There's no excuse for boredom

With so many books out there, there's at least one that will entertain you.
PAT JOHNSON AND CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Just in case you find time to sneak a leisurely read into the busy Passover week, here are a number of publications to consider. Most are non-fiction, some are geared toward younger readers, some will interest history buffs. This truly is an eclectic mix, presented in no particular order. Enjoy!

Search for a new life

Lola Benveniste is a writer. Frida Bellavista is her pen name. Under this pseudonym, living in Barcelona, Lola has an incredibly successful career writing romance novels, "soft-core porn, really, for the educated reader." But Lola herself lives in the shadow of her alto ego Frida and her life is quite empty without her writing. When her publisher wants her to write an e-book, where Frida's book would be "a web of light on glass," Lola decides to let Frida "vanish for real." Coinciding with this monumental decision, Lola's father falls down an elevator shaft to his death, leaving behind an intriguing scrapbook. This book motivates Lola to find its owner, which leads her to Vancouver and New York.

This is the basic plot of Norman Ravvin's latest novel, Lola by Night (Paperplates Books, 2003). It is a quick read, not too taxing on the brain. But while the story is interesting and the conclusion satisfying, the writing style is a little too contrived. Ravvin also seems to have a passion for metaphors that he would do best to tame. On the whole though, if you're looking for a holiday diversion, Lola by Night will help you pass the night.

Tough questions

What is the meaning of life? What happens after we die? Why do people hate Jews? What's God got against cheeseburgers? These are a few of the mind-benders in Tough Questions Jews Ask: A Young Adult's Guide to Building a Jewish Life (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2003), Rabbi Edward Feinstein's articulate and succinct (a mere 136 sparse pages) handbook for young Jews. This is not intended for young people with substantial Jewish education, but serves more as an introduction to Jewish practices and traditions for those who have not grown up observant. Feinstein, who teaches at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, has created a book to pique, rather than quench curiosity. As such, it serves as a handy intro to the basics of religion, everyday observance and lifecycle events.

Anne Frank's roommate

The testament of Anne Frank has proved an enduring and accessible way for young readers to begin addressing the subject of the Holocaust. Millions of schoolchildren have learned about the Holocaust through the words of Frank's diary, written in hiding in the secret annex of an Amsterdam home. Among those who were in hiding with the Frank family was Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist Frank referred to in her diary as "Dussel."

Now The Roommate of Anne Frank (Aspekt, 2003), a slim but remarkable book, has been translated into English – it tells the story of Dussel, the man Frank's diary dismisses as a gloomy and irritating presence in what must have been, at best, a gloomy and irritating existence.

Using a collection of documents found in an Amsterdam flea market, the Dutch historian Nanda van der Zee constructs a more nuanced story of the man who found himself hiding for his life with the Frank family. Because some of the materials upon which this book is based are letters between Pfeffer and his lover Charlotte Kaletta, van der Zee is able to depict Dussel, who has previously been a sort of literary footnote, as the complex, loving and caring human being he was in his lover's eyes.

Planning a mitzvah?

The Ultimate Bar/Bat Mitzvah Celebration Book: A Guide to Inspiring Ceremonies and Joyous Festivities by Jayne Cohen and Lori Weinrott lives up to its title. It is the ultimate. Cohen is a cookbook author and Weinrott is an event planner: their expertise shines through.

About 40 pages of the guide are dedicated to a brief discussion of what a bar/bat mitzvah is, family dynamics, synagogue procedures, elements of the service and ways to personalize and add meaning to the event with innovative tzedakah (charity) and other mitzvah projects. The rest of the 225-page book focuses on the festivities. It covers everything from invitations, photography, location, décor, lighting, flowers, setting the table, traditions, music and entertainment, menu planning, hiring a caterer, getting set up, etc. It offers sample budgets, timelines, questions to ask the synagogue, caterer and other "suppliers." It provides cheaper, more meaningful alternatives to "the overblown 'bar mitzvah du jour' syndrome."

While the few spiritual aspects of this book may not appeal to more observant Jews, there is advice that will benefit anyone planning a mitzvah celebration of any magnitude. It will save you time and money, and spare you from many headaches and family fights.

A hero remembered

Even more than a year after his death and that of the entire Columbia space shuttle crew, Journey of Hope: The Story of Ilan Ramon, Israel's First Astronaut (Gefen Publishing, 2003) by Alan D. Abbey will bring tears to readers' eyes, even though Abbey is not the greatest writer. The story of Col. Ilan Ramon and his views of the world are poignant and fascinating.

The book covers a seven-year period, chronicling the selection of the STS-107 crew, the training process, the mission, shuttle flight records, the ship's destruction upon re-entering the earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003, and the immediate aftermath. There is some repetition, as Abbey describes some of what is covered by Jerusalem Post articles included in the publication.

While focusing on Ramon, Journey of Hope includes page-long biographies of the other crew members who perished in the accident: Col. Rick Husband, commander William McCool, Lt.-Col. Michael Anderson, Capt. David Brown, engineer Kalpana Chawla and commander Laurel Clark. The cultural diversity of the crew and the international co-operation that often occurs to facilitate space exploration are themes that run through Journey of Hope.

"'There's no better place to emphasize the unity of people in the world than flying to space,' he [Ramon] said. 'It goes the same for any country, Arab country, whatever – we are all the same people, we are all human beings and I believe that most of us, almost all of us, are good people.' "

A message worth remembering, as conflicts around the world seem to indicate otherwise. This tribute to Ramon and the potential of human beings is available from amazon.com or www.israelbooks.com.

Haganah memoir

Daniel Rosenfeld had a front-row seat for the dramatic and violent years leading up to Israeli independence. A 14-year-old son of a British Mandate official, Rosenfeld's life took a dramatic and history-altering turn when he joined the Haganah, to fight a guerrilla battle, if necessary, against British occupation. From 1943 until Israel's War of Independence, Rosenfeld was one of the resistance fighters struggling to fulfil the Zionist dream against, first, the British authorities, then the Arab armies. In Code Name: Amnon (Rosenfeld Book Publishing, 2003), Rosenfeld itemizes the daily existence of a Haganah warrior, enlivening the historical record with accounts of what life was like in pre-Israel Palestine.

Heart of Zionism

Those who view Jewish settlements as an incursion into the West Bank territories that rightfully belong to Palestinians do not understand the historic connection of this piece of land to the Jewish tradition. More complex still is the conflicted place known as Gush Etzion. This cluster of Jewish communities south of Jerusalem has been a centre of Jewish religious study and culture for centuries, most recently becoming home to several of the most important yeshivot.

In The Gush: Centre of Modern Religious Zionism (Gefen Publishing, 2004), author David Morrison begins with a brief background of the communities – where historically Jews were sitting ducks for the angry Arabs that surrounded them – but turns this into a book of religious triumph. Occupied by Jordan from 1948 until 1967, Gush Etzion was returned to Israel after the Six Day War. With a firm foundation of the region's historical significance, a cluster of religious groups helped make this tiny area of the Judean hills one of the world's most vibrant sources of modern religious ferment.

Struggling to belong

One contributor to The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage (Seal Press, 2003) writes about her life, "My story is one primarily of oppression: traditional European oppression, colonial oppression, Western oppression, modern Zionist oppression.... Whether I am conscious of it or not, I am a product of an educational, intellectual and economic steamroller that squashed everything and left no room for my own development outside of the distorting, Ashkenazi, Zionist, Israeli, European hegemony." These angry words pretty much sum up the theme of The Flying Camel, edited by Loolwa Khazzoom.

The women who have written essays for this collection include activists, professors, authors, students, founders or heads of organizations and a psycotherapist. They are all struggling to belong, trying to unite their Arab and Jewish identities into one "complete" person. While there are a couple of contributors who have found some measure of peace with who they are and how they fit into the larger society, most of the women are in turmoil.

The Flying Camel offers great insight into Jewish communities with which many of us will be unfamiliar; it offers those who are in similar situations a feeling of community, of not being alone. It is heavy reading though, and many of the essays touch upon similar themes. As such, it's not a book you'll enjoy reading in one or two sittings, better to stretch it out over a longer period.

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