Whew! December was a wonderful whirlwind. I just finished two big papers for classes and am about to enter my last Hebrew class of this term. In case you can’t tell by the books below, one class was in Diasporas and the other about Jewish views of the afterlife. I’m going to be enjoying family and friends until 2023 so I’m posting this early.
I wish you a happy holiday season and new year! 🙂
Here’s what I finished in December:
Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel
Baddiel argues that those who think of themselves as on the right side of history have often ignored the history of anti-Semitism. He outlines why and how, in a time of intensely heightened awareness of minorities, Jews don’t count as a real minority: and why they should.
An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba by Ruth Behar
A personal and photographic portrait of a community that many have seen though few have understood. This book is the first to show both the vitality and the heartbreak that lie behind the project of keeping alive the flame of Jewish memory in Cuba.
Diasporas in the Contemporary World by Milton J. Esman
This comprehensive new book seeks to explain why Diaspora communities are increasing as never before. In an accessible and engaging introduction to the field, Milton Esman looks closely at the difference in the reception of Diaspora communities throughout the world, and the responses of those communities to their new nations. By focusing on ten examples of contemporary Diasporas from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, the book describes and illustrates the problems confronting immigrant communities as they attempt to protect their inherited culture, while coping with the demands and the opportunities they encounter in their adopted country. The book pays particular attention to the types of conflicts that arise from the development of Diaspora communities, and the consequences that these conflicts can have on the international community.
The Death of Death by Neil Gillman
Gillman outlines the evolution of Jewish thought about bodily resurrection and spiritual immortality.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
The National Book Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The one book I read for fun! I enjoyed this on audiobook. From Modern Mrs. Darcy: “Damon Fields, known as Demon Copperhead for his red hair, grows up impoverished in the southern Appalachian mountains in Virginia. We first meet him at age 11 and then follow along as his mother becomes addicted to opioids, he goes through the foster care system, and later wrestles with substance abuse himself. Just as David Copperfield was an impassioned work of social activism, this examines the ravages in southwestern Virginia and how the people Demon loves and identifies with are oppressed by those who have power. It’s a big book and it’s worth every page.”Â
Black Jews in Africa and the Americas by Tudor Parfitt
Black Jews in Africa and the Americas tells the fascinating story of how the Ashanti, Tutsi, Igbo, Zulu, Beta Israel, Maasai, and many other African peoples came to think of themselves as descendants of the ancient tribes of Israel.
Jewish Views of the Afterlife by Simcha Paull Raphael
4000 years of Jewish thought on the afterlife by investigating pertinent sacred texts produced in each era. Thru a compilation of ideas found in the Bible, Apocrypha, rabbinic literature, medieval philosophy, medieval Midrash, Kabbalah & Hasidism, readers learn how Judaism conceived of the fate of the individual after death throughout history.
Home Lands: Portraits of the New Jewish Diaspora by Larry Tye
The Jewish world is being reshaped and revitalized. Tye tells the story of the new Jewish diaspora. Tye picked seven Jewish communities from Boston to Buenos Aires and Dusseldorf to Dnepropetrovsk deep in the Ukraine, and in each he zeroes in on a single family or congregation whose tale reflects the wider community’s history and current situation.
