2 comments about To Wear the Dust of War: From Bialystok to Shanghai to the Promised Land, an Oral History (Palgrave Studies in Oral History).

1. Samuel Iwry, a Jewish scholar, gives a remarkable first person account of his experiences fleeing Poland, going across Russia to Japan, then to Shanghai, and ultimately to America, in flight from the Nazis, beginning in 1939. Examples are use of forged documents, crossing a border surreptitiously, waiting in Vilnius for opportunity, detention in Shanghai (with 20,000 other Jewish refugees), and travel to the U.S. (where he settled in Baltimore and became a professor at Johns Hopkins). Highly readable and suitable for adults and young adults.



2. The book reads like your grandpa talking directly to you, so it is realling interesting although it rambles a bit. But this man had an incredible life and it is a fascinating window on the plight of Jews who escaped the holocaust through Shanghai. DEspite all he and his family went through, he can still spike the story with humor. It's hard to put it down and it really makes you think. Highly recommended!

5 comments about The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century.

1. This book is a reasonable and sincere attempt to deal with a difficult problem -- how to preserve Jewish culture in an era when the pace of Jews' assimilation into their home societies is accelerating.

   Among its better points, it tries to grapple with defining the essence of what it is to be Jewish, especially if one is to be inclusive of secular and agnostic Jews such as Prof. Dershowitz himself. He shows that Judaism includes many principles and practices, but that many of these are either shared with other groups, or not practiced by some people who nonetheless consider themselves Jewish. So it's hard to say that the content of any of these principles or practices is the distinguishing content of Judaism. His discussion of this is very illuminating, I think.

   Ultimately, he comes up with the distinction that the common essence of Judaism is procedural rather than substantive -- it is a *way* of dealing with changes and differing opinions, rather than a specific set of principles or doctrines (content). The distinction he attempts to draw is one familiar to lawyers, but perhaps less so to others, and might be a bit of a let-down to many.

   Prof. Dershowitz also defends the principle that being Jewish should be a matter of self-identification. Along the way he points out the contradictions between, on the one hand, the ultra-Orthodox view that religious law has been fixed since the time of Moses, and, on the other, their position that a child's religion follows his or her mother's (opposite of what is set forth in the Old Testament). It isn't clear, however, whether his liberality would also apply to someone who neither had a Jewish parent nor went through a conversion procedure -- maybe someone should ask him.

   It probably will be difficult for any reader, Jewish or not, to identify with all the issues he tries to deal with along the way to reaching this result. For example, I personally found his discussion of religious ceremonies for agnostics and atheists a bit mind-boggling. But while I don't fall into either of those categories, there are many people who do and who also consider themselves Jewish. For this reason, I understand why he'd discuss this and similar topics.

   There are a couple of pertinent things he doesn't mention, especially when it comes to intermarriage. (I speak from the POV of a committed Jew married to a non-Jewish woman.) One is that many modern Jews are turned off by the exclusionary language that is found in many Jewish religious texts (written, for the most part, thousands of years ago or under circumstances of violent persecution by non-Jews). If you find it hard to believe that the Jewish G-d or supreme power is really different from that of a sincere Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, etc., it's harder to swallow the absolute necessity of marrying a Jewish person, especially when Jews make up less than 3% of the US population and less than 0.2% of the world's.

   He also doesn't mention that it's possible to convert children to Judaism without necessitating the conversion of a non-Jewish parent. Sometimes the non-Jewish parent doesn't have the personal conviction to warrant a sincere conversion, but nonetheless strongly supports the idea that children should have an unequivocal identity as Jewish. (Maybe this is easier to do when that parent has a strong ethnic but weaker religious identity, as is common with many people from Japan, China and some other East Asian countries. Negotiating Jewish and Japanese identities within a family, for example, might be easier than negotiating simultaneous Jewish and Christian ones. Of course, there are some committed religionists in East Asia too.)

   I've got to agree with the reviewers who mention Prof. Dershowitz's frequent self-aggrandizing comments as one of the truly irritating features of the book. From having heard him speak almost 30 years ago, I'd guess this is one of his more enduring traits (not that other trial lawyers are significantly more modest). His use of jokes bothered me less, though they mostly come from one source (Jewish Humor, by Joseph Telushkin, which relates many of them in an overly abbreviated, and therefore flat, manner). So if you know that book you'll have heard 'em all before.

   But I disagree with reviewers who suggest that Prof. Dershowitz is racist or feels Jews are better than other people. I think that's a misinterpretation, though his self-aggrandizement doesn't help get his sincerity across. He's candid about his divided feelings about his son's intermarriage, but I think he recognizes that it's possible for a human being to have inconsistent or contradictory feelings inside themselves. I might not agree with him on every point, but think it's to his credit that he deals with the intermarriage issue from the standpoint of publicly examining his own personal ambivalence, rather than adopting some doctrinaire point of view (which he makes fun of later in the book).

   For the most part, he's grappling with a very legitimate issue: As a tiny minority who find themselves in an open, hospitable home culture, there's a strong attraction for Jews to thoroughly assimilate into that home culture. Over the course of a few generations, such assimilation makes it easy to lose the distinctive culture from their past. Prof. Dershowitz feels that there's a lot of merit in the Jewish cultural heritage, at the same time that he's an enthusiastic supporter of the open society that creates this dilemma. My impression is that he'd like for Jews to participate fully in that society while also retaining something particularly Jewish.

   I think that most ethnic groups in the US face similar issues about integration vs. identity, though there are some unique aspects that complicate Jews' attempts to accomplish this goal, just as other ethnicities have their own unique circumstances to deal with. In the case of Jews these issues include (i) blending of culture with a religious heritage that's different from US majority, and (ii) relative lack of distinguishing physical or linguistic characteristics. I think his book is a sincere attempt to help a Jewish audience deal with this difficult conundrum.




2. Dershowitz conveys a genuine worry that Jewish people will lose their identity in the years to come. He is concerned about Jewishness getting lost in the struggle and furiousness of America. He says time and again in the book that the Jewish people need something to fight against to be great. He did not totally convince me of this. I think there are great Jewish doctors, professors, businessmen and women. Intellectual and business prowess. Isn't that something to be proud of?
   
   I also wish that Dershowitz would have included more examples, perhaps little vignettes of various Jewish people and how they struggle in the world, or perhaps how they try to retain their identity in a fast-paced, sometimes fickle world. This would have been a good direction to take.
   
   On the whole a very interesting topic for a book. Thank you for writing the book Dr. Dershowitz.



3. A well-written easy-to-read book that right on the mark as it tackles one of the most difficult problems in contemporary judaism. As with all of Dershowitz' books, this one is filled with humor, meticulously researched and contains compelling arguments in support of his view that organized judaism is failing to provide the proper educational foundation to ensure the continuation of reform and conservative judaism in the USA.
   
   Even if you, like me, do not share Mr. Dershowitz' orthodox background or left-wing politics, don't let that deter you from reading this excellent book.



4. 
   Book Review: The Vanishing American Jew
   
   By: Alan M. Dershowitz
   Review By: Joshua W. Delano
   
   
   
   Alan M. Dershowitz uses his keen intellect to delve into the issue of The Vanishing American Jew with the same vigor and attentiveness he has applied to his storied criminal defense practice. Dershowitz makes a case that the prominent threat no longer lays within institutional anti-Semitism in America. Instead, he points out the threat to Jews and their way of life by assimilation. No longer do the Jews have to be united against a common enemy such as the Nazism of the Holocaust generation or Government sanctioned anti-Semitism. Intermarriage to non-Jews and assimilation into American society is now the primary danger to a people who've survived through so much persecution and toil.
   Some 50 percent of Jews will marry non-Jews, and their children will most often be raised as non-Jews. In Dershowitz's view, the Jewish people will vanish from the planet sometime in the next hundred or so years. The threats to Jews are no longer external by his account. No longer are Jews in danger from the genocidal acts of Hitler or those fringe groups of present day whose threats Dershowitz discounts as marginal. Now Jews are threatened by themselves and the fact that as a people they've accomplished the American dream, becoming assimilated into the mainstream of this country.
   Likely, there is no better person to take on this subject with a unique perspective both of Jewish religion and custom, as well as legal and political activism. Dershowitz has become an institution as well as a magnet to many young legal minds who aspire to greatness by choosing Harvard Law School, where he has enjoyed a successful tenure.
   While dissecting the situation, the author elaborates on points such as Neo-Nazi whites and Nation of Islam anti-Semites uniting in lockstep against the Jews of present day. These threats are what he labels, as marginal and nothing compared to what Jews have faced in the past. He points out when he speaks to older Jewish audiences, he is often, "accused sometimes stridently, of minimizing anti-Semitism and am told that it is worse than ever." They see the glass as not half-full or half-empty, but instead as cracked and unfixable. A sentiment he says is in contrast with the reality of acceptance and notes that Jews are more so a part of mainstream America today than ever before. The author points out that the older generation's identities are so tied up with their victimization, they are incapable of accepting the good news that the situation is improving.
   In comparison, a 1988 poll of Jewish students at Dartmouth College poignantly notes: When asked whether they believed that their Jewish ness would in any way hamper their future success, not a single student answered in the affirmative. Dershowitz considers this the current reality.
   Whereas, the threat from black or Aryan neo-Nazi types is marginal, Dershowitz explains that the greater threat is that of the Christian right. Many Jews that convert to Christianity are not doing so per se, but actually converting to the American mainstream. At the present time Conservative Jews and Christians are uniting for many political causes and moving along at proficient level in policy and coalition building.
   Though the author views this as a threat, it is hard for me to see it as anything other than the greater good. While Dershowitz calls it assimilation and a threat to group identity, I do not see it so cynical. Perhaps he has the wisdom and advantage of his years to have built upon his cynicism, but I see it in an ideally good way. Unity is a good thing, is it not? He refers to it as assimilation and a threat to the Jewish people and religion, I see it as all of God's people coming together for what is right, good, and just.
   Mr. Dershowitz points out that his own son married a Catholic young lady, causing some unrest with his mother. He was happy, and is now with the outcome, although bothered in some ways internally. Though, Dershowitz's mother was a harder sell, requiring the consult of a Rabbi to find out why her grandson was "doing this to me." In the end all was well and Dershowitz lists some ways of handling these situations for Jews whose children intermarry. He urges that Jewish parents should be supportive, loving, and inclusive of the new spouse. Likewise, as in the case of his son, he recommended being positive and inclusive in the celebration of their Jewish identity.
   This is what Dershowitz emphasizes as an essential aspect of maintaining Jewish identity and Jews as a people in America. Emphasizing the positive aspects of Judaism rather than always being so clannish and cynical. Numerous times however, Mr. Dershowitz uses humor in his book to emphasize the perceptions and misperceptions both of Jews as well as the anti-Semitic world view of those who are not Jewish. In his analysis, Dershowitz opines, "Judaism must become less tribal, less ethnocentric, less exclusive, less closed off, less defensive, less xenophobic, less clannish. We jokingly call ourselves "members of the tribe" (MOTs), as if to remind us of our tribal origins. Tribalism may be easy to justify when others treat us as a tribe, as they long have. But it becomes anachronistic and antagonistic - to behave like a tribe when others treat us like part of the mainstream."
   In some aspects of the text, Mr. Dershowitz lists the sentiments of many Jews which the reader may confuse as the author's. As a seasoned defense attorney, he is always the epitome of a devil's advocate. In The Vanishing American Jew, Dershowitz weaves facts, perceptions, misperceptions, and myth as he makes his case for which modus operandi should be utilized to preserve Jewish identity in America. Jokingly, Dershowitz mentions that most Jews want their children to: be Jewish but not too Jewish, want their children to be observant of High Holidays, but not too observant, want their children to pray, but not too much.
   One point I'd agree with Dershowitz on undoubtedly would be that there has to be a balance. He concedes that Jews must maintain their culture and religion without being clannish. Also, that Jews should assimilate into mainstream America to the extent that they should still be observant of their identity as Jews. Likewise that Jews of the present and in the future should maintain the religious connection passing on the Jewish culture and customs to future generations.
   Mr. Dershowitz does a great job of weighing all perspectives and getting down to the problem at hand. The laborious analysis and supporting argument for maintaining and prolonging Jews into further generations gives the reader a sturdy foundation with which to come to a conclusion. While looking to the future, Dershowitz recalls from his own past as well as historical input to show that Jews must not forget who they are, where they've come from, and where Jews as a people are headed.
   This issue in my eyes of course will be slanted by my being both a Gentile and a Christian, albeit a Monotheistic one. I view Judaism and the Jews as God's chosen people and the need for their survival as a people is very important. In the book Dershowitz uses historical analysis and Judaism as a religion as his vehicle for convincing the reader of his cause and his case. At the same time, he takes a more intellectual and humanistic approach as to the reasoning behind his argument, only supplementing it with the religious aspect to appeal to all Jews in the Orthodox to Reform-liberal strata.
   It is obvious he believes in the importance of maintaining the religious aspects but seemingly he puts too much of a humanistic focus on the crisis to suit my palate. If God has seen Jews through all these years, why can Dershowitz not trust in God that He will see them through until the coming of the Messiah? I of course have faith that God will see Jews through because they are His people and they shall not depart from the earth as a people as Dershowitz predicts.
   Dershowitz makes a great case and if you are thinking along humanistic terms and don't have any faith in God then this book is great. However this is the main shortcoming in that God is still all those things that we've attributed to him including, omnipotent. While Mr. Dershowitz's perspective isn't altogether wrong from my vantage, he doesn't see with the same eyes as I do, or from the same heart. I enjoyed his refreshing outlook on what he says is an over hyped threat of anti-Semitism in our day and time. Though it exists, I, as the author also feels, see this as something that has been much blown out of proportion. In our society there always remains a fragment of the population who will be oversensitive and read into things and see that which isn't there. Always, will there be among us those who are ignorant, bigoted, and uneducated.
   On the other hand, as time passes not only can you describe societal norms being that of tolerance and acceptance but of that of unity and brotherhood to some extent. People will always be self interested and those who hate or are uninformed to the point of bigoted stupidity will eventually become marginalized over time. Jews and Christians as well as all races will, as I feel we are for the most part now, come together in consensus on many subjects and sentiments. This is why politics in America has had to become inherently centrist, since extremes exist but those moderate among us make this country work. America is a progressive country, which Dershowitz points out has been the most congenial to Jews, more so than any other host country in the past.
   America was founded upon much bloodshed and treachery, even racism, though the positive attributes reflect the good of this country which has for so long welcomed so many to this country. The most important attribute to me and to Jews, as well as all people is not some PC baloney of this socialistic enlightenment period we live in but the saying engraved on our currency, "E pluribus Unum." While all of this sounds over idealistic and patriotic, I'm just pointing out that all thing work together for the good. God watches out for the Jews, in my opinion primarily, as they are His people, His children. I see myself as adopted and glad to be so by His grace and mercy. All of this is said not to preach or get theological, but to show my opinion of this case made in the book, that Dershowitz is well-intentioned and even correct on what he suggests to solve this problem. However, it is my thought, although I've been told that Jewish people, "don't do faith," as one good Rabbi friend of mine told me, that God is still the God who parted the Red Sea, helped Joshua, Daniel, David, and Job in their time of need. All I might add to victory. God will still see the tribe of the Lion of Judah through to the end.



5. This book is to be commended for recognizing a real problem. The American - Jewish community is declining in numbers. It is an aging community, one with high- rates of intermarriage, and low rates of fertility. It is a community which is an increasingly small percentage of American society as a whole.
   Why is this important?
   I think that there are two answers, one for Jews and another for American non- Jews.
   Jewish communities have thrived in various places in the world, and then disappeared. The American Jewry community is an especially important one for the Jewish people historically especially in its relation to Israel and the Jewish people as a whole.
   As for the second reason, I would maintain that for general American society the survival and thriving of an American- Jewish community is important because this community has made great contributions to American life in many different areas, and as on the whole been a great creative factor in the shaping of American civilization.
   In considering the situation of American Jews it is necessary to understand that the challenges and character of American life are different from those that the Jews have known elsewhere. Only in America have Jews been given a kind of access and acceptance which in our own time means that there is virtually no discrimination against them. It is because America accepts the Jews, and adopts so much of what is Jewish as part of itself that assimilation happens so readily in the United States.
   Clearly to preserve its own tradition and way the Jews of America have to ( This is Dershowitz's major recommendation) greatly increase the quality and quantity of Jewish education. Sadly most American Jews are very ignorant about their own traditions. And one encouraging element in American - Jewish life is the intense return to Jewish learning by a certain minority of the population.
   Clearly learning to understand what the Jewish community and its history is , is central to preserving Jewish identity.
   Another point. Since the publication of Dershowitz's book there has been a dramatic increase in world-wide anti-Semitism. This often takes the form of Anti- Zionism and is directed primarily against Israel.
   American Jews have in the past played an important role in helping support the survival of Israel. Though support for Israel among the broad American public is relatively stable over the past forty years, and though there is massive Christian Evangelical support for Israel there is also now in the US a strong anti- Semitic, anti- Israel movement which combines Islamic fundamentalists, Palestinian Arab nationalists, those of the extreme right, and perhaps even more alarmingly , extreme left, politically.
   A strong American Jewish community is an important element in ensuring an Israel which can survive in the future.
   In this regard one additional element in strengthening Jewish young people's identity as Jews is through their traveling to and knowing Israel. The special 'Birthright' programs have attempted to do some of this.
   Dershowitz surveys the problem, and shows his heart is in the right place.
   His book is in this sense highly recommended. It should be supplemented however by the works of Jack Wertheimer, Sylvia Barack- Fishman, and others who consider this problem.

1 comments about And Prairie Dogs Weren't Kosher: Jewish Women in the Upper Midwest Since 1855.

1. I used this book as a main resources for a paper I wrote in college about the experiences of Jewish-American women. I quickly fell in love with this book - the history and real life stories are fascinating and really make you think.

2 comments about A Southern Woman's Story.

1. Originally published in 1879, this one qualifies as an original source document, and is, indeed, a gem. Prior to the Civil War, it was considered "improper" for a woman to walk inside a hospital, much less work in one. War creates need, and need creates change....The Confederacy passed the "Matron Law" in 1862 as an attempt to free Doctors to treat patients. It worked. Many of the ladies the Confederacy was able to hire were free blacks, or even slaves. Phoebe Pember was a rich, high society, Jewish lady from Charleston, SC, who wanted to help in the war effort. She took a job as Head Matron of Division #2 at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, the largest Hospital of the war. [The site on East Broad St. now holds the Confederate Medical Museum, though no original buildings still stand] This short account of day to day life in Hell is always inspiring, usually charming, and sometimes even funny. [the infamous whiskey barrell]. Through it all, the patients ate, the Doctors had enough supplies to get by, and the Hospital still had resources at the end. President Davis said that the Medical Department was the only part of the Confederacy that wasn't demoralized by the end; ladies like Phoebe Pember made it happen. She made Dr. McCaw and his staff better doctors. Mrs. Pember was a successful magazine writer for many years after the war; we can all be thankful that she wrote of her wartime experiences. Read this one, and be inspired....
   
   Having reviewed this wonderful book, I shall now digress into one of my pet theories: Why were the best hospitals, both government and private, run by rich society ladies like Mrs. Pember and Capt. Sally Tompkins? [and there were others]. What is it about a high level lady that makes her the best boss? Answer: ladies like them won't tolerate dirt, inefficiency, stupidity, or insolence. From the time they are little girls, they are raised to command. They are accustomed to deference, and we to giving it to them; further, they recognize merit in others, and aren't afraid to reward it. In the specific context of wartime Richmond, Mrs. Pember and Captain Sally had financial resourses of their own AND they could knock on the doors of others like themselves without getting the doors slammed in their faces.
   
   Perhaps elsewhere I can discuss why preference in Surgical residencies should be given to girls. Why should [almost] all Surgeons be female? Maybe later....



2. I purchased this book for my granddaughter to write an essay. I have not read the book yet, however I intend to.
   
   I was delighted to find the book as our library didn't have a copy.
   
   Thank you, Carolyn Beck

4 comments about Richard Wagner And the Jews.

1. This is not the usual diatribe that we expect on Wagner's Antisemitism. Instead it is a biography focusing on the composer's relations with the Jews. Brener makes a sharp distinction between "the Jews" in Roman type and the same phrase in italic, the former representing Wagner's Jewish friends, the latter the Jewish community that he despised.
   
   The main characters are Karl Tausig, Heinrich Porges, Joseph Rubinstein, and Hermann Levi--all close associates of Wagner and all Jewish. The chapters on Levi are especially revealing, a sharp challenge to orthodox opinion by such scholars as Peter Gay. The analysis of Wagner's major tract on the subject, "Judaism in Music," is adequate.
   
   Brener is a good writer with a refined sense of tone and wit. He knows the primary literature backwards and forwards. His mastery of the secondary sources seems less secure but still sufficient for his purposes. Obviously he has visited most of the places he discusses, for his descriptions of them (both then and now) are vivid.
   
   His theme is summed up in a concise sentence that concludes his preface: "I do not beleive that, at the deeper levels, the man who created Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal, and Der Ring des Nibelungen could possibly have been the monster that so many have painted." He proves his point well.
   
   I enjoyed this book and learned much from it. I recommend it wholeheartedly to fellow Wagnerians.



2. Having read many books on the life of Wagner over the years, I can safely say that this biographical sketch by Brener ranks among the best. The author is a retired attorney who is also a music and art critic. Like most of us who love Wagner's music, Brener is troubled by the composer's less than admirable traits -- his manipulation of his friends, his skipping out on debts, and particularly his anti-Semitism. How could a man who wrote some of the most moving music and insightful music dramas in Western civiilzation be such a defective human being? Brener sets out to understand Wagner the man in human perspective and succeeds admirably. He focuses mainly on Wagner's public views of "the Jews" and his private, long-standing and meaningful friendships with many individual Jews. A retired lawyer, he has done his homework, deposed all the key witnesses, and developed an argument that leaves no stone unturned. Brener makes a compelling case for Wagner as a nuanced human being rather than the black and white monster as some biographers portray him. In addition, the book is extremely well written and hard to put down. I came away with a greater appreciation of Wagner and a deeper understanding of the nature of prejudice. Highly recommended.



3. Despite a few notable exceptions, Milton Brener's Richard Wagner and the Jews is nearly the only book that deals fairly with the famed opera composer's anti-Semitism; and as such, this book is a welcome corrective to some of the more shrill anti-Wagner screeds of the last few decades. Brener does not intend to excuse Wagner; he merely comes closer than most in explaining him.
   
   Besides being probably the greatest artist who ever lived, Wagner was also a bundle of contradictions. However, this bundle of contradictions never seemed to be able to realize that he was just that. Indeed, Wagner did possess anti-Semitic attitudes, but his anti-Semitism was of a different stripe than that espoused by the Nazis. Wagner called for Jewish assimilation within the German population, which certainly did not conform with later Nazi policy. Like many a 19th-Century anti-Semite, Wagner seems to have seen Jewishness as almost an abstract, metaphysical concept. Of course, that does not excuse him. He did indeed say vile things about Jews, and he needs to be held accountable for those attitudes, but to simply (and wrongly) call him a proto-Nazi is not only intellectually dishonest, it wrongly stains the reputation of an artist who created stupendous, deeply human works-of-art.
   
   As Brener also points out, there is nothing inherently anti-Semitic in any of Wagner's great works of art. Unfortunately, some writers, such as Robert Gutman, seem to have a compulsion to find even the most tenuous, implausible Anti-Semitic connections in Wagner's work. It is simply impossible to find such links. There is not the slightest overt connection to anti-Semitism in any of Wagner's works, and if there are any such covert links, then one would have had to have entered the composer's mind to see them. Wagner's many genuine friendships with Jews complicate Gutman's position even more.
   
   This is simply a fabulous book. And, along with The Darker Side of Genius and The Ring of Myths, it is also the most responsible volume available that deals specifically with Wagner's most famous character flaw.
   
   Also included, as an appendix, is the composer's infamous essay, "Judaism in Music". While the essay is bitter and paranoid, it is helpful for a frame of reference to the preceding 300 pages. Needless to say, I find Wagner's argument that Jews are incapable of generating higher culture to be utterly worthless. Schoenberg & Mahler (and many other Jewish artists) obviously dismantle that argument, and as for Wagner's claim that Jews are incapable of high art because they are "rootless", we only need to look at Aaron Copland, a man of Lithuanian Jewish heritage, who used Appalachian & Mexican melodies and rhythms to create incredible works of art.



4. Every Jewish fanatic who thinks they know everything about Wagner's relationships w/Jews and who base their opinions on the fact that he was an anti-semite ought to read this book. Loads of stuff not previously known, at least not by me. jww

2 comments about Streets of Gold (Picture Books).

1. This book has a special meaning for me and my family. Both my husband's and my ancestors were Jews who left Russia after enduring centuries of discrimination and danger. As our children get older and time creates more distance between us and what our ancestors suffered, I find myself seeking out these stories so that they can appreciate just how privileged a life we lead now.
   
   This is the perfect story to make that point. Without any hint of adult indignation or politics, the author tells the story from the point of view of the young girl who has to watch as her brother's nose is measured to see if he can go to school (he can't); who knows that her parents have to stay and work in one section of town because they are Jewish but does not understand why; who is desperate to learn and escape from an illiterate destiny as a shopkeeper; and who listens in childhood terror to a man broken as a boy by the czar's soldiers, for the sole "crime" of being Jewish.
   
   The book is also honest about the Masha's/Mary's believable childhood desires. At one point, she encounters a wealthy non-Jewish Russian. When asked what she wants, she thinks to herself that she wishes she could have her hair and shoes. Adults would probably be too proud to admit to such things, but a child would not- and thinking those things under those circumstances doesn't make her any less Jewish or at all ashamed of such.
   
   The most touching parts of the story are the interactions with her beloved father and her less seen but equally devoted mother. Though forbidden by Russian law to go to school, her father takes her deep into the woods to read the five books they own. Later, when her father leaves for the United States to make a better life for them, her mother works to secure the best life she can for her children. The most heartbreaking moment in the book comes when Masha, her mother and brother finally leave Russia; in doing so, they also say goodbye to her older sister, whom Masha will never see again.
   
   The streets of America are not, of course, paved with gold, and Masha lives in a hot tenement near drunks and dope addicts. However, she remains studious and ambitious, taking shelter in school and in her parents' support. By the end of the story, she has mastered her new language well enough to have a poem published in the Boston Globe.
   
   This is a wonderful story that, although set in the past, can resonate with younger readers, because although it is not 1894, there are still plenty of hardships both natural and man-made that people must overcome.



2. This is a true story about a young girl named Masha in the late 1800's who questions the rules that she has to follow as a Jew living under a Russian czar. Her life is turned upside down when her father leaves the family and travels to America for a better life. Once he is gone, the Russians torment Masha's family, taking away all of their belongings. Finally, Masha is able to travel to America with her brother and start a new life. Once there, Masha and her brother are reunited with their father and are able to go to school for the first time. For an assignment, Masha writes an inspiring poem worthy of being published in the Boston Herald.
   
   Rosemary Wells brought a wonderful, inspiring story back into the spotlight with this book. I would recommend this book to children of the 4th through 6th grade level. Teachers can easily use this book for many objectives including but not limited to: Setting, cause and effect, fact and opinion, context clues, text structure, main idea, summary, compare and contrast, and sequence. This book can also very easily be connected to writing. The descriptions given in the book of both Russia and America are outstanding.

4 comments about The Rabin Memoirs, Expanded Edition with Recent Speeches, New Photographs, and an Afterword.

1. This book is a good history of the life of Yitzak Rabin.You
   are provided excellent coverage of the great war of independance
   and his role in it as a member of the Hagannah.This book also describes the leadership role as a general in the six day war
   and it's impact on the Middle East.Rabin's service as Prime
   Minister of Israel is also described in this book.You are given detail of the Israeli rescue mission of the prisoners at the
   airport in Entebbe.You will also cover the time that Rabin was the ambassador to America in Washington.Also covered in this book is the defeat of the Labor Party at the hands of the Likud.
   Rabin's role as a peacemaker is also given coverage in this book.
   This is a very good biography of Yitzak Rabin as well as an adequate history of Israel. Read this book,you will enjoy it.



2. Yitzak Rabin was a great leader. This man wanted to lead Israel to a time of peace. This book gives one a great deal of information about this amazing leader, the country he loved so dearly, and the effort he and his family made to improve life in their country. Too bad a madman had to take his life. Rabin's story is amazing from beginning to the tragic end.

   See ya next review!
   www.therunninggirl.com




3. Yitzhak Rabin is a truly tragic figure in the history of the Jewish people. Here was a man, while having many good qualities had deep, even fatal character flaws that allowed him both to play a major role in bringing about Israel's great victory in the Six-Day War of June 1967 and yet, at the same time, bringing about his own destruction while leaving his country in a perilous
   state as a result of his disastrous Oslo agreement of 1993.
   Unfortunately, like almost all the autobiographies of Israel's famous leaders, this book is self serving and does not really give one a good idea of what really happened.
   For example, Rabin completely skips over Israel's War of Independence in 1948 when he had the important position of commander of the Har'el Brigade which played an important role in the battles for Jerusalem. The reason is that he showed for the first time during the war his inability to function under pressure and it is believed that he fled the battlefield at a critical juncture, but it was decided to hush up the matter. Rabin was a member of the "Dor HaPalmach", i.e. the generation of the Palmach (pre-state elite military force). These people fought hard and contributed much but this gave them a feeling of priviledge which led them in later years to behave arrogantly and for those who entered politics to show contempt for Israel's democratic system-Ariel Sharon's dictatorial behavior being the latest example (although Sharon was not in the Palmach, but he did joint the military elite in the 1950's).
   Rabin played a major role in preparing the Israeli Army for its lightening victory in 1967, but once again, he suffered a nervous collapse before the war, and did not (as I understand it) play an important role in its execution.
   Rabin, who was thrust basically unqualified into the Prime Minister's office in 1974, mainly for the reason that he was out of Israel during the Yom Kippur war, was unprepared for the job. He was the first of a long line of military men to become Prime Minister, and he showed all the flaws of this group, arrogance, contempt for democracy, and corruption. These men have led Israel into a dead-end situation, because many people blindly think that "generals are good leaders" whereas the reality is that they are the worst leaders, since their whole career they give orders and have no patience with the give and take of politics.
   Rabin, in the book spews out harsh criticism of his long-term
   rival Shimon Peres, but in his second term (1992-1995) which is not covered in his book, he allowed this dangerous man to lead him around by the nose, forcing the Oslo Agreements on him against his better judgement, again due to his weak personality.
   All of this ended in the tragedy of his assassination as the SHABAK (Israeli internal security agency) which was supposed to be under Rabin's personal supervision, went on a rampage using provacoteurs to discredit the Labor Party's rivals, locating a potential assassin and then giving him free access to Rabin at the fateful gathering on November 4, 1995. (For those of you who are skeptical, please note the official Shamgar Commission inquiry into the assassination noted that the assassin's closest companion in the months before the murder was a SHABAK provacoteur). A very tragic ending for a complex, talented, but flawed man.



4. Unfortunately the Rabin memoirs suffers the same ills as many other memoirs in that the author uses his pen to whitewash his own history and that of some of his friends. This is, as it always is, a tragic fact, because history would be so much better served had Rabin written a truly honest account. The problem with this book is that the areas were Rabin leaves out details and distorts some facts colors this entire work, so that the reader has to question everything that is in the book.
   
   What I don't understand is why Rabin (and other historical figures as well) whitewashes areas of history that are known or will inevitably become known. Like when Rabin calls Ben-Gurion's decision to step down from his governmental positions as inexplicable when the facts of why he did so were known even at that time. He also leaves out the fact that Nasser had offered Israel concessions over the Straits of Tiran before the Six Day War thereby rendering one of his main arguments for Israel's having to got to war null and void. He also says nothing at all of the negotiations between Israel (and its proxies) and Egypt (and some of its proxies) that were going on in secret during his term as prime minister. At the time of his writing these memoirs much of this might have been censored out, but we have no evidence that was the case. The lack of discussion of these and other topics shows himself, his friends and Israel in a much more lenient light while casting a shadow over Israel's enemies. One cannot but think this was the purpose.
   
   With that said, I think anyone interested in Israel and the Middle East needs to read this book along with many other self-serving memoirs, biographies and histories. Even with the flaws this book gives the reader an invaluable insight into one of the leading figures of the Israeli state. You get to see the inner workings of the man, and get a chance to see his philosophies in action. It is a glimpse into his mind, and this glimpse offers the reader many insights.
   
   Yoram Peri's afterword is essential and a very welcome addition to this book. It provides the book with a greater context, and a fine analysis of the work and the man as well. The addition of the speeches is also a welcome contribution that adds more context, and gives the reader a better understanding of Rabin's later life.
   
   All and all Rabin is a fascinating character. He was a self made man during a harsh time in Israeli history. His life is an extraordinary journey tragically cut short. This book goes a long way in helping readers understand this important figure, and for that reason alone this book should be read.

3 comments about The Parnas: A Scene from the Holocaust.

1. This is an incredible story.

   Silvano Arieti was an extremely gifted, and very well known, psychiatrist. He was born in Pisa, Italy and, as a child, looked to The Parnas--or synagogue leader, Giuseppe Pardo Roques--as a mentor. The Parnas was mentally ill. His illness inspired Arieti's career--which, as it developed, convinced Arieti all the more that "mental illness may...espress the nobility of man."

   Arieti dreamed he would one day cure The Parnas, but The Parnas was murdered by the Nazis in WWII. Decades later, Arieti recreates the last days of The Parnas, providing us with a moving potrait of an incredible man in terrible times.

   While Arieti's conclusions are profound, this book is definately accessible to the high school reader.




2. Pisa, Italy. July, 1944. As the Nazis and Allies collide, Giuseppe Pardo Roques, lay leader of Pisa's Jewish community, is a refugee in his own home. Struggling to display strength in spite of a bizarre and debilitating neurosis, the cultured, learned and generous Pardo plays host to several others, Jews and Christians both, seeking shelter from the battle. The Parnas reconstructs Pardo's final days and his ultimate confrontation with the Nazis. At once memoir (the author knew the characters), psychological profile, and meditation on good and evil, the book's defining quality is compassion. I'll read it again.



3. Insightful,analytical and comprehensive portrait of a loving character.Is a masterpiece. Full of drama,but it was a real life drama.The "parnas" was a sensitive man struggling with his own imaginative fears but valiantly facing the real fear.

2 comments about Always Remember Me: How One Family Survived World War II.

1. It is hard to find books--particularly picture books--about the Holocaust and World War II that are appropriate for young audiences. ALWAYS REMEMBER ME: HOW ONE FAMILY SURVIVED WORLD WAR II is a great find indeed!
   
   ALWAYS REMEMBER ME is a story within a story. Oma is sharing her family history with her young granddaughter, Rachel, as the two look through two photo albums. One photo album contains pictures of her life in Poland and Germany. These photos contain pictures that evoke happy memories of the grandmother's life (her childhood, her marriage, her motherhood)...but some of the later pictures in the book evoke sad memories of what happened when the Nazis took control of Germany. Fortunately, Oma and two of her daughters survive concentration camp (her oldest daughter had immigrated to America). The second photo album contains pictures of the family once they have moved to America to start their new lives.
   
   The endpapers are designed as a scrapbook/photo album. Black and white photos (also sepia-toned photos) line the endpapers with white cursive captions identifying the people, places, and ages of the photographic subjects.
   
   There is a five word glossary identifying Yiddish and German words used in the picture book, and there is a two-page afterward summarizing briefly Hitler's rise to power and the Holocaust.
   
   In addition to being a great story/introduction to the Holocaust, I enjoy the celebration of family that ALWAYS REMEMBER ME embodies. It is a great story about how important it is to pass down family stories and keepsakes. I love the bond between Rachel and her grandmother.



2. This excellent new children's book dealing with the Holocaust approaches the subject in a refreshing, non-threatening way that makes it a sure winner. Popular children's book author/illustrator Marisabina Russo tells the story of her own family history, focusing on the four strong Jewish women (her grandmother, her mother, and her two aunts) who most influenced her life. Russo's story features a young girl named Rachel who is finally deemed old enough to hear the full story of her Oma's (German grandmother's) life. Oma begins with an aged album of pictures of her life before she came to America and ends with her new, clean album of pictures of her "second life" in America. "Why am I so lucky to have two lives? That is a long and interesting story", says Oma. Children will be drawn into Oma's tale of the simple and happy life she led in pre-war Germany--pre-war in this case going back to pre-World War I--and the successive births of her three beloved daughters. Each daughter is carefully identified by Rachel as either her mother or one of her aunts, which reassures the reader that this story will have a happy ending. The tragedy of life in the camps is not the focus of this tale, and there is only one paragraph of explanation of those years. Clearly Russo is focusing on the joyous times of her grandmother's long life, and the incredible sense of "luck" Oma feels that she and her three daughters all survived those times and were reunited to begin anew in America. The illustrations are particularly clever as they are clearly drawn imitations of real-life photos and documents but retain their immediacy as colorful re-creations. The true photos are used as endpapers, which enhance the fun of finding the real photo that corresponds to the textual narrative of Oma's tale. This book is a joyous celebration of life. Clearly the luck that had followed her relatives has blessed young Rachel in turn and allowed Russo to share her own remarkable family with us.
   Reviewed by Lisa Silverman

2 comments about The Martyr: Luis de Carvajal, A Secret Jew in Sixteenth-Century Mexico (Jewish Latin America).

1. The archives of the inquisition have been preserved in Mexico, including detailed testimony recounting actual conversations. The book reads like a novel but it's history. Cohen must have been truly obsessed in order to do the research and write such a book. It's a compelling read.



2. The book is very interesting and gives a historical jewish perspective in New Spain during the late 1500's. I became interested in the book because my ancestor Juan Ramirez probably emigrated with Luis Carvajal (Conquistador) in 1580.