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Mikhail Krutikov reviews “Ode to the Dove” in the Yiddish Forward

https://forward.com/yiddish/543246/two-new-hard-copies-of-works-by-i-b-singer-and-sutzkever

Like Bashevis’s “Stories from Behind the Stove”, Sutskever’s “Ode to the Dove” was also written after the Holocaust. But this poem is a message from a completely different world than Bashevis’s stories. The poet’s mission has nothing to do with “creating a country or a public,” explains Berger in his introduction to the book published by Ben Yehuda Press. The poet is an individual who creates his own temple of sounds.

“Here, with the pen, I conduct my own, silent chapel.”

Berger emphasizes that Sutskever actually uses the international word “temple” and not the literal “beys hamikdesh.” In this way, Sutskever continues the tradition of the Polish romantic poets Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki and Cyprian Norwid, whom he studied in the Polish-Jewish high school in Vilnius.

Berger ends his introduction with a question: To whom does Sutskever turn in this poem, which was written in 1954 in Tel Aviv?

And he speculates. “Perhaps to the dead who drag the poet from his bed and embrace him at night.”

Usually one reads Sutskever’s poems in poetry anthologies, one after the other. Berger’s book slowly soaks in the difficult rhythm and long lines of a single poem.

On each page, the reader’s gaze wanders between the Yiddish source above and the English translation below, and between the pages one pauses at the charming background illustrations by Liora Ostroff.

No digital copy can replace this experience of slowly reading and turning the pages.

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Remembering Rivka Basman Ben-Haim

First, a personal note. I felt I was in mourning when Rivka died. I loved her like I loved my own mother.

Now about Rivka. 

Her husband, Mula, and she were twin souls. The Torah says about Jacob and his son Binyomin, נפשו קשורה בנפשו, “one’s soul was bound up with the soul of the other”, and that’s how it was with Rivka and Mula. 

Here are two examples (from their lives together).

For Rivka life on  Kibbutz Ha-Ma’apil was a slice of Eden. First, she watched the things she planted grow, and that was therapeutic for her. Then she became a teacher of Kibbutz children. In a poem entitled “With my students of the Rimon Class” she says of the children “and I discover/that the honey-/is in fact you”.

But for Mula life on the kibbutz was most unpleasant. He was a painter and he wanted to paint more than the few hours a week that the kibbutz allotted to him. He told Rivka he wanted to leave and without hesitation, she told him she would go with him. So  the two left the kibbutz together.

Years later, when Rivka was studying for an MA in literature at Columbia University, Mula was homesick for Israel (He was simply unhappy in the Diaspora). When he told Rivka this, she reacted much as Ruth said to Naomi: “Wherever you go, I go, too.” And so the pair left for Israel together.

I was always surprised at Rivka’s optimism. 

When I asked her about this, she said: “What can I do? God created me like this”.

I got a similar response when we watched a film about Rivka at Bet Leyvik.

There I saw Rivka in uniform holding a rifle. “Rivka”, I said, “you never told me you were a soldier!” She responded with “What could we do? They attacked us. We fought in self-defense.”

Another time, when we sat around the table shooting the breeze at Bet Leyvik, one of the folks there announced that he had something to say, but he begged every one’s pardon, he would speak in Hebrew, and not in Yiddish.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Rivka said. “Hebrew is also a Jewish language.”

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An Other Covenants Podcast

Other Covenants

Our friends at the Association of Jewish Libraries interviewed the editors of Other Covenants, as well as two of the contributing authors, for their Nice Jewish Books podcast. Tune in — or read the transcript — to learn the secret origins of Eric Choi’s amazing story of space shuttle rescue, and Esther Alter’s rewritten Bible stories.

Other Covenants book cover

Other Covenants

$24.95

Imagine…. An adult Anne Frank, living out her golden years in Florida. Moses in his basket, floating all the way to the wilds of Scotland. An alternate Israel, with zeppelins and ray-guns, hiding a terrible secret. A Holocaust that succeeded beyond Hitler’s wildest dreams, yet unable to extinguish hope. What is more Jewish than musings […]

3 in stock (can be backordered)

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Tu Bishvat, Jewish Poetry Month and a taste of Parshat Beshalach from Ben Yehuda Press

B”H

Tu Bishvat is coming! This is also the week of Beshalach, and we’ll begin with the parsha before we veer off into the New Year of the Trees. (Keep your seatbelts on!)

First, Abe Mezrich offers poetic midrash on chapter 14 of Exodus from his book Words for a Dazzling Firmament. (If you enjoy this piece, our big sale for Jewish Poetry Month is still ongoing: buy two books, get a third one free. We have a three-volume set from Abe Mezrich, so you can get them all even cheaper than our usual bundle price!)

Salvation by Abe Mezrich

God tells Moses,
Why do you cry out to Me?
Move into the unpassable water.

& when the people do,

God splits the Sea
into a miracle.

Sometimes you cry out for help
but sometimes God wants, instead,
for you to walk so deep into your own waters
that you force His Hand.
Words for a Dazzling Firmament - cover image
And now about Tu Bishvat… One of our parsha books is unique in that it offers not only commentary on the Torah portion, but also on major and minor holidays, and even individual prayers. This is what Torah Without End edited by Rabbi Michael Strassfeld has to say on Tu Bishvat, a chapter authored by Rabbi Robin Damsky!
“The Rebbe [Nahman] spoke: “If only you could be privileged to hear the songs and the praises of the grasses, how each and every blade of grass sings out its song to the Blessed Creator, without any distracting thoughts and without expectation of any reward. How good and lovely it is when you hear their song. And it is very good when among them to worship the Holy Blessed Creator with reverence.”

—Sichot HaRan 163.3, Rebbe Nahman of Bratzlav

What is the song of a blade of grass? Note how this blade holds you in its arms, how it offers its teaching to you. Listen. Touch if it helps, stroke. Be One. And receive.

Each and every blade of grass has its own song. So does each leaf of a tree, each trunk, each root system. If we listen closely, without distraction (machshevot zarot), if we become present with the soil-being within – the adam/human created from the adamah/soil – we can not only hear the song of each individual blade of grass, we can hear the harmonies of the grasses. We can then tune our attention to distinguish these melodies from the songs of each tree leaf, trunk and root. For the sound of a trunk is very different from the song of its leaf, and its roots sing a different melody entirely. Yet heard altogether, we can even feel in our bones the chorus that each tree composes. What richness, then, the symphony of a grove or forest with all its trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses. How can we hear? How can we smell? How can we feel? It begins with creating a relationship with one blade of grass, one leaf, one trunk. In time, we can hear the symphony of the green world whose exhale is our very inhale.

The privilege of which Rebbe Nahman speaks is the gift of presence. How precious the space is when we are truly engaged, and connected. What we can hear, see, feel, taste and touch when we are connected to Sacred Spirit is a true privilege. That sense of connection is prayer itself.

Tu Bishvat is one calendar reminder for us to take time to listen, notice, and feel. Ideally, we can bring this into our lives regularly, yet on Tu Bishvat, we make a specific intention to invest in this connection.

“The Rebbe [Nahman] spoke: “If only you could be privileged to hear the songs and the praises of the grasses, how each and every blade of grass sings out its song to the Blessed Creator, without any distracting thoughts and without expectation of any reward. How good and lovely it is when you hear their song. And it is very good when among them to worship the Holy Blessed Creator with reverence.”

—Sichot HaRan 163.3, Rebbe Nahman of Bratzlav

What is the song of a blade of grass? Note how this blade holds you in its arms, how it offers its teaching to you. Listen. Touch if it helps, stroke. Be One. And receive.

Each and every blade of grass has its own song. So does each leaf of a tree, each trunk, each root system. If we listen closely, without distraction (machshevot zarot), if we become present with the soil-being within – the adam/human created from the adamah/soil – we can not only hear the song of each individual blade of grass, we can hear the harmonies of the grasses. We can then tune our attention to distinguish these melodies from the songs of each tree leaf, trunk and root. For the sound of a trunk is very different from the song of its leaf, and its roots sing a different melody entirely. Yet heard altogether, we can even feel in our bones the chorus that each tree composes. What richness, then, the symphony of a grove or forest with all its trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses. How can we hear? How can we smell? How can we feel? It begins with creating a relationship with one blade of grass, one leaf, one trunk. In time, we can hear the symphony of the green world whose exhale is our very inhale.

The privilege of which Rebbe Nahman speaks is the gift of presence. How precious the space is when we are truly engaged, and connected. What we can hear, see, feel, taste and touch when we are connected to Sacred Spirit is a true privilege. That sense of connection is prayer itself.

Tu Bishvat is one calendar reminder for us to take time to listen, notice, and feel. Ideally, we can bring this into our lives regularly, yet on Tu Bishvat, we make a specific intention to invest in this connection.

Practice:

Go outside and find grass, a tree, or a shrub. If being outside is completely impossible, find an indoor plant. Or watch a beautiful nature video of grasses and trees. Settle. Breathe. Feel your soil-self, your adamah-ness. Then listen. Touch, if possible, even smell the esev – the green – that Spirit has put forth. You might notice synesthesia. Smell its beauty. Feel and hear its song. Sense your part of the song, how you are an integral voice of this symphony, this dance of creation.

Feel your wholeness as intertwined with the wholeness of All. Listen to its teaching. Take it in. Let it sit. Then bring forward what is yours to share to help bring forth the songs of the green things to others and help heal the future for this majestic symphony.

Go outside and find grass, a tree, or a shrub. If being outside is completely impossible, find an indoor plant. Or watch a beautiful nature video of grasses and trees. Settle. Breathe. Feel your soil-self, your adamah-ness. Then listen. Touch, if possible, even smell the esev – the green – that Spirit has put forth. You might notice synesthesia. Smell its beauty. Feel and hear its song. Sense your part of the song, how you are an integral voice of this symphony, this dance of creation.

Feel your wholeness as intertwined with the wholeness of All. Listen to its teaching. Take it in. Let it sit. Then bring forward what is yours to share to help bring forth the songs of the green things to others and help heal the future for this majestic symphony.
Now that we’ve communed with the trees and nature, it is fitting to quote a chapter from Abraham Sutzkever’s epic poem Ode to the Dove translated by Zackary Sholem Berger and illustrated by Liora Ostroff – forthcoming from us in February! The poet is seeking the dove all over the world, including in forests and on mountaintops…
Ode to the Dove illustration by Liora Ostroff - Chapter VII
Dancer, tell me—where are you? My hair senses your flutter.
The dove can’t give me an answer: where is your home, where’s your theater?
Your eyes bring me this once a doe in sunshine’s dew.
Where is the tremble in gardens with blossoms Chagallian blue?

Who’s breathing me in like a rainbow, near the rain-drenched forest?
Who is the naked wave, so flexible because so boneless?
Who is that snowvalanche aglow over rockface abyss?
She buries in garlands an eagle wishing—for her breasts—a kiss.

Who is the mirror in tears? Who are the faces, those new ones?
In the coffin, who is that woman? The funeral covered with roses?
The wheels keep turning and turning, devouring and binding my shadow.
A shovel buried itself in a grave full of dirt, just today.

Who is the white transformation, which cannot emerge from the birch?
Who is the echo of silence and who is the silence in blush?
No one at all will answer me? Are insanities burning inside me?
Just today, stones did stone themselves in the street.
Will the poet’s emotional turmoil end, and will he find the dove? You will get to find out on February 14! In the meanwhile, we wish you a great Shabbat, Tu Bishvat, and continued Jewish Poetry Month.

PS – You don’t need to add a code to apply the Poetry Month discount in our webstore. Good reading!
abe torah bundle
Torah Without End - book cover
Ode to the Dove - book cover
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Celebrating Jewish trans poetry day!

🎉 ✡️ Today is Jewish trans poetry day! ✡️ 🎉

Would you like a thread with ten handpicked poems from trans Jewish poets to celebrate?

Read & enjoy!

Poems will be in no particular order. I try to link poets' websites when possible, and their latest book (the poems I picked will not necessarily be from that book).

Purchase links will be Amazon associate links or our webstore, but we also rec your local bookstore & library.

Everyone is Jewish and non-cis in some way (trans, nbi, gnc, gq etc.), though specific identities of course vary. At least three of the poets are also intersex in addition to being non-cis.

There are definitely more than ten Jewish trans poets, this is not meant to be a comprehensive list. I encourage you to post your favorite poems #JewishTransPoets #JewishTransPoetry 🙂

I tried to pick both established & upcoming poets.

Joy Ladin @JoyLadin is one of the best-known Jewish trans poets. She taught English at YU until recently. Besides her poetry, she's also known for her memoir and other academic nonfiction work (I recommend those too!).

From Joy Ladin I chose "Pronouncement" from Drunken Boat:

"Sun just up, he is—you are—
twisting your torso toward the world, the true and fictional world

I thread, a true and fictional girl
blushing against a sun-shot wall"

https://d7.drunkenboat.com/db13/5sex/ladin/pronouncement.php

Her latest book is Shekhinah Speaks:

R.B. Lemberg @RB_Lemberg is a fantasist, poet, fiction writer, translator… (many hats!) who was born in Ukraine and currently lives in Kansas. Like Joy Ladin, they also write academic nonfiction too.

We are publishing their poetic memoir Everything Thaws early next year – growing up in Ukraine and Russia, climate change, migration and more.

"The Three Immigrations" originally in @strangehorizons will be partially incorporated into this larger work:

You can preorder Everything Thaws here (now in our Pride sale):

Max Wolf Valerio @hypotenusewolf (Blackfoot/Sephardic) was one of the first trans poets worldwide, and he is still active and creating. He's also a memoirist (The Testosterone Files).

https://hypotenuse-wolf.tumblr.com/

"OK I admit it. I was Greta Garbo, or was that–Shulamith Firestone?" in EOAGH reflects on another Jewish writer's work & takes it further –

"fertility songs are tattooed on the backs of trans men near our shoulder blades where our wings will appear"

His latest poetry collection is The Criminal: The Invisibility of Parallel Forces –

Sass Orol @OrolSass is a rabbinical student who has just seen their debut collection appear recently in our imprint: The Shortest Skirt in Shul.

Included in our Pride sale –

https://www.benyehudapress.com/books/the-shortest-skirt-in-shul/

Amazon is also doing a BIG discount now-

https://amzn.to/3MX8RxY

From Sass Orol I chose the poem "Brit" that's reprinted on the book's preview page (sorry, can't link directly; click through and then in the left sidebar):

https://www.benyehudapress.com/books/the-shortest-skirt-in-shul/

“But all of these things, if you don’t like the shape,
everything can be cut further.”

angelic proof is a Russian-Jewish poet living in Canada. "They are currently the Poet-in-Residence at the Roundhouse Community Arts Centre" (from their bio) and they are also a spoken-word performer.

https://www.facebook.com/angelig.unt

From them I chose "un [naming] / trans (After Golden)" in @FrontierPoetry. This is an awesome visual poem!

https://www.frontierpoetry.com/2021/06/25/poetry-un-naming-trans-after-golden-by-angelic-proof/

"the boys want [My Dick] \my romance
but can't handle [My Dick] \my transness"

Rivers Solomon @cyborgyndroid is primarily known as a fiction writer (most recently of Sorrowland, read it!!), but I read these poems on faer Patreon years ago and they came to mind immediately when starting to assemble this thread –

https://www.patreon.com/posts/some-poems-16999568

"We crawl
out on miniature knee caps, or scoot. We cannot hold
our heads up yet on this trail of cracked ovum shell,

on this path of scoliosis spine."
– from "Ibeji"
(cn from the author: late term pregnancy loss)

I think this is the only poem in the thread that isn't available free online, but I recommend backing faer patreon, fae is in the process of reorganizing it and you can give input to what you'd like to see in the future!

Fae doesn't have a poetry collection yet, so I'll put Sorrowland here:

AJ Odasso @ajodasso has a poetry collection The Sting of It, and they are also a fiction author and a poetry editor at Strange Horizons!

From AJ Odasso I chose "Sargasso Sea" originally in Remixt, reprinted in Intersex Quarterly (also a poem that's stayed with me for many years) –

"Back under. All spoils
but wayward gonads
plundered. Cervix
untethered, that
ungainly hatch."

Percy Amichai Hill @lianlianmin just started publishing poetry in 2022 ("a self-proclaimed baby poet") – I really liked all three pieces he had out so far.

This is his website:

https://lianlianmin.wordpress.com/

And for a poem from Percy Amichai Hill I chose "Kislev" in @olicketysplit:

https://twitter.com/olicketysplit/status/1513999850412642312

"here, i say, take a couple nickels,
chew on them, we'll call this gelt."

Adrian Belmes @adrian_belmes is an author, bookmaker and small press publisher of Badlung Press (check out Depression Cookbook, there is a free pdf); he was born in Odessa, Ukraine. You can find both him and his press here:

https://adrianbelmes.com/

From Adrian Belmes I picked "on our last night in the desert" in @perhappened

https://www.perhappened.com/lastnightadrianbelmes.html

"If we shout into the murk beyond the diamond-wire mesh, we will hear
the drunks next door shout back across the grainy night"

And here you can read Depression Cookbook edited by him, as a free download:

https://adrianbelmes.com/badlung-books

Bogi Takács @bogiperson is a Hungarian Jewish immigrant to the US.

This is me, but it would be weird to leave myself out (though it is also weird to add myself in).

I have a poetry collection, Algorithmic Shapeshifting published by @AqueductPress.

For one of my recent poems, you can try "The Prophet, to His Angel" in @FantasyMagazinehttps://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/poetry/the-prophet-to-his-angel/

"I swallow
the scroll you hand me,
fighting my body as you
reach into my throat
to push scripture deeper"

Thank you for reading! Now it's your turn to share your Jewish trans favorites! (Poems can be about anything!) Tell us about your own work too!

Confetti: 🎊🎊🎊

(Adding more bc I cannot stop)

Izzy Wasserstein @izzyxen has been writing more fiction than poetry lately (and has a great short story collection coming soon), but she's made her debuts with poetry.

This is one of my favorite poems of hers (we also posted it previously):

https://150kansaspoems.wordpress.com/2017/02/19/you-will-come-up-short-by-izzy-wasserstein/

"They will leave landmines in your path,
and when they do not know your path,
they will leave landmines everywhere."

Her latest poetry collection is When Creation Falls, but I'm also going to link her upcoming fiction collection

https://smile.amazon.com/When-Creation-Falls-Izzy-Wasserstein/dp/0996680195/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2CTLHR0K7RT1C&keywords=izzy+wasserstein&qid=1655417549&sprefix=izzy+wasserstein%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1

All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away From –

k. rowan jordan-abrams was also kind to share their poetry with us! This one is my favorite – "seventeen" from Brave Voices:

And because I see some people claim trans Jews are "new", here is a poem from the Middle Ages…

It appears in the book Even Bochan by Kalonymus ben Kalonymus (scroll down for Rabbi Steve Greenberg's English translation)

https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/135628?lang=bi

Now, some people say that the context makes it clear that this poem is satirical. Others disagree. That's a YMMV thing. However!

The existence of this poem shows that Jews in the Middle Ages could conceive of, and write about, gender dysphoria.

We don't know if the author was trans, but the poem itself is clearly about a trans *experience*.

And by the way, at the link these are @AbbyChavaStein's study sheets, and our parent publisher is going to bring you the expanded, BOOK version!

Stephanie Burt @accommodatingly is a poet and poetry critic! She teaches at Harvard and has had several volumes out + also a book about reading poetry, the amazingly titled Don't Read Poetry.

https://www.closecallswithnonsense.com/

For a poem by her I picked At the Parkway Deli, published in @foodandwine (which is kind of life goals) –

https://www.foodandwine.com/lifestyle/books/poem-at-the-parkway-deli

"You can know what you need
before you know why: shredded cabbage and mini-cukes
and sodium ions in water"

Her latest poetry collection is a chapbook, For All Mutants published by @RainTaxiReview

Something else: I am finding out about several trans poets that they are Jewish! Which is awesome!

I was expecting I'd also find out about Jewish poets that they are trans, which hasn't happened yet while making the thread. (Please don't out people who are not out)

Here is the entire, LONG version of the poem from Even Bochan by Kalonymus ben Kalonymus, thank you @opensiddur!

Originally tweeted by Jewish Poetry Project | Jewish Trans Poetry Day! (@JPoetryProject) on June 16, 2022.

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Shavuot and beyond Torah sale

🌄 HERE IS OUR SHAVUOT SALE🌄

25% off on all our Torah titles (preorders too) & free US shipping!

https://www.benyehudapress.com/product-tag/torah/

Includes a recent Jewish Book Award winner… and also many of the books you can read about in our parsha series!

We’ll thread a bit…

(If you are wondering about our Pride sale, we’re also going to have one like last year, but it will launch after Shavuot. 😺 A very festive time!)

So! Torah!

#TorahInATimeOfPlague edited by Erin Leib Smokler now comes with the Jewish Book Award stamp on the cover 😻

All the history, theology, personal and scholarly reflections on TORAH + PLAGUE ⤵️

The Torah is often considered a document by and about men. But women have been there at the dawn of Jewish history, and since then, as spiritual leaders of many kinds.

Jill Hammer and Taya Shere write about The Hebrew Priestess, richly sourced:

Would you like a book for the young readers in your home that brings each week’s Torah portion up close?

An Angel Called Truth & Other Tales from the Torah retells classic stories from kids’ point of view –

We had an earlier thread specifically about this book, with excerpts, illustrations & more –

We also have books really quite not for children.

The Comic Torah: Reimagining the Very Good Book by Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig does not shy away from the blood, the gore and the sex in the original 🙀

Truly a GRAPHIC novel

Here is a relatively more all-ages excerpt, but no less provocative!

Would you like poems? Would you like parsha poems?

We have some, with more in the works!

Sue Swartz tackles the emotional arcs of the five books of Moses –

I always feel fond of reading nuclear anything into the Bible, so here is a small excerpt featuring the priests…

(We’ve posted quite a few more excerpts from this book & you can find them by carefully searching our parsha threads!)

We are probably one of the foremost publishers of Torah poetry (and now we are also venturing into Talmudic poetry), so let’s take a look at some more –

Abe Mezrich writes poetic midrash on the parsha, with two volumes now available & a 3rd coming!

Here is the other volume:

https://www.benyehudapress.com/books/the-house-at-the-center-of-the-world/

You have one about sacred space, one about sacred community, and the third will be about bricks.

(no, REALLY)

(okay, not JUST about bricks)

For something very different, Isidore Century writes about the parsha and about New York Jewish life, sometimes simultaneously!

Coffee & bagels are involved. Yes, in the books of Moses. What would Mother say?

(We all know what Mother would say)

We also have serious books. Yes, we do.

Wrestling Jacob is one of those awesome backlist finds. This book exists & no one told me? (Here I am telling you!)

An intensely psychological take on Jacob & his family, with in-depth textual analysis –

We actually want to post a new excerpt from this one soon, but we’ve had some already… Here is something about who Jacob REALLY fights when he fights the angel.

(I can’t believe that was in the Bible! And in the absolutely plain sense meaning of the text!)

Another book that gives you that sense of discovery about what’s REALLY in the Bible is Esau’s Blessing from Ora Horn Prouser!

It takes a look at the disabled people in the Torah (and there are many of them)

Here we had a thread about Esau, and his extremely relatable struggles with leaving his hunting equipment at home.

I also must add this from the Psalms (ok, the Psalms were not given at Mount Sinai, but!) –

If you’re interested in something mystical, but at the same time want to do something… you can quite literally WALK through the Torah with Rabbi Shefa Gold –

This book presents the Torah – divided up into each weekly portion – as a spiritual journey that you yourself can take.

Every parsha has a challenge and a blessing… and yes, there are exercises!

Find your inner priest, it comes with cool clothing –

Torah can be greatly enjoyed in company.

If you’re looking for something to be discussed around the Shabbat table all year, you can try this book of matched Torah / Mishnah / Gemara tidbits!

Here is an interesting detail from Genesis –

Sometimes you want what you can’t have.

Here is the Book of Genesis without the letter E!

This only makes it more interesting…

“a lipogram — a text that avoids a particular letter — offers the virtues of discipine and restraint.”

Yes, but how do you say “Let there be light?”

(Click through and it’s actually on the book’s profile page)

However, sometimes what you want to have might already be at your fingertips.

We have not one, but two books about bibliodrama –

https://www.benyehudapress.com/books/bibliodrama-bundle/

Explore the Bible by acting it out! 📖 🙀😽😼😻

And to finish the thread, we also have a Bible-themed preorder.

Noted Jewish atheist Lawrence Bush examines the parsha in American Torah Toons 2 – with both commentary and art!

Here is our announcement thread, with an excerpt – and some LSD…

Order away!

We guarantee that the books will not arrive before the holiday, thereby not disturbing your cheesecake preparation.

(But you will get them soon after, and Torah learning never ends… 😽 )

Because we started this sale relatively close to the holiday, it will be open for about a week, and then we can do our Pride sale too 😺

Originally tweeted by Ben Yehuda Press | Shavuot sale pinned! (@BenYehudaPress) on June 2, 2022.

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Some thoughts about grief

So we’re at the point where the National Review and the New York Times are attacking Joe Biden for how he grieves.

I suppose it’s only fair to criticize president for being too human; after all, we criticized his predecessor for being too inhuman.

If one does want to engage seriously with the world of parental grief, three of our authors are in that very sad category of bereaved parents, for which Hebrew has a more redolent word, שכול.

B. J. Yudelson’s memoir, “With an Outstretched Arm,” encompasses the arc of her life, from growing up very Reform in the South to being a grandmother and a member of an Orthodox congregation in the snowy north.

 

The dramatic center of that arc was the Friday night where her 13-year-old daughter was struck and killed by a drunk driver while walking home from shul at an NCSY Shabbaton on February 6, 1981.

(Note that the @nytimes got both Ruth’s last name and age wrong.)
 
Our favorite review: “Buy this book NOW, curl up on your couch with a box of tissues and this book. I have not been so moved and so deeply touched by a book in a long time. BJ’s illustrative storytelling pulled me into her story, her experiences, her struggles and victories.”
 

Cover of Reaching for ComfortReaching for Comfort” opens several years after Sherri Mandell’s son Koby was murdered.

She had already written an award-winning memoir, “The Blessing of a Broken Heart.”
 
But her heart was still broken, because that’s the curse of being a bereaved patent.

So she embarked on a path of trying to help others. She studied to be a hospital pastoral counselor. That was a new field in Israel, where hospital clergy was there to certify kashrut, not minister to emotional needs of patients.

“Sherri Mandell has done it again with this deeply personal and profoundly moving book about caring and compassion under the most trying of conditions. Reaching for Comfort will inspire readers with its compelling prose, riveting narrative, and uplifting spirituality.”

That’s from historian, novelist, ambassador, and New Jersey native, Michael Oren.

“A poignant, deeply human look at the author’s attempt to deal with her own unspeakable pain by opening her heart to the pain of others.” That’s from an Amazon review.

(To return briefly to the political realm, which launched this thread: It’s worth highlighting the contrast between this who would “deal with [their] own unspeakable pain by opening her heart to the pain of others” and those deal with their pain by inflicting pain on others.)

Parenting on a Prayer was already finished and in the editorial pipeline when Rabbi Amy Grossblatt Pessah’s 19-year-old son Josef died, nine months after a brain cancer diagnosis.

The book looks to the siddur to find 18 principles for parenting, combining explanations of prayers with anecdotes from Amy’s years as a mother of three.
 

“Every page of this inspiring work is filled with lessons to live by.”
— Rabbi Naomi Levy

Obviously, the book takes on added poignancy under the cloud of Josef’s death, described in the book’s dedication and afterward. And since all parenting takes place under the shadow of the potential of this infinite grief, that works. #MashiachNow

Jay Michaelson wrote The Gate of Tears in response to the grief he felt at the death of his mother.

I’ve always wondered what B. J. Yudelson would have thought about Gate of Tears. For the first several years of Ben Yehuda Press, she proofread every book. But by the time The Gate of Tears was ready for proofing, she was too ill from the cancer that would take her life.
 

But I don’t have to wonder about what she would say about people criticizing Biden for he handles his grief. Or about the people at the @nytimes that decided this was a story.

(Originally tweeted by @BenYehudaPress on September 5, 2021.
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Bessie and Green in Greenwich Village

An excerpt from “You Have to Yell” by Joseph Opatoshu

Translated by Shulamith Berger

Introduction

The Yiddish novel Hibru, by Joseph Opatoshu (1886–1954) portrays the professional and personal lives of teachers, young immigrant men from Eastern Europe. It is set on the Lower East Side of New York in the 1910s. The title refers to Hebrew schools, supplementary schools boys attended on Sundays and on weekday afternoons after public school was finished for the day. The Hebrew schools provided students with a Jewish education and prepared them for their bar mitzvahs. This excerpt, chapter 6 of the novel, focuses on the budding romance between Green, one of the teachers, and Bessie, the daughter of the President of the Hebrew School where Green teaches. The setting is the bohemian milieu frequented by the Jewish intelligentsia of the time.

Translated from Yiddish by Shulamith Z. Berger.
Chapter title supplied by the translator.
Thank you to Dan Opatoshu for granting permission to publish the translation.

The scene in the “Green Paw” was rollicking. From a distance, the narrow two-story building resembled a peasant’s hut. The small low-ceilinged rooms were jam-packed with people. An unpainted wooden ladder-like stairway with a handrail led to the restaurant. It swayed and groaned under the slightest weight as if it was about to snap in two. Kerosene and candle lanterns cast a dim light in the corridor. The doors in the hallway were painted with images of green animal paws and bird claws; they might have been a sorcerer’s magical handiwork. The small rooms were crowded with people seldom seen on the streets of New York. The men were dressed carelessly, with faces which betrayed worry even while they laughed. The women wore mannish clothing; at first glance, their bobbed hair and the cigarettes in their mouths made them appear to be boys dressed up. They gave the impression of people who sleep by day, and at night, when the rule of law and its obedient children slumber, they creep out of their tiny bedrooms, slink unnoticed along the tenement walls, and scurry to the Village.

Young men and women sat at tables painted green, drank, smoked, and the uproar seemed to hover over their heads like steam; it irritated their throats. Unglazed pottery, long-necked pitchers, and clay jugs hung on the walls. They looked like antiquities excavated from the depths of the earth.

The owner of the place was short and broad-shouldered. He was dressed, God alone knows why, in a capotelike Hungarian national coat with a wide green sash wrapped around his stomach, tied in a knot at the right side. The bowl of a smoking pipe, a half-circle decorated with colored beads and claws, peeked out through the fringes. As he ran from table to table with a small pipe carelessly dangling from the edge of his mouth, he took orders and chatted with each patron in that person’s native tongue.

His wife was older than he; a brunette who wore loose, loud clothing and sported strands of coins awkwardly wound around her neck and bare arms. She looked like a Spanish street singer. A black velvet band wove through her trimmed dark hair which fell over her cheeks, creating a more youthful appearance. She sat down at different tables, drank with the customers, collected money, and put it in the folds of her dress, fashioning it into a pocket.

A group of young men and women sat at a long table singing, “The Yanks are coming” to the melody of the Yiddish song – the lament of the poor yeshiva student — “Mai ka mashma lan der regn; What is the rain here to explain?” A few people sitting nearby – who weren’t Jewish – joined in.

Across from the group sat a young non-Jewish man with a woman at a small table. Both had bloodshot eyes. The man sketched the woman’s portrait on the wall. She was so thrilled she grasped his hand and kissed it. The man jumped up with a start even though he could hardly keep his balance. But no matter what the circumstances were, he couldn’t let a woman kiss his hand. He pressed his lips to hers and stammered, “You, mustn’t, a lady mustn’t…”

Ah,” the woman lifted her hand from her heart with a grand gesture, kissed him again, and proclaimed, “it’s an honor to kiss such a hand!”

The man fell to the woman’s feet, hid his hands so she wouldn’t find them, and kissed her dress. She searched for his hands, struggled with him; they landed in each other’s arms and stayed there.

The neighboring crowd didn’t even notice.

The editor of the Getsen Diner, the Pagan, sat in a corner on a mattress proofreading, surrounded by his colleagues.

When they entered Bessie stood and gaped. She looked all around, taking everything in. Anyone who saw her could tell she was here for the first time.

Someone recognized Green. Everyone at the table rose, applauded, and sang “the Yanks are coming, coming, coming…” to the Yiddish tune.

A forty-something year old man with hollow cheeks, a twinkle in his eye, and a small round saucer-like bald spot, spotted Bessie, got up to make room, and offered his hand to Green. He looked at Bessie again, and said, “Hello, Green! Why don’t you introduce me to your lady?”

If you’d give me a chance…” Green retorted, defending himself as he turned to Bessie, “Shlomo Mandel, this is Miss Schultz!”

Mandel held Bessie’s hand in his for a while. He sized her up, trying to gauge what kind of impression his name made on her, and if not for a bunch of wise guys who seated themselves at the table he would have told the young woman, who had just heard his name for the first time, that she had just been introduced to the greatest Yiddish novelist.

The crowd at the table quieted down for a while. Mandel was cheerful because a girl was sitting next to him. He exchanged glances with the others at the table and nudged Green, “Why don’t you introduce her to everyone else?” And before Green had time to answer him, Mandel took Bessie’s arm and started imitating an emcee, “This is none other than our great humorist, Moshe Hozek the Mocker; now I will introduce the so-called great Yiddish novelist, Zalkind.“

Why not the greatest?” someone called out.

Because I’m the greatest!” Mandel answered, bursting out laughing at his own witticism, and continued, “Big. Big is a painter, his paintings grace the walls of the ‘Green Paw;’ and Weiss is the greatest Yiddish critic.”

If Weiss is the greatest, then what am I?” asked a young man with blonde hair.

When I become a fan of yours, you’ll be the greatest!” Mandel laughed so hard, he fell onto his chair.

The crowd joined in the laughter. It was the first time Bessie had spent time with a group like this. She felt lucky and took every opportunity to show Green how grateful she was. She looked at the few women at the table, examined their clothing, their bearing, and was sure she could rival them all.

Mandel jingled the change in his pockets. “Guys, let’s order some wine!”

Silver coins began to fly. A pale young man with a black beard, made-up like an actor, collected the money and Mandel called loudly to the owner,

Uncle, come over here!”

The proprietor pretended not to hear, as though it was beneath his dignity to be addressed in Yiddish, and he went to other tables. Mandel gestured at the proprietress to beckon her to come over. “You speak Yiddish, don’t you?”

Yes, I learned it here.”

“Where, in the ‘Village’?”

She laughed.

But you do speak Yiddish?” Mandel stroked her hand and his eyes widened.

Yes.”

What’s your name?”

Regina.”

I mean in Yiddish?”

Regina!” She tossed her shoulders and the strands of coins clinked.

In Yiddish your name isn’t Regina, in Yiddish you’re probably Reyzel, aren’t you?” he put his arm around her, “Nu, Reyzele, how about a glass of wine?”

She twisted out of Mandel’s arms and ran off to another table where a group was about to leave.

The proprietor brought over a few pitchers of wine and some glasses. The crowd started to drink and grew even more high-spirited. While they were singing the chairs moved — seemingly of their own accord — and the men revolved around the radiant women, like flies surrounding a flame. Bessie’s fingers intertwined with Green’s; she bent over and whispered in his ear, “Is this a Jewish place?”

What else?”

But who’s that sitting on the mattress?”

That’s the editor of the Pagan.”

Of what?”

It’s a monthly journal, it’s called the Pagan.”

What is he, an Indian?”

What gave you that idea?” Green laughed.

I don’t know, Indians are idol worshippers,” Bessie was flustered.

No, he’s Jewish, we Jews deal with everything!” he squeezed her hand harder.

An almost completely gray-haired older man sat with a Jew with long hair, a born bohemian, at a small table behind Green. No one knew where he was from or what language he spoke. Green noticed that the proprietor sat down and listened to the gray-haired man talk about Edward, the English king, as if he knew him personally. When he took out a gold watch and said it was a present from the king, the proprietor hitched up his capotelike Hungarian national coat, winked at the long-haired Jew and interjected in Yiddish, “He thinks he met an idiot who believes him!”

Green pointed out the gray-haired man to Bessie,

You see the old man at the table, he’s the “gentleman” Oscar Wilde wrote about in his De Profundis. When Wilde was led to jail in shackles and the crowd jeered and spit at him, the old man was the only one who tipped his top hat and greeted him.”

A man stood in the doorway looking around. His eyes rested on the young non-Jewish man with the woman, who were sitting arm in arm. The young man, sensing someone looking at him, turned his head, his face the color of putty, and extricated himself from the woman’s arms. The man walked a few steps, stopped, and addressed the woman, “Lucy, I beg you, go home, the baby’s crying!” She didn’t answer him. With one animal-like move, he leaped at the young man, grabbed him by the throat and hit him so hard that his head jerked back, as though it was made of rubber. Then he hissed through his teeth,

You skunk! What are you doing with my wife?”

Green saw the gray-haired man take them aside and convince the woman to go home. He comforted the young man who sat and whimpered, either because he’d been beaten or because the woman was gone, and Green reminded himself of Wilde’s words, “Men have gone to heaven for smaller things than that.”

An unshaven young man entered from the kitchen. Everyone had a smile ready for him, they all tried to catch his eye in order to greet him. But he didn’t look at anyone; he made his way through the crowd, went directly to Mandel and sat down. The group around the table became livelier. Now everyone knew they could now order whatever their hearts desired on the young man’s account. The proprietor and his wife stood near him taking orders and kept complimenting him effusively. The weary young man didn’t pay attention to anyone. He shooed the proprietors away and complained to Mandel, who could hardly understand him, “It’s not good to be the son of a great man! Not good!”

Go invent a telephone yourself!” Mandel suggested to him, speaking partly in Yiddish.

It won’t help!” the young man whispered into his ear, “People still won’t call me by my name, no matter what, I’ll always be known as my father’s son!”

You want to become famous?” Mandel took his hand, “I have a plan for you!”

What sort of plan?”

The theater,” Mandel began, “won’t make you famous. That’s nothing new in America. I have something else for you. Listen to me and publish a weekly Yiddish newspaper. Why are you smiling?”

They’ll all say I’m wasting my father’s money!” He planted his fists on the table and rested his chin on them.

People were dancing on the second floor, waltzing right over everyone’s heads. The thin ceiling swayed under the dancers’ feet. One hearty jump might send the boards crashing down. The crowd couldn’t stay still. People rose to the rhythm and every man searched for a woman to dance with.

Green put his arm around Bessie’s waist. Glowing, she cuddled up to him. She didn’t ask where he was leading her; she ran up to the second floor with him.

On the shining floor in a large, semi-darkened hall, a few couples danced to the beat of a waltz. A tall, thin man sat playing the piano, he looked like he was playing with his entire body.

Green flew with Bessie. She seemed so light he didn’t even feel her in his hands. He circled around, flitted with her from corner to corner; whenever he spotted an empty bench, he danced towards it, but each time a couple materialized and took the bench, so he kept whirling around.

They remained standing, looked at each other, grinned, and sat down happily. They each felt they ought to say something even though they understood each other at a glance; and Green, putting his hand on hers, asked a run-of-the-mill question, “Nu, how do I dance?”

Fine, very fine!”

A young man with a feminine waist entered with a woman.

Hello, Green!

Hello, Lifschitz!”

Lifschitz and the woman approached a bit closer; Lifschitz motioned to Green,

I’d like to introduce you: Mr. Green, a Yiddish poet, and this is Miss Mayer.”

A pleasure,” Miss Mayer repeated several times and sat next to Green, “This is the first time I’m actually meeting a Yiddish poet.”

Green was angry at himself for being flustered when he heard the woman’s name even though he wasn’t sure if she was really the millionaire Mayer’s daughter or not. He introduced Bessie, noticed that she also seemed taken aback; he was tempted to say something to offend Miss Mayer, but remained silent.

I see you’re here for the first time,” Lifschitz said. He brushed his knee with a silk glove and looked pleased with himself.

Why are you so sure?” Bessie looked at him and felt herself blush.

Simply because I’m seeing you here for the first time,” he laughed, and his full cheeks became rosy, like a girl wearing make-up.

“So you know everyone here?” Bessie forced herself to smile.

Just about everyone,” he glanced at his watch which was buckled around his wrist with a leather band, “I’ve come here three times a day for the past ten years. It’s been through five owners during that time and the crowd, you understand, is a select one, so a new face stands out! I’ll show you, I just walked around with Miss Mayer,” he leaned towards Bessie as he spoke, cupped his hand over his mouth and lowered his voice, “she’s the youngest daughter of Mayer the millionaire. Everyone looked at us. They recognized immediately that she’s not from the ‘Village.’ Yes, I know everyone here. Most of them don’t know that my name is Lifschitz, they all call me Beethoven.”

So you’re a composer?” Bessie asked him.

No,” he made a face and looked like an embarrassed girl, “I’m a critic. If you’re interested in music and read Di Tsayt, The Time, you should know my name. I write twice a week under the name ‘Leo.’”

Bessie felt guilty since she’d never heard his name, reddened, was uncomfortable that she had blushed and stammered, “Read it, of course I’ve read it! That’s you? I’m pleased to meet you!”

Lifschitz melted with pride, started to get up, and playfully held his hand out to Bessie. He looked like a young woman who had just received her first compliment. His thoughts were confused. He couldn’t sort them out; they started in the middle, like the elusive origin of a string hidden in the midst of a ball of twine. He realized the silence was lasting a trifle too long; it might interfere with Miss Mayer’s conversation with Green. He started saying whatever entered his head, “Yes, Green and I are old friends! I was also a Hebrew teacher years ago, but it’s good I’m through with that. I don’t understand how I managed then. Now I spend more on cigarettes than I earned as a teacher! I argue with Green – what do you need it for? Green is a very talented person. I know a lot of people and if he weren’t so stubborn, I would have already found something for him! Let’s not kid ourselves, if I hadn’t torn myself out of the East Side at the right time, what would’ve become of me? A comrade! The same fate as thousands of others, who throw away their best years, ruin their careers, so a few demagogues, their leaders, can live like noblemen!”

According to you, Mr. Lifschitz,” Bessie interrupted, “there are no honest people!”

There are, but not among leaders of political parties, every leader, almost without exception, is a demagogue! I’m convinced that the most genuine, interesting people are tramps and millionaires. They both don’t need to flatter anyone, they don’t need favors from anyone… Yes, what was I getting at?” Lifschitz wrinkled his forehead, “Yes, last week I was invited to Hildheim for dinner. He’s the youngest brother of the copper magnates. During the meal he read poems by a young Serbian poet, interesting poems – I happened to have Green’s most recent cycle of poems with me and read it to him. What should I tell you? He couldn’t believe someone could write poems like that in Yiddish and pleaded with me to bring Green to him. You’d think that’s good, eh? Is there a better opportunity? Green claims that if Hildheim wants to see him, let Hildheim go to him, he also has an address. I tell you it’s crazy! Me, for one reader like Hildheim I’d give away a few hundred readers from the East-Side! But never mind,” Lifschitz smiled, “You’ve got to forgive Green! You know he’s a great poet?”

Of course I know!” Bessie answered proudly as she blushed.

I also write poetry,” Lifschitz threw in nonchalantly, as though he wasn’t hinting at anything. “It’s only for myself, I don’t publish. By the way, do you have time tomorrow?”

Why, what’s happening?”

Tomorrow evening Caruso is singing La Bohème.”

I know. He’s performing in the stadium at City College. But I couldn’t get tickets anymore.”

If you don’t have anything against it,” Lifschitz got up and bowed, “you can join me in my box.”

On the contrary,” Bessie thanked him, though she really wanted him to leave her alone. She was angry with Green for talking to the millionaire’s daughter for so long and forgetting all about her. She planned to hint to him that she’d like to go home.

So where should I meet you tomorrow?” Lifschitz asked her.

What?” Bessie was startled, “Where should we meet? Call for me at 7 o’clock. Good, come right at seven, will you come?”

What kind of question is that?” Lifschitz took out a notebook, “Where do you live?”

Give me the book, I’ll write it down.”

In the meantime, Miss Mayer got up, said goodbye to Green and offered her hand to Bessie, “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. ‘Auf wiedersehen’!”

After Miss Mayer and Lifschitz left, Bessie sat looking strained, her eyes downcast. Green didn’t know what it meant and inched closer to her.

What is it, Bessie? Are you angry?”

Of course I’m angry!”

With me?”

With you!”

Why?”

For… you know…”

That’s forbidden,” he cradled her chin.

You left me sitting so long!”

But weren’t you sitting with Lifschitz?”

He’s a fool!”

Are you really angry?”

Of course I’m angry! She leaned her head on him.

I don’t understand why you had so much to say to Miss Mayer? After all, she’s a total stranger.”

Because she’s a stranger — that’s exactly why there’s something to say,” Green smiled.

If she weren’t a millionaire’s daughter…”

What?” Green interrupted her.

Nothing…”

You should be ashamed of yourself, Bessie!” He waved his hand dismissively and turned away from her.

Suddenly he felt hemmed in. He wanted to uproot everything, spare nothing, if only he could stay free. Bessie propped up her head with her hand, puckered her upper lip and bit her lower lip. Her eyes were wet, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Green couldn’t bear to see her cry, felt his anger cooling, and turned to her.

Nu, Bessie, calm down!”

But I love you!”

Don’t say that, my child!”

Why?”

Because your father won’t have a teacher for a son-in-law!”

He will!”

He won’t!”

So I’ll come visit you, okay?”

Good!”

My big boy! You know, Lifschitz invited me to go with him to the stadium tomorrow. Caruso is singing. Should I go?”

Go, why not?”

And it won’t bother you?”

Why should it bother me?”

I want it to bother you!”

You’re being silly.”

So why would it bother me if you went with someone else?”

Because you’re being silly!”

My dear boy! You know, I really always believed that a poet is a different kind of person, free of all the ugly things we do, isn’t that so? Listen, what is Lifschitz? A critic?”

He’s a nothing!”

What do you mean?”

I mean,” Green regretted his words and wanted to take them back, “He’s a very capable young man… writes about music… also writes poetry, what more do you want?”

No,” she snuggled up to Green, “I won’t go with him.”

If you don’t go, I’ll be angry with you!” Green said as he draped his arm around her.

No way am I going!” she protested coyly.

He laughed, hugged her, and covered her with kisses. They sat happily in the half-empty hall near an open window, didn’t pay attention as couples occasionally danced by, didn’t notice the night spinning and turning or how the black web of daybreak had started to unravel here and there and transform into light stripes.

The sleepy proprietor, clad in a loose robe, poked his head in every once in a while to see if he could finally close up, and said something to himself.

At dawn they went out into the street. It was still. They walked arm in arm with their heads held high. A middle-aged Italian man collecting barrels of garbage stopped the wagon, looked at them, nodded his head as though it brought back a memory, emptied a garbage barrel into the wagon, urged the horse on, and whistled.

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APOLOGIA by Susan Swartz

The people stood at the foot of the mountain—

We were unbound then // awakened from watery sleep
when the earth cracked open & sound poured out like lava.

We were undecided then // bathed in sulfur and smoke
when thunder split the mountain // when lightening

scorched our heels. Poised on the edge of desire // enveloped
by rumbling flashes, the words entered our consciousness

like a tornado—
            In the bleached-blind wilderness we stood // amid
fire clouds and roaring triumph // amid searing trumpets

& our endless endless wanting // and we were afraid.
Ruthless present tense // Mobius arc of time—

We were joined to each other then // to the blistering
mountain // the vertiginous moment // every noun and verb

exploded through the wilderness. Chosen agnostics,
we declaimed yes to deliverance // yes to unspecified

constraint. To the shattering of silence // to the shattering
of stone. For you not yet able to speak, we said yes.

Reprinted from We Who Desire by Susan Swartz

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Are We There Yet reviewed as “Deeply Inspiring”

The first Amazon review for Are We There Yet by Shefa Gold is in:

5.0 out of 5 stars
Living a Life of Exploration and Wonder
February 4, 2019

Rabbi Shefa Gold’s personal memoir shares how she has cultivated a pathway of living life each day as if she is on a spiritual pilgrimage. Through her stories and life experiences she teaches the reader how to live a life of exploration. In each place you “travel” you gain insights on how to see the awesome beauty of the moment, the gift of your own life, and the opportunity to give and receive blessings! These lessons apply to every opportunity: from eating dinner with your family to trekking through a safari in Africa. This book is short, clear, and deeply inspiring and I’m giving copies to all the fellow spiritual travelers in my life.