of male strangers. It was there, all alone, that he held a job at the age of seven while he went to school. Could you imagine your own child in this situation? Although Oliner doesn't mention in his book, I believe that these agonizing situations were only preparing him for what was to come when the Nazis arrived. These situations were his training ground to face the monster that would take over the land and his people. But the hardships of times and the warmth of his family brought the best out of him. And his fight has not ended yet.

   The rest of the story is for you to read in suspense but mostly in deep grief. As I read the book, I often felt glad that the child who was facing all the hardships of the Holocaust was not my sixteen year old son. In fact, I thought about my son the entire book. But the sad part is that although he was not my son, he was the son of another woman. In a war, my child or the child of another woman or man is the same. It brings pain. Being forty years old I have learn that it is a thousand times better to die in the face of injustice that to live in silence before it.

5 comments about Because of Romek: A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir.

1. Had I thought it was fiction, I would have thought the author went over the top with this farfetched tale. To know that it is authentic is horrifying and at the same time captivating. If you are into the holocaust, then you will find this book absolutely fascinating; and if you aren't a history buff I recommend this book as enlightenment. My utmost respect to anyone that has been through this nightmare. And David Faber my deepest gratitude for having written this book.



2. This book explains how David's encounter with the Holocaust and yet his story is sad but a good book to read. This is one of the best holocaust memoir I've read! I highly recommended. When I was starting to read the book, I couldnt but the book down...( I ended up finishing the book in 2 days!). I loved it and highly respect the holocaust survivors and of course, David Faber.



3. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Faber as he spoke at the middle school I attended when I was in 7th grade. He spoke to us about his experiences and encounters during the Holocaust that took part in Europe during WWII. Our history teacher read us "Because of Romek" as it was part of our curriculm. I have not been the same since. This is an incredible account of what he went through in keeping of his promise to his mother to stay alive. I would recommend this to a more mature audience being that it does have some parts that are somewhat rough to handle...or so were for myself but overall is an incredible read...as he takes you through his experiences.



4. David faber visited our high school last week, and had told us about his horrific ordeal during the holocaust. And I was utmost touched and embraced him. I could see those fear he told us in his eyes. And some of us left the auditorium in tears. I recommend this to anyone, because there is a dark side of humanity we taken for granted, and people had suffered more than anyone who had to go through.



5. This has been one of the few excellent books i have ever read. It is actually real, it really happened, so it makes you feel as if this was happining before your eyes. It was sad, and well written. i actually heard David Faber, the author of this book, speak. He was an incredibly powerful speaker, and his book places you in his position, just as his speech does.

No comments about Let Jasmine Rain Down: Song and Remembrance among Syrian Jews (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology).

2 comments about A Race Against Death: Peter Bergson, America, and the Holocaust.

1. This is a powerful, moving, and very readable book. I saw one of the authors recently on a television talk show, "The Leon Charney Report," and was fascinated to learn that Jewish activists had campaigned --with some success-- to pressure the Roosevelt administration to rescue Jews from Hitler. In contrast with most other Holocaust-related books, "A Race Against Death" shows how some people did try to stir the world's conscience
   regarding the Nazi massacres. It's the kind of book that gives you hope and shows how a handful of people can really make a difference. I strongly recommend it.



2. Peter Bergson (pen-name of Hillel Kook, nephew of Israel's chief rabbi during WWII) was one of the heroes of the Second World War. His efforts to rescue European Jews were instrumental in changing American policies; they led to the saving of hundreds of thousands of lives--and possibly to the establishment of Israel (there were only some 700,000 Palestinian Jews in 1948, many of them camp survivors). More famous rescuers, such as Raoul Wallenberg, were able to act in Europe because Bergson had conviced the Roosevelt administration to set up the War Refugee Board in 1944. Before Bergson's work, saving Jews was simply not a priority for the US government. After Bergson succeeded in persuading FDR and Congress, it became a war aim. American agents were active in Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey, among other places, making serious efforts to save lives. David Wyman deserves great praise for putting together previously unpublished documentation in a fascinating book. I only wish the cover had Bergson's photo on it. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of America and the Holocaust.

No comments about The Journey Back from Hell: An Oral History : Conversations With Concentration Camp Survivors.