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sandee brawarsky

‘Memory’ Shapes Life and History

Sandee Brawarsky 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.

Russian Emigre’s Tales of New World

Sandee Brawarsky 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

Sandee Brawarsky 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

Sandee Brawarsky 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

Sandee Brawarsky 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.\”

Exile the So-So Seder

Sandee Brawarsky April 1, 2004

Some people like their Passover seders just as they remember them: the same lines recited by the same relatives with the same emphasis, the same songs, jokes and foods, the same delicate glassware that picks up the light in a certain way, reflecting past and present.

Essays Reflect on Pearl’s Last Words

Sandee Brawarsky February 26, 2004

Three words, among the last uttered by journalist Daniel Pearl before his murder two years ago this month (on Feb. 21, the public learned of the murder), have become a nucleus for thoughtfulness and creativity. \”I Am Jewish,\” edited by his parents, Judea and Ruth Pearl (Jewish Lights), is a collection of brief essays by almost 150 noted contributors who tease out meaning from these words and compose personal statements of Jewish identity.

Writer Displays Keen Eye for Israeli Life

Sandee Brawarsky February 12, 2004

The Israel that Donna Rosenthal depicts in her new book, \”The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land\” (Free Press) can sound like one very crowded apartment building, filled with interesting, passionate people from many backgrounds, often shouting in the hallways, sitting on the stoop, offering advice out their windows, sharing tragedies. But the tenants don\’t know much about those neighbors who aren\’t like them.

When bad Things Turns 20

Sandee Brawarsky October 25, 2001

In 1981, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a 150-page book, published with little fanfare, that changed the lives of the more than 4 million people who read it and made its title, \”When Bad Things Happen to Good People,\” part of the vernacular.

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