By Diana Brement, JTNews Columnist
Bible
Joseph’s Bones: Understanding the Struggle Between God and Mankind in the Bible by Jerome M. Segal (Riverhead, paper, $14). Segal’s background in philosophy led him to take a different look at the Bible. Regarding God as a character in God’s own story, he contrasts the characters of Joseph and God, and theorizes that Joseph may have once held more importance in the minds of ancient Israel than today. Joseph was so important that his bones were taken out of Egypt in the Exodus, carried, as legend tells it, in an ornately decorated sarcophagus.
Joseph embodies many of the traits we ascribe to God, particularly love and compassion. And whereas God often erupts in anger and seeks violent vengeance on the enemies of Israel, Joseph leads an almost faultless life and barely scratches the surface of revenge when faced with the brothers who almost killed him.
Holocaust
Kasztner’s Train: The True Story of an Unknown Hero of the Holocaust by Anna Porter (Walker, cloth, $27.95). Perhaps in part because no one has made a movie about Rezso Kasztner, he remains unknown to most of us, although his role in rescuing Hungarian Jews is acknowledged at Yad Vashem. In 1944, he desperately negotiated to “buy lives” from the Nazis, resulting in train transport to Switzerland for 1,684 Jews. However, most of those passengers had to pay dearly for their seats, and it came to be regarded as an unacceptable Faustian bargain. Kasztner was even prosecuted in Israel as a Nazi collaborator and, although he was exonerated, he was assassinated in Tel Aviv in 1957.
The Diary of Mary Berg: Growing Up in the Warsaw Ghetto (Oneworld, cloth, $24.95). First published in 1945, one year after Berg’s escape aboard the S.S. Gripsholm — a mercy ship hired by the American government — it helped draw the plight of European Jews to the world’s attention. Berg managed to stash 12 notebooks filled with the secret shorthand she had created in her suitcase. The first edition was prepared by Yiddish journalist S.L. Shneiderman. This new edition, and its preface, were prepared by Susan Pentlin.
Cooking
Many of us still have the battered yellow binder that was Norene Gilletz’ first cookbook, The Pleasures of Your Food Processor (with its built-in book stand). Now, Gilletz has produced another compendium, Norene’s Healthy Kitchen: Eat Your Way to Good Health (Whitecap, paper, $34.95). There are 600 recipes in this hefty paperback, and lots of nutritional information. There’s a vegetarian section, as well as a sauce section, and over 30 pages of Passover recipes.
Biography
Sisterbrother: Gertrude and Leo Stein, by Brenda Wineapple (U. of Nebraska, paper, $21.95). Gertrude Stein is a name recognized by most, but her brother, Leo, is much more of an enigma. Wineapple goes to great depths in tracing their lives, together and apart. The two creative and innovative souls were almost inseparable as they grew into adulthood, but stopped speaking at one point and never resumed their relationship.
Children
Sammy Spider’s First Shavuot, by Sylvia Rouss (Kar-Ben, paper, $7.95). The 14th in Rouss’ ongoing Jewish holiday series, this time Sammy learns the delights of strawberries and blintzes, as well as the story of the giving of the Torah to Moses.
It’s Israel’s Birthday!, by Ellen Dietrick (Kar-Ben, cloth, $12.95). Preschool children can learn about Israel while looking at colorful photos of their peers acting out a visit to the country.
The Mozart Question, by Michael Morpurgo (Candlewick, cloth, $15.95). A beautifully illustrated and gorgeously crafted story by the former British Children’s Laureate and Whitbread Award winner. A journalist becomes the first to hear the personal history of a world-famous Venetian violinist and how his parents — and their violins — survived the Holocaust. The publisher recommends this book for ages 8–12, but parents should preview the book for appropriate content, particularly for children who are first learning about the Holocaust. Teens and grownups should read it, too.
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, by Valerie Zenatti (Bloomsbury, cloth, $16.95). A 17-ye jar-old girl from a peace-loving Israeli family finds herself frustrated and sad after a terrorist attack on her city. Feeling the need to reach out to the other side, she floats a message in a bottle. It lands in Gaza and soon she is corresponding with the anonymous “Gazaman.” While letter exchanges are not this reviewer’s favorite form of novel, here it becomes an effective way of illustrating what life is like in modern Israel for young people. The French author grew up in Israel and is the winner of the Batchelder Honor.
Women
Women Remaking American Judaism, edited by Riv-Ellen Prell (Wayne State, paper, $25.95). A collection of essays that came out of a conference titled “The Changing Role of Women in American Jewish Religious Life,” held at Wayne State University in 2004. Essays are grouped under the topics “Re-envisioning Judaism,” “Redefining Judaism,” and “Reframing Judaism,” and include writing on Biblical scholarship, feminist theology and adult Bat Mitzvah, as well as explorations of women in the four major Jewish movements.