Past into the present: review of Joseph Olshan’s novel The Conversion The Jerusalem Post, August 29, 2008 Acclaimed author Joseph Olshan asserts his literary prowess once again with his latest novel, The Conversion. Hypnotic prose, several layers of intrigue, and a heady Old World setting harmonize to create a melodious, and immensely enjoyable, story. But …
Honor thy mother: review of Alyse Myers’s memoir Who Do You Think You Are? The Jerusalem Post, August 1, 2008 Formerly fodder for the psychoanalyst’s couch, memoirs recounting the abuses one has suffered at the hands of one’s mother seem to have come into vogue. Alyse Myers’s Who Do You Think You Are? is one …
In the footsteps of Columbus: review of Tony Horwitz’s non-fiction book A Voyage Long and Strange The Jerusalem Post, July 25, 2008 For many readers, hearing the words “history” and “book” in the same sentence invokes groans and nightmarish memories of high school. Tony Horwitz’s A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World not …
According to Interior Ministry spokesperson Sabine Hadad, “There is no recognized Hindu community in Israel and there are rules for building temples; one of them is having land and building permits.” The Interior Ministry also said that the matter of alleged forged documents falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labor, but numerous telephone …
Gambling on Israel The Jerusalem Post, July 4, 2008 Colorful Bollywood movie posters and richly-hued spices in red-lidded jars crowd the small storefront of Om Indian Store – The Taste of India, located on Lewinsky Street at Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station. It’s a warm Shabbat in early summer and the glass door is propped …
“You are a Jew?” The Jerusalem Post, June 13, 2008 The Jerusalem Post- International Edition, July 11, 2008 One wrong turn and I am standing alone in an alley in Marrakech, deep inside the medina, the dusty red wall of Palais de la Bahia on one side of me, a row of closed stores to …
Meeting God in the middle The Jerusalem Post, June 6, 2008 Say the words “secular yeshiva” to most Israelis and they’ll scratch their heads. A secular yeshiva? What does that mean? The words shouldn’t appear so close to each other in a sentence. Maybe they shouldn’t be in the same sentence at all. And yet, …
Interview with Susanna Sonnenberg The Southeast Review Online, Spring 2008 Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times said of Susanna Sonnenberg‘s memoir: “Writing in sharp, crystalline prose, Ms. Sonnenberg… plung(es) readers into a sort of perpetual present tense in which we are made to experience, almost firsthand, the inexplicable and perverse behavior of an …
Breathing room: review of Susanna Sonnenberg’s memoir Her Last Death The Jerusalem Post, May 23, 2008 Susanna Sonnenberg’s mother hovers between life and death after a car accident in Barbados. Sonnenberg decides not to sit vigil by her mother’s bedside. In a starkly honest voice she tells the reader, “I’m afraid my mother will die. …
The new Israelis: the children in our midst The Jerusalem Post, May 16, 2008 From the street, nothing distinguishes this particular apartment building from the other equally dreary ones in South Tel Aviv. But as you approach the door of one of the ground-floor apartments you hear them – children’s voices. Yelling, crying, laughing. Snippets …