A Life Worth Living: The Trigger

Her life was so fulfilling and worth living. A survivor child, that was offered a second chance. A father that come back to find her, tooking the risk of being stuck in the wrong place for the rest of his life. A stepmother that was able to took care of her after her father died. The chance of going to university and getting a good job she loved, shortly after finishing the studies. The outstanding intellectual friends she was surrounded by and all the interesting projects she was involved in. The appreciation she got despite all the historical vicissitudes and random political allegiances. The gratitude for all those people that she helped during those hard years, no matter what they believe in. Her small family and her children. The chance of not being left alone of her second marriage with someone that was dedicated to the family.

Was it enough? Was it worth living? Definitely yes. But this was only what we, all of us around her, we thought it is enough.

Actually, it was rather the opposite of happiness she was feeling every moment of her life. It was that unhappiness worm that was eating her every day and the energy. Every single day added to her life meant that the wall between she and us, the rest of the world, was getting a stone bigger. Until she was completely consumated by it. Alone, as she thought she deserved to be. 

We, I especially, we tried to understand what was going on. What the fault was. How we can change her. Trying to show her we are happy to be part of her life. Until we didn´t. Until we felt rejected and neglected and isolated and we hated her. We just run away, as far as possible because we were afraid her sadness is like a virus that if it is not already into our genes, it might be highly contagious. 

Despite our hardest efforts to escape her prison, we were the prisoners of her unhappy world as well. Long after her death, we were still not free. We were caught into the maze of confusion and lack of clarity between what we are entitled to enjoy and the danger that unhappiness is our destiny. That no matter what we are condemned to sink into the same abysmal vortex of nothingness. That our relationships, professional achievements and small daily successes will be taken away from us because we are made of an unhappy clay. 

The worse of it was when one or two of us ended up in relationships with people that wanted the same help she was not able to get. Subconsciously we were looking for partners that were fighting the same darkness. This time, we were assuming, we will save that person. We know what we should do, this time, and our debt to life is finally paid. 

This video from Amudim, a Jewish organisation aimed to help individuals going through hard times that are not easily described through words - from sexual abuse to mental health issues - was my trigger. How I wished such chances existed back in the days when my mother (z´l) was fighting her battle. Hopefully, there will be more people that will get the right help in the right time. Before their lives and the lives of those who love them will be wasted. Life is worth living in dignity but it is not always easy to find that strength to trust and love yourself. It is rarely impossible to find yourself and the reasons to love you alone, thus the need of reaching out - discretely if needed - to professionals familiar with the specific contexts and individual needs. Screaming for help is not a shame. Getting the help to stay alive, you and your family and those who love you.

How Are We Missing the Point

´An Orthodox Jew isn´t so much one who keeps Shabbat, kosher, and/or other rules and laws; an Orthodox Jew is one who strives, through halacha and beyond to develop a character that is more God-aware, more God-driven, and more God like. It is a lifelong project, enhanced by all Jewish observants, but cannot be allowed to be lost in the welther of them´. 

I openly recognize that I had a hard time going through this book by Rabbi Dr. Gideon Rothstein, whose shiurim a had the chance to attend a couple of times. We´re Missing the Point. What´s Wrong with the Orthodox Jewish Community and How to Fix It was challenging not because of the ideas exposed, but because more than once I had the feeling that the wording is way too complicated than needed. Exposing simple and strong ideas does not necessarily require complex sentences. 

The topics outlined are serious enough to start a throughout discussion about new shifts - both philosophical and from the pedagogical point of view - of the everyday practice of the Orthodox Judaism. Both the ways in which schools and synagogues operate require a complete change, which does not mean to add more but to reconnect to the genuine sources of belief. It is a return from the secondary and customary sources to the main framework, often obliterated by the dry everyday practice: ´People can become accustomed to any sequence of actions and make them an end of their own, forgetting the larger framework into which they were supposed to be integrated´.

Although going through this book took me a long time - to be read months - it was worth doing, especially for ideas in the second part of the book. Hopefully one day all those strong voices within the Orthodox Judaism will get together on one voice for a noteworthy change that will correct the current perspective missing so many important points.

Shavuot Movie Review: The Story of Ruth

I may confess that I have a very hard time watching and relating with old movies, especially those with a historical-religious subject. I often need a long time to figure out the context and cultural representations and appropriations. 

For this Shavuot, I was looking for something interesting to watch and was recommended to have a look at The Story of Ruth, an american production from 1960. It is available for free on YouTube and it lasts a little bit more of two hours.

It is produced by Samuel Engel, featuring as Ruth the Israeli-born Elana Eden. Eden, who studied acting and played at Habima and had her stage debut in Lysistrata, surpassed for this role big names such as Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor.

Ruth the Moabite - Moab is supposed to be located in the nowadays area of Jordan - is a priestess in the Temple of the Moabite God Chemosh, that discovers Judaism through Mahlon, a young man she feels in love with. For his courage of exposing idolatry, he will die after trying to escape the forced labour prison he was sent to. A widow, Ruth is starting together with Mahlon´s mother, Naomi, the journey back to Bethlehem. As a Moabite, he is received with disdain by the locals, as the Moabites are considered a cursed people. In the Parashat Ki Tetze it says that there is prohibited to marry a Moabite - or an Ammonite - as they refused to give food and water to the people of Israel while on their journey out of Egypt, plus they hired Baal to curse Israel. 

Back to the movie The Story of Ruth, it follows at certain extent the story from the Meghillah, but I´ve found often the setting and the actors´ play more fit for a play than for the movie. Funnily, I don´t get it why some of the men are summarily dressed, in some very short kind of underwear, including the judge Boaz, while the women were mostly overdressed. As for Ruth, she was super flirty both as a priestess and as a converted Jewess. 

The conclusion is that I am not sure that I haven´t wasted those two hours watching this movie, but maybe I need to delve a bit more into the reception of Ruth by the Christian denominations and eventually watch a recent movie on Ruth and place the representations in a larger multi-religious context. 

The Story of Ruth was not the most exquisite choice for a serious Shavuot discussion but it was eyes-opening. Given that it took me a long time to really understand the deep meaning of the biblical story of Ruth, I suppose I need more time to grasp its cultural reception.

Un-Unorthodoxing

In the last decade, a vast repertoire of books, movies and public appearances were associated with the phenomenon of religious Jews deciding to leave the fold. Either they lost completely their faith, or were unhappy with the strict rules of their community, for gender-related reasons or simply because they wanted to pursue their academic dreams. Some of their testimonies, like the memoir of Leah Vincent (by far, one of my favorite literary work in this respect), are a dramatic account of the struggles many of those who are leaving their close-knitted communities are going through. Movies like One of Us are featuring the family drama affecting not only the parents who are breaking up with their religious past, but especially their children. Those days, it is so popular to mention Unorthodox as a reference for the isolated ´Hasidic life´ within the Satmar.

However, there is only one half of the glass. Most precisely, this half of the glass is what the wide - often non-Jewish, especially in Germany - expects to read about religious Jews: that their life is sad, mechanical, aimed at producing children and opressing women, who are forced to shave their hair after getting married and prevented from getting and education.

This article published in the Jewish Chronicle this week reminds that there is a large category of people unrepresented in the cultural and literary renditions on religious life: people that returned to religion, the so-called ba´alei tshuva or chozer b´tshuva. Of course, there is Shtisel on Netflix about a religious family from the Geula neighbourhood of Jerusalem. There is the movie Ushpizin about the Breslov couple who returned to religion. But outside the religious circles, memoirs and media stories and testimonies about this phenomenon, who is affecting a lot of Jewish families, in Israel and America particularly, there is not too much to be told. Indeed, Unorthodox is featuring the adventures of the liberated Esty in Berlin, but in the same city of Berlin, there are so many young religious families, whose members, many originary from the former Soviet Union, are people that grew up without any religious background. There are people with high academic training that are also practicant Jews. 

For the sake of diversity, I would love to read, hear and see more of those stories too. 

The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook

One of the most important religious Jewish thinkers of the past century, Rav Kook is equally one of the most misunderstood. All Jewish denominations avoid him - unless when the case is for random use of his thoughts for their own use. The relative confusion and misunderstanding are due also to the limited access to his writings: he haven´t left massive commentaries or writings, and most of the references attributed to him are based on his diary writings edited by his son Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook and his student, ´The Nazir´, Rav David Cohen. In addition to this, his poetic Hebrew is not easily accessible therefore translations need to rely on more than a simple knowledge of the literal sense of the words but on a deeper religious meaning.

In The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook. The Writings of a Jewish Mystic, Ari Ze´ev Schwartz took upon himself the mission to translate into English the thoughts of the Rav, covering a variety of topics that are starting from the individual until the connection to the natural and the animal world.

The chore of the book relies on the ´four part song´: there are four types of people, each sing a different song of Jewish spirituality: 1. There is the song of the individual (through which a personal connection to one´s own soul, Gd, Torah, meaning of life, spiritual growth, prayer and creativity is made); 2. The song of the nation which has to do with topics of Jewish identity such as the Messianic times, the Zionism, the rebuilt of the Temple; 3. The song of humanity is the Jewish rendition on issues such as faith, science, liberal and progressive values and the relationships with other religions; 4. The song of creation, which embraces also details regarding animal rights and vegetarianism. All those four songs are supposed to be united into one person, as the creation itself is unique.

For each aspect and topic approached, the author makes a short overview and adds the selected quotes as direct proof the reader can use for further understanding. This perspective offers a comprehensive overview of Rav´s thinking, and may explain at a certain extent the frequent misuse of his thoughts: although the results of a subjective selection of the book author, those fragments are an extraordinary insights of the complexity of his perspective, that goes beyond the limited group thinking. 

One of the most important lessons Rav Kook offered was the kindness towards all fellow Jews, regardless the degree of religiosity, including the atheists. The righteous individual, the rabbi, should find the right way to communicate instead of excommunicate, through a higher understanding of the human nature. ´The purest tzaddikim (righteous individual) do not complain about evil, bjut instead increase righteousness. They should not complain about atheism, but instead increase faith. Do not complain about ignorance, but instead increase wisdom´. The complex knowledge of his religious perspective allows him to tolerate and learn the lessons from the non-religious, including by understanding that sometimes, the atheists are the best believers and their disappointment with religion has to do in fact with the unflexible approach of the religious institutions. ´We need to develop a spiritual outlook that will not focus on the negativities in secular values, but instead concentrate on transforming them into a more spiritual and beautiful form´. What a wise outlook in so dire need nowadays...

Rav Kook, with a Hasidic/Chabad background on his mother´s side, and a Litvish father, had extensive relationships with and knowledge of the literary and artistic world, as a friend of Shai Agnon and Bialik and supported the creation of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. In his opinion, the religious world needed the creative inspiration from the artistic realm. 

Noteworthy is also the complex outlook when it comes to the need on considering on an individual basis the different aspects of Jewish thought and law, including in organising the educational system: some individuals are more suited for halakha (legal) studies, while for the others, a different direction of thought of Judaism is more suited. Finding the right balance requires a vision and a deep knowledge of the human nature.

There are so many new pathways the book open through the selected translation of quotes. I´ve personally found inspiring the ones related to prayer. 

Here are the most significant ones: 

´The goal of prayer is not to change the will of Gd, since Gd cannot be subject to change. Instead, the goal is to be uplifted by the changes that happen to one during prayer so that one will be in line with the will of Gd´.

´Where one requests something in prayer, one must be careful that one´s intention is to remove evil and darkness from the world and to strengthen divine food and light´.

According to this point of view, the prayer is in itself a spiritual revolution that we are part thereof by every single word that we utter. With every prayer we make one step further towards self-acceptance and love, a significant step towards opening towards our fellow Jews and humans in general.

There is so much left from Rav Kook heritage to learn about and it is important to be aware of his complex revolution whose seeds are waiting to be planted. 

The book by Ari Ze´ev Schwartz is a valuable contribution towards the rightful understanding of the complexities of Rav Kook thoughts, beyond the sectarian approaches and simplifications. The spiritual revolution the Rav started is just at the beginning and the correct references are the most useful tools in moving forward on the right path, both at individual and especially at national levels.

Rating: 5 stars

Jewish Crafts and Religious Identity

There is a concept called hiddur mitzvah which encourages the enhancement of a commandment in a visual, material way. For instance, in this category one can include a beautiful pair of candlesticks for Shabbes, a special tablecloth for Shabbat and holidays, the decoration of the wedding canopy. Introducing this material aspect into the ritual requires a fine balance, as the object should contain that minimal ado that completes the spiritual side of the ritual, without reversing it.

Taking as a departure point the activities of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework, Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis explores from an ethnographical and religious perspective the development of the Jewish material culture in America. With a focus on both the process - through which communities of faith are created and enforced - and the final product, it features local creators and educators that integrated crafts aimed to produce works inserted into the Jewish narrative - confirming traditions but also advancing new narratives typical for the Reform/Conservative/Liberal movements, such as tallit (prayer shawls) and kippah (head coverings) for women. On the other hand, by crafting together, the participants, predominantly women, create and enforce their belonging to the community of faith. Through their activities they create rituals - on Rosh Chodesh, for celebrating the New Moon, for instance - as well as share Jewish knowledge - d´var Torah. 

Although very limited - as not the main object of study - the research also includes the role of the new technologies in both creating the crafts and displaying them - such as blogs and social media dedicated to those aspects.

The topic is very intearesting and after reading this book I am curious to explore it more on my own. The book has a liberal outreach, but personally I am curious about women craft works within the traditional communities as well, including by finding eventually inspiration for needlepoint works that I can do myself. Such knowledge is usually transmitted within the community and rarely shared in printed formats, therefore the research itself involves predominantly a human connection so I wish myself good luck in hunting for heimishe patterns.

Painted Pomegranates and Needlepoint Rabbis. How Jews Craft Resilience and Create Community is a valuable resource and departure point for further research and inspiration, even it uses a less traditional approach.

Jodi Eichler-Levine is associate professor of Religious Studies, and Berman Professor of Jewish Civilization at Lehigh University.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Distance between Two Seeds

We are talking a lot about social distancing those days, mostly in the mathematical, geographical sense, but keeping a healthy distance between fellow humans has to do with the natural way of growing too. This quote attributed to Rav Kook, translated by Ari Ze´ev Schwartz in his book The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook (full review of the book coming up very soon) offers a good inspiration in this respect. 

Rav Kook refers to two seeds planted in soil as follows: ´The distance between the two seeds is necessary in order to allow for each seed to be watered, nourished, and grown in each one´s optimal way. Whereas planting them too closely together would actually have disrupted and ruined both, the distance between the two allows for each plant to flourish´.

In a relationship, within the family, as scholars and teachers, as fully human beings, we need distance and our own private realm to grow. Maturity involves further returning into the society by sharing the achievement and adding your own individual pattern to the society´s.

Can I Tell You About Being Jewish?

Written as a dairy Ruth - 12 yo - keeps in order to explain the basics of her religion and everyday life for her Muslim friend Ayla, Can I Tell you About Being Jewish? by Howard Cooper is a good introduction to someone curious about this topic. The book is part of a longer series that starts with Can I Tell you About..., covering various topics of interests for a certain age range.  I am not familiar with the series and as for now I´ve only read the book dedicated to Judaism.

The book is written in an easy, non-sophisticated voice, that suits the audience. Ruth is living in England, her father converted to Judaism, is attending a liberal service and has her own opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - an addition to the story that in my opinion sounded too apologetic. 

She is theoretically speaking to a Muslim friend, but the information is available for anyone not familiar with the Jewish faith, as it explains the various holidays, the Shabbat, the inner dynamics of the Jewish family and the main milestones of a Jew. There are also some historical information made available to the reader, such as the Kindertransport and the recent issues of the refugees from the Middle East, that her family invited to the Shabbat table, as part of the rules of hospitality.

Essentially, being Jewish mean more than listing out a couple of - relevant - features though. It means a non-stop conversation and making choices that involves both tradition and modernity. ´I suppose everyone needs to work out for themselves what kind of Jew they want to be´, said wisely the 12yo Ruth and as for now, she is perfectly right.

Rating: 3 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

About Amos Oz

It really hurts me to know that Amos Oz is no more. That I will not have to wait another book or article or public position of him. Politically speaking, I might have shared a different perspective, but his sense of measure and balance belongs to a world that it is about to dissapear both physically and intellectually.

The dialogue he has with Shira Hadad - editor of Hebrew fiction and writer of TV drama series with a PhD about the works of Agnon - covers a variety of topics, most of them regarding his writing, personal history and experiences. I´ve read the German translated from Hebrew published as Was ist ein Apfel? (in English, What is an apple?), authored by Anne Birkenhauer, who translated into German also David Grossman, Aharon Appelfeld and Eshkol Nevo, among others.

People like Amos Oz are living history of the state of Israel, complementary to the political and military story. A story that at its very beginning counted among the elites no professional politicians, but people that grew up in old countries with a sense for literature and poetry but also with experience in the military combat. A completely mix of personalities that the new elites.

New times always require new elites and new characters and it is normal to be so. However, once you´ve had the chance to acknowledge differences, you will always be left with the taste of regret. Because you want to have someone to disagree with, that brings a different, moderate, anti-fanatical perspective. This book of conversations, published originally in 2018, the year of his death, shows Oz´s despise for fanaticism wherever it arises, not only in politics, but equally in literary field or the gender relations. Regardless of what you think about a topic, listening/reading to a different, more balanced opinion, helps from a critical thinking perspective.

In addition of the snippets of Israeli history, including his realistic memories about the life in the kibbutz, there are the slow stories about his writing process and how he was looking for sources of inspiration that I enjoyed the most. I can imagine him walking the streets slowly, observing other people, listening to their stories from afar, without interacting or disturbing. There are not too many people like him left.

Rating: 4 stars

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the Hanukkah Version

What makes this book different from other Hanukkah books? From the literary Jewish perspective not too much. 

It features the star character ´hungry caterpillar´ created by Eric Carle, which appears on every page, and during all the eight nights of the festival. The information is correct, simple, written and visually presented in a way that is appealing for children between 1 and 3 years of age.

The illustrations are following the usual format of the caterpillar books, colourful and attractive enough for this age range, but not necessarily the kind of visual outline for a children book. 

The book does not tell a specific story, only describes the general way Hanukkah is celebrated. There is the food and the presents and the family ambiance, but everything is told in a very reserved, careful voice. Nothing less, nothing more, just the brand famous caterpillar and the right amount of information needed.

8 Nights of Chanukah by Eric Carle helps to introduce the holidays to small Jewish children, but it is a good idea to have this presented to non-Jewish children as a way to encourage multicultural interests.

Rating: 3 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Burden of Identity: Sépharade by Eliette Abecassis

Caught between multiple identities and family ties, Esther Vidal is unable to escape the constraints of something that looks like a ´project assigned to her from birth`. Assigned by her parents and her family, but also by the society. She is floating from an identity to the other - Moroccan, French, Alsacian, Jewish, Sephardi - adding more weight to her everyday spiritual burden.

Sépharade by Eliette Abecassis is a long story of many stories told in the quiet voice of the 1001 Nights, North African style. There are stories of the stories starting as far as the beginning of Jewish history. But there is hardly a topic left behind: from Jewish history to literature, anthropological insights into the  traditional world of Moroccan Jews, the relationships between different Moroccan Jewish communities, the immigration to Israel and the discrimination experiences of the Jews of non-European origin, but also the complicated political relationship between Morocco and Israel. There is suspense, and romance and unexpected situations, even a whodunit. There are culinary details that smells like dafina - the Moroccan variant of chulent (I know will be accused of cultural abuse but I take the risk) - and the many secrets of preparing the tastiest couscous in the world. 

It seems like Eliette Abecassis wants to tell everything you need to know about Moroccan Jews while creating a standalone story. There are many aspects that are fascinating, but there are also a couple of clichés, like for instance the ´classical´ unbreakable differentiation between Askenazim and Sephardim/Mizrahim (whose food is better, who is warmer, who is more respectful towards parents). Such an approach, although common in the minds and hearts of many representatives of both groups, only perpetuates the simplistic - kitsch even - mindset within both groups. None of them should be ashamed of the historical heritage and instead of drawing such cartoons, we are better grateful for the huge diversity of traditions and histories. I may love couscous and hate hering and embrace the post-Shoah trauma of my family by celebrating life and resilience.

But there is much more to Sépharade than those fake problems. The lecture offers an imaginary refuge covering many generations and historical periods, the stories are offering a lot of food for thought and challenges for everyone learning every day new juggling skills between tradition, modernity and various assigned and assumed identities. It tells stories about a world that is still here and hopefully will continue to be part of the present because it belongs to our Jewish heritage. 

I´ve read the book in the original French language.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Book Review: The Beautiful Possible

Rabindranath Tagore: ´Faith is the bird that feeds the light and sings when the dawn is still dark´.

Abraham Joshua Heschel: ´Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart´.

Three friends: Rosalie, Walter, Sol. Three stories intertwined by the strength of the destinies, like a Venn diagram with overlapping areas. 

The Beautiful Possible by Amy Gottlieb gathers stories within the story: stories about survival, about the chain of generations, about unrevealed accidents, the spice-infused love of the Song of Songs or the hopeless hope of the Ecclesiastes/Kohelet. From Berlin to Mumbay and back to the new life in America, the characters are on a permanent alert for translating the world into words, following the pattern of question/answer - Sheelah/Teshuvah - dialogue. There is an almost karmic connection between the characters: Walter, a refugee from Germany, identified as such within the story, a successful professor of comparative religions that spent the war times in the Tagore ashram in India after he ´followed a man wearing a brown felt hat´; Sol, the talented yeshiva student with a bright rabbinical future, and Rosalie, the daughter of a Hasid that before taking over the functions of a rebbetzin and a mother, used to learn together with her father. Around those main characters, there are others - like friends and the couple´s children, especially Maya - who are aimed at completing the course of the story.

Organised chronologically, the chapters start from the 1930s until the beginning of the 2000s. An enormous lap of time that is not always equally eventful or revealing for the geometry of the story. It starts on a very tensed note, the moment when Walter´s father and fiance are killed by the Nazis but this high intensity of the first episode is rarely replicated in the rest of the story. The book is inequal with the first part being more rich in details both about the characters and the course of action. The three characters are young, with an unexplored potential that fades away shortly after caught up in the routine of the everyday life, which may happen in real life but for a book it operates against the initial expectations when the reader looks to get the best of its characters within a very limited amount of time. It´s like that at least until the very end of the book, everyone is resigned to its own fate. I would have expected more development for Sol character, the rabbi that started as an ilui and ended up completely at lost for his destination. 

The dialogues aren´t always flowing naturally, with a certain rigidity that makes the characters themselves belong to a rather cartoon register.

But despite the ups and downs, The Beautiful Possible is a beautiful poem about the strong ties between life and love, the search for the source of life soustenance and the love without end, in the likes of the images projected by the Song of Songs. And as in the case of the Song of Songs, there is more than a meaning assigned to the concept of love. 

This is a book I craved to read for a long time and although I have mixed opinions about the literary formula, the story in itself is beautiful enough to challenge the possible reality.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Yiddish is Back!

Now, I have your attention!
In fact, Yiddish was never on a break, only the ways in which the interest towards it propagated was relatively on hold. After all, this language - yes, it´s a language, not a dialect, zhargon, also as per the decision of the 1908 Yiddish Conference in Czernowitz where it was declared as ´national language of the Jewish people´- was always here, always developing and creating valuable works - that brought a Nobel Prize to an autor writing in Yiddish, Isaac Bashevis Singer, in 1978.

In the article How Does it Feel to be an Yiddish Writer in America, published on the 23rd of May edition of the Forverts, he explained the premise of the title: ´like a ghost who can see but it is not seen´. And he explains later: ´Writers have never had any guarantees as to the number of their readers or the future of their languages. Nobody can tell what will happen to the words and phrases in use today or five hundreds years from now. A new way of conveying ideas and images may be found that will make the written word, and perhaps even today´s spoken word, completely superflous. It is not the language that gives immortality to the writer. The very opposite is true: great writers do not let their languages become extincts´. 

The recent literary works brought to the attention of the English speaking publicm like the short stories by Blume Lempel or by Yenta Mash confirm this assumption. The fact that those writers are women might be another topic to discuss, but maybe on another occasion.

The good academic news of the fact that Yiddish is becoming so sought-after is that there are many books and information available in English, outlining the diversity and complexity of the language, especially from an anthropological/social perspective.

I will briefly mention my latest two readings in this respect.

Born to Kvetch by Michael Wex is a very detailed journey into the world beyond the words. Yiddish means a lot of dialects and a world when just speaking the words is not enough to fully manage the language. From the complex characters of the folk tales to the language of the synagogue, or the exchanges on the street, the word and its context can change - for the good and for the bad. Organised in chapters following the main life encounters, it provides a rich depository of vocabulary and their background story. One can learn a lot about it, but still, it is not enough for considering oneself a master of the Yiddish. Unfortunatelly, it does not provide too much specific details of variants of Yiddish spoken in various Central and East European countries, being rather focused on the standard Litvische. There are so many topics - way too many - that needs further discussion and exploring - like the fully packed laboratory of families of demons, but the book is enjoyable not only by academics, but equally by those who want to figure out more than basic information about Yiddish.

My favorite Yiddish-related read of the day is an excellent collection of articles, information and literary fragments inspired by or about Yiddish, edited by Ilan Stavans (who had extraordinary contributions in the field of Yiddish-speaking realm in South America) and Josh Lambert. How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish covers almost everything that one needs to acknowledge about the history of Yiddish in America, from the foods to the books and the famous Hollywood personalities. I´ve spent a bit over a day delving into all stories yet being convinced that there are still so many testimonies and memories left behind. Selections are automatically limitative and subjective but in this case the distribution is very diverse, which meant for me that there are more Yiddish-related books added on the TBR and hopefully reviewed on the blog soon too. I wish there will be such a bilingual selection one day, Yiddish-English.