No comments about A Jewish Family in Germany Today: An Intimate Portrait.

No comments about Sourcebook for Jewish Genealogies and Family Histories.

No comments about Rashi: The Man and His World.

1 comments about Destined to survive: Uplifting stories from the worst of times (ArtScroll history series).

1. This item is too good to list without a description. Here's the book blurb:
   
   
   Understandably, we pick up any book about the Holocaust with hesitancy and trepidation, but we put down Destined to Survive with gratitude that such a man was willing to share his experiences with us.
   
   Israel Cohen is an alumnus of ghettos and concentration camps, but he is also an architect of faith and rebuilding. His spirit could not be broken in Auschwitz, and after the war he became a teacher, supervisor, and role model for young people who were left with nothing but their lives - and the need for someone as devoted and inspiring as this young Gerer chassid from Lodz whose Jewish spark remained alive.
   
   Herman Wouk came to know and admire him. As the famous novelist says in his Introduction to this book:
   
   "Israel Cohen's ... unpretentious account is outstanding for vividness - and most strangely - optimism... The author paints a telling picture of the way a religious structure gives form and strength to life, and could do so even in Auschwitz... Israel Cohen is a maggid, a storyteller. "Destined to Survive" held my interest throughout. I recommend the book as a declaration of faith that has been tested in hellfire, and as an adventurous personal history wholly Jewish and wholly G-dly."
   
   More than once, Israel Cohen thought he was a footstep away from the end, but he was destined to survive - to start a new life, raise a proud family, and share his experiences with us. And his experiences are truly a gift, because Cohen is a man with a heart and an unshakeable faith. His moving, hope-filled articles (some of which are included in this book) have appeared in religious and secular publications in the United States and Canada, and he has often been called upon to share his experiences with audiences in both these countries.

1 comments about Creator of Nazi Death Camps: The Life of Odilo Globocnik.

1. Odilo Globocnik was of partial Slovenian ancestry. Like Hitler, he grew up with the belief that the Slavic and Jewish elements were corrupting and weakening the Germanic element of his native Austria. Globocnik set up the death camps of Belzec, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka. Settling in Lublin in German-occupied Poland, he was also responsible for the deportation (and frequent murder) of over 100,000 Poles of the Zamosc region and the terror-pacification of Polish guerilla resistance. Like Himmler, Globocnik carried cyanide in his mouth after Germany's defeat, and used it the moment that his cover had been blown.
   
   For all the emphasis nowadays upon Jews and Poles being unequal victims, the Nazi opinion of the two peoples wasn't all that different. Konrad Meyer, an agrarian economist who worked for Globocnik, assigned the following scores for "racial worth": Jews--zero percent, Poles and Lithuanians--15%, Latvians--50%, and Estonians-->50% (p. 105).
   
   The German-speaking peoples follow this north/south division: "Bavarians--and most Austrians also subscribe to this self-image--are thought of as soft-spoken, beer-swilling, sausage-eating Catholics of dark complexion, while Prussians are for the most part harsh and haughty, blond and blue-eyed Hanseatic Protestants. This division runs along the Main [Mainz?] River. The Prussians (or `fish heads') are considered to be power-hungry, stuffy, and morally rigid; Bavarians are sloppy, lazy, and inept. Hitler, who rose from the `Bavarian' camp to the position of Fuehrer by declaring the `Prussians' as an Aryan ideal, nevertheless preferred to surround himself with `Bavarians'..." (p. 88).
   
   Nazi official sometimes attempted to topple their rivals through accusations of partial Jewish ancestry. Henning von Winterfeld's wife had such ancestry, but it had been pardoned by the Fuehrer, hopefully making it a non-issue (pp. 68-69).
   
   In refutation of the Holocaust deniers, who had argued that diesel engines produce insufficient carbon monoxide for gassing, Rieger showed that Soviet tank engines actually used a combination of petrol and diesel (p. 204). Moreover, diesel engines, when run in near-throttle mode, produce more CO.
   
   Is the European Union a backdoor attempt by present-day Germany to do what she had failed in two world wars--rule over Europe? Dr. Karl Schnurer, a nonagenarian unrepentant Nazi and onetime acquaintance of Globocnik, obviously thinks so: "In his eyes, the German and Italian cultures were all that mattered with regard to civilization, and Slavic countries did not figure. Schnurer felt that the European Union's expansion of our day represented the finalization of the German `Lebensraum' programme for the east." (p. 18)

4 comments about Manners and Customs in the Bible: Revised Edition.

1. Mr. Matthews offers a good overview of the period between the beginning and finishing of the Scriptures, uncluding the Maccabean period. It is amazing how much better one can understand the Scriptures when you have read this book. The social customs and manners of burial, marriage, food preparation, farming, traveling, city-builing, etc. are all covered in this volume. It is very good for those just beginning to study the Scripture, or those that have studied for some time without a clear understanding of the customs of the peoples written about. Despite all this praiseworthy detail, however, Mr. Matthews shows his true colors as a Higher Critic of the Scriptures. This means he denies the infallibility, inspiration, and preservance of the Scriptures. New and old Christians be ware of this, for once these doctrines are denied you may as well throw the book of God's Word away (if that may be said reverently). With this warning in mind, I would highly recommend the purchase of this book for any Christian or otherwise.



2. I thought that this would be about daily living but it is mostly about the politics through the different eras.



3. While the Bible is a fascinating book to read and study, it is easy to forget that the Bible was written over a long period of time. Though historians differ about exact dates, Abraham probably lived anywhere between 1,250 and 1,500 years prior to the birth of Christ, David probably lived about 750 to 1,000 years before Christ's birth, and between 587 B.C. and the writing of the New Testament, life changed almost daily. This is why understanding the daily life of different periods in Biblical history, and knowing that there were often vast differences in customs and practices in the differing periods, is so essential to understanding scripture. Life in Biblical times changed quickly just as much as life in our own day changes rapidly.

   Biblical scholar Victor Matthews attempts to explain the life and customs in different Biblical periods in his book MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN THE BIBLE. The book is divided into five major sections: The Patriarchal Period (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons), The Exile and Settlement (Moses, Joshua, and the Judges), The Monarchy, Exile and Return, and the Intertestamental and New Testament Era (The Persians, Greeks, and Romans). Nearly two thirds of the book covers the period prior to the writing of the New Testament, but this is actually a plus since there are many other resources that cover the New Testament. Readers get bits of information about warfare, government policies, family life, gender roles, marriage customs, business and trade, and a host of other small subjects that make the book interesting to browse through and a must have for scripture study.

   Though the book is set up in chronological order, it is not really a comprehensive history of the Bible, but a supplement that enriches a historical text. It has a scriptural index which will help people involved in preaching and in research.

   Certainly this book will be helpful for people who preach and conduct Bible studies, but it will also be of interest to anyone who wants to see how our day and age is both similar to, and differs from people of Biblical times.




4. I have read several of Matthews' books, including The Old Testament Parallels, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, and his volume of the New Cambridge Bible Commentary series, Judges & Ruth. This latest book is just as well written and accessible. Matthews attempts to find realistic dates for Biblical stories, not always assuming them to be historical, and explains the cultural nuances of particular verses in light of his sociocultural knowledge of various time periods and regions. This book is suitable for all interested laymen, seminary students, and pastors.

5 comments about I Followed my Heart to Jerusalem.

1. It's been said that the key to good writing is the desire to express one's personal experience and the ability to share that experience and associated feelings with the reader, and this certainly rings true in this heartfelt story. I was quickly drawn in by the author's convincing communication of his experiences and feelings and his warm and personal writing style. I'll be looking for more by this author. Highly recommended!



2. I had a great time reading this book. It gave me a good understanding for many things I always wanted to know about. A fun story about living life to it's fullest.



3. Just that in itself is saying something! Mr. Roe is candid about his feelings and surroundings and the longings which send him and his family to Israel. The book contains keen insights on the Jewish people as well as the state of Israel.
   
   They say "every life has a book in it" and Mr. Roe probably has a number of them....he had a career in media before it was a buzzword! Hopefully we'll see more from Mr. Roe in the future.



4. It's a pleasure to read a book that comes from the heart, not a lot of flowery words but feelings that can be understood by the reader. Good work. It makes me think about my dreams.



5. Author Yale Roe imagines his late mother's reaction to his sudden decision in 1971 to make aliyah: "Millions of people risk their lives to come to America, my son decides to leave." Roe (then 43) was a successful media executive with a wife and four children ensconced in Winnetka, IL, a self-described "suburban achiever." In 1972, between the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, the family arrived in Jerusalem and began life anew. Roe recounts the journey with warmth and humility. The riveting memoir has universal appeal as a testament to fulfilling one's dreams.

No comments about Anna's Shtetl (Judaic Studies Series).

No comments about Mordecai Richler: Leaving St. Urbain.

3 comments about On the Border.

1. There have been revolutionaries for ages. And there will be revolutionaries in the future. What impresses me about many of them is the arbitrariness of their causes. That's the feeling I have about this book in particular.
   
   Can left-wingers fight against human rights? Can they be colonialists? Albert Memmi, in his book, "Portrait du Colonise," says they can. And the author quotes Memmi here, and agrees with him. However, Warschawski portrays Memmi and his fellow Zionists as the colonialists!
   
   I guess I can play this game as well, and say that the author is a colonialist. But I'm not sure what the author means by that word. In any case, I think the author is trying to protect the world from human rights. He dismisses Jewish attempts to protect their rights to life, liberty, and property as "tribalism." However, these rights are actually universal, not tribal. These rights ought to apply to all humans in a colorblind world.
   
   We're told that the author is for "peace." But enshrining the tyranny his sort of peace would mean is more than a little frightening.
   
   Abraham Lincoln once said that those who deny rights to others do not deserve those rights for themselves. But I don't want to deny rights to anyone. I simply want to get people to argue for equal rights for everyone. And I want them to insist on the same rights for themselves as for everyone else, not more and not less.



2. From time to time ossified positions assumed over the Israel-Palestine conflict get a good rattling, and light pours in. Juliano Mer Khamis' film "Arna's Children" forces its viewers to look beyond rigid certaintiesand boundaries, and Michel Warchawski's "On the Border" has a similar effect on readers.
   
   Warschawski's reflective journey from the insulated Jewish community of Strasbourg where his father was chief rabbi to Jerusalem to pursue Talmudic studies becomes what he call a "long march" along the borders that divide not just Israelis and Palestinians, but Jews of Europe and Jews of the Orient, and the religious from the secular. This beautifully crafted memoir charts his evolving consciousness from the 1960s to the start of the second Intifada. Weaving together probing observations of Israeli society and its colonizing mission with a description of his own political choices and their consequences, he conveys faith in a future in which the term "Israeli-Palestinian" does not immediately invoke the word "conflict." The more this book is read, the more likely we are to get there.



3. In this memoir, Michel Warschawski does a very good job of laying out the history of the radical left movement in Israel, through his own involvement in it. Not as bold as "Toward an Open Tomb," I think, but very readable and educational.