The final book in this series is Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. This book is absolutely outstanding and I cannot say enough good things about it, but it is complex and looooong. I learned so much from it that I have to split this post into five separate ones to prevent it from being too long to digest. Each day this week, we will tackle one of the topics below. All bold and underlining is mine. All of Rabbi Sacks’ words are in italics.
Politicized religious extremism in the 21st century has caught the West unprotected and unprepared. How did we get here?
In the 17th century, we had the secularization of knowledge in form of science and philosophy. In the 18th century, we had the separation of church and state and the secularization of power with the American and French Revolutions. The 19th century saw the secularization of culture and the 20th brought about the secularization of morality (one may only intervene if to prevent harm to others).
“The 17th century was the dawn of an age of secularization. The 21st century will be the start of an age of desecularization.”
Why?
Religion is better adapted to a world of global instantaneous communication than are nation states and existing political institutions.
The failure of Western societies after WWII to address the human need for identity, meaning, direction, moral and spiritual life.
Demography and birth rates of ethnic minority populations.
The traditional role of ethics has been replaced by the sanctity of the individual, by autonomy, rights, and choice. And what to do about morality? Just don’t think about it too much!
“What the secularists forgot is that Homo sapiens is the meaning-seeking animal. If there is one thing the great institutions of the modern world do not do, it is to provide meaning.
“Science tells us how but not why. Technology gives us power but cannot guide us as to how to use that power. The market gives us choices but leaves us uninstructed as to how to make those choices. The liberal democratic state gives us freedom to live as we choose but on principle refuses to guide us as to how to choose.
“Science, technology, the free market and the liberal democratic state have enabled us to reach unprecedented achievements in knowledge, freedom, life expectancy and affluence. They are among the greatest achievements of human civilization and are to be defended and cherished. But they do not and cannot answer the three questions every reflective individual will ask at some time in his or her life: Who am I? Why am I here? How then shall I live? These are questions to which the answer is prescriptive not descriptive, substantive not procedural. The result is that the twenty-first century has left us with a maximum of choice and a minimum of meaning.“
Rabbi Sacks likens the current world situation to the war in France between 1562 and 1598 between the Catholics and the Huguenots, followed by the Thirty Years War between 1618 and 1648.
The unrest began with a revolution in information technology – Gutenberg’s printing press.
“Many inventions have changed the world, but when there is a change in the way we record and transmit information, the repercussions are more systemic, transforming institutions, cultures and even the way people think.“
Printing is to the Reformation as the Internet is to Radical political Islam.
So what ended those 17th century wars?
“Weapons win wars, but it takes ideas to win the peace. In the case of the seventeenth century the transformative ideas emerged from a series of outstanding thinkers, among them John Milton, Thomas Hobbes, Benedict Spinoza and John Locke. Their key principles were the social contract, the limits of state power, the doctrine of toleration, liberty of conscience and the concept of human rights.”
Then, movement was against the Catholic Church in favor of the secularization of various social domains. Today the revolution is against secularism… secular nationalism in the Middle East and secular culture of the West (seen as decadent, materialist).
Why is this happening now?
“The world is changing faster than at any time in history, and since change disorients, it leads to a sense of loss and fear that can turn rapidly into hate. Our world is awash with hate.”
“In the West we tend to have a vague sense of what is happening without always understanding why. That is because, since the eighteenth century, the West, through market economics and liberal democracy, has produced an historically unusual way of thinking and a distinctive personality type: the rational actor who makes decisions on the basis of individual choice and calculation of consequences. For the rational actor there is no problem that cannot be solved, no conflict that cannot be resolved… What rules in this universe is interests. Sometimes they are individual, at others collective, but interests are what are at stake. What is missing is identity.
“Identity is always a group phenomenon. It comes laden with history, memory, a sense of the past and its injustices, and a set of moral sensibilities that are inseparable from identity: loyalty, respect and reverence, the three virtues undermined by market economics, liberal democratic politics and the culture of individualism.
“As one who values market economics and liberal democratic politics, I fear that the West does not fully understand the power of the forces that oppose it. Passions are at play that run deeper and stronger than any calculation of interests. Reason alone will not win this particular battle. Nor will invocations of words like ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’. To some they sound like compelling ideals, but to others they are the problem against which they are fighting, not the solution they embrace.“
“In general, the West has suffered from the tendency to fight the last battle, not the next.” Our great behemoth of a nation is remarkably slow to change directions. Not only are we not ready… we are unprepared.
* * *
You can read from the beginning of this “Freedom under threat” series here.
“Lincoln dismissed the idea that a foreign power could stamp out American democracy. But there was another danger worth ruminating over: Americans themselves.”
Hate crimes. Antisemitism. Religious freedom. Free speech. Racial justice. Criminal justice reform. Education equity. Women’s equity. Voting rights. LGBTQ rights. Immigrant and refugee rights.
I must say here how dangerous I think it is that our country is stirring with internal conflict and anger like this. It’s obviously a sign of deeper issues (and hate-inspired acts are also — seeking someone to blame for our problems). Being so self-involved does not help us on a world stage, and in fact, I think it will accelerate our decline in power. We don’t see other countries losing lives and significant resources in Afghanistan and then tiptoeing out backwards so as not to anger the Taliban. We must focus on repairing the discontent within the U.S. if we are going to sustain our democracy. Powers like China and Russia are waiting for our stumbles, and there will be many more of them. Plus, we are better than this! This current devolvement into racism and political vitriol is not who we aspire to be! As someone who is focused on putting good energy into the world, it’s very frustrating to see. That’s my 2-cents for today.
The strongest aspect of Greenblatt’s book, in my opinion, is reflected in its title. The situation in America is much more dangerous than most people realize and we will see more of it if we don’t interrupt intolerance.
First, hate is global: “In Asia, invective directed at religious minorities—Muslims in India, the Rohingya in Myanmar, Shia in Pakistan—has led to despicable acts of violence. In Africa, displaced peoples have crossed borders seeking refuge from climate-spawned disasters or political unrest only to find themselves subject to racial violence. In the Middle East, long-standing religious hostility has exploded into systemic persecution and even armed conflict, with genocidal consequences for demographic and religious populations like the Yezidis in Syria, the Baha’is in Iran, and other minorities in the region.”
Recent genocides (despite “Never Again”): a million Tutsis in Rwanda, destruction of minority populations in the FSU under Stalin, the “ethnic cleansing” of Muslims in Bosnia during the 1990s, the slaughter of the Yezidi minority by ISIS in Syria.
What is causing this?“Social change and instability—political unrest, mass unemployment, the influx of refugees, pandemics, wars, and the like—can awaken and intensify this phenomenon. When humans feel desperate and uncertain and when dominant institutions and systems fail to deliver solutions, we become more vulnerable to insidious scapegoating and the leaders who peddle these theories. Seeking stability and a way to vent our emotions, we look to blame someone or something for our hardships.
“During the years leading up to the Great Recession, big business violated people’s trust, sending jobs overseas and holding down wages. trust in government plummeted to historic lows. Meanwhile, the increasing diversity of the American population heightened anxiety among some whites, raising the specter of a loss of economic and political power. Deepening economic inequality magnifies the tension, as does inadequate health care, excessive levels of personal debt, and stresses caused by once-in-a-century natural disasters that now occur every year.”
Powerful, wake-up moment #1: “Nobody would have thought that in America, the government would tear infants from the arms of their immigrant parents and ship them across the country or lock them up in camps or both. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. Nobody would have guessed that one day people would see brazen and violent attacks on innocent Jews in places like midtown Manhattan and downtown Los Angeles. And yet, that’s also exactly what happened.“
Wake-up moment #2: “Genocide Watch, an organization founded by Gregory Stanton, now a retired professor of Genocide Studies and Prevention at George Mason University, tracks genocide around the world, conceiving a society’s movement toward genocide as a ten-stage process that includes constituent processes such as the classification of certain groups as Others; the naming of these groups and designation of symbols attached to them; the pursuit of discrimination against targeted groups; the dehumanization of others by designating them “aliens,” “criminals,” or “terrorists”; the organization of armed forces that could carry out a genocide and/or takeover of society; the polarization of society; the planning of a coup d’état; the persecution of targeted groups; the extermination of members of these groups; and, throughout the other steps and after them, the denial of wrongdoing.
“As of this writing, Genocide Watch finds evidence for six of the ten stages in the United States, citing specific features such as the dehumanization of immigrants as rapists and robbers, the organization of white-supremacist groups, the polarization of Americans through racist and militarist propaganda, the spread of neo-Nazi conspiracy theories like QAnon, the development of a “leader” cult around Donald Trump, and the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election.”
#3: Professor of political science at University of California, San Diego, and an expert on civil wars, Barbara Walter observes that countries become more prone to civil wars when their political systems enter a middle zone between democracy and autocracy, combining elements of the two. Guess where the United States has been heading in recent years? Right into that middle zone, with the weakening of its democratic institutions.
“We potentially could see local white-supremacist militias in various regions of the United States target Jews, Blacks, and other minorities in an attempt to push them out and create mini-white-majority ethno-states. That scenario, although it might seem unlikely, is not implausible when you consider the sharpening rhetoric, the proliferation of firearms, and the precedents of recent terror attacks in the homeland. At the very least, Walter suggests, we can expect in the years ahead to see more support for extremists by an embattled white population.”
I didn’t know:
The “great replacement theory” came from the Balkans and, in particular, the idea of the Muslim population as usurpers of Serbians’ rightful place. Right-wing thinkers across the West explicitly reference the Serbian genocide as a model for them to follow.
White supremacists openly admire Islamic extremists and adopt their tactics, calling it “White Jihad.”
What should we do about this? Interrupt intolerance right away. Arm the general public so that all of us can mobilize to eliminate intolerance throughout society.
It’s truly important to interrupt intolerance at the moment when you see it happen and to do it intentionally and publicly. Asking for clarification can prompt speakers to stop and ponder what they’re saying without you having to point it out directly. Calling out hate in others has far more power when you have the courage to call it out among your own friends.
How do we reduce sectarianism and convince polarized Americans to engage with one another again? It’s simple: We must bring people together outside of their political and social media bubbles so they can rediscover their shared humanity and build trust. – via national service, dialogues, etc. (Greenblatt had a senior role in the Clinton and Obama White Houses overseeing domestic national-service programs.)
Congress should also pass legislation that mandates Holocaust education and genocide awareness in the classroom, trains community-based organizations in hate-crime prevention, implements restorative justice to rehabilitate perpetrators rather than simply punishing them, ensures adequate data collection about hate crimes, and so on.
Government should take steps to end social media’s facilitation of extremism. “These businesses indisputably have both the engineering and financial resources to neutralize the problem of hate and do it now.”
The US needs a drastic overhaul of Section 230. While the protection provided by this provision has yielded rich reservoirs of user-generated content on sites like Wikipedia and YouTube, it has also shielded companies from responsibility. We need a middle ground, upholding free expression while still managing the problem of online hate.
We should legally define cybercrimes like doxing (posting people’s personal information online to enable or encourage others to stalk or otherwise victimize them) and swatting (harassing people by calling authorities and falsely reporting an emergency, prompting police or others to arrive at their homes prepared to use lethal force).
Corporate America needs to get involved. Businesses have great influence on issues related to racism, discrimination, hate, and extremism.
The good news: “I believe the worst scenarios—full-scale genocide, a conflict that rivals the Civil War in its bloodiness, the permanent destruction of American democracy—are highly unlikely.”
My favorite quote from this book: “I don’t believe that the arc of the moral universe inexorably bends toward justice. We need to reach up, grab it with our bare hands, and bend it ourselves to create the change that we want, including movement toward a post-hate society.”
TAKE ACTION: Join thousands and add your name to this petition calling on the Biden Administration to create a task force dedicated to combating anti-Jewish hate in the U.S.
The United States will be minority white by 2045. Thus, due to a new-felt urgency and a shared goal across a variety of hate groups, the last several years has seen some new practices, such as seeking to undermine the government from within, forcing their ideas into the mainstream, and an obvious acceleration of violence.
Cynthia Miller-Idriss’ book, Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right, primarily addresses the “where” and “when” of far-right radicalization/growth. She also asks what fuels rising extremist violence, what new tactics groups are using, and informs the reader of newer global dimensions of extremism.
In addition to reading her book, I also watched Dr. Miller-Idriss on a webinar. She said that countries in the West experienced a 250-percent increase in white supremacist incidents between 2002 and 2019, 60 percent of which incidents happened in the US. You can watch the recording of her webinar here. She testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security recently as well about the rise in domestic radicalization and terrorism.
The purpose of her book is to educate people who will interact with hate groups and anyone who is a potential victim (so it’s for teachers, policy makers, parents). She explains the global dimensions of far-right extremism, how mainstreaming happens, and how far-right youth culture and the tactics and strategies of far-right groups and movements are evolving.
A few things I learned from her book:
The use of mainstreaming: clean look, clothing brands, “nationalist streetwear,” etc. Recruitment tools: YouTube talk shows and vlogs, clothing brands, music streaming services, and a neo-Nazi coffee company; making use of the powerful connection between food and identity
Code words: “14 words,” “88” standing for Heil Hitler, “snowflake” as pejorative for soft from Fight Club movie, new “multiculturalists” (separating and preserving racial uniqueness), “Globalists” is coded speech for Jews, “Nipsters” = Nazi hipsters, “Conspiracism” creates a moral map/heroism; being “red-pilled” comes from The Matrix, a red X in Twitter handles signaling being “shadow banned by elites”, the OK symbol, milk emoji (belief that white people can digest milk better than other ethnic and racial groups and celebrating dairy milk over soy milk, which is viewed by the far right as emasculating)
Theories: “The Great Replacement” conspiracy theory (international plan to replace white, Christian, European populations), “White Genocide” (immigration, abortion, violence against whites), and “Eurabia” (Muslims working to replace whites through immigration and high birthrates; fear of being subject to Sharia law and Islamic rule, conversion)
Acceleration, Destabilization, and Apocalyptic fantasies: Apocalyptic race war leading to new world order, restored white civilization; speed up polarization, use violence to undermine social stability/accelerate inevitable collapse and start anew
New spaces to encounter extremist ideas: commercial markets and cultural spaces, combat sports/MMA violent culture and language (brotherhood, heroism, discipline, combat training for civil war, obsession with the body and muscular aesthetic, domination). Financial implications: sponsorship of tournaments, merchandise stores, clothing brands, training camps.
How a climate of declining public trust, anti-intellectualism, and attacks on expertise has evolved into a major strategy; creation of new institutions to cultivate “expertise”
Internet regulation backfiring as users migrate to unregulated, alternative fringe platforms; algorithmic web searches creating “echo chambers”
Key quotations:
“The desire to establish a separate white territory or to restore a white homeland is at the root of far-right and white-supremacist extremists’ calls to end immigration, re-migrate ethnic minorities, and accelerate a race war in order to achieve rebirth and restoration of white civilization.”
“The emphasis on domination, muscularity, and physical intimidation means the MMA provides ideal sites for the construction of what scholars call “hegemonic masculinity,” a concept that explains how particular views about manhood and masculinity become culturally ideal, or “hegemonic,” during any given historical moment. MMA and combat-sports culture’s hypermasculine, muscular aesthetic, “straight edge” philosophy, and emphasis on an alternative lifestyle align well with far-right messaging about the need to resist mainstream society, the decadent left, and combat training for a coming civil war. Far-right obsessions with the body are critical here too, as cult-like obsessions with healthy living, with no drugs or alcohol and a regimented physical fitness regime, strengthen the military-like qualities of far-right ideals and evoke racialized notions of pure bodies.”
Reflections: I spent most of my time reading this book saying to myself, “they want to do what?” and “they think what?”
Restore a white homeland? How boring would that be? End immigration? How do these folks think they got here???
OK so I know what to look out for and how bad things are getting… what do we DO about it? For that, I read the next book in our series.
Laugh-out loud quotes:
“… boycotting tofu, which the far right presents as dangerous because of the potential for soy-based estrogen to emasculate young men.”
“In October 2019, the neo-Nazi podcasters Joseph Jordan and Mike Peinovich took on the “impossible burger”—a soy-based, vegetarian product from the Impossible Foods company, which now supplies products to fast-food outlets like Burger King and Red Robin. In their October 1, 2019, episode, Jordan and Peinovich argued that the soy burgers are part of a Jewish capitalist plot against white people and industrialized society, with the aim of reducing the United States ‘to the level of the Third World,”’where there will be a ‘mass of undifferentiated laborers that are eating soy burgers and riding around in little putt-putt cars.”’
“… a conspiracy theory promoted by Alex Jones that the government is using a ‘gay bomb’ designed by the Pentagon to turn people gay with chemicals.”
* * *
Missed the first post? You can read the introduction to this series here.
Attacks in New York, banning books about the Holocaust and slavery, taking away voting rights, more companies with anti-Israel bias, and on and on. People are attempting to erase events of the not-too-long-ago past from the pages of history books: slavery and Jim Crow laws, Native American relocation and elimination, redlining, etc.
We have experienced an increase in polarization across groups and in hate incidents in schools, college campuses, and public places across America. The number of hate groups is at an all-time high. There have been thousands of incidents of swastikas, nooses, white-supremacist fliers, and hate crimes reported across the country, from synagogue shootings to arson attacks on Black churches in the south.
WHY???
After Colleyville, I wanted to better understand the uptick in violence and what we should be doing about it. Last month I read Mark Oppenheimer’s book about Squirrel Hill and the Tree of Life shooting, which was excellent, but I didn’t find much about the underlying reason why that gunman hates immigrants.
I thought I understood the roots of far-right violence: Fear. Economic change. Perceived marginalization. New/social media. Belonging. Isolation. I have some amount of compassion for these issues, though they are leading to misguided action.
It turns out that did not understand even one tenth of the issue.
I’m almost finished reading three books about hate and I will share what I’ve learned.
From Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right by Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, I learned some new terminology and code words, various strategies being used to create polarization in society, especially in youth, and some conspiracy theories that made me laugh-out-loud. (Did you know that the government is turning people gay with chemical bombs???)
From ADL executive director Jonathan Greenblatt’s It Could Happen Here: Why America Is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable—And How We Can Stop It, which I just finished, I learned what warning signs were present in societies that led to genocide, about the lobbying and high-level meetings that ADL is having with companies to counteract the spread of hate, and about hate as a global phenomenon.
Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, is by far the best education I’ve gotten on how distorted thinking comes about. I am learning what social and psychological processes lead to violence in the name of God, the role of religion in society, and why antisemitism is not about Jews at all… it is “the first warning signal of a world order in danger of collapse.”
I will devote a separate post to each of these three books so I can share key points and eye-opening quotations from them.
Have you ever experienced a time when so many different sources start to coalesce into a single theme or idea? I’ve been experiencing that so much recently! The classes I am taking and some of the reading I’m doing have brought me closer to a spiritual understanding of my purpose and how we are all interconnected.
I’ve always been a seeker and I’ve always been curious. But having the time in the last few years to focus solely on my learning and personal growth has been a huge gift. It began with studying Mussar, which has been ongoing for 5+ years, in order to better understand my natural composition, how I manifest those tendencies in the world, and how to better tame any negative emotions and external behavior.
Because of this path of text study, friendships and conversations, and introspection, I’ve launched myself into learning more about Judaism – the Tanach, mishnah, history, mysticism, famous texts, the Talmud, and even learning Biblical Hebrew. I’ve taken a myriad of online classes and heard countless podcasts that have opened my eyes to how much more there is to know and to understand. I am just at the beginning and it’s wonderful. If I were to spend the next 50 years learning, it would not be enough but I would be so happy.
All of this has given me some confidence that I’m on the right path and has opened me to recognizing and accepting the many gifts in our world and in my life.
Rather than be frustrated with an inconvenient situation, I remember to look for the lesson I could be learning. It’s not an interminable grocery store line; it’s a miracle that there is a place with so much food and so many options!
Instead of counting how much longer until something is over, I use a different lens to see what blessings I might be taking for granted. Even raising my daughter, which has mostly been wonderful but still has its tough moments, I remember that being a parent is a gift and a privilege, that I am shaping an entire person who will go into the world and make her own contribution, and I can simply watch in wonder at this person that I in some small way helped to create. There are times that are slightly annoying, but if they were to be taken away from me, I would regret not appreciating those times too.
I spend most of my day alone, and yet I am far from lonely. I enjoy my teachers and fellow students. We can dive right into issues and topics that are meaningful. I enjoy facilitating Mussar and feeling the participants’ gratitude of my efforts as well as knowing I’m doing something small to help us all improve. I love listening to books and podcasts while I’m working on a diamond painting or driving to and from school. My head is full of ideas and thoughts that are complex and wondrous. I am usually in the middle of a number of books (hence, this post).
No, I don’t spend much time chatting on the phone or shopping or meeting friends for coffee, though I do that too sometimes. I feel busy and fulfilled. I’m just now settling down into the permission that this pandemic has given me to stay home, enjoy my hobbies and studies and family, and sink into the quiet.
January diamond paintings
It was a very productive month. My classes are going well and obviously I read a great deal…
The books I’ve read this month were hugely varied, though I enjoyed all of them. I hope you find one or two you might like to read.
Goodreads – I’ve challenged myself to read at least 80 books in 2022. I honestly do not anticipate another month with this many books read!
I just had to read this when I read the plot: Ten people survive a shipwreck and are stranded at sea and they take in a man who says he is the Lord. It’s a quick read and action-packed, but the lesson at the heart of the novel is what has stayed with me. I have been thinking about this book long after I finished it. It’s about suffering, faith, loss, and what makes a life well-lived.
“The power of misery is its long shadow. It darkens everything within view. But this orange raft and its hidden notebook? They were a jolt to that misery. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the idea that something—even a few pages of something—had endured a tragedy and crossed an ocean to find him. It had survived. And witnessing survival can make us believe in our own.”
I have been waiting for January 25, the publication date for this novel and for Fiona Davis’ new one, which I’m in the middle of now (it’s good!). Benedict tells the story of Rosalind Franklin, who discovered the molecular structure of DNA, the building blocks of life, but whose excellent research was used to further other men’s careers. I was disappointed with this book… she usually tells such great descriptive tales of women in history, and this one about the life of a female scientist who contributed so significantly to research and yet whose recognition was long-delayed should have been excellent in Benedict’s hands. Part One was engaging; Part Two was tedious; Part Three was too quick of a resolution. Not her usual work, I’m sorry to say.
“It is in these moments that I wonder—despite my love of and commitment to science—if I have chosen the right track… But then, I watch as these women ensure that their husbands and brothers are well served before they fill their own plates with food and keep constant watch on their needs as the dinner progresses. Even Mamie, who is a force in her political realm, seems to make herself small in the presence of these men—her voice, her opinions, her very being. I cannot lead this life of diminution, even if it is a noble, traditional existence in its way. I am a scientist, first and always, and I must carry on in its name for all of humankind.”
I listened to Mara Gad read her book on Audible because was coming to speak at our congregation and I wanted to see if I would like to attend. I appreciate her story and how she tells it with her whole heart, but I don’t know that it was anything uncommon, as she thinks she is. The second half of this book was about her helping her racist Aunt Netty into a home nearby, who was under conservatorship of the state. I didn’t find it very relevant to her story of accepting herself, though it was important to the kind of person she wants to be.
Interestingly, and more of the synchronicity I was talking about earlier, I just read that theAnti-Defamation League(ADL) is beginning a fellowship program called “Collaborative for Change” for Jews of color to combat hate through arts and education. It will be based on the idea that “antisemitism and racism overlap and intersect in ways that are uniquely harmful to Jews of Color” and will be led by Tema Smith, a biracial Jew of Ashkenazi and Caribbean-American descent, who was recently hired as ADL’s director of Jewish outreach and partnerships.
“I really do believe that we are all more alike than different, but I have always felt different; been seen as different… Being “othered” makes you extremely aware of the culture of sameness that, to me, is all around. It is the voice that dictates who is beautiful, what is fashionable, who is important, who can be successful. From the time I was a young girl through my 40’s, I used to pray I would wake up the next morning somehow different… a little more the same… a little less conspicuous. And yes, oftentimes that prayer included praying that I would wake up and be white. Than I would look just like all the Ashkenazi Jewish girls who populated the world around me.”
I can’t say I loved this one, but it held my attention. It’s a love story between two musicians, set in the Jazz Age in New York. If true, it’s nice to get some behind-the-scenes looks at shows and music of the time.
“What these people saw in George Gershwin was the personification of their dream – an immigrant son who had achieved wealth. American prosperity hammered in factories of tin pan alley riveted with Pittsburgh steel. The child of an alien ethnicity, who had not only mastered the techniques and fashions of European high culture, but who had helped reinterpret that culture, chipping away its pretensions for a rugged new world. Because he dared to be uniquely and truly American, without apology, he had earned the esteem of European composers and playgoers in London and Paris. What Kay observed in that multitude of faces and heard in those cheers was not merely pride, but hope. Hope for shared culture built on mutual respect.”
Amazing. The way King writes makes me want to read this again and again. I doled each story out, one per night, and I would be so excited to get to bed each night. The characters are real and tender and each of these stories hit my heart. Highly recommend.
“I don’t know how other people do it, not stay with the girl whose ankle socks made your stomach flip at age fourteen, whose wet hair smells like your past—the girl who was with you the very moment you were introduced to happiness.”
This was another audiobook. Levy is a rabbi in Los Angeles and the author of many books on my shelf. Her sweet and calming voice told me heartwarming stories of people she’s counseled about loss, hope, fear of death, marriage, and uniting intention with action. I can’t really say enough… I have so many pages marked with beautiful quotes!
“There is a kind of voice in your head. She’s always been there taking care of you and teaching you. She’s your soul, and she’s always showing you the way to your true calling and your holy destiny. Your soul has high and mighty powers to help you and lift you and change you. May you learn to hear her.”
“When we learn to take three steps back, we may be surprised by a breakthrough. We have the power to make room for something real, for something honest and immediate. We have the power to make room for welcoming an unexpected blessing…. When we practice taking three steps back, we may indeed find ourselves in a new place. We may see our souls standing before us full of strength and wisdom, ready to show us the way to a life of meaning and the fulfillment of our divine purpose.”
I read this for a class I am currently taking about beliefs and rituals in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Fairly basic, but since I don’t know enough about other traditions and histories, it was very practical and helpful. It covers rituals and lifecycle events like birth, marriage, sickness, healing, and death.
Having lived in Squirrel Hill and walked the streets and places described, this was so real for me to read. I had to read it after Colleyville, and it had been sitting on my kindle for quite awhile. I know some of the people mentioned and certainly know the streets and buildings. Oppenheimer tells the story of the shooting from many perspectives and the life stories of those involved. But primarily, this is a book about how the neighborhood healed. Oppenheimer wondered if Squirrel Hill (with its many ethnic and religious groups living together, its deep roots, and the overwhelming support from the non-Jewish community) could be a model for other communities of resilience and strength in adversity. Highly recommend.
“Just as the shooting was an event unique in the annals of American Jewish history, the affected neighborhood was unique, too, and thus presented the perfect opportunity to look for answers to some very interesting questions. This was a neighborhood of joiners. Would it help people’s recovery that the victims, many of their relatives, and those who survived the attack all belonged to houses of worship? What about faith in God, for those who had it? And what about the neighborhood’s longevity—how much did it matter that Jews had been here for a century, and that many of these Jews today were third- or fourth-generation residents?”
“But this book is about the people who stopped what they were doing, then did something different, at least for a time. Their response to a uniquely bloody slaughter of Jews transcended religion, ethnicity, and family ties; it teaches us something about the power of proximity, how the streets we walk affect how we treat each other. This book is about people who cared about this shooting, in particular those who faced it together, because they had no choice, because they were neighbors.”
I listened to this audiobook on Libro.fm as a respite from some other serious books I’m reading. It’s a delightful romance and self-discovery story of an English woman who is an art student in 1920s Paris.
“Most of us spend our whole lives with our heads down walking in circles. It never occurs to us to want anything more so we cling to what’s safe, what we know.”
I think I saw this in an Indie Next advertisement and it sounded fun. Author gets his big break and his editor is none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. His novel is autobiographical; he has a blocked relationship with his mother and their relationship feels like it’s on hold. There’s forgiveness, growth, and reconciliation. Pretty good. 3 stars.
“And just like that, I’ve completed the slow climb to the top of a roller coaster. I’m about to experience the first drop and people all around me are clutching their hats and sunglasses and screaming in both fear and exhilaration and my mouth is open to scream as well, but no sound comes out. The feeling is so intense I have to look down to make sure my chair hasn’t collapsed again.”
“I think we ache for the certainty of our past, perhaps, more so than the goodness of it. Writers open themselves to many perspectives, they put themselves in their characters’ shoes. It muddies your image of things. Much easier to see the past through a single lens, but it’s never the whole story, is it.”
I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about… #1 indie pick, Book of the Year finalist, etc. I don’t even know how to describe the plot. A woman from a small life 1700s France makes a Faustian deal to live forever, except she cannot be remembered or leave a trace. Also, in 1990s New York, a man who is heartbroken makes a deal for a short life, but everyone will absolutely love him. They meet, and it’s an amazing love story. And the writing… ah. Beautiful. There are many, many quotes and I chose this one at random. If you called me while I was reading this book, apologies for not answering the phone. Highly recommend listening to it as an audiobook.
“I don’t understand. Why end their lives as they are reaching their peak?” He looks at her. “They made their deal. They knew the cost.” “Why would anyone trade a lifetime of talent for a few years of glory?” Luke’s smile darkens. “Because time is cruel to all and crueler still to artists. Because vision weakens and voices wither and talent fades.” He leans close, twists a lock of her hair around one finger. Because happiness is brief and history is lasting and in the end,” he says, “everyone wants to be remembered.” The words are a knife, cutting swift and deep.
One woman’s future told in a parallel-universe alternative structure. Does she remain with her long-time partner or leave to marry another? OMG I could not wait for this looooong book to end! I do not recommend. Interesting idea, but way overplayed.
“Lovers communicate not inside sentences, but between them. Passion lurks within interstice. It is grouting rather than bricks.”
“Desire was its own reward, and a rarer luxury than you’d think. You could sometimes buy what you wanted; you could never buy wanting it. While it might be possible to squelch a desire, to turn from it, the process didn’t seem to work in reverse; that is, you couldn’t make yourself yearn for something when you plain didn’t. It was the wanting that Irina wanted. She longed to long; she pined to pine.”
I’ve learned some great facts from this little book. My family may be sick of hearing about it! Its short chapters about what it’s like to be a bird in comparison to being human just fascinated me. For example: 1) Birds can navigate by the stars, by tracking the sun’s movements and position, by ultra-low-frequency sounds, and even by using smell. 2) Birds lose 10 percent of their body weight overnight… If you “ate like a bird” you might eat more than twenty-five large pizzas each day. 3) Birds have the ability to restore damaged hearing by growing new hair cells inside their ear, something humans cannot do.
“Birds generally have excellent eyesight, and one of the ways they surpass human vision is in their field of view—the spread of their surroundings that can be seen simultaneously. Human eyes are positioned to focus together on a single point, and if we hold still we can see about half of our surroundings (although we only see detail in one tiny point at the center of our vision). The snipe, like many other sandpipers and ducks, can see the entire 360 degrees around, and a full 180 degrees overhead, all at the same time. And instead of seeing a small area in fine detail, they see detail in a wide horizontal band in each eye. Imagine being able to see the entire sky and horizon, and some detail along most of the horizon, without turning your head.”
I love Jeopardy and I have always wanted to know more about its host of 37 years. Plus I miss him. Trebek says in his Introduction that he’s “never seen himself as anything special” and that he decided to write the book after he received so many heartfelt, supportive well-wishes after he announced his diagnosis with Stage IV pancreatic cancer and wanted to respond to so many caring people. “Like most people, I want to be liked. And I want them to know a little bit more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year… This is not going to be a standard memoir. We’re just hitting the highlights – a series of quick look-ins… What is he like? What has he done? How did he screw up? Things like that. Except for contributing the occasional Jeopardy clue, I’m not a writer and I especially do not feel comfortable writing about myself…”
I’ve had this book on my kindle for awhile now, but I saw that Chirp had a great deal on the audiobook and I am so glad I listened to the narrative. Trebek reads some chapters, but the bulk of the audiobook is read with perfect humor and inflection by Ken Jennings, long-time champion that I love (I’ve read his 2 books.) They have a little back and forth at a couple of places too. I so enjoyed learning more about where Trebek grew up, what his parents were like, the trouble he repeatedly got himself into as a kid, his love of cars and tools and Sinatra, and how he found his career in radio/tv. He has done a lot of charitable work in Africa. His favorite animal is the musk ox. He loves silliness. It’s a quick read and quite enjoyable. I admit I teared up at the very end.
I have a few other quotations to share in a separate post, but this one cracks me up:
“For years, my breakfast of choice was a Snickers and a Diet Coke. Then my doctor lectured me about changing it. So now, it’s a Kit Kat and a Diet Pepsi.”
Vargas’ mother put him on a plane in the Philippines when he was 12 years old. He came to America to live with his grandparents, legal citizens of America. After he discovers that he is not a citizen, he feels unsettled, not sure where or how he fits in. He has some generous supporters that help him through school and in his first journalism jobs and he quickly rises to prominence in the media and political news. The overall theme of this book is about how one must hide from the government while still paying taxes, what it’s like to not belong when you feel like you do, and that there is not a path to legal citizenship for these millions of people. Vargas helped start the nonprofit “Define American” to focus on changing the culture in which immigrants are seen. Check it out!
“With some notable exceptions… the mainstream media’s coverage of immigration is lackluster at best and irresponsible at worst, promoting and sustaining stereotypes while spreading misinformation. Television is the worst culprit. Facts often take a back seat to what this or that political figure has to say about immigrants. Context is the invisible ghost that haunts many tv segments, radio hits, and news articles. Most journalists and media influencers… do not know basic information about immigration or how the system works… or doesn’t.”
“Race was a tangible torturous black or white thing in a country where conversations about how you identify and who you represent largely fall into two extremes. Non-black, non-white people have to figure out which side they fell on and to which degree. In my early formative days in America, while observing my classmates and watching tv and movies, I learned that race was as much about behavior, perceived behavior, expected behavior, as it was about physicality…”
Next month:
The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
Honey from the Rock: An Easy Introduction to Jewish Mysticism by Lawrence Kushner
It Could Happen Here: Why America is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable – and How We Can Stop It by Jonathan Greenblatt
Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right by Cynthia Miller-Idriss
Does anyone even remember me anymore? I know I have been terrible about this. This post was initially entitled “Summer Reading.” Ha!
In the interest of getting this published, I’m putting just simple descriptions. No pictures; no excerpts; no links unless I’d already put them.
There were a few months during summer and early fall that I wasn’t reading much, but I’ve picked up my speed lately. I hope this is still good info for some of you.
2020 vs. 2021
My year-long total is 80 books! In 2020, I also read 80 books, but given there were a few non-reading months this year, I’d say I did ok. I also mostly read Fiction, which was a reversal from last year.
2020 SUMMARY: Fiction: 31 Nonfiction: 49 Total read: 80 books
2021 SUMMARY: Fiction: 51 Nonfiction: 29 Total read: 80 books
Latest reads
The Reading List: A Novel by Sara Nisha Adams
Cool concept… one list of 6 books and how they impact two primary characters and a few others. All about connections between people and surprisingly tender.
One Hundred Names by Cecilia Ahern
Sort of a mystery investigation to solve, uncovering people’s stories. 4 stars.
“Every single ordinary person has an extraordinary story. We might all think that we are unremarkable, that our lives are boring, just because we aren’t doing ground-breaking things or making headlines or winning awards. But the truth is we all do something that is fascinating, that is brave, that is something we should be proud of. Every day people do things that are not celebrated. That is what we should be writing about. The unsung heroes, the people that don’t believe they are heroes at all because they are just doing what they believe they have to do in their lives.’”
The Time of My Life by Cecilia Ahern
A real-live appointment with “Life,” who revamps most things about your current path. 3 stars.
“How else do you think life happens? A series of coincidences and occurrences have to happen somehow. Our lives all crash and collide and you think there’s no reason or rhyme to it? If there wasn’t any reason for it all, what would be the point? Why do you think anything happens at all? There is an outcome, repercussions and occurrences to everybody you meet and everything you say.”
Told from various points of view, with likable characters and an interesting story. Enchanting story about growing older, finding love, and truly living. 3 stars.
I enjoyed this story of a young woman who passes as white, becomes J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian for his private art and manuscripts collection, supports her family, falls in and out of love, and ultimately determines what she finds most meaningful. I consider any Marie Benedict novel a treat and read this one in short bits to make it last longer! 4 stars.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Brilliant. How Doerr kept up with the characters and time periods I’ll always admire. 4 stars.
Eighty Days to Elsewhere by kc dyer
Interesting concept for a story and I liked that the main character was determined to succeed but allowed for discovery and romance.
Bring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light by Helen Ellis
Humorous essays about empty nest years, but sort of obvious, which annoyed me. 2 stars.
Middle School Matters: The 10 Key Skills Kids Need… by Phyllis Fagell
Lots of physical, social, emotional, intellectual, moral change during this time. How parents teach kids how to make good choices, regulate emotions, etc. 4 stars.
Excellent essays on our current geologic age. 4 stars.
“I think it is also hard for us to confront human-caused climate change because the most privileged among us, the people who consume the most energy, can separate ourselves from the weather. I am certainly one such person. I am insulated from the weather by my house and its conditioned air. I eat strawberries in January. When it is raining, I can go inside. When it is dark, I can turn on lights. It is easy for me to feel like climate is mostly an outside phenomenon, whereas I am mostly an inside phenomenon. But that’s all a misconception. I am utterly, wholly dependent on what I imagine as the outside world. I am contingent upon it. For humans, there is ultimately no way out of the obligations and limitations of nature. We are nature. And so, like history, the climate is both something that happens to us and something we make.”
The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir by Michele Harper
Life lessons from an emergency room doctor. 4 stars.
“From childhood to now, I have been broken many times. I suspect most people have. In practicing the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi, one repairs broken pottery by filling in the cracks with gold, silver, or platinum. The choice to highlight the breaks with precious metals not only acknowledges them, but also pays tribute to the vessel that has been torn apart by the mutability of life. The previously broken object is considered more beautiful for its imperfections. In life, too, even greater brilliance can be found after the mending.”
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Girl and Boy best friends who fell in love and think they ruined everything. I felt their emotions while reading. 4 stars.
“I’ve put so much time and distance between myself and that lonely girl, and what does it matter? Here is a piece of my past, right in front of me, miles away from home. You can’t outrun yourself. Not your history, not your fears, not the parts of yourself you’re worried are wrong.”
Middle School Makeover by Michelle Icard
Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe by Laura Lynne Jackson
“The central principle of this book is that the universe brings the people, information, and events me most need into our paths. Powerful, guiding forces exist that steer us toward happier and more authentic lives.”
13 Little Blue Envelopes and The Last Little Blue Envelope – 2 YA Novels by Maureen Johnson
Listing these here because I read them by myself and really liked them! SG read them at school and I looked forward to catching up with her progress each day so we could talk about it.
Seed to Dust: A Gardener’s Story by Marc Kamer
I listened to audiobook and loved the poetry of the seasons, descriptions, and the self-awareness of the writer. 5 stars.
Out of the Depths by Israel Meir Lau
Former Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel has quite a life story, beginning in Buchenwald. Very impressive book. 5 stars.
“We achieve this peace not through the highest echelons of authority, but rather through personal contact between individuals and with humanitarian gestures. This is the true power of influence—when relationships between people encourage leaders to meet together and reach mutual understanding, friendship, and eventually, real and lasting peace.”
The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money by Ron Lieber
I’d read this before but it seemed much more on-topic now that SG is older so I listened to it again on audiobook. Great practical suggestions!
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
Really enjoyed this story set in a WWII London bookshop, probably because I like rags to riches-type adventures. And books about bookstores. 3 stars.
“The grappling with adulthood, in all of its beauties and losses, is remarkably universal. We are all accepting that there are things that will never be, just as we look around and acknowledge what is. That acknowledgment runs the gamut from a full-on embrace to wholehearted rejection. There’s also a shadow over our days of what’s to come—mortality hovers around our experience now, and an awareness that the days ahead of us may not be longer than the days behind. Forty feels like we’ve come to the top of the Ferris wheel: the view is dazzling, in no small part because we know how quickly the descent will go.”
Hell of a Book: A Novel by Jason Mott
Winner of the 2021 National Book Award. A Black author sets out on a book tour, encountering possibly his younger self along the way, and various memories. Excellent exploration of recent racism, police brutality, etc.
“Anything worthwhile takes time. Maybe that’s what time is for: to give meaning to the things we do; to create a context in which we can linger in something until, finally, we have given it something invaluable, something that we can never get back: time. And once we’ve invested the most precious commodity that we will ever have, it suddenly has meaning and importance. So maybe time is just how we measure meaning.”
The Peacock Emporium: A Novel by Jojo Moyes – I’d read this before as well but it was a fun audiobook to hear again.
Historical fiction of a woman who crosses the world because of an ill-decided marriage. Also interesting about the women who started up the first Kentucky mobile library during the US Depression. 3 stars.
Very helpful with transition to independent living, written by a camp director. 4 stars.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Weird but short read. Girl learns to do what’s best for herself, despite society’s expectations. 2 stars.
The Lost Apothecary – Sarah Penner
Quite predictable but a good story nonetheless. Current day woman with marriage issues finds a vial that belonged to someone who helped women kill their unfaithful husbands via poison. 2 stars.
Julia Quinn romances: 16 different audiobooks, including the entire Bridgerton series. Not my usual fare, but entertaining.
The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read this same plot… but I keep coming back to it! Woman inherits bookstore, overcomes struggles, makes friends and finds love. This one was surprisingly tender.
Park Avenue Summer – Renee Rosen
The Social Graces: A novel by Renée Rosen – Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt (new money) and Mrs. Caroline Astor’s (knickerbocker-old money) notorious battle for control of New York society during the Gilded Age. Really fun to read. 4 stars.
How To Get Away by Jon Staff & Pete Davis
Read this one at their “Getaway” cabins an hour from our house. All about pioneers of nature and why humans need much more time outside. They have a really cool vision of how to balance our lives.
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Amazing. Still thinking about the characters and their disappointing beginnings. 5 stars.
“Wouldn’t it have been wonderful, thought Woolly, if everybody’s life was like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Then no one person’s life would ever be an inconvenience to anyone else’s. It would just fit snugly in its very own, specially designed spot, and in so doing, would enable the whole intricate picture to become complete.”
This girl takes quite random positions for three months or so and meets some interesting people. She ultimately learns a great deal about herself. 2 stars.
“Nobody’s life was untouched by loneliness; it was just a question of whether or not you were able to accept that loneliness for what it was. Put another way, everyone was lonely, and it was up to them whether they chose to bury that loneliness through relationships with other people, and if so, of what sort of intensity and depth.”
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Wow wow wow. Such a great story with lots of interesting science but also friendship. Highly recommend.
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Female-related words and words from the lower-classes were omitted from the OED originally. Make it historical fiction and toss in some life lessons. 3 stars.
For school:
A Short History of the Jews by Michael Brenner: Excellent
Pirkei Avot: A Social Justice Commentary by Shmuly Yanklowitz: I’ve admired Rabbi Y for many years. This book is excellent descriptions of each mishnah.
Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts by Barry Holtz
YA Reads:
Out of My Heart by Sharon Draper: This is a YA novel and a sequel to Out of My Mind. Worth waiting for! We also read Room to Dream by Kelly Yang (sequel to Front Desk and Three Keys), the Cassandra Jones set, several by Jessica Brody, Leslie Margolis, and Rachel Vail.
Welcome and thank you for visiting! I’m Naomi – a mother, writer, creative soul, and avid reader. I aim to share my thoughts and ideas to inspire positive change that will help you live an authentic and caring life.
Poetic Aperture is for me and for you. I often write just to process the swirling activity inside, but I also hope to inspire COMPASSION, COURAGE, and WONDER in you and support you on your journey of elevating the everyday.
I am a rabbinical student at the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York. I am fortunate to have an amazing 15-year-old daughter and a supportive husband of 22 years.
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… reading in bed, candles, diving into a new project, learning something new, crisp crunchy leaves underfoot, hearing my daughter laugh, starting a new book, finishing a book, organizing, floating on my back in the pool and staring at the sky, writing, craft supplies, photography, poetry, a good massage, knowing smiles, singing along to the radio, getting things done, comfy bedding, hot chocolate, paying attention to the details, libraries and bookstores, campfires, astronomy, finding beauty in the everyday, impromptu road trips, quiet, journaling, learning about myself, waking up and reading in bed (preferably with coffee), home, interesting flowers, affection, Sleepytime tea, capturing a moment in time with my camera, true laughter, soft rain.
“There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.” ~ Michael Nolan
