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Jewish Journal

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Picture of Sandee Brawarsky

Sandee Brawarsky

The Grand Design of Daniel Libeskind

October 19, 2004

It was in Poland\’s primeval forests, where bison roamed amidst labyrinths of poplar and maple trees that Daniel Libeskind first began to understand concepts of land, space, shelter and natural resources, themes that would be the underpinnings of his career as an architect.

In his new book, \”Breaking Ground: Adventures in Life and Architecture\” (Riverhead), the world-renowned architect who designed the master plan for the World Trade Center site, describes his early life in Poland, Israel and the Bronx, and he speaks with eloquence and passion about the ideas behind his \”overtly expressive\” work.

Preserving Yiddish One Book at a Time

October 7, 2004

Aaron Lansky is the Yiddish Indiana Jones. The founder and president of the National Jewish Book Center, Lansky has been an intrepid archaeologist and adventurer in his decades-long effort to find and save Yiddish books around the world before they are destroyed or lost forever.

Works of Renewal and Celebration

September 16, 2004

At present, the tradition or writing hanhagot continues. At the back are two neo-Chasidic hanhagot, by Hillel Zeitlin, a writer and martyr of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Arthur Green, a contemporary scholar and theologian, who is the author\’s mentor.

‘Memory’ Shapes Life and History

September 9, 2004

Tony Eprile opens up the complex terrain of a changing South Africa in \”The Persistence of Memory.\”

This is an ambitious novel, a novel of many ideas. Eprile is a gifted storyteller who delves into the inner life and family, and also politics, social commentary and warfare. The literary thread that links these different kinds of stories — whether accounts of sensual meals, embarrassing school episodes or brutal battles — and propels the narrative is suggested by the title: the way that memory, the act of remembering, shapes life and history.

The Arts

September 2, 2004

In this collection of linked stories, the three figures at the center are a mother, father and son who leave Riga, Latvia, for Toronto, Canada. The stories are told from the point of view of the son, Mark Berman, who observes everything and helps interpret the New World for his parents.

Russian Emigre’s Tales of New World

August 26, 2004

The three A\’s in \”Natasha\” are filled in by tiny stylized Matryoshka dolls, the traditional Russian stacking dolls, on the book jacket of David Bezmozgis\’ radiant debut (Farrar Straus and Giroux, $18).

In this collection of linked stories, the three figures at the center are a mother, father and son who leave Riga, Latvia, for Toronto, Canada. The stories are told from the point of view of the son, Mark Berman, who observes everything and helps interpret the New World for his parents.

Psychic Channels Her Gift Into Novel

June 3, 2004

I don\’t know how many Jewish psychics there are in Great Neck, N.Y., but Rochelle Jewel Shapiro is easy to spot in the lunchtime crowd at Bruce\’s, a restaurant and bakery in the heart of the Long Island town.

Loud and Proud Mizrachi Voices

May 13, 2004

\”The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage,\” edited by Loolwa Khazzoom (Seal Press, $16.95)

On the last night before her family would flee Libya in 1967, Gina Bublil Waldman recalls that she had to choose between taking her only warm sweater or a photo album with the words \”Souvenir of Libya\” on the cover. Its hand-painted image of a peaceful seascape was in absolute contrast to the political turbulence and danger her family faced. She packed the photos, remnants of a life she wouldn\’t know again.

Her essay is included in a compelling collection, \”The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage,\” edited by Loolwa Khazzoom.

Mixed Marriage, Mixed Message

May 6, 2004

\”Sort of Jewish\”,\”Jewish and something else\” \”might as well be Jewish\” are some of the ways people describe their Jewish identity in Sylvia Barack Fishman\’s significant new book probing the religious character of mixed-marriage households, \”Double or Nothing: Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage.\”

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