Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Amazon.com

This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for many reasons. For starters: it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the mentorship? Plus, we meet Morrie Schwartz--a one of a kind professor, whom the author describes as looking like a cross between a biblical prophet and Christmas elf. And finally we are privy to intimate moments of Morrie's final days as he lies dying from a terminal illness. Even on his deathbed, this twinkling-eyed mensch manages to teach us all about living robustly and fully. Kudos to author and acclaimed sports columnist Mitch Albom for telling this universally touching story with such grace and humility. --Gail Hudson

Book Description

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague.  Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder.  Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?

Mitch Albom had that second chance.  He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life.  Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college.  Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.

Customer Reviews:

Living till the Very End.......2007-10-20

The special thing about this book was that this was the first book my teenager niece ever read. And it made her cry again and again. This got me curious and I borrowed the book and read it slowly over a week or so. As my father had also passed on recently after an illness, the story had a personal relevance for me.

The book is written in extremely simple language, and there is very little complex philosophy here. The story (apparently real) is about an aged sociology professor who is told that he is about to die due to a terminal illness. This sets him thinking - and he decides to approach his death with dignity, openness and as an essential part of living. He also decides to continue living till the very end, continuing with his profession - teaching. His last months end up as a special lesson in real life for one of his favourite students.

The book is well-written and appeals to one at an emotional level. The progress of Prof. Morrie's passing on maintains one's interest in the story - there is no other complex plot. Death is a much more frightening prospect in West, than it is in the East. It is therefore easy to see the greatness of the teaching in this book. However, some of the extra lessons (embedded in the story) are laced with a kind of rejection of modern life - some people may find this annoying.

Reading the book has a slightly negative effect, as it focuses on death and describes many of the last moments in great, personal detail. However, this also had an interesting consequence.

It led me to pick up Deepak Chopra's 'Life After Death: The Burden of Proof' recently. I found this book to be much more healing and positive about death than 'Tuesdays with Morrie'. Where Morrie merely accepts his impending death, and tries to continue living till the end, Deepak Chopra shows an alternate approach - how to see death as a mere continuation of one's journey, may be with some extra benefits even. This is perhaps what Lord Jesus meant when he asked Judas to free him from the body that he found himself trapped in (The Gospel of Judas).

All in all, a good book.

Tuesdays With Morrie.......2007-10-10

This was an excellent book that I enjoyed reading. It really makes you think about life and everything you've ever done. It teaches you to love without consequence and to be who you've always wanted to be. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

A great read.......2007-09-24

This book was quick to read and has a powerful message. Should be on everyone's 'must read' list!

A story to open your heart.......2007-09-11

This is easily one of the most touching books I've read. Morrie's thoughts are those that I think all should read. The book is concise and is not overpowering in it's enlightenment. If you buy one book this year - buy this one. It will cause you to smile and laugh and cry and might just change your world.

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-10

Obviously this book doesn't need another review, but, for what it is worth, I liked it. It is a nice sentimental story, with some good advise and some believable people. Morrie was obviously a likable old man. I don't really agree with his philosophy entirely but my turn on that ride hasn't arrived yet. Maybe I'll change my tune when I get there. You really can't miss with this one.

Lone Stars of David: The Jews of Texas (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life)

Average customer rating:

Very Informative Book

Lone Stars of David: The Jews of Texas (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life)

Manufacturer: Brandeis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)
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Shimon Peres: The Biography
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The Way into the Varieties of Jewishness (The Way Into¹series)

ASIN: 1584656220

Book Description

Jewish life in the United States is too often told from an East Coast perspective. Lone Stars of David presents a different panorama, with narratives of Jews who ventured to Texas before the battle of the Alamo, who fought for the Confederacy, who herded cattle up the Chisholm Trail, who drilled for oil, and who forged Jewish communities far from New York's Lower East Side. These essays also describe how Texas Jews faced the Ku Klux Klan and how they respond today to Christian fundamentalism.

This anthology examines the famous, with a close-up look at Neiman-Marcus, the chain synonymous with remarkable luxuries. It profiles Zale jewelers, founded by a young immigrant who grew into an international business icon. Another essay opens a window to the Dell Computer Corporation, with the story of Michael Dell, the college dropout whose philanthropy changed the course of the Austin Jewish community.

Written by historians, journalists, and rabbis who have experienced Texas firsthand, these essays challenge stereotypes. One chapter discounts the impact of crypto-Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition for the New World. Another defies conventional wisdom about southern views toward Zionism. El Paso emerges as the unlikely home of a Holocaust museum. The book's essay on Jews in Texas politics analyzes the import of populist candidate Kinky Friedman and introduces Marjorie Arsht, a grassroots organizer whose living room was the setting for Republican George H. W. Bush's first foray into politics.

The Jewish population of Texas totals 131,000, a mere 0.6 percent of the state's residents, yet its impact has been widespread. This anthology explores the resiliency, diversity, and adaptability of Jews in the Lone Star State, a place with its own powerful sense of identity.

Customer Reviews:

Very Informative Book.......2007-10-17

This book is packed full of very interesting information. I saw it at a friends house and just had to have it. It is worth the purchase for this bit of history.

Average customer rating:

Falls a bit short
A Story To Sink Your Teeth Into
A fun read
Finding what makes you say YES
I love Brandeis' evocative prose, but ...

Self Storage: A Novel
Gayle Brandeis
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0345492609
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Book Description

Flan Parker has always had an inquisitive mind, searching for what’s hidden below the surface and behind the door. Her curious nature and enthusiastic probing have translated into a thriving resale business in the university housing complex where she lives with her husband and two young children. Flan’s venture helps pay the bills while her husband works on his dissertation, work that lately seems to involve more loafing on the sofa watching soap operas than reading or writing. The secret of her enterprising success: unique and everyday treasures bought from the auctions of forgotten and abandoned storage units.

When Flan secures the winning bid on a box filled only with an address and a note bearing the word “yes,” she sets out to discover the source of this mysterious message and its meaning. Armed with a well-worn copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass that she turns to for guidance and solace, Flan becomes determined to find the “yes” in her own life. This search inward only strengthens her desire to unearth the hidden stories of those around her–in particular, her burqa-clad Afghan neighbor. Flan’s interest in this intriguing and secretive woman, however, comes at a formidable price for Flan and her family.

Set during the year following the September 11 attacks, Self Storage explores the raw insecurities of a changed society. With lush writing, great humor, and a genuine heart, Gayle Brandeis takes a peek into the souls of a woman and a community–and reveals that it is not our differences that drive us apart but our willful concealment of the qualities that connect us.

Customer Reviews:

Falls a bit short.......2007-07-18

This novel did a good job of capturing the American climate in the post 9-11 world. The instant suspicions of the others living in the graduate housing due to their neighbors' obvious Afghan origins rang very true. It seems that after that tragic day merely being Arabic makes a person instantly suspect, much like merely being Japanese made people instantly suspect during World War II. Brandeis does a nice job of pointing out how quickly we resort to prejudice due to a sort of paranoia caused by a tragedy of such epic scale.

Some of the plotting, however, was a real stretch and some things were left rather unfinished. I would have liked to see more development of the relationship between the main character and her Afghani neighbor. I'm also not quite sure I bought the reconciliation between husband and wife at the end as it seems to me that their marital problems were far too deeply rooted for such swift resolution.

A Story To Sink Your Teeth Into.......2007-05-14

Gayle Brandeis writes wonderful books, and this one is no exception. Her characters are real and quirky and honest, and her themes are always large. Self Storage is a novel of self-discovery, a perfect novel for the times, and I recommend it to all.

A fun read.......2007-04-29

Aside from the "say yes" and the social commentaries that others are trying to make about Self Storage, I just found it to be a fun read. I didn't find it life changing, and I didn't want to run out and say "yes". It filled my afternoon. I liked the honesty of Flan's character, and was a bit puzzled by Shae's character, and wished I could have known more about her neighbor, and the ending left me a bit confused. But all in all, I love the writing and the quirkiness of the woman who found her treasures in Self Storage.

Finding what makes you say YES.......2007-04-05

Self Storage is about self exploration and discovering what makes you say YES to life. The story is layered on deeply flawed characters who don't know where their source of joy is, and is movingly woven together with lines from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself".

Gayle Brandeis' characters, and the world she has created, work their way through the book with purposeful discord that creates its own energy and draws the reader in. Sometimes feeling compassion for them, sometimes frustration, but always feeling them - and that makes these characters real.

This book is getting a lot of important coverage because it addresses racial discrimination, profiling, our hyper-security focused culture, and the need for people to realize we are all human beings and desperately need to move past our fear and discord and find what brings us all together and say YES to ourselves and the world we live in.

Self Storage is a delight to read, and I highly recommend it.

I love Brandeis' evocative prose, but ..........2007-04-03

Unfortunately, I could not get past the fact that I couldn't understand or like the protagonist, Flan, and I found her husband devoid of redeeming characteristics during the first half of the book (although he still failed to come together for me). So many things about these characters did not seem to add up to persons I wanted to keep reading about, and they did not seem to grow in ways that I could believe.

For example, it disturbed me greatly that Flan and Shae/Shake were so eager to blame the neighbor for an accident that they were at least equally responsible for. Yet despite blaming the neighbor and continuing to harbor many racist notions toward her, Flan was willing to go so far out on a limb for her ... why? And why did Flan's interest in her father seem to completely disappear from the day she checked his website until the end of the book?

I vacillated between savoring Gayle Brandeis' prose, as I had while reading her first book (which I adored), and wanting to rush through it quickly so I could stop spending time with these annoying characters and marginal parents. I was intrigued by the peripheral characters and found myself at times wishing the book were about them. (However, here too I might have been asking myself why otherwise intelligent and upfront people did not bother to level with Flan.)

It pains me to share these impressions, because I am so taken with Gayle Brandeis' work and her talent for the most part. And even here, I loved the beautifully woven tale, amazing prose, and exploration of issues that resonate with the reader. I excitedly await her future work.

Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman (Brandeis Series on Jewish Women)

Average customer rating:

a vanished world
Being Jewish in Iran? The Challenge Begins.
Personal memoir, Jewish & dhimmi in Iran
Disappointing and very unballanced
fantastic

Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman (Brandeis Series on Jewish Women)
Farideh Goldin
Manufacturer: Brandeis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1584654449

Book Description

Farideh Goldin was born to her fifteen-year-old mother in 1953 and into a Jewish community living in an increasingly hostile Islamic state--prerevolutionary Iran. This memoir is Goldin's passionate and painful account of her childhood in a poor Jewish household and her emigration to the United States in 1975.

As she recalls trips to the market and the mikvah, and as she evokes ritual celebrations like weddings, Goldin chronicles her childhood, her extended family, and the lives of the women in her community in Shiraz, a southern Iranian city. Her memoir details her parents' "courtship" (her father selected her mother from a group of adolescent girls), her mother's lonely life as a child-bride, and Goldin's childhood home which was presided over by her paternal grandmother.

Goldin's memoir conveys not just the personal trauma of growing up in a family fraught with discord but also the tragic human costs of religious dogmatism. In Goldin's experience, Jewish fundamentalism was intensified by an Islamic context. Although the Muslims were antagonistic to Jews, their views on women's roles and their treatment of women influenced the attitude and practices of some Iranian Jews.
In this brave and dispassionate portrayal of a little-known corner of Jewish life, Farideh Goldin confronts profound sadness yet captures the joys of a child's wonder as she savors the scenes and textures and scents of Jewish Iran. Readers share her youthful adventures and dangers, coming to understand how such experiences shape her choice.

Customer Reviews:

a vanished world.......2007-03-28

this is an excellent novel, well written and not only a good story but a fascinating glimpse into a world that no longer exists. Interspersed with wonderful insights into the systematic and awful oppression of young girls are glimpses into the everyday life of a culture within a culture, food, customs, clothes, songs and so on but within a world vulnerable to the surrounding and increasingly hostile, racist, ignorant anti semitism of the Iranian islamic community.
i will read it agin soon

Being Jewish in Iran? The Challenge Begins........2007-03-06

Of all things, how would you like to be a Jew in Iran? The young girl was an outcast in her own family, as the only daughter with her brothers being the favorites. She cherished her friendships, which she enjoyed until she realized she was "different." Gradually, as things worsened in Iran, the Jews were being victimized in the schools and in the communities. Most Jews didn't consider going to Israel as an option because Iran was their home, the language, the Iranian customs, etc., were what they had grown up with. This is a very different look at the situation. I've read many Iranian books and enjoyed the different twist.

Personal memoir, Jewish & dhimmi in Iran.......2007-01-17

While this may not match others' memories of Iran during Ms. Goldein's period, this is a very honest *memoir* of growing up female, jewish, and dhimmi in Iran. We glimpse a country that has remained relatively the same for centuries-- for good and for bad. We see that islamic countries ghettoize their non-muslim minorities, just as in the West. We see a more deeply entrenched patriarchal society that does not see the individual-- of either sex, as important as the community.

But also a book of families that endure, despite outside and internal pressures. We see also that the strength of an individual can overcome these old pressures and gain a measure of acceptance in the process.

Wonderful book on so many levels!

Disappointing and very unballanced.......2007-01-04

As an Iranian-Jew who grow up in Tehran and was exposed to many points the book raised, I was surprised and disappointed at how this Memoirs painted such a negative and gloomy picture of Jews in Iran. As I remember it during Shah's regime, Jews were a key group of minorities in raising the economic standard of the whole contry and themselves. Yes, there were also many Ghetto's and poor areas for Jews and all other minorities, but that was a SMALL part of the story, the bigger picture was much happier, ballanced and positive. The author failed to share that Iran in pre-revolution was a great place to live for ALL-- specially minorities!!

fantastic.......2006-10-15

I loved Roya Hakakian's Journey from the Land of No, so I ordered this book since the topic is similar. I enjoyed Goldin's book just as much. Although Goldin's writing is not as polished and professional as Hakakian, she lived in a far more backwards region of Iran, thus the story was even more incredible. I felt as if I were transported back in time by Goldin. I recommend this book to everyone.

Brandeis Modern Hebrew: Hebrew in Context

Average customer rating:

Awful as a Self Study Guide
Best Hebrew Learner Text Out There!
Very Poor

Brandeis Modern Hebrew: Hebrew in Context
Vardit Ringvald , Bonit Porath , Yaron Peleg , Esther Shorr , and Sara Hascal
Manufacturer: Brandeis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The New Bantam-Megiddo Hebrew & English Dictionary (Bantam Foreign Language Dictionaries)

ASIN: 1584653558

Customer Reviews:

Awful as a Self Study Guide.......2007-09-14

Perhaps this book is worthwhile if used in conjuction with a formal class, but if you're trying to learn Hebrew on your own, it is endlessly frustrating. It introduces words into reading exercises (for which there are no translations) that have either not been previsously defined or defined once 20 pages earlier. Time is wasted looking up words in the glossary in the back of the book. Moreover, vowels are not used after a word is introduced but before the word is truly learned. This gets particularly tricky when trying when a word is used in a differennt form, particularly with verbs.

Best Hebrew Learner Text Out There!.......2007-06-15

This book provides a step by step guide for learning Hebrew in a fun way. It is extremely well designed and planned, and was clearly written by someone who is an expert in foreign language instruction, and who also knows how to get learners excited about modern Hebrew. I recommend this book to anybody who wants to learn or teach Hebrew without any reservation. But it! You will learn a lot and fun discovering Israeli culture and Judaism too.

Very Poor.......2005-02-24

This is terrible. As previously noted, the book will fall to pieces within a month, so it doesn't even matter much if your copy is one of many which were printed with the spine on the left, as at least one batch has been. The vocabulary in the text is sometimes repeated at the chapter summaries, sometimes absent. The book contains a Hebrew-English glossary that contains about 70% of the vocabulary used, and there is no English-Hebrew glossary. Grammer rules are explained poorly, and there are virtually no redeeming characteristics that warrent a "real" edition. This textbook is wracked with typographical and conceptual errors, and the "pilot" edition should be a testament to its failure.

A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)

Average customer rating:

An outstanding study
Excellent Discussion of Current State of American Judaism
A great history book; ignore the hatchet Kirkus review

A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)
Jack Wertheimer
Manufacturer: Brandeis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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American Judaism: A History
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ASIN: 0874518482

Book Description

An analysis of contemporary American Judaism within the broader scope of American religious life.

Customer Reviews:

An outstanding study .......2005-02-16

Jack Wertheimer has been for years one of the most thoughtful and concerned writers about the condition of American Jewry. His understanding of the polarization in the community, and the damage done to by assimilation is based on his strong adherence to Jewish religious tradition. The fact however that one diagnoses correctly a certain problem does not mean that one can provide a solution. Wertheimer has at times suggested that instead of worrying about those Jews who show little concern about the tradition, the community direct its resources to strengthening those that do.
In any case reading this work will provide a true understanding of the basic sociological identity of the American Jewish community.

Excellent Discussion of Current State of American Judaism.......2001-12-28

Though currently JEW V. JEW is receiving all the attention in the press, Jack Wertheimer's A PEOPLE DIVIDED is probably a better account of the state of American Jewry today.

While JEW V. JEW imitates midrash in its telling of divisions among American Jews, A PEOPLE DIVIDED gives a more straightforward account and the historical perspective needed to make sense of the battles American Jews are now fighting among themselves. I read this over the summer of 2000, when I was relatively new to Judaism, and it proved an immeasurable help in understanding why the Jewish community is the way it is.

The only reason I don't give this book four stars is that Wertheimer occasionally lapses into his own (rather obvious) Conservative bias. Somehow, he seems to believe that the current wars have started because both Orthodoxy and Reform have branched off from the "true Judaism" represented by the Conservative Movement. Wertheimer also could have paid more attention to Reconstructionism, a branch of Judaism that, though it has some similarities to Reform, has its own internal philosophical battles.

All in all, though, A PEOPLE DIVIDED is an excellent introduction to its subject matter and a book I highly recommend.

A great history book; ignore the hatchet Kirkus review.......1997-12-17

In all respects, this is a wonderful study of American Jews. I urge people to study this volume carefully - and to ignore the hatchet book review from Kirkus. That review falsely claims that his study is "anchored in the 40's and 50's--boom years for the Conservative movement--there's a strong tilt toward his own denomination." This is wrong, and one wonders if they actually read the book. They also claim that "he fails to credit the Reform for initiating a Judaism for nonpracticing American Jews", which is the opposite of what Prof. Wertheimer writes. The biased Krikus review falsely claims that "he should have made the point that traditional Judaism is unchanged since the days of the Pharisees." This is nothing less than religious fundamentalism and propaganda, more suited to right wing Jewish or Christian fundamentalist tracts. Orthodox Judaism has changed a great deal since Pharasaic times, and indeed has changed very much since the 1600s, when halakhic change nearly came to an end after the publication of the Shulkhan Aruhkh. I urge any interested reader to obtain unbiased historical studies of the development of Judaism and Jewish law, such as works by Mendell Lewittes and Menachem Elon, who are respected in all quarters. Although they are Orthodox Jews, they are also objective historians. The rest of the Kirkus review on Prof. Wertheimer's fine book follows in the same angry (and factually wrong) tone, which betrays either a fanatic mindset or total ignorance of history. "A People Divided" is not a book for those who wish to deny history or objective facts, but rather is an objective study of the great challenges facing the American Jewish community today; As such it is directed towards those of any religious (or secular) background who have an open mind as well as a basic education.

Brandeis and the Progressive Constitution: Erie, the Judicial Power, and the Politics of the Federal Courts in Twentieth-Century America

Average customer rating:

Brandeis and the Progressive Constitution: Erie, the Judicial Power, and the Politics of the Federal Courts in Twentieth-Century America
Edward A. Purcell
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Lawyers & Judges | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court

ASIN: 0300078048

Book Description

This book examines both the constitutional jurisprudence of Supreme Court justice Louis D. Brandeis and one of his most famous and controversial opinions, Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938). This landmark decision led to a significant relocation of power from federal to state courts, and, says the author, it provides a window on the legal, political, and ideological battles over the federal courts in the New Deal era and after.

Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)

Average customer rating:

Fascinating and enlightening book
Discovering that you are Jewish
Judaism and Identity
Suddenly Jewish
The Writing Style Hampers The Effectiveness

Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)
Barbara Kessel
Manufacturer: Brandeis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism

ASIN: 1584656204

Book Description

One woman learned on the eve of her Roman Catholic wedding. One man as he was studying for the priesthood. Madeleine Albright famously learned from the Washington Post when she was named Secretary of State.

"What is it like to find out you are not who you thought you were?" asks Barbara Kessel in this compelling volume, based on interviews with over 160 people who were raised as non-Jews only to learn at some point in their lives that they are of Jewish descent. With humor, candor, and deep emotion, Kessel's subjects discuss the emotional upheaval of refashioning their self-image and, for many, coming to terms with deliberate deception on the part of parents and family. Responses to the discovery of a Jewish heritage ranged from outright rejection to wholehearted embrace.

For many, Kessel reports, the discovery of Jewish roots confirmed long-held suspicions or even, more mysteriously, conformed to a long-felt attraction toward Judaism. For some crypto-Jews in the southwest United States (descendants of Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition), the only clues to their heritage are certain practices and traditions handed down through the generations, whose significance may be long since lost. In Poland and other parts of eastern Europe, many Jews who were adopted as infants to save them from the Holocaust are now learning of their heritage through the deathbed confessions of their adoptive parents.

The varied responses of these disparate people to a similar experience, presented in their own words, offer compelling insights into the nature of self-knowledge. Whether they had always suspected or were taken by surprise, Kessel's respondents report that confirmation of their Jewish heritage affected their sense of self and of their place in the world in profound ways. Fascinating, poignant, and often very funny, Suddenly Jewish speaks to crucial issues of identity, selfhood, and spiritual community.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating and enlightening book.......2007-07-03

I couldn't put this book down. I had no idea how many people's Jewish background was hidden, for the sake of survival. I am sure there is more to know and I have the greatest respect for Barbara Kessel's work. I hope she writes more books. It is especially touching for me as I am Jewish.

Discovering that you are Jewish .......2005-05-10

Barbara Kessel tells the story of one- hundred and sixty people she interviewed who ' discovered' their Jewishness. There are four categories, Crypto-Jews ( Sephardic Jews descendant from those driven from Spain during the Inquistion) hidden children( Children whose identity was disguised from them while they were hidden during the Holocaust) Survivors ( Children of Survivors of the Holocaust whose parents tried to hide their identity from them) and Adoptees.
As the Jewish people is a small people who has lost so many in history to persecution and assimilation there is a special sense of 'joy' at the return of those who could be conceived of as lost.
This is an important introductory work on an important subject.
One reader however wisely suggests another category of 'hidden Jews'. Those children of mixed marriages whose parents have raised them without any Jewish heritage or tradition. Certainly they present the largest number of those who might ' discover their identity' . Such discovery however in Jewish terms means more than saying 'Eureka' it involves a learning process by which the individual comes to understand Jewish teaching and law- and decides to practice it, and thus live Jewishly in a full way.

Judaism and Identity.......2003-10-12

Barbara Kessel has written an amazing book about individuals who are raised as Gentiles and discover their Jewish roots. She manages to weave many diverse interviews into her book, and manages to somehow connect all these smoothly. The result is a fascinating look at how individuals were told of their Jewish roots, and the wide range of reactions to this news.

The entire book revolves around questions of identity. What is it to be a Jew? Can you be "half-Jewish"? Is Judaism a religion, a race, a culture - or all of the above? What if you know you are Jewish but you lack the documentation to prove it - do you convert? Why do some latch on to the revelation that they're Jewish, while others shrug and say that it doesn't change anything for them? Can you ever really BE Jewish if you were raised with Christian theology - or will you always be playing "catch-up" with Jews who went to Hebrew school and have a lifetime of memories of holidays and bar/bat mitzvahs?

This book was such an enticing read, I could hardly put it down. However, the most fascinating chapter for me was the last, for in it the author discusses the possibility of "collective unconscious" - that a group-specific unconscious memory from the Jews present at Sinai is passed through generations as sort of a genetic memory. This phenomenon could be one possible explanation for why one who seems drawn to Judaism later learns he has Jewish roots. Or maybe there's another reason for these "coincidences."

Barbara Kessel has written a compelling book on Judaism and identity. I highly recommend this book for anyone - Jewish or not. I see that it would also be helpful for anyone undergoing a conversion to another religion or one who is grappling with questions of identity.

Suddenly Jewish.......2002-05-28

The author introduces you into the inner lives of the interviewees with mastery ease.They share with her and the reader their traumatic experiences,meanwhile you follow intensely their voyage to the discovery of their selves.I just couldn't stop reading it.These stories made me weep and smile.The book it's about self negation,self disconnection and justified and unjustifed fears on one side but also about self discovery,renewal and bravery on the other side.

The Writing Style Hampers The Effectiveness.......2002-02-27

I'll dare to be different with my opinion on Suddenly Jewish. I agree that its good that the accounts of these one hundred sixty cases were documented to show the effects of the long-term persecution of the Jews. Whether it was the Holocaust or the Spanish Inquision, the long terms effects on many Jews from a psychological point of view runs very deep. A few stories, particularly the one about the priest discovering his Jewish roots does stand out.

However, as much as I applaud documentation that details the persecution and torment the Jews have faced, the manner in which the stories just shoot out at you is annoying and difficult to comprehend and follow. I guess I would rather prefer it if Barbara Kessel documented more clearly and sucinctly a few of the accounts of these Suddenly Jewish people rather than providing brief snipets of 160 cases. The stories practically run into one another and it is difficult to interpret where one starts and one ends.

After a while many of the cases sound identical as there is little that is unique. Three of the sections deal mostly with the Holocaust. Don't get me wrong, we should never forget the Holocaust, but it would have been nice to have a little more depth about some of these people. How about a section discussing some issues that involve the Middle East? With Israel being surrounded by so many Arab nations, you wonder if there are some Jews in those countries who were raised gentile or otherwise.

Also, how about a section that illustrates cases of intermarriage which have nothing to do with a political event whre the children are brought up in a gentile home but later are curious as to the Jewish side of their family tree. Kessel most definitely should have organized the chapters of this book better to outline more situations of Gentile children discovering their Jewish roots.

Book Description

Originally written for Harper's Weekly and first published in book form in 1914, these essays provide an incisive analysis of the activities of the financial oligarchy, and its central element, the investment banker as revealed in the testimony and findings of the Pujo Committee. "Within the voluminous reform literature ... Brandeis' attack on the U.S financial structure ... stands out as among the most important." The Reprint Bulletin

Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)

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Jews in the Old South

Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)

Manufacturer: Brandeis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1584655895

Book Description

Jews have long been a presence in the American South, first arriving in the late seventeenth century as part of exploratory voyages from Europe to the New World. Two of the nation's earliest Jewish communities were founded in Savannah in 1733 and Charleston in 1749. By 1800, more Jews lived in Charleston than in New York City. Today, Jews comprise less than one half of one percent of the southern population but provide critical sustenance and support for their communities.

Nonetheless, southern Jews have perplexed scholars. For more than a century, historians have wrestled with various questions. Why study southern Jewish history? What is the southern Jewish experience? Is southern Jewish culture distinctive from that of other regions of the country, and if so, why?

Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History addresses these questions through the voices of a new generation of scholars of the Jewish South. Each of this book's thirteen chapters reflects a response with particular attention paid to new studies on women and gender; black/Jewish relations and the role of race, politics, and economic life; popular and material culture; and the changes wrought by industrialization and urbanization in the twentieth century. Essays address historical issues from the colonial era to the present and in every region of the South. Topics include assimilation and American Jewish identity, southern Jewish women writers, the Jewish Confederacy, Jewish peddlers, southern Jewish racial identity, black/Jewish relations, demographic change, the rise of American Reform Judaism, and Jews in southern literature.

Customer Reviews:

Jews in the Old South.......2007-03-08

A wonderful account of the long and proud history of Jewish families in the Old South, going back to pre-Revolutionary days. Jews fought in the American Revolution, played a prominent role in the Confederacy and its armed forces, and were Southern through and through. I especially appreciated the stories about my family, the Moses' of Georgia and South Carolina.

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