Words of the Week

by Erika Dreifus on
2

“So, my dear friends with flowers in your hands, yes let’s convene another peace gathering and I will be there with bells on. But before that let us be discerning and draw clear lines. All is not a wash of oneness, equivalencies, equalities. There are cancers that can not be cured by chanting. Conflicts that can not be quashed through diplomacy. Aggressive medicine can sometimes be the most compassionate treatment for the disease.”
Source: Chaya Lester, “Feeling ‘Peaced Off'” (Hevria)

“If you’ve decided to turn the American campus into a war front, well, à la guerre comme à la guerre. Expect to take casualties.”
Source: Martin Kramer, “Hero’s Welcome for Hater of Israel at MESA” (The Sandbox)

Pre-Shabbat Jewish Lit Links

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

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

  • The Jewish Week serves up its fall literary special section, with an emphasis on “the next wave of Russian-Jewish literature.”
  • “In the Schwarzwald,” a new poem by Lawrence Schimel.
  • From Tablet magazine: “Miriam Michelson, American Jewish Feminist Literary Star of the Western Frontier.”
  • “One author, raised in liberal Judaism’s bosom, has been quietly redefining what it means to be a Jew in the 21st century.” Batya Ungar-Sargon profiles Adam Kirsch for The Forward.
  • And the Fig Tree Books blog presents another roundup of links relating to American Jewish Experience in “AJE Around the Web.”

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Lee Mandel’s “Unlikely Warrior: A Pacifist Rabbi’s Journey from the Pulpit to Iwo Jima”

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    9781455619870Lee Mandel is another author I’ve come to know via our online interactions. I’m delighted to present his latest book–an important history you can learn more about here. And I have Lee’s permission to share his kind email message with you.

    Hi Erika- you probably know that you are a mentor to a lot of aspiring writers such as myself. I mentioned in the past that I frequently read your web postings. My new book, Unlikely Warrior: A Pacifist Rabbi’s Journey From the Pulpit to Iwo Jima, is due out late December (it’s been delayed from the original publication date of September 30). Last year I saved a file from your website “Advice for Writers: Six Ways to Publicize Your Jewish Book.” In it you mentioned that one of your first speaking engagements for Quiet Americans was at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History. Well, I followed your lead and contacted Mike Rugel at the museum and I’m pleased to say that I’ll be speaking there on March 8. I thank you so much for the advice! Although the book isn’t out yet, I’ve already given two talks and the response has been highly favorable. My publisher (Pelican Publishing Company in New Orleans) is arranging several more and they have contacted the World War II Museum in New Orleans. They are very interested in the book, especially given that the 70th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima is this coming February. Once again Erika, thanks for the guidance you provide to us all on your website!

    And thank you, Lee, for sharing the news of your book–and my small role in helping you help others get to know it.