Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

by Erika Dreifus on
1

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • As we marked what would have been Daniel Pearl’s 50th birthday this week, Heidi Kingstone reflected “on being a Jewish journalist in hostile lands.”
  • “Yeladim Books is interested in Jewish picture books, chapter books, and YA/Teen novels for a new digital collection to be launched this fall. It is interested in licensing existing titles, whether current or out of print, and also acquiring new books. If interested, please contact Ron Zevy at rz(at)tumblebooks(dot)com.” (via The Whole Megillah)
  • Eva L. Weiss’s post for The Jewish Week’s Well Versed blog makes me hope that an English translation of the first collection of short stories by Ethiopian-Israeli author Dalia Betolin-Sherman will be available soon.
  • Unfortunately, I have other plans already, but my fellow New Yorkers should take note of “The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of Sholem Aleichem,” a free panel discussion at YIVO that will take place next Thursday, October 17, and will feature a powerhouse intellectual trio: Jonathan Brent, Executive Director, YIVO; Jeremy Dauber, Columbia University; and Adam Kirsch, The New Republic (Moderator).
  • And, icymi, over on my other blog I’ve given a detailed account of my attendance last Saturday evening at an event spotlighting Israeli author Etgar Keret.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Whose Gen-X Judaism?

    by Erika Dreifus on
    5

    StarPeople are talking about “A Portrait of Jewish Americans: Findings from a Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. Jews.” I’ve tried to keep up with what they are saying, refraining, for the most part, from commenting. (There are many blessings that accompany having a full-time job; in my case, the luxury of focusing quickly, thoughtfully, and in writing on matters of great personal interest isn’t one of them.)

    So, over the past several days, I’ve read and listened to others. I’ve found myself agreeing with plenty that some commenters, including Rabbi David Wolpe and Jane Eisner, have had to say. But when I read Elissa Strauss’s “Give Us Our Gen-X Judaism,” disagreement—and a sense of depression—ensued.

    And this troubled me, not only because Strauss and I have had numerous agreeable exchanges in the past (even if we haven’t ever met face-to-face), but also because, unlike Wolpe or Eisner, I’m actually part of the cohort on whose behalf Strauss is ostensibly speaking, those “Gen Xers” who were born, as the Pew survey indicates, between 1965 and 1980. And “our” Gen-X Judaism, at least as outlined in Strauss’s post, is definitely not mine. (more…)

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    3

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • If you’ve wondered how to introduce Anne Frank’s story to kids, you might want to check out this interview with Jane Kohuth, author of Anne Frank’s Chestnut Tree.
  • I’m hoping to spend part of this weekend watching a recording of “Women in Religious Texts and Contexts: New Voices in the Biographical Novel,” featuring Anita Diamant, Rebecca Kanner, and Sherry Jones.
  • Harvey Freedenberg reviews David Laskin’s The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century.
  • Also instructive: David Horovitz’s conversation with Yossi Klein Halevi on the occasion of the latter’s Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation.
  • Learn more about author James Salter (né James Horowitz) in Rich Cohen’s Jewish Review of Books piece.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • From Tablet: a fascinating interview with Amos Oz.
  • The New York Times‘s Ethan Bronner finds “much to admire” in Yossi Klein Halevi’s Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation.”
  • 614, an e-zine from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, has published its annual books issue, with a focus this year on “five fiction favorites.”
  • Jewish Currents has announced the theme for the Second Annual Raynes Poetry Contest (“Union”).
  • “I was surprised to learn that while there are 1500 artist communities in the world, none of these artist colonies are Jewish.” Author Patricia Eszter Margit on “Art Kibbutz”, which she has founded.

    • Shabbat shalom!

    From My Bookshelf: The Memoirs of Vera Weizmann

    by Erika Dreifus on
    1
    Vera Weizmann
    Vera Weizmann

    Earlier this year I was lucky enough to participate in a seminar that gave me a better understanding of the history and philosophies (note the plural) behind Zionism. Through the class, I also developed a much deeper appreciation and respect for so many heroes in the story of Zionism, including Chaim Weizmann. And I heard (or read) enough about Dr. Weizmann’s wife, Vera (who was also “Dr. Weizmann” – which is especially impressive when one recalls that Vera was born in Russia in 1881!) to make me want to learn more about her.

    So, recently, I picked up a copy of The Impossible Takes Longer: The Memoirs of Vera Weizmann as told to David Tutaev. The book was published by Harper & Row in 1967, shortly after Vera Weizmann’s death.

    Frankly, I need (and want) to read it again. It is wonderfully detailed and I want to be sure that I caught everything. For now, though, I thought I’d simply share a few choice morsels from the memoir: (more…)