Body and Jewish souls: review of Melvin Konner’s The Jewish Body The Jerusalem Post, July 10, 2009 Who knew that Dr. Ruth, the grandmotherly sex expert, was a Haganah fighter in Israel’s War of Independence? How often the Nazis’ considered the “final solution” a public health program? And when we think of the nose …
No honeymoon in Tehran: review of Azadeh Moaveni’s Honeymoon in Tehran The Jerusalem Post, June 26, 2009 If the turmoil surrounding Iran’s recent presidential elections offers a glance at the inner psyche of Iranians, Honeymoon in Tehran offers a penetrating stare. Though the deceptively light title suggests that readers are getting a romance (and they …
Waiting for Taha: review of Adina Hoffman’s My Happiness Bears no Relation to Happiness: a poet’s life in the Palestinian Century The Jerusalem Post, June 5, 2009 The story begins with an unlikely friendship between a Jewish American woman who has come to call Jerusalem home and a Palestinian poet, old enough to be …
Identity and crisis: review of Rhoda Ann Kanaaneh’s Surrounded: Palestinian soldiers in the Israeli military The Jerusalem Post, May 15, 2009 An Israeli Arab friend of mine, Saleh, is married to an American woman. He is conflicted: Though part of him would prefer to raise his children here among his family, he chooses to raise …