NOAH’S ARK
I can’t imagine any Torah story that has been interpreted so many times and in so many ways. It’s a cute animal story for young children; it’s a devastating story of destruction; it’s a hopeful story of how to carry on.
A broad Google search (which I don’t recommend) turns up 58 million hits for Noah’s Ark Story.
The Jacobs Library has well over two dozen books on the Noah theme. They range from picture books to Biblical analysis to Midrashim to novel length interpretations. And that only scratches the surface of what’s out there. Try your public library for other interpretations of the Noah’s Ark tale.
Among my favorites are (items marked with an * are in the Jacobs Library):
For Adults:
*Blak, Sarah. Naamah, about whom we know little, is Noah’s wife. This is her story.
Harding, Paul. The Other Eden is an island off the coast of Maine on which an interracial family finds a haven which is destroyed by mainland values and a Biblical-like storm.
For Younger Readers:
*Bartoletti, Susan. Naamah and the Ark at Night. Noah’s wife sings to the animals to calm them in this beautifully illustrated book.
*Feiler, Bruce. Walking the Bible. Feiler travels to places mentioned in the Bible. There is also an adult version.
Geisert, Arthur. The Ark; After the flood. Detailed architectural drawings tell the story.
Gerstein, Mordecai. Noah and the Great Flood. Intricate oil paintings enhance the drama of the story.
Jonas, Ann. Aardvarks Disembark. What happened to the dinosaurs? Read and find out.
Jules, Jacqueline. Noah and the Ziz. An awkward, bumbling giant bird attempts to help Noah gather the animals, but his strength is an impediment.
L’Engle, Madeleine. Many Waters. Part of the Wrinkle in Time series. Sandy and Denny are accidentally trapped back in the time of Noah’s Ark.
*Lunge-Larsen. Lise. Noah’s Mittens: The Story of Felt. A pourqoui (origin) tale.
*Marks, Allison. Og’s Ark. Poor giant Og. He’s helping Noah gather the animals but has no place to sleep. Noah rewards him in a very special way.
*Napoli, Donna Jo. Storm rages and 16-year-old Sebah stows away on Noah’s Ark.
Reid, Barbara. Fox Walked Alone. Fox eventually joins a procession of animals on their way to an unknown destination.
Rounds, Glenn. Washday on Noah’s Ark. Poor Mrs. Noah. Think of all that laundry!
*Sasso, Sandy. Prayer for the Earth. Naamah, Noah’s wife, is called up to bring seeds on to the ark before the storm begins.
*Singer, I.B. Why Noah Chose the Dove. Noah listens to the boasts of all the animals but chooses the dove. Illustrated by Eric Carle.
*Spier, Peter. Noah’s Ark. A meticulously illustrated classic story.
AN OP-ED WE DID NOT WANT TO WRITE
When we first got word of the Hamas Simchat Torah massacre we were sad and brokenhearted. But we know the constant threat of terrorists with which Israelis live each day. We’ve seen our bus stops blown up, restaurants we frequented shuttered after an attack and spent time in bomb shelters due to missiles from Gaza. More than that, we carry in our bones the intergenerational trauma of the Holocaust, of pogroms, of a thousand years of anti-semitism turned violent.
When the horrific details and extent of the atrocities Hamas had committed began to emerge, we were shocked. But we know what Hamas is and we know what they are capable of. As their charter explicitly states, they exist in order to kill Jews.
When anti-Israel protests began across university campuses and in many countries we were disgusted and a bit stunned. We know that anti-Israel sentiment runs high on some college campuses but, since the Israeli response had not yet begun, those “protests” were little more than celebrations of the murder, mutilation, and brutalizing of Jewish people. Seeing people on American campuses and streets celebrating the death of Jewish children and Holocaust survivors — literally dancing in joy at the murder of Jews, even as the lives of almost two hundred hostages remain in the balance — was something we never imagined could happen in America.
What has truly surprised us however, what has gutted us, has been the silence. In the days that have followed the largest terrorist attack in the world since 9/11, one that happened to be targeted to a particular religious group, few fellow members of the clergy have reached out to us. Clergy we have stood side-by-side with at rallies in support of LGBTQ+ rights and protections, or raising our voices together to speak against racial injustice, have simply disappeared.
In some ways, this has been one of the most painful parts of this week. To feel, for the first time perhaps, that despite our activism and warm reception during times of peace, that perhaps Jewish lives don’t matter. We understand that many of our fellow clergy do not share the same commitment to Israel as we do. We understand that many have issues with Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza. So do many within our congregations, many of whom are activists for human rights across the Middle East including in Israel. But, at the very least, we thought our fellow clergy colleagues would reach out to check in. Instead, we have heard almost nothing.
Sadly, in conversation after conversation with rabbis and cantors across the country we are hearing the same thing — few, if any, calls or emails of support from the very people we have proudly worked with and lovingly considered as allies in faith and community.
Over the years, we have gathered for numerous vigils at times of crisis to lift up impacted members of our community. In the absence of private expressions of support or the call from our fellow clergy to gather in public solidarity with us, however, we chose to hold joint Shabbat services last Friday night. More than 900 people in attendance, including our town mayors and other elected officials, and over 400 households participated remotely.
Some of our neighbors have wondered why we have ceded the activist vigils and solitary marches to neighboring towns, and instead put our energies into a joint Shabbat service. We now feel ready to share why: there had been near total silence from our colleagues in the days after the attack. As a result, we worried that we alone would have to organize any community gathering to show us support, and that it might not be the best, emotionally safe space for a community that was, and continues to be, in deep pain and grief.
The national anthem of Israel is called The Hope. It is in that vein that we share our disappointment publicly, with tremendous hope that perhaps seeing the hurt and isolation the silence is causing will lead to repair. Which is our way of saying: it is not too late. It is not too late to reach out in friendship and support to your Jewish neighbors to understand that they — that we — are grieving, and mourning, and scared.
We hope you will stand by our side when we are hurting. We hope to build a better world together, and to see peace in Israel, in Gaza, and here in our own communities, too.
In the meantime, we urge you to pick up the phone and check in on a Jewish friend today. Odds are, when you ask, “How are you?” they will reply, “Not okay.” They aren’t okay. We aren’t okay. But the simple act of showing you care has immense power and is one of the things the Jewish community needs now more than ever.
Rabbi Daniel Cohen, Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel
Rabbi Jesse Olizky, Congregation Beth El
Rabbi Abigail Treu, Oheb Shalom Congregation
TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT ISRAEL
We don’t have the words to properly express how we are feeling. For me personally I have never been so confused and so clear at the same time. I have never been so numb and so emotional at the same time. And, while this is difficult for all Jews, those of us with children still at home take on an extra burden: how do we explain all of this to our children?
How do you help kids (of almost all ages) understand something that is happening a world away? How do you help kids understand why it matters even though we might not know anyone over there? And how, dear God how, do we help them understand that people might hate us for no reason?
I am here to say that you don’t have to explain anything just have the conversation. Your kids do not need to understand, they just need to have a conversation with their grown ups. There is a a lot of research that indicates the importance of children processing tragedies with their parents. Processing… not understanding. They don’t need you to explain the unexplainable. They just need you to hear what they’re feeling and they need to hear that you are feeling things too.
For many of our youngest children (preschool age) they might not be aware of anything so don’t bring it up. But if your kids are going to hear anything about Israel it is better if it comes from you. Children of all ages need just the right amount of information. Let them lead the conversation, answer their questions honestly and don’t answer questions they don’t ask. “I don’t know,” is a perfectly acceptable answer. For the younger children you would be amazed at how little information they need.
And for the oldest children I strongly encourage you to renew a conversation about social media consumption. Based on what has already been on social media and historically what has been posted in hostage situations it is more important than ever for there to be open lines of dialogue with your teens about what they are seeing online. I know it seems impossible but maybe now they would consider taking a break from their social media altogether.
(And while this essay is about your kids… talking about what you’re feeling and being intentional about social media consumption is good advice for us adults as well.)
The articles below have strategies for talking to children about tragedies but also about antisemitism. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you want help finding the best approach to have a conversation with your children.
How to Talk to Children about Difficult News: This article from the American Psychological Association isn’t about Israel specifically but offers good tactics for having a conversation.
How to Talk to Kids about What’s Happening in Israel Right Now: This article from Kveller breaks down by age group what a conversation might sound like.
How to Talk to You Children about Tragic Events: From Jewish Family Service
For Parents: In the Face of the Current Situation in Israel: From the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland
We pray for the safe return of those taken hostage. May the memory of those who were killed be for a blessing. And prayers of healing for their families and for all of you as you navigate the complexity of emotions and conversations.
GENERATIONS
Family lore has it that Grandpa Julius, my father’s father, was the only man in the shtetl of Skidel with a gun and that he was spirited out of town in a coffin because ”they” were after him. It’s hard to believe that this man of few words, whom I never heard raise his voice, might have had violence in his past.
Or Did Grandpa Sam, a small, quiet, white-haired man with impeccable handwriting, really know the Talmud so well that if you stuck a pin through a word, he would know the word on the other side of the page?
What do these family stories have to do with the High Holidays coming up?
At the heart of Judaism, I think, is family. Much of the Torah is the story of a family, its generations and their interactions.
We Jews have been conscious of family: we traditionally name our children after loved ones from past generations — at least Ashkenazi Jews do. Some families such as mine have seen the same name appearing several times in one generation.
Sunday, September 10 is Grandparents’ Day. I often think about my grandparents and what they left behind — thus the stories which unfortunately are few and far between and may or may not be true.
I’ll never know the “truth,” but those stories do keep these men — and other family members — alive, as do the grandchildren and great grandchildren who bear their names.
As you sit around the dining room table on Rosh Hashanah, share some family stories. There’s never a better time than now.
In celebration of Grandparents’ Day, here are some books available in the library. The picture books are perfect for sharing with a child; the longer ones may make you think of your own grandparents and what they contributed to your early life.
Books for adults:
Various authors: Bubbe Meisehs by Sheyneh Maidelehs: an anthology of poetry by Jewish granddaughteers about our grandmothers, Includes A Blessing On Your Head, Hand, And Foot by Nancy Berg; Elegy by Andrea Hollander Budy; Aunt Iris’ Wedding by Sauci S. Churchill; Anyuta by Anne Corey; The Grandmothers by Marylyn Croman; and many more.
Gessen, Masha: Ester and Ruzya: How My Grandmother Survived Hitler’s War and Stalin’s Peace.
Isay, Jane: Unconditional Love. Contains practical suggestions for creating a good relationship between grandparent and grandchild.
Kalb, Bess: Nobody Will Tell You This But Me. A tribute to Kalb’s grandmother who gave the author love and loyalty.
Shalev, Meir: My Russian Grandmother and her American Vacuum Cleaner. The author tries to discover the secret behind his cleanliness obsessed grandmother’s vacuum cleaner.
Remen, Rachel: My Grandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging.
Books for kids:
Heller, Linda: The Castle on Hester Street. Julie’s grandparents have different stories and realities about America.
Karkowsky, Nancy: Grandma’s Soup. Grandma’s growing confusion from Alzheimer’s shows up in her chicken soup.
Larsen, Andrew: The Bagel King. Who will deliver bagels after Zaida has a fall?
Oberman, Sheldon: The Always Prayer Shawl. A tallit is handed down from generation to generation.
Pinson, Isabel: Bubbe’s Belated Bat Mitzvah. Her great-granddaughter encourages Bubbe to have a bat mitzvah.
Polacco, Patricia: Thunder Cake. When a thunderstorm terrifies her granddaughter, Grandma provides a delicious way to allay her fears..
Rosenberg, Madelyn: This is Just a Test. His bar mitzvah is coming up, but that’s the least of David Da-Wei Horowitz’s problems as he juggles friend problems and his always arguing grandmothers .
Saltzberg, Barney: Tea with Zayde/Tea with Grandpa. A little girl and her grandfather share tea everyday in a unique way.
Sasso, Sandy: Abuelita’s Secret Matzahs. His grandmothers’ stories reveal a young boy’s unique Jewish heritage.
Steifel, Chana: The Tower of Life. The story of the permanent photo exhibit at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington
MAKING THE WORLD BETTER THROUGH LAUGHTER
Who remembers Norman Cousins?
Norman Cousins was a nice Jewish boy, who grew up not far from here in Union City, to become a famous journalist and author. In 1964 Norman was diagnosed with a rare and debilitating disease. His doctors gave him only a few weeks to live.
Norman did something extraordinary when he heard the news. He laughed.
In fact, he made it a point to laugh every day.
For 30 minutes.
Until the day he died.
26 years after the diagnosis.
I share this story not because we are all granted miracles and extra time on this earth. I’m sharing this story because of Norman’s response. Who responds to bad news with a laugh? Who decides that laughter is going to be a part of their march into an uncertain future?
Maybe we all should.
Weeks ago, I was all set with my sermon topic for today. I’d done my sleuthing around bookstores and blogs, and noticed just how much is being written about anger, rage, blame, our toxic culture and lack of civility. I’m collecting sources about how we all need to stop being so angry. How we need to change, to find love and forgiveness… Great. It’s writing itself. And by that, I mean that ChatGPT is writing it.
And then, something happened.
Actually, a lot of things happened. We packed up, moved, unpacked. We collected two kids from camp, unpacked, did 200 loads of laundry, and then packed again, this time to send our two older children to college. One year apart but both freshmen now. We packed, we drove to Boston, we unpacked, we drove home, crying a little on the way. We packed again. We drove to Saratoga. We unpacked. We drove home, crying a little on the way. We came home to an emptier house. We pulled ourselves together. We launched our youngest at a new high school. And then my restful vacation was over.
That I got a cold was not a surprise nor was it anything but funny when, driving the youngest to school on day two, we smelled something terrible in the car. Like, really, really awful. After some searching it turned out that – well, you know the piles of shopping bags we all keep hoarding now, and maybe some of us have bags inside of bags inside of bags shoved in the back of the car because maybe we’ll need all 400 of them the next time we go to Target? I’m saying hypothetically. Well after some searching we found the source of the odor: a wheel of brie cheese that had been sitting there for a week… in 90 degree heat… sort of a long story involving the college move-in and the bags being in the garage… but that’s not the point, the point is sometimes you have a lot going on and then you end up with a car that smells like rotten brie cheese and then because you’ve been driving in it and touching those bags your hands smell for days and you know what? It’s kind of funny.
I wrote this sermon because I found myself doubled over laughing at the ShopRite, next to the garbage bins into which I finally did deposit the brie cheese, and 400 shopping bags. Doubled over, gasping for breath. A total release.
And suddenly I knew: I’m going to write about laughter. Because laughter is what the world needs right now. What we need. Laughter is the best medicine. Although whoever said that, as the comedian Greg Kettner said, obviously never had diarrhea.
Laughter, it turns out, strengthens the immune system and brain. Laughter decreases one’s chances of developing dementia, decreases stress hormones, and increases endorphins and dopamine, the same hormones that produce the runners high. Laughing helps protect the heart and lungs, and if done consistently has similar results of a light cardio workout and actually burns calories even as it strengthens your abs. Move over, Peloton.
And, neurological studies show that those who laugh more live longer.
Laughter only works when everyone joins in; when one person in a group is laughing alone, it’s not so funny. But laughing together is an effective way of improving the positive mood of individuals and a group, a way to bond and boost optimism and hope.
So if I want to stand here and preach that we are going to change the world by changing ourselves… if I’m trying to inspire us to do teshuvah, make ourselves and this world a better place… well, why be so serious?
What if the way to fixing the world – to getting over our anger problem, and our fear, our toxic culture and stress overdrive – is as simple as… a good laugh?
So now I’m writing a sermon on laughter. Except, I’m all serious. My first draft was a highbrow discourse on the proper modalities of laughter. The Shulchan Aruch on the halakha of laughter. I showed it to some friends and they actually fell asleep. Next idea: I’m going to do a stand-up routine for my sermon! I’ll get us all rolling in the aisles!
But here’s the thing – I’m not very funny.
So I called my friend Ethan. Rabbi Ethan Linden did stand up comedy in college and he’s hilarious, and I said: teach me how to be funny.
And he told me – well the key to being funny is to be yourself.
And I thought, that’s too bad.
And then he said: you have to be willing to laugh at yourself.
There’s so much to that. That sounds like teshuvah to me. That’s a comment about humility, and how we carry ourselves in our own hearts and also with one another. If I’m willing to laugh at myself – well, maybe it will help me take life a little less seriously. Maybe it will help me get along with other people better, and not take things so personally. So Rosh Hashanah Laughter Lesson #1: be willing to laugh at yourself a little more this coming year.
Rosh Hashanah Laughter Lesson #2: Laugh at the unexpected, and share that laugh with others. Laughter, it turns out is a theme of the Torah readings today.
The root “laugh” occurs seven times in the story, that magical number seven that signals to us to pay attention.
- In the opening verses of today’s Torah reading, Abraham names his son Isaac, Yitzhak – it means “he will laugh.”
- Sarah explains, when they name him: “God has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me” – kol hashomeah yitzhak li. This is a completely unexpected turn of events, and they are laughing.
- They are laughing together, Sarah and Abraham, parents in their old age. They are laughing because they are joyful, and they want to share this feeling with others. This is exuberant laughter, the kind that is contagious, communal. Everyone who hears will laugh with us: isn’t this what the best kind of laughter is? When you get the giggles, and it infects the whole class
- Laughter, it turns out, is communal. We are 30 times as likely to laugh with others as we are alone. In fact part of what’s making our culture so toxic is the watching from home phenomenon; Hollywood isn’t making big-budget comedies anymore because when we watch alone we don’t enjoy the joke as much.
- So God finally gave them a child after telling Abraham his whole life that he’d be the father of a multitude of nations and Sarah’s menopausal? That’s pretty funny.
- One midrash (Breishit Rabbah 53:8) captures this contagious laugh of joy: The rabbis imagined that when Sarah laughed this laugh, others who also hadn’t had been able to have children before gave birth; that when she laughed the deaf gained their hearing and the blind were able to see. The laugh itself caused this, caused joy and healing in other people’s lives. This is what a laugh can do.
- You know who else laughs in today’s reading? Yishmael. Sarah sees Ishmael m’tzahek. Unclear what that is, actually, but we can assume that like most older brothers he found a few things to laugh it when it came to his younger sibling. This laugh is different, maybe. We don’t really know. But it feels different, because bad things happen afterwards, sad and hard things; Sarah sees Yishmael laughing and becomes jealous or angry or something, that’s what triggers her to call on Abraham to send Yishmael and Hagar away. A laugh.
- Which brings us to the other laugh of Genesis, one that happened before the curtain rose on our story today. A few chapters ago, messengers came to tell Abraham that Sarah will have a child and she hears this and says, I’m 90 years old, that’s absurd, and – she laughs. Like Yishmael, she is laughing alone – vatizhak, in the singular. Was she cynical? Nervous? Scornful? Snarky? God overhears – turns out she’s not really alone, as the ark behind me says, “know before whom you stand” – and God does not join in the laughter. God asks her a question: “Why are you laughing?” And instead of answering, she denies it. “I didn’t laugh.” “Yes, you did,” God says. And then grants her a child whom she names Laughter. Sarah kept her reasons private.
- I wonder if that’s why she kicked Yishmael out. As someone who laughed alone, perhaps she recognized something in him that she knew well and didn’t like. Watching him laugh alone, m’tzahek in the singular, was the kind of laughter she didn’t want in her house. Maybe she read the study I did, about teenage boys at risk for psychopathy, ones with major behavior problems, how they tend not to laugh when other people around them laugh. Sociologists teach that we use laughter to show belonging to a group, and also to convey that we understand that someone else wants us to laugh and that we want what they want.
- Perhaps the Torah is suggesting: notice when you’re laughing alone too much. It’s a sign that something is off. God made us to laugh together. Not at one another, not by ourselves. But together, passing our giggles around the room like candy.
So lesson #1: laugh at yourself.
Lesson #2: laugh at the unexpected, and share that laugh with others.
So Abraham laughs, Sarah laughs, Yishmael laughs.
And one child, named Laughter.
Laughter, Yitzhak, is the answer to Abraham and Sarah’s prayers. Yitzhak, Laughter, is Redemption. Redemption is brought into this world by a child named Laughter.
But – do we ever see him laugh?
In all of Torah and rabbinic literature – the answer is: no.
And this, my friends, is Rosh Hashanah Laughter Lesson #3 –no matter how tough it gets, no matter how bad the diagnosis, no matter how rotten the cheese, keep laughing.
Isaac has a tough life. He has a pretty traumatic childhood, born into a rather weird family dynamic with a step brother and his mother living with them, super elderly parents who probably needed the car keys taken away before they were ready; there’s the trauma of tomorrow’s Torah reading, the whole we’re-going-on-a-trip-son-actually-I-might-kill-you-wait-never mind episode; his mom dies, his dad remarries, starts a big new family. Isaac grows up, can’t have kids, then has twins but they are constantly bickering and finally he goes blind and his wife and one of the kids conspire to lie and cheat him and then one of the sons runs away…I mean this is not an easy life. For a kid named He will laugh.
And yet – and here is where I need you all to lean in a little, listen up: Isaac is the one patriarch whose name does not change. Abraham started life as Avram; Jacob ends up being named Israel. Isaac stays Isaac. He will laugh. Even when his life is not so funny. He will laugh.
And so must we.
Life is hard. For Isaac, and for all of us. Life is full of unexpected twists, traumas, loss. One natural response is anger and outrage, fear and stress; but another natural, God-given response is: to laugh. Yitzhak never changes his name – God never changes Isaac’s name – to teach us: no matter what comes our way, keep laughing.
We don’t get to choose a whole lot about how this year unfolds. But God has given us the thing we need most to handle whatever comes our way: a sense of humor.
Let our Rosh Hashanah resolution be to laugh more this year.
At ourselves, and with one another.
May we learn from Abraham and Sarah and Yishmael and Yitzhak to laugh no matter what happens. To laugh at ourselves, to laugh with one another, to heal ourselves and this world by spreading smiles that turn to laughs that turn to joy.
Shana tova u’metuka. May this year be full of laughter for us all.
ANNIVERSARIES
Anniversaries are something to look forward to with joy, sadness, appreciation, or awe.
On August 29th, we marked the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC, a group of ministers and related individuals fighting for civil rights.
It behooves us to remember this event as Americans, as right-minded people and as human beings. The struggle for civil rights.
In the last few years important documents relating to the struggle for civil rights and the abolishment of legal segregation have been opened.
For those interested in American history, the following 2023 books are critical:
Eig, Jonathan, King: A Life. This thoroughly documented book will tell you all you want to know about MLK, Jr. and more. This is no hagiography: you may even end up not liking King much. But it shows the struggles that King had both as a man and a leader and the forces that he fought against from within himself and from the United States government primarily in the form of J .Edgar Hoover. There is a section of photos.
Kix, Paul, You Have to be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America. Kix takes the reader day by day, person by person, sometimes hour by hour through the planning for the demonstration in Birmingham that was meant to revive the SCLC’s work for civil rights. Momentum had stalled; fewer people were volunteering for non-violent protests. Montgomery changed that with the controversial decision to allow children, some as young as ten, to march through the streets of the infamous Bull Connor’s city. This book reads like a suspense novel and will draw the reader in to the uncertainty of the situation. The ultimate success in Montgomery set the stage for the August 28, 1963 March on Washington.
Older books in the library’s collection give a historical perspective on the relationships between African-Americans and Jews (before most classified documents were released):
Yasner, Deanie: Essie Rosie’s Revelation Summer. In this chapter book, it’s 1953. Ten year-old Essie Rose Ginsburg lives in a small Mississippi town where she faces not only the challenges of growing up but also the results of challenging the rules of segregation. Based on the author’s experience. (2019)
Deutsch, Staci: Hot Pursuit: Murder in Mississippi. Simple retelling of the events that led to the murder of three young civil rights workers — two of whom where white Jews — in the summer of 1964. (2010)
Schneier, Marc: Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish Community. Describes the range of attitudes of the Jewish community towards the civil rights movement and King’s attitude toward Jews and Israel. (1999)
Forman, Seth: Blacks in the Jewish Mind: a Crisis of Liberalism. Looks at the contentious relationship between African-Americans and Jews and what motivated Jewish involvement in the civil rights movement. (1998)
Lerner, Michael: Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin. With Cornel West, Lerner discusses the issues that African-Americans and Jews shared and that now divide them. (1995)
Berman, Paul, ed. Blacks and Jews: Alliances and Arguments. An anthology of articles describing the feud between African-Americans and Jews and considering what the future holds (1994)
TIME TO PREPARE
When you see this at Costco, you know that the Days of Awe, the High Holidays, will soon be upon us.
All kidding aside, we are right in the middle of the month of Elul, the prelude to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar sounds each day (except Shabbat) and we recite Psalm 27 to remind us that the holidays are near.
The following books may help you on your spiritual journey through Elul and on to the holidays of Tishrei. And don’t forget that you can dip into the Mahzor at any time for inspiration and preparation.
Items marked with a * will be on display in the Library.
*Agnon, S.Y.: Days of Awe: being a treasury of traditions, legends and learned commentaries concerning Rosh Ha-Shanah, Yom Kippur and the days between
*Brown, Erica Return: Daily Inspiration for the Days of Awe; Confronting Scandal: how Jews can respond when Jews do bad things
*Frankl, Viktor: Man’s Search for Meaning
*Hammer, Reuven: Entering the High Holidays: a guide to the history, prayers and themes
*Hoffman, Lawrence: Prayers of Awe: Series including We Have Sinned, May God Remember, All the World, All These Vows.
*Hurwitz, Sarah: Here All Along: finding meaning, spirituality, and a deeper connection to life-in Judaism (after finally choosing to look there)
Kushner, Harold: How Good Do We Have to Be? A New Understanding of Guilt and Forgiveness
*Lew, Alan: This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: the Days of Awe as a journey of transformation
Olitzky, Kerry: Preparing Your Heart for the High Holy Days: a guided journal
*Robbins, Rabbi Debra: Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27: a spiritual practice for the Jewish New Year
*Ruttenberg, Danya: On Repentance and Repair: making amends in an unapologetic world
Sachs, Jonathan: To Heal a Fractured World: the ethics of responsibility
Schimmel, Solomon: Wounds Not Healed by Time: the power of repentance and forgiveness
Soloveitchik, Joseph: On Repentance
THE JEWISH CATALOG TURNS FIFTY
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to The Jewish Catalog. How old are you now?
This year The Jewish Catalog: A Do-It-Yourself Kit reached the venerable age of fifty, right smack in middle age. When most of us reach that age, we show signs that we have arrived: some gray at our temples, a few wrinkles, maybe even a desire for a midday nap. But a fifty-year-old is hardly over the hill these days and may look forward to some of his or her best years.
The same may be said of some books. Inspired by the 1968 Whole Earth Catalog, The (First) Jewish Catalog rode the do-it-yourself wave that began in the early 20th century, became a
phenomenon in the 50s and 60s, and peaked in the 70s to 90s.
Reflecting the changes in the more liberal branches of Judaism, the catalog began as author
Richard Siegel’s master’s thesis from Brandeis. It answered questions, gave instructions, and encouraged participation at a time when many young Jews were looking for new ways to connect with their Judaism.
The three twenty-something authors, Siegel, Michael Strassfeld, and then wife Sharon Strassfeld all went on to fulfilling carriers as both authors and rabbis.
Richard Siegel passed away in 2018. He is also credited with The Jewish Almanac, and, with his wife Rabbi Laura Geller, Getting Good at Getting Older.
Author Strassfeld, who became a rabbi, retired from the pulpit in 2015. He recently wrote Judaism Disrupted: A Spiritual Manifesto for the 21st Century in which he argues that “Judaism’s purpose is to encourage and remind us to live lives of compassion, loving relationships and being a good person.”
Sharon Strassfeld was instrumental in founding the innovative Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York, creating a ceremony for newborn daughters and authoring The Jewish Family Book.
Many years after the Catalog’s publication, Siegel said the authors had “a legitimate critique of Jewish life and were offering some new ideas for its reinvigoration….we were working to make the change happen and providing the resources on how to live a Jewish live when the resources weren’t easily accessible.”
The First Jewish Catalog spawned two further books which focused more on the ethical, emotional and social issues of Judaism. Several catalogs aimed at young readers also appeared under Chaya Burstein’s authorship.
As columnist Jennifer Bleyer reflected some years ago in a Tablet Magazine article, The First Jewish Catalog is a true Jewish classic which has taught generations how to celebrate holidays, make a shofar, build a sukkah, crochet their own kippots, and connect or reconnect to their Judaism. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/do-it-yourself
The First Jewish Catalog is the Jewish Publication Society’s second bestseller after the Bible. It is still in print. You might even have a dog-eared copy on your bookshelves or find it on your parents’.
It’s still worth dipping into. You may be charmed, or not, by the distinctly low-tech look. But it remains a valuable source for Jewish customs, ceremonies, recipes. And unlike the fickle internet, The Jewish Catalog is always ready to give you an answer.The library has all three volumes, as well as other books by the Catalog’s authors. There are also related volumes on the display shelves.
PRIDE MONTH AT JACOBS LIBRARY
Although each of us should be proud of who we are every month of the year, June is officially PRIDE month, celebrating and supporting the LGBTQ+ population.
Jewish literature has always dealt with the issues of the day: Heather Has two Mommies (1989) by Jewish writer Leslea Newman was a breakthrough book for young children. In an updated edition, it is still a go to book for the intended audience.
The first specifically Jewish picture book about an LGBTQ family was Kushner’s The Purim Superhero (2013). With its Jewish setting and matter-of-fact story, the book gained a wide audience.
In the years since these books, there have been many mainstream books dealing with the everyday joys and challenges of LGBTQ characters- from comedies to tragedies, stories of love and friendship, fantasies and mysteries.
Below are a few worthwhile books out of the scores available to be enjoyed by any reader:
(Books are listed by publication date)
2023 Hemon The World and All its Holes. A WWI novel of love, memory and history.
2022 Gephart Abby, Tried and True. Abby’s mother is a lesbian.
2022 Lamb When Angels Left the Old Country. An angel and demon are study partners.
2022 Sass Ellen Outside the Lines. 13 year old neurodivergent Ellen deals with her multiple Identities (J)
2022 Twitty Koshersoul. Explores the author’s identity as a Black gay Jew.
2021 Polydorus The City Beautiful. A historical mystery-fantasy set in 1893 Chicago. (YA)
2020 Lehrer Golem Girl. Born with spina bifida, Rena is challenged on many levels.
2020 Lewis The Rabbi who Prayed with Fire. A young rabbi finds love in this mystery. (J)
2018 Colbert Little & Lion. A Black Jewish girl struggles to define herself. (YA)
2019 Thorn It Feels Good to be Yourself: a book about gender identity. (Parenting)
2016 Gordon The Flower Girl Wore Celery. A sweet book about a misunderstanding. (Picture)
2012 Ladin Through the Door of Life: a Jewish journey between genders
2009 Torah Queeries: weekly commentaries on the Hebrew Bible
2006 Alderman Disobedience. A woman returns to the strict Orthodox community she fled.