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May 2, 2008
A book of wise words
Many B.C. women are part of Living Legacies.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
The last stanza of a poem by Judy Weissenberg Cohen perfectly summarizes the overall sentiment of Living Legacies: A Collection of Inspirational Contemporary Canadian Jewish Women: "Let us create a society / free of hatred and hunger / where respect for each other / glows like a beautiful ember."
The recently published anthology "is an opportunity for a variety of Canadian Jewish women to capture their life stories, values and beliefs, thereby creating a unique written portrait for today and providing an ethical/spiritual inheritance for future generations," writes editor Liz Pearl in the introduction.
Weissenberg's poem is found in her contribution to the book, "From Death March to Liberation and Beyond," in which she briefly describes her experience in the Holocaust and her physical and mental rehabilitation afterward. Now living in Toronto, Weissenberg has become an activist in Holocaust education, working on the "collective task" of prevention of hatred and genocide. She has also created the website Women and the Holocaust, "in a deliberate effort to give voice to gender issues pertaining to female Holocaust survivors, as well as to bridge scholars, survivors and poets together with the general public."
Part of the proceeds from the sales of Living Legacies will be donated to www.womenandtheholocaust.com. Pearl will also be setting aside some of the proceeds of the book's sales for Ve'ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee (www.veahavta.org). These actions complement the book's theme of tikkun olam, repair of the world, a concept that makes an appearance in almost every essay, letter or poem.
The more than 50 contributors to Living Legacies represent a range of Canadian Jewish women of all ages and backgrounds. British Columbian authors include Jody Dales, Marion Secunda Poliakoff, Dr. Renee Norman, Shar Levine, Lynn Greenhough, Esther Kane, Carol Slater, Helen Mintz and Dr. Ruth Simkin. Each woman shares a very personal story and some advice with readers.
Dales writes a letter to her daughters, stressing the importance of generosity and gratitude in life; Poliakoff writes to her granddaughter, encouraging her to work for multicultural understanding, to live Jewishly and to strive for social justice. Norman also focuses on family and the generations; on the importance of memory.
In very different ways, Levine and Greenhough discuss identity and what it means to be Jewish – and what it means to be true to yourself and to live happily and ethically. Kane expands on these ideas, talking about the need to care for yourself, from the perspective of someone who herself had an eating disorder and whose current occupation as a therapist includes much work with mothers and daughters.
Family, friendship and other relationships are often at the centre of the stories in Living Legacies and Slater's "A charmed life" accents "caring, kindness and love" and the importance of the people we meet in our lives. Mintz links the generations and the value and beauty of language in "A Taste of Yiddish" and Simkin tenderly recalls her grandmothers, admonishing readers, "If you are lucky enough to still have grandmothers or close aunts or cousins who love you and respect you, ask them questions now, learn from them, take what they offer you. We all become old some day. We carry our lives with us. And our pasts. Appreciate who they are and who you are and how we are all intertwined in this wonderful weave of life."
This feeling captures the intent of Living Legacies to connect generations and provide inspiring role models for young Jewish women (and men) now and in the future. Pearl, who is an independent educator and therapist specializing in psychogeriatrics and the expressive arts therapies, has managed to compile an impressive collection. Each contribution is distinct and readers may be surprised at which stories speak to them most. The book would be a great gift for a bat or bar mitzvah, for new parents or for a friend who seems to have lost her way in life.
Living Legacies, published by PK Press, is available from Thornhill Store in Thornhill, Ont., at toll-free 1-877-511-1010 or [email protected], and at Eglinton Store in Toronto, 1-416-256-1010 or [email protected]. It can also be ordered on the book's website, http://at.yorku.ca/pk/ll-order.htm.
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