“I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections
Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl”
By Ruth Pearl (Editor), Judea Pearl (Editor)
This book came about in response to the brutal murder of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter, by terrorists in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2002. He was killed simply because he was Jewish. This reasoning “takes us back to the darkest times of Jewish and human history, to the Nazi era. The new Islamic Fundamentalism, in whose name Daniel Pearl was murdered, is a frightening and abhorrent phenomenon which is a threat to humanity and freedom as a whole.”
Danny Pearl’s last words before he was murdered were “My Father is Jewish, My Mother is Jewish, and I am Jewish.” “Many Jews were particularly moved by Danny’s words in which he affirmed his Jewish identity. Many were inspired to reflect on or analyze their feelings toward their lives as Jews.”
The project was inspired by a 13-year-old girl’s Bat Mitzvah project as she was coming to terms about her identity as a Jew and the senseless murder of Danny Pearl. The book includes a wide range of Jewish thinking about what it means to be a Jew in the world today.
The book consists of more than 140 personal statements by ordinary and well-known Jews from around the world about what being Jewish means to them. The contributors’ responses are placed into five categories: Identity; Heritage; Covenant, Chosenness, and Faith; Humanity and Ethnicity; and Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and Justice. The statements range from major essays to a paragraph or a sentence from scholars, entertainers, authors, rabbis, political and everyday Jews from around the world. There are thoughts from children aged 7 to 12; popular Jewish entertainers such as Kirk Douglas, Theodore Bikel, and Tovah Feldshuh; politicians like Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Joe Lieberman; authors like Elie Wiesel, Harold Kushner, and Wendy Wasserstein; rabbis from around the world; intellectuals; and everyday people.
The book can be read a little at a time. All the statements are very worthwhile and cause one to think what Judaism means to them.
Sale Book Cart: Books for Bucks
Check out the Books for Bucks book cart in the Sha’are Shalom lobby. We are selling used paperback and hardcover books as a continuing fundraiser for the synagogue. Paperbacks are 50 cents and hardbacks $1. Put your cash or check in the container on the cart.
Donations to Books for Bucks will become the property of the Congregation. Please donate books only in good condition and in quantities of fewer than 25. Leave your name, phone, email, and the date of your donation in a note with any books you donate.
Contact Lorraine Blatt at 242lorraine@gmail.com or 772-359-7370.
Please remember to leave a note with your name when dropping off books at the library. Thanks!
by Lorraine Blatt, Librarian