November 2021 Jewish Book Carnival

Jewish Book Carnival Headquarters

I feel very privileged to be hosting this month's Jewish Book Carnival. I've received a great selection of links to blog posts about Jewish books. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since we're known as The People of The Book. 

The genre of Jewish Books has many subgenres fiction, biography, history, children's books and even poetry. Please click on the various reviews I've included to read them in their entirety and get to know the different contributing blogs. Contact carnival@jewishlibraries.org if you would like to host the Carnival on your blog. The December 2021 Jewish Book Carnival will be hosted by Mirta Ines Trupp . To participate, submit your blurb and link by December 11, 2021 to indieauthor4life@gmail.com and please include “Jewish Book Carnival” in the subject line. One link per participant is preferred.

Novelist Howard Jacobson is also quite the essayist; on My Machberet, Erika Dreifus spotlights his "Advice to a Jewish Freshman," recently published by Sapir Journal.

Chocolate and Talmud are featured in two new releases from Green Bean Books. Life Is Like a Library bakes boulou and reads the children's version of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. 

This month on gilagreenwrites, author Evonne Marzouk talks "everyday" prophets, what it's like to be an outsider in Jewish life, and inspirational fiction. Marzouk's book is reviewed here.

Mirta Ines Trupp's latest novel, Celestial Persuasion, receives highly coveted praise from the Historical Fiction Company. Read the editorial review here.

On Mockdown Jersey, Guest Blogger Bubby relates how the race theory of the Nazis is recreated today in reverse. The blog post includes a Yiddish poem about a burning town. Bubby also quotes from the book The Trial of Adolf Hitler by David King.

The Book of Life Podcast interviews E. Lockhart about her graphic novel Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero, featuring a Jewish teen superhero with enhanced canine superpowers and a Great Dane sidekick named Lebowitz.

The brand new Nice Jewish Books podcast from the Association of Jewish Libraries, hosted by librarian Sheryl Stahl, has an interview with Mary Marks, author of a quilting mystery series featuring Jewish protagonist Martha Rose.

On her blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah interviewed Moment magazine editor-in-chief Nadine Epstein about Epstein's new book, RBG's Brave and Brilliant Women: 33 Jewish Women to Inspire Everyone.

Tzivia in Adventures in MamaLand asks a good question: Are Jews an "underrepresented community" in children’s publishing?

The Association of Jewish Libraries blog announces that the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee is seeking new members.  

The Sydney Taylor Shmooze Mock Award Blog is happy to share November's posts, which include reviews of Jewish board books, picture books, middle grade books, and young adult books. 

Here on Shiloh Musings I reviewed Catherine Ehrlich's amazingly compelling biography about her grandmother, Irma's Passport: One Woman, Two World Wars, and a Legacy of Courage.

Last but not least, here's Ruti Eastman's Haikuchains That Kept Me Sane Through The Pandemic reviewed in haiku format on A Jewish Grandmother. 

Jewish Grandmothers
write haikus and shopping lists
gifts for the grandkids...

On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, Book Review

On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, by Dr. Ann Heberlein (Author), Alice Menzies (Translator) is a very readable book. I really must make a point of say that. I also have to admit that it is a much, much more interesting and compelling read than I had expected. I had feared it would be a heavy tome in weight and serious verbiage, but it's barely three hundred 300 pages including index and bibliography. And even more important, it's beautifully written and translated for ordinary people like myself. It doesn't read like an academic doctoral thesis. 

So before I tell you about Hannah Arendt as depicted in On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, I want to make it very clear that I highly recommend the book. Buy it for yourself and as gifts for others.

I must confess that besides Arendt's name being vaguely familiar, I knew absolutely nothing about her before reading this biography. Hannah Arendt was born 1906 in Germany and had to flee the Nazis as a young woman, already involved in academic life. At first she thought she could stay in Europe, but  was forced to finally make her way to New York. No doubt an adventurous suspense-filled movie could be made about that part of her life, which included finding her husband and mother after they had all been separated.

It's now the Passover Holiday, which celebrates the exodus from Egypt, though it is said that only one fifth of the Jewish People left with Moses and Aaron. It has always seemed so hard to believe. How could anyone prefer slavery? But, davka, Heberlein tells us that when Arendt and all the other prisoners had the opportunity to leave Camp Gurs, the internment camp in which she had been imprisoned, "only two hundred out of seven thousand" left when they had the opportunity. 

page 105

That's a lot less than one fifth. This fact in On Love and Tyranny is something I've been mentioning a lot when discussing the Haggadah and Passover. 

The prisoners seemed more afraid of freedom than they were of the approaching Nazis. Arendt was in a small minority. 

After trying to find refuge in Europe, she, her mother and husband fled to the United States. It wasn't an easy trip, but they finally arrived. In America they all had to learn a new language and build their careers from scratch. Yes, Hannah Arendt did the impossible and built a very successful life in America.

In  On Love and Tyranny: The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt, you will learn of her private life, husbands, lovers, philosophical controversies and more. Arendt was a most fascinating woman who survived very dangerous and challenging times.

Product details

• Publisher : Anansi International; Translation edition (January 5, 2021)
• Language : English
• Paperback : 272 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1487008112
• ISBN-13 : 978-1487008116

Travels With Sushi, A Fable, Genre: Harry Potter

I'm going to tell you the truth. I almost didn't take up the offer to accept Travels with Sushi in the Land of the Mind by Eduard Shyfrin for reviewing. It was described as a children's book that explained "maths and quantum physics" in a unique way. In all honesty, that's neither my specialty nor interest. I have grandchildren who are more talented and knowledgeable about sciences than me, so I had an ulterior motive for taking the book. As soon as I finish writing this book review, I'm going to find a way to pass it to them.

To my great enjoyment and utter surprise, I discovered that Travels with Sushi is much, much more than a children's "science book." It's a fable about the Jewish People, our enemies and the Bible. There's no way I'm wrong about this. Many of the characters have names and characteristics similar to biblical figures. Yes, it can't be an unintentional coincidence. In a addition, they play similar roles in both narratives.

Aaron and Stella, the brother-sister pair are the main characters. They love and eat sushi, but they don't eat it with shrimp. Hmm what does that make you think of? This Aaron, like the biblical one, partners up with a sibling. But instead of brother Moses, he works with sister Stella. Could the name Stella come from the biblical Esther? Maybe.

Travels with Sushi includes lots of magic, which should attract the Harry Potter fans. Aaron and Stella end up in a mysterious frightening, dangerous world after eating special sushi. There's a Supreme Ruler and a Book and the "good guys" being attacked; BTW they don't eat shrimp. Aaron and Stella must rescue them before their memories are stolen.

The reader follows Aaron and Stella around as they together and separately outsmart the Black Queen and the Mushi. The White Queen is the good one, and they're helped by other characters, including Josh and Valeb. Could they be modeled and named for Joshua and Caleb of biblical fame?

Pretty much locked down in my house because of the corona virus, I see streets, parks, playgrounds here in Shiloh are hauntingly empty. This short passage from Travels with Sushi was very apropos to what's going on around me.

I must say that I truly enjoyed reading  Travels with Sushi. For those of us attracted to character and plot, the physics and math don't stand out. It's suitable for older children, precocious younger readers and makes a great book to read to your children, too. I also recommend it for an EFL book report, so it'll be sent to my grandchildren, Gd willing.

Here's an interview with the author Eduard Shyfrin and the facebook page.

• Publisher: White Raven Publishing (October 3, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1912892154
• ISBN-13: 978-1912892150
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

PALESTINE POSTS, Book Review

PALESTINE POSTS: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE BIRTH OF ISRAEL By Daniel S. Chertoff is an amazing book. Chertoff found a collection of his father's correspondence written between 1947-1949 when Mordecai S. Chertoff (his father) was here witnessing the end of the British Mandate and the beginning of the State of Israel.

Mordecai Chertoff came to "Palestine" officially to study in Hebrew University but was quickly drafted to the staff of the English newspaper, The Palestine Post, now called The Jerusalem Post. In addition, he joined the Haganah, and later after the establishment of the State of Israel, he became a citizen and was subsequently drafted into the IDF.

The letters Daniel found were from his father to the family in America and letters sent to him from them. Besides the correspondence, Daniel had an incomplete memoir of the time, his father had once started writing. Besides all that, there are many of the articles Mordecai had written for the Post and other publications. Daniel's job was to weave these all together along with a historical narrative informative enough for those less knowledgeable to follow and not too simplistic for those who already know the history. He did a very good job. I can recommend the book to all.

I had a personal need to read the book very carefully. My Uncle Izzy, Israel Shanks "Red" Shankman, was also here in Palestine-Israel at the time. He was in the Palyam, the naval branch of the Palmach as high level crew, medic plus, on some of the ships that defied the British in an attempt to bring Jewish immigrants to safety. It's very possible that they had been acquainted, though my uncle isn't mentioned. My uncle also left Israel for New York, around the same time.

Mordecai's letters are invaluable in describing what life was like in Jerusalem during the long, difficult siege. There was rationing, since water and food were almost impossible to find. The only road Jews could take to Jerusalem, for deliveries of all sorts, went through enemy Arab territory. Attacks were frequent. It's amazing that people survived on such small quantities, but they did.

Due to Mordecai's status in the Haganah and Palestine Post, he got to Tel Aviv on occasion. He writes of the plentiful food and being able to leisurely bathe, both luxuries in Jerusalem. From his letters I discovered that there was a real lack of unity between Jerusalem and "Israel" in the early days of the state. One reason was that the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan Jerusalem was to be a separate entity, not part of Israel. And even after the 1949 ceasefire, travel from the coast to Jerusalem was difficult until Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Days War.

There was only one thing that mars the book. Daniel criticizes his father's words about Arabs fleeing the Jewish State, page 338. Nobody's reading PALESTINE POSTS to discover Daniel's 21st century PC opinions. If another edition is printed, I suggest deleting those comments.

PALESTINE POSTS is a very readable, well-written book. Daniel Chertoff succeeded with a very difficult task. This is a History book, Biography, family memoir and more. The fonts and print-size are easy on my elderly eyes. I highly recommend PALESTINE POSTS: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE BIRTH OF ISRAEL By Daniel S. Chertoff.

Nu? What's New in The Jewish Blog World?

Clouds but not much rain

It's winter here in Israel, though there hasn't been enough rain yet. Gd willing the rains will start soon. But considering that the sages say that Gd gives us the rains we deserve... No doubt the awful political situation is holding back the blessed rain.

Let's see what our intrepid bloggers are blogging about. If you have blogs to recommend, please let me know in the comments, thanks. As usual, I'm only listing titles, so click to see which blog and what's written. I'm only responsible for the contents of my own blogs, not the others here.

Enjoy, read, comment and share.

#ShidduchCrisis, Book Review
Rockets & Reads: The November Jewish Book Carnival
Hold the Phone

Just enough rain to sweeten
the oranges

Berkeley Professor’s Survey Findings Confirm Embarrassing Ignorance of Israel-Haters
Almah
Proposed Law: changes to the electoral process
Bibi's Not Perfect, But He's Not Corrupt
Indictable Offenses
Judaism starts with the Land of Israel, Parshat Lech Lecha 2019, Beyond The 4 Amot

Rosh Chodesh Kislev
this Friday, Women's Prayers,
Tel Shiloh, 8:30am

Dinner at Hatch Brewery, Great Beer and Wings
Israeli za'atar beer from the Nomads
Improving Safety and Traffic at Shiloh Junction
STARTING CPR QUICKLY SAVES TRUCK DRIVER
Overcoming Challenges in Jerusalem
Should I Or Shouldn't I?
The Trail Of Our Lives
Real life beyond the headlines
Progressive Democrats Get it Wrong About Israel, Again
The Rockefeller Archaeological museum
To every fruit, there is a season (with helpful seasonal Hebrew vocabulary!)
Daily Mail Corrects Tel Aviv Error
Wrapping in a Corporate Professional Office Environment: Part 2

I'd appreciate if you'd tell me which blog posts you enjoyed the most, and of course please recommend blogs I haven't included in this edition.

Dry Bones

Tevye in The Promised Land, Great Adventure

Last night I finally finished the first volume of Tzvi Fishman's Tevye trilogy, Tevye in The Promised Land, and I loved it! I have the following two volumes waiting for me to read, but I'm taking off time in between each one to write reviews.

Fishman's jam-packed historical novel is superb. Tevye in The Promised Land is an extremely well-written example of a very difficult literary genre. He manages to create both believable characters and place them in accurate and factual historical context. Tevye in The Promised Land is full of surprises and actual historical figures. And if you were wondering, Fishman's Tevye is based on the character invented by the famous Yiddish author Shalom Aleichem, which can be seen on stage and screen.

Especially since I had read and reviewed Rebels in the Holy Land, which is about the early history of Mazkeret Batya, I can really believe that so many things could happen to one family and the awful things about Baron de Rothschild's administrators. The early Zionist pioneers, even the least religiously observant, were true tzaddikim, holy Jews. They had to put up with and overcome difficulties that dwarf everything that modern olim, immigrants to Israel must deal with. And in modern olim, I include people like myself who made aliyah almost a half a century ago.

The early Zionist pioneers had to cope with and conquer difficulties that rival the greatest fictional adventure stories. First of all, traveling in those days was extremely dangerous and difficult. Today you can safely and routinely fly to Israel from places in less than a day. Over a hundred years ago, lovers of Zion had to trek by foot, horse-drawn carts, unreliable boats and more. The trip could take months or longer.

When the immigrant arrived, he/she wasn't always allowed in to the Holyland. Whether the ruling occupier was a Turk or British, they had the same agenda, STOP JEWS FROM ENTERING. Their sympathy was with the Arabs, who had no national aspirations, which was what the occupying powers liked.

Even when Jews, like Tevye and his family, managed to get permits to enter the Promised Land, that didn't promise them an easy time. Besides the utter poverty, there were illnesses, locusts, Arab terrorism, impossible regulations by the Baron's staff, land unfit for agriculture, continued antagonism from the occupiers, tension/competition between the religious and secular Jews and even more challenges. Fishman has Tevye and his family encounter and cope with them all. They also get to know and work with some of the greatest real life historical giants of the times, such as Rabbi Kook, Zeev Jabotinsky, Yosef Trumpeldor among others.

Before Tzvi Fishman's aliyah, move to Israel, he was a Hollywood screenwriter. And I must say that his Tevya saga is just perfect, not for a two hour movie, but for a long-running television series.

I highly recommend Tevye in The Promised Land. It's a book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Children will love it, too. If they are too young to read it themselves, it's the perfect book to read to your children or students. As you read it, you can supplement it with history of the time, if clarification is necessary. I've already started on volume 2 and the third is waiting for me.

• Paperback: 580 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1466220872
• ISBN-13: 978-1466220874

"East West Street," Book Review

Somehow East West Street: On the Origins of "Genocide" and "Crimes Against Humanity" by Philippe Sands became the book club selection for our next Book Club meeting. It differs from all the other books we've read, because it's non-fiction, rather than fiction.

I don't know who suggested it or how it was chosen. In all honesty I stay out of those discussions, except for trying to keep page numbers down. Yes, I'm the lazy member of the club and not very knowledgeable about the "better" books. I read lots of police detective mysteries like the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly or the Daniel Silva books. And I'll read corny books, too.

"East West Street" is a different kind of mystery or detective story. Sands researched the real participants in the Nuremberg Trials and the development of the case against the Nazis.

East West Street looks at the personal and intellectual evolution of the two men who simultaneously originated the ideas of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity,” both of whom, not knowing the other, studied at the same university with the same professors, in a city little known today that was a major cultural center of Europe, “the little Paris of Ukraine,” a city variously called Lemberg, Lwów, Lvov, or Lviv. It is also a spellbinding family memoir, as the author traces the mysterious story of his grandfather, as he maneuvered through Europe in the face of Nazi atrocities.

Those of us raised post-World War Two grew up with the concept of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” as major crimes, but apparently the terms are relatively new and were very controversial and questionable in the 1940s.

"East West Street" is a very complex spiderweb of research and narratives. I'm neither a historian, nor  all that knowledgeable about the Holocaust. For me, getting through the book was a challenge. It's not my kind of book. I'm glad that I didn't give up in the middle or even earlier. Believe me; I was tempted. Sands succeeded in building some amazing characters, and it's really exciting to realize that they were people, not fiction. A lawyer friend who read it only paid attention to the legalistic legal-philosophical aspect of the book. We talked about the book, and it was as if we had read two completely different books. He loved the book, while I thought I should get a prize just for finishing it.

It's hard to recommend it, but many people love it. It's just not my cup of tea, as the saying goes. One of the reasons I like being in the Book Club is that it pushes me to get out of my comfort zone.

Wonderful Aliyah Story, "From Big Whine to Big Grapes"

We bloggers do consider ourselves writers and journalists, but very few of us take the giant step into publishing actual books. Ruti (Mizrachi) Eastman has taken that great daring leap and published "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" not that long ago. It's a collection of blog posts supplemented by essays specially written for this book. Ruti blogs on two blogs, Ki Yachol Nuchal! and  Never Ruthless.

Ruti writes a lot about her and her family's aliyah, move to Israel. They came from the United States, and she's not shy about admitting that without the assistance of Nefesh B'Nefesh, they never could have afforded to make the move. At no point does Ruti ever complain. Ruti only sees the good. And good things do happen to the Eastman family, whether it's an amazingly helpful clerk, a ride in the middle of no-place to where they need to go or finding someone they know to lend them cash when the only nearby ATM is empty.

I have no doubt that one of the reasons that people are so nice to Ruti is that she greets them with a smile and is so friendly and upbeat. We do make our own luck. Ruti doesn't go into details, but she does mention that she and her husband chose to be Jewish. Yes, they are converts, and that whole story would no doubt make a very compelling book.

Because Ruti divided "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" into chapters of essays that are connected by content, there isn't a clear chronology to the narrative. It jumps around, which is both good and bad. For the reviewer, like myself, who needs to finish reading the entire book as quickly as possible, it got confusing at first. After reading a couple of chapters, I "got the rhythm." But I think that most readers will, davka, enjoy it, since you'll have the chance to savor various topics and choose what you're interested in, even skipping around the book and rereading when necessary. I'm sure that those dreaming of aliyah or actually planning it for real will really love "From Big Whine to Big Grapes." You can get some very good advice from reading it. And it's also a great book to give friends and relatives of olim, to make them feel better concerning the new lives chosen by their loved ones.  And even though my husband and I made aliyah decades before the Eastmans, I really enjoyed reading "From Big Whine to Big Grapes." Some things never change and others have changed enormously.

Those who claim that aliyah is too hard, frequently have money complaints. The Eastmans seem to to have made their Israeli life suit their finances and not attempt to reproduce their American life in Israel on an insufficient budget. They rent an apartment unit in a house and don't have a car. They are happy to be here in Israel and consider the "sacrifices" a good trade-off. The relations with the Hebrew-speaking landlords and hitchhiking adventures make great reading.

Ruti is still struggling to master the Hebrew language, which adds more humor to life here in Israel. Advice to potential olim, immigrants to Israel from Ruti, which I agree with completely, is to learn as much Hebrew as you can before you make aliyah.

You can purchase "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" from Amazon, Lulu, Book Depository or here in Israel, email rutimizrachi@gmail.com directly. Ruti has revealed that there's another book in the works, so stay tuned... I can't wait to read it.

I must confess that Ruti and I are friends. We have a lot of mutual friends, and we sometimes meet at IFL football games. But at the games we cheer for different teams. My son used to tackle her son, but now my son's opponent is Ruti's husband; they are both coaches. We both root for a fair and safe game, one without injured players. We want to see them play like "mensches." 

Ruti wants to "coach" me into writing a book (or books) from the material in my blogs. What do you think?

Jewish Book Carnival- February, 2018

This is my first turn at hosting the Jewish Book Carnival, which appears monthly. It's a collection of links to posts about Jewish books and Jewish Literature. In some cases the posts are book reviews of Jewish books, while others are about Jewish literature or authors.

A number of bloggers sent me links. Please visit, comment and share, thanks.

Over on My Machberet, Erika Dreifus routinely curates pre-Shabbat Jewish-lit links. Here's one recent post, which includes a link to Erika's own article on the AJL Fiction Award for Tablet magazine.

Heidi Rabinowitz interviews Antonio Iturbe, author of THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ. This book won the 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Teen Readers Category. Antonio Iturbe on the 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

New English Review has Jewish Memories and Visions: A Review of Two Books.

Deborah Kalb interviews a wide variety of authors on her blog, deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com. Here's a recent interview with Dara Horn about her new novel, ETERNAL LIFE.

SYLVIA ROUSS wrote Lessons I’ve Learned from 25 Years in Children’s Publishing.

Barbara Bietz blogs about Almost A Minyan by Lori Kline, including interviewing the author.

On Sasson Magazine, the new site for alt-frum writers and authors, Rivka Levy shares 10 tips on how authors can continue to enjoy writing even when they aren't earning a lot of money, or getting a lot of kudos for their work.

I reviewed the fictionalized history of Rabbi Akiva by Yochi Brandes, The Orchard.

I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in Jewish Literature or reviews Jewish books should get involved in this blog carnival.

The purposes of the Jewish Book Carnival are:

• To build community among bloggers who feature Jewish books on their blogs 
• To promote Jewish reading, and fields supporting this reading such as publishing and library services

For more information, email carnival@jewishlibraries.org. Those willing to host a Jewish Book Carnival can contact the above email address.

Next month's Jewish Book Carnival will be hosted by The Whole Megillah. Please send in your link and blurb to  barbarakrasner@att.net, with "Jewish Book Carnival" as the subject, by March 10, 2018, thanks.

Jewish Book Carnival, Soon to be Here

Since the old Jewish blog carnivals, Havel Havelim, Kosher Cooking Carnival and JPIX are now history, I finally volunteered to host the upcoming edition of the Jewish Book Carnival. The Jewish Book Carnival is coordinated/publicized on the Association of Jewish Libraries site. Take a look at the recent January edition on Erika Dreifus's blog .

It is a monthly blog carnival which highlights reviews of Jewish books from all over the world. I've been participating in it for many years, but never before have I volunteered to host.

If you've reviewed a Jewish book, whether newly published or not, in the past month, you're invited to send me the link, preferably with a blurb about it which can be copied. The definition of "Jewish book" could mean religious, history, for children, fiction etcetera.

Please mail me your link & blurb with "Jewish Book Carnival" as the subject by February 10, 2018. My email is shilohmuse@gmail.com. I hope to have a nice variety of books and blogs participating. Thanks and Shabbat Shalom.