Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

As I mentioned Friday I spent the weekend in San Jose at the annual conference of the California Library Association. If I manage to find the time I plan to write up my impressions and insights on my personal blog. Here I would like to cover only those points that relate to Judaica one way or another.

First of all the keynote speakers for the opening general session were Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman. (See my picture of them below.) As you know Chabon is the Pulitzer Prize winning of author of many novels including “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” and “The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay“. (We just added the latter to our collection.) What you may not know that his wife Ayelet Waldman is an author on her own right, having written 9 novels so far. Together on stage they talked about on what it means and how it works for them on being married to a writer. I admit they didn’t touch on any specifically Jewish topic, but as some of their work relates to it I found worthwhile to mention how delightful their conversation with each other was. They seemed passionate, knowledgeable and likable people. For those of you who liked The Yiddish Policemen’s Union I have good news: The Coen brothers are planning turning it into a movie.

One of the sessions I visited was titled “Cultural Diversity on the Shelves: Authors’ Perspectives on Blending Latinos, Asians, and Others into Children’s Literature.” The panel consisted of five authors, who wrote children books with multicultural characters, plots and/or locations. I went there primarily to listen to the Jewish participant, Susan Goldman Rubin , the one on the right the picture below. She authored many books for young people on arts and artists, such as Matisse, Warhol, Thiebaud, Hopper and Degas. She also wrote six books related to Jewish themes. I purchased one of them for the library and asked her to sign it. “Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin” is a book about the Holocaust for children that is not as terrifying visually as most books with pictures on this topic. The book won eleven prizes including AJL’s “Honor Book in the 2000 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers.” I am hoping that this book will be borrowed by the children who visit our library.

Ms. Goldman Rubin’s other books include “Searching for Anne Frank: Letters from Amsterdam to Iowa,” L’Chaim! To Jewish Life in America! Celebrating from 1654 until Today,” ” The Flag With Fifty-Six Stars: A Gift From The Survivors of Mauthausen,” “The Cat with the Yellow Star: Coming of Age in Terezin,” “Haym Salomon: American Patriot.” One of her upcoming books, “The Anne Frank Case: Simon Wiesenthal’s Search for the Truth” is about Simon Wiesenthal’s (successful) search for the Nazi officer responsible arresting Anne Frank. Currently she is working on a book about Mengele.

During her 15 minute talk I learned about how she grew up in the Bronx, where she thought that being Jewish is nothing spectacular, but later in life she learned to appreciate the uniqueness of her culture and background. She also shared the organic process how she got involved in writing about Jewish topics. She spoke about the importance of teaching the Holocaust to the younger generations, who have less and less chance to talk to survivors themselves.

The conference had not other Jewish themed panel, but on the exhibition floor I found a few items. There were several companies offering books on CD, tapes or MP3. But only one of them displayed any item of interest for us. Blackstone Audio Inc, has Geraldine Brooks‘ “People of the book“, which is on our discussion group’s schedule. It is a bit pricey, so I haven’t decided whether to purchase it or not. Finally “I’d Bark But You Never Listen: An Illustrated Guide to the Jewish Dog” by Harold Kimmel looked funny.

This Sunday I, Gabor, won’t be in the library. If you come in (and please do), you will have the pleasure of meeting by Susan Miller or later Susanne Batzdorff. Meanwhile I will be at the annual conference of the California Library Association in San Jose. I hope to bring back new ideas, inspiration, contacts and energy for the library.

The Jewish Film Festival’s next film, titled Souvenirs will be showing today and tomorrow. See details below

The winner of the Israeli Academy Award for Best Documentary, Souvenirs is a charming, funny and touching father-son journey in search of the ’souvenirs’ the father may have left with two Dutch women during his service in the Jewish Brigade while stationed in Amsterdam during World War II. With humor and compassion, Souvenirs exposes a complex father-son relationship and raises universal questions about the myth of bravery and the gap between memory and historical truth. 75 minutes, in Hebrew with English subtitles.
Wed., Nov. 12, 7:15 p.m., Boulevard Cinemas, Petaluma
Thu., November 13, 1:00 p.m. & 7:15 p.m., Rialto Cinemas Lakeside, Santa Rosa

Speaking of The Netherlands, if you ever plan to visit I recommend to check out A guide to Jewish Amsterdam by Jan Stoutenbeek and Paul Vigieveno. Its 156 pages are filled with hundreds of pictures and informative text about its history, architecture, language, customs… The book covers nine walks in the city and two excursions outside of it. The index and series of maps will help you navigate through Amsterdam. I wish I had this book when I visited the city 2 years ago. I only managed to the Frank house (as in Anne Frank) and the synagogue complex of the High German community, containing the smaller Grote Shul and the larger Neie Shul. Now I know that there is so much more in the city’s Jewish history to visit. Maybe next time.

As you may know Jehon Grist, Ph.D., the Executive Director of Lehrhaus Judaica, will give a two part lecture series this Wednesday and Thursday, titled Understanding Israel: Connecting the Biblical and Modern Land. If you were not aware of this you can read the details of the event at the end of this post.

The library has, of course, a cornucopia of books both on Biblical and modern Israel. I would like to draw your attention to one in each category. Harry Meyer Orlinsky’s Ancient Israel was written in 1954, but remained popular, because it is concisely organized and engagingly written. The library recently received a copy of the books second edition’ 18th printing from 1996, in brand new condition. As often the case, the table of contents gives you a good overview of what the book is about.

• Foreword, by Edward Whiting Fox
• Introduction
• The Fertile Crescent: Hebrew Origins
• Bondage, Exodus, and the National Covenant
• Israel in Canaan: The Period of the Judges
• The Israelite Empire under David and Solomon
• The Divided Kingdom: Israel and Judah
• The Babylonian Exile and the Restoration of Judah
• The Hebraic Spirit: The Prophetic Movement and
• Social Justice
• Chronological Summary
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• Index

I also offer an excerpt from a review of the book as an appetizer

“Professor Orlinsky has here given us a lucid and excellent account of the history of ancient Israel from its earliest beginnings to the establishment of post-exilic Judaism subsequent to the work of Nehemiah and Ezra. Orlinsky’s book is stimulating; its presentation is delightfully clear; and even when the reader disagrees, he finds himself endorsing to the full the major emphasis and outlook. It is a book to be heartily welcomed.”

The most recent and representative book we have on modern Israel is the work of Deborah Hart and Gerald S. Strober: Israel at sixty: an oral history of a nation reborn. This beautifully edited 300 page book combines black and white photographs with transcripts and summaries of hundreds of interviews. The five major parts of the book are:

1. From the rise of Nazism to postwar efforts to establish the modern Jewish state
2. The proclamation of the Jewish state and its upbuilding
3. Seismic changes
4. New realities
5. Can Israel survive?

The official description follows:

Based on extensive interviews, Israel at Sixty presents a balanced, comprehensive account of this complex and amazing land. It re-creates historic events from the actions of Israel’s founding visionaries through the ravages of six wars with its Arab neighbors to its growing strength and international stature and efforts to make permanent peace with its adversaries. Complete with more than fifty previously unpublished photos, Israel at Sixty is a beautiful keepsake for anyone who loves, respects, and supports the Jewish state.

I hope you will attend the lectures described below or if you miss them check out the books I mentioned above or find one you are more interested in our library.

LEHRHAUS JUDAICA CLASSES in Santa Rosa
Understanding Israel: Connecting the Biblical and Modern Land

Course Code: H170-JCA

To understand Israel’s present and future, you need to start with its past. This course explores Israel’s two histories, Biblical and modern, to discover and document the unbroken links of our people to the land. In the first session, students will travel on a visually rich virtual guided tour of Biblical Israel (1200-400 BCE). In the second session, we’ll introduce the brief, but dramatic history of modern Israel to date, touching on the central achievements and conflicts of the Jewish State. In the process, we will also explore the connections between the two Israelis, past and present.

The first session will meet on Wed., Nov. 12 from 7:30-9 p.m. at Congregation Shomrei Torah.

The second session will meet on Thu., Nov. 13 from 7:30-9 p.m. at Congregation Beth Ami.

To Register: log on to www.lehrhaus.org to register and pay by credit card. Questions? Call 510/845-6420 x10 (you may also register at 1st session).

Tuition: $18; $10/members of Sonoma co-sponsors

JEHON GRIST , Ph.D., is Executive Director of Lehrhaus Judaica. He earned his doctorate in Near Eastern Studies from UC Berkeley, where he was a Regents’ Fellow. He has conducted field research in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the Valley of the Queens in southern Egypt.

Co-sponsored by Congregations Beth Ami and Shomrei Torah, and the JCC, Sonoma County.
Israel Past and Present programs are made possible through the generous support of the Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation, Inc.

The penultimate meeting in SSU’s Jewish Literature Reading and Discussion Series will be this Thursday, November 13. Allegra Goodman’s Kaaterskill Falls will provide the basis for the lecture and discussion. The book’s jacket describes the work like this:

Kaaterskill is the tiny town in upstate New York where Orthodox summer people and Yankee year-rounders live side by side from June through August. It is the summer of 1976, and Elizabeth Shulman, a devout follower of Rav Elijah Kirshner and the mother of five daughters, is restless. Across the street, Andras Melish is drawn to Kaaterskill by his adoring older sisters, the only members of his family to survive the Holocaust. Comforted, yet crippled by his sisters’ love, Andras cannot overcome the ambivalence he feels toward his own children and his beautiful young wife. At the top of the hill, Rav Kirshner is coming to the end of his life, and he struggles to decide which of his sons should succeed him: the pious but stolid Isaiah or the brilliant but worldly Jeremy. Behind the scenes, alarmed as his beloved Kaaterskill is overdeveloped by Michael King, the local real estate broker, Judge Miles Taylor keeps an old secret in check, biding his time…

I haven’t read the book itself, but read several reviews. Let me share them with you

• At Salon.com Laura Green, an assistant professor of English at Yale ends her analytical summary with these words, “Goodman acknowledges the demands and rigidities of the Orthodox world, but “Kaaterskill Falls” celebrates the safety, comfort and quiet beauty of a community bound by tradition.”
• At the Yiddish Book Center, Judy Bolton-Fasman states that it “is a robust novel with nineteenth-century roots and late-twentieth-century sensibilities.” Besides a very short excerpt, you can find 10 questions there to ponder upon
• Peter Ritter at CityPage think of the book as “a window into the nuanced world of these “summer people,” a group caught between orthodox Judaism and the allure of modern America.“
• Finally, I recommend the publisher’s, Random House site, because you can read a short bio of the author and a longer (but narrowly formatted excerpt from the book there.

Please join Beth Ami in recognizing and honoring
the wonderful teachers and families
who have brought us to our 30th anniversary.

Saturday,
November 8th
7 p.m.
Friedman Center

Yesterday was the first time I ever participated in a book club discussion group. It was a great experience. The thirteen of us started off with toasting (with apple-cider) the newly elected president-elect, Barack Obama, whose book, Dreams from my father, a story of race and inheritance we discussed. In the excited and elevated atmosphere it was impossible to disassociate the book from its context. Therefore we mixed personal reflections on the book and its author with political observations.

As we went around the circle every one of us had something to say, what touched them personally in the book. Unfortunately I did not make notes, thus I cannot recall most of what was said. I was impressed though with the attention every reader devoted to the work and the variety of astute observations they made in the circle. I also felt honored sitting at such a historic moment in the midst of elders whose rich history included being a civil rights activists, having grown up in an area covered in the book, or having lived in the neighborhood where Mr. Obama lives now. It truly made the day more historic for me.

I appreciated Sylvia Sucher’s facilitation of the discussion, research and reading of reviews at the end of our meeting.

Looking forward to our next gathering on December 3 about Meir Shalev’s A Pigeon and a Boy.

This Sunday we had out second “breakfast @ the library” event. I am happy to report that we are getting better. For example we brought two dozen bagels, which was exactly the right amount. All of them were gone by the end of the morning, but everybody could get some who wanted. We also brew our tea and coffee, although we had challenges with that. The circuit breaker kept turning itself off. After a half hour struggle we ended up plugging in the toaster into one outlet directly to the wall (circumventing the UPS), while using the other one for the coffee and tea makers. I want to thank you the patron, who helped us figuring out how to do the plugs and cables right.

I feel satisfied with our project because there were at least 4 people who would not have come to the campus and the library without our event and we also fed a few dozen people. I hope thought that next time I will not forget to put out our “donations are kindly accepted” sign.

Thank you Susan Miller (pictured below, checking in on the tea), for bringing the bagels, the toaster, milk, her energy and much more for this community breakfast and making it happen.

Hope to see you all at our next breakfast on January 25, 2009.

Tomorrow is Election Day. I encourage all reads to participate in the democratic process and get out and vote.

The library doesn’t have too many books directly related to politics, beyond the Middle East region. The only book I found that relates to this topic within the US was titled “The uncivil university; Politics and propaganda in American education,” written by Gary A. Tobin, Aryeh K. Weinberg and Jenna Ferer. The book deals with how anti-Semitism is (still or again) present on American college campuses. A 31 page long executive summary (PDF) of the book is available from The Institute for Jewish and Community Research. Or you can just read the short official description to decide whether this is something you are interested in.

The American university is suffering from a moral crisis unseen since the great social upheavals of the 1960s. In the name of academic freedom, the core values of higher education—honest scholarship, unbiased research, and diversity of thought and person—have been corrupted by an academy more interested in preserving its privileges than in protecting its own integrity. Aided and enabled, sometimes unwittingly, by faculty, administrators, trustees, philanthropists, and even the government of the United States, the American university has lost its civility.

Nowhere is this loss more apparent than in the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism on college campuses. The UnCivil University, the first volume in the series, Politics & Propaganda in American Education, documents the alarming rise in bigotry and bullying in the academy. Using a range of evidence, from first-hand accounts of intimidation of students by anti-Israel professors to anti-Semitic articles in student newspapers and marginalization of pro-Israel scholars, The UnCivil University exposes the unspoken world of double standards, bureaucratic paralysis, and abdication of leadership that not only allows but often supports a vocal minority of extremists on campus.

The UnCivil University tells a cautionary tale for all readers, whatever their background, of how higher education, an institution so touted for its open-mindedness, has become a prime vehicle for politically motivated prejudice. With millions of students passing through American universities each year, an attack against some should be of concern to all.

Please vote tomorrow.

Please join us this Sunday for this month’s “breakfast @ the library.” We will have bagels, cream cheese, orange juice, tea and coffee for you. Not to mention new books and DVDs.