3 comments about Great Jewish Men.

1. This work contains biographical portraits of some of the most important figures in Jewish history. The book is written with a clear factual tone, and provides accurate information on the entries. It is a kind of short encyclopedia and I believe an excellent educational tool in the Jewish people's struggle to deal with their own ignorance about themselves and their history.
   I suppose one element of reading such works is a certain ' pride ' if one is Jewish at knowing that one is somehow connected , belongs to the same people as the distinguished person in question.
   I think the authors were wise in choosing people whose actions are generally considered valuable contributions to the Jewish people and mankind as a whole.
   This work should be of real pleasure to anyone who takes interest in Jewish culture and history.



2. This book is an excellent book. It covers information about many different men who have played important roles in Judaism, from Abraham to David Ben Gurion. The book is good if you are looking for a 2-3 page biography and certain highlights of a person's career, but could not be used as an only reference for a research project.

   Overall, the Slaters have created a good book documenting important aspects of Jewish history.




3. I think the book was ok, but it left out a very important jewish person. That important person is Albert Einstein. As I finished this book I realized that it did not have Albert Einstein in it. That was very dissapointing. So, in conlusion, I would give this book 3 stars because it left out the amazing Albert Einstein.

5 comments about Witness: One of the Great Correspondents of the Twentieth Century Tells Her Story (Schocken Paperbacks on Judaica).

1. I never heard of Ruth Gruber before, after reading her adventures Hollywood should make a movie of her life, not for theatres, but HBO, or Showtime. Theatrically it would be a financial flop. But for cable a success.....



2. Ruth Gruber has witnessed so many of the great events of the 20th century. Lucky for us, she can write and photograph with real skill. You will not be disappointed with this book.



3. A ground-breaking photojournalist, Ruth Gruber did the work that many considered only men could handle; traveling about the world, writing and documenting with her exceptional photography skills stories that needed to be told.
   
   I was fascinated and impressed by Gruber's tenaciousness as well as her courage in going to those bleak, wild places to find compelling stories. Her contacts in the government for sure helped, but it was Gruber's own legwork that really got those jobs done.
   
   One of the most poignant aspects of her career was seeing how Jews who had survived the Holocaust were treated; it was like being back in internment as they tried to get to Israel, and she did well to document their plight.
   
   In sum, a great lady, who did it all magnificently.



4. "Witness"
   By Ruth Gruber
   Review by Phyllis Johnson
   Landing assignments her male colleagues hadn't, flying to the Soviet Arctic and then to Europe, seeing an exodus from a country ravaged during the Holocaust, Ruth Gruber was quite a photojournalist. She writes her memoir in "Witness" and serves as an inspiration to anyone spending his or her life tracking down a story, particularly one that may change someone's life for the better.
   A life full of adventure and passion for human justice is evident in her 257 page book published by Schocken Books. Sometimes smuggling a notebook in her bra, she ran the gamut from studying Eskimos in Alaska to talking to exiled prisoners in Soviet Gulag.
   Photos, black and white images, showing the Soviet Arctic and Alaska documented images of rustic living and reflections of the soul. She wrote of seeing the Aleuts in harm's way of the Japanese, then photographed their exodus. Her photos also show the exodus from the devastation caused by Hitler during the Holocaust in World War II..
   A master at capturing intense emotion found in hardships, she knew how to get down in the trenches to get the best possible photos to tell a story. She went behind the scenes, sometimes dubbed as a simulated general to avoid a worse fate if captured as a spy.
   Later, she got stories from the refugees onboard an army transport and then pulled into the NY Harbor on August 3, 1944- the same day Anne Frank's family was betrayed. Ruth was accompanying to the United States 1,000 refugees invited by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt while day and night Adolph Eichmann was rushing cattle trains carrying 750,00 Jews into the death camps at Auschwitz.
   She records her travels to Europe, the Holy Land and the Arab World, and how she came to be witness to the Nuremberg Trials. Seeing the plight of the Jews trying to come home to Palestine, she interviewed both Arabs and Jews, and followed the journey of Iraqi Jews to Israel. Seeing compassion in a lawyer and social activist named Phil, she was moved to marry him.
   Ruth Gruber's account of the ongoing struggle for those seeking justice and fair treatment in life is both vivid and poignant in her book, "Witness."
   
   Review by Phyllis Johnson, author of "Being Frank with Anne" -poetic interpretation of Anne Frank's diary. (Community Press- end Nov 2007 release)



5. I have just listened to an interview with Ruth Gruber with Sara Ivry on the 'Nextbook' site. Gruber is ninety- five years old. Her voice is weak but her mind is absolutely clear. In the interview she tells about how she got her start in journalism with the International Herald Tribune, and how on assignment with it she witnessed the rise of the Nazis in Germany. She also is asked about the heroic endeavor in which she helped bring one - thousand orphans to America. She also tells of her witnessing the brutality of the British in boarding in waters outside Haifa the ship 'Exodus' that was packed with Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe.
   Gruber in her thirty years as a correspondent traveled wide and far. The one - hundred ninety pictures in this book are in themselves a stunning testimony to her dedication in witnessing the vagaries of the human drama.
   However what comes through most strongly is those chapters of her life in which Gruber was not simply witness but active rescuer of others. When asked which photograph made the strongest impression on her. She said it is one from the Shoah in which there are three small children, two brothers protecting their small sister. One brother is smiling happily
   but the sister who is the youngest of the children has the saddest eyes Gruber has ever seen. She feels the child looking out from those eyes towards the parents who are not there and who will never be seen again.

3 comments about Last Days in Babylon: The History of a Family, the Story of a Nation.

1. I really enjoyed this book. I was not only drawn in by her skill as a writer, but the fascinating history of the Jewish people in Iraq. After reading Benjamin's book I also have a greater understanding for what is going on in Iraq today.



2. The book was extremely authentic in detail and provided an extensive and touching history of the babylonian jews who had lived in Iraq for hundreds of years and had proposered and reached a population of 125,000 prior to their dispora that began in the 1940s'.
   
   Not only did the author provide historic detail and events by taking us through the well known street and shopping areas, and discussed many of the customs and practices of that era. She also touched on the remaining Jews in Bagdhad that lived under the constraints of Sadam Husseeinn's regime and refused to leave their homeland. This is a must read book for all descendants who are living all over trhe worlds and want to reach back anf learn of their heritage



3. Marina Benjamin chronicles the life of her grandmother, Regina Sehayek, an Iraqi Jewish woman along with the 20th century history of the Jews of Iraq from a once vibrant community of 140,000 to one that is now extinct. While this factual narrative has been meticulously researched, it reads like a novel and captures the readers attention from the very first page. Aside from chronicling the life of the Jews, Ms. Benjamin details the rise of Arab nationalism from the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein and sheds some light on why the relationship between "cousins", Arabs and Jews, who once lived in relative harmony in what is now Iraq, has so badly deteriorated and why this important Jewish minority community was expelled after more than 2000 years in Babylon.

No comments about Dealing with Satan: Rezso Kasztner's Daring Rescue Mission.

3 comments about Anne Frank: a photographic story of a life.

1. I just finished this book a few minutes ago and I just picked it up an hour ago. I re-read some parts, and I loved it! I loved the pictures, I had never seen most of them. I never knew there was a picture of one day old Anne or her and her sister Margot when they were young like on pages 12 and 13. Well written!



2. I bought this for my daughter's recent 10th birthday. She had been asking questions about the Holocaust and I thought the best way to answer was to give her an "introduction", so to speak. She has not put this book down in over a week -- she brings it with her everywhere, along with a few other books on random subjects.....so is the short attention span of a 10-year-old. Who can better get the attention of a young girl, than something written by another young girl, right? This book will whet her appetite for future class assignments on the subject in years to come.



3. "I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart." ~Anne Frank
   
   The DK Biography of Anne Frank is a combination of her life and the setting in which she lived. Kem Knapp Sawyer explores Anne Frank's life in Amsterdam and then shows how her life changed as she was forced to hide in the secret annex. She explains the frustrations Anne felt as she was locked in just a few rooms and how her emotions often overwhelmed her and how her situations brought on depression.
   
   Anne Frank's story has always fascinated me because it represents the risks human beings will take to protect the innocent and it also shows how individuals can endure great hardship in order to see a new day of freedom. Through her diary we can understand the world of a child hiding from death itself.
   
   There are pictures of the diary, pictures of the large bookcase that concealed the entrance to the hiding place and what Anne could see from the attic window. The author also explains how there are three versions of Anne's diary and how her diary was eventually published with original and revised diary entries.
   
   As the author notes, we can't always escape suffering and cruelty, but we can try.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

5 comments about If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State.

1. Daniel Gordis is a Jewish writer and educator. When he brought his family to Israel for a year he did not know the dramatic turnabout they would come to face. The terror- war which the Palestinians launched when the Clinton brokered peace - process broke down in late September 2000 means his family is exposed to a kind of violence they had never imagined. In clear and informative E- mails to friends he tells the story of this year of what his family goes through. A person of the liberal left, a super- tolerant idealist he comes to understand that it is not enough for one side to want peace, but rather that both sides must. He becomes more passionate in his defense of Israel when he understands that really it is a country subject to aggression fighting for its own life . He too confronts the hard questions of his own family members, his childrens' suspicions that they are being sacrificed on the altar of their parents idealism. This book is important precisely because Gordis is clearly such a ' man of peace and good- will'. And because it shows how complicated and difficult the struggle of Israel is for life and peace.



2. Yes, this is a splendid account of what it has been like for the Gordis family, moving to Israel from California. And it's worth reading.
   
   But why did I read it? It was because I'd seen an article by Gordis called "Take Off That Mask." The article was in the form of a letter, sent at Purim to Jill Jacobs, a graduating rabbinical student. The letter began, "Dear Jill," and I simply had to read it. Jill was quite properly concerned about human rights in Israel, not just for Jews but for everyone. But when she wrote about it, she came up with something quite controversial that eventually got a reply from Gordis. He pointed out that Jill was showing an unjustified certainty that Israel was simply Wrong, and that she was claiming that Israel had better options that were manifest to any moral person. And that her writing showed a dangerous and myopic irresponsibility, as well as a lack of love for Israel. Well, after reading all that, I simply had to read "If a Place Can Make You Cry."
   
   The more I thought about this interesting and thoughtfully written book, the more I realized that it deserved a jilllike response. Maybe something like, um:
   
   Dear Daniel,
   
   I'm a Pagan. I really enjoyed your book. I don't judge Israel. I don't think it is Wrong. And I don't know what it ought to do. Still, even though I know that many centuries ago, the Jews in that region killed Jezebel, I truly support Israel. And I hope that it will thrive in peace and that vast numbers of Israeli Jews will be walking out of Yom Kippur services during Yizkor.
   
   I've thought about why Israel is rightfully Yours and not Mine. And here is my answer. There are millions of You. And just one of Me. And You wanted Israel and You outbid others and bought the land and made it bloom. That is why it is rightfully Yours.
   
   Shabbat Shalom,
   
   Jill



3. Began as e-mails back home to family, this book's strength is the description of day-to-day life in Israel through good times and bad. For the book, Gordis intersperses the letters with political commentary to give some context to the letters' time of writing. More personal than David Horovitz' A Little Too Close to God, it is similar in bringing the political and personal together as a family debates the wisdom of staying in Israel when the peace process goes bad. You will get drawn into experiencing the emotions and ambivalences the Gordis parents and children have about their life. Very readable!



4. This is a MUST READ for anyone who thinks they have a solution to the problems in the Middle East. Rabbi Gordis doesn't present ideology -- rather, he gives us a dose of reality; of what he and his family face every day, along with constantly questioning the decision they made to remain in Israel. I've read a lot of negative comments regarding "putting his children in harm's way," but he is teaching his children what's to be valued, cherished and fought for -- not land, per se, as some have intimated but, rather, the ideal of one place on this earth that Jews can live -- one day, God willing, in peace. Israel serves its purpose not only as the one place Jews in peril can immigrate to, but as a place of inspiration and dedication. While Israeli and American parents both want the same thing for their children -- they should only be happy, have a successful career, a loving spouse, healthy children and NOT have to face going to war. Israeli parents, however, know there is something more -- that achieving these personal goals should not come at the expense or peril of the country's goals.

   In the past, I have had opinions as to what Israel should or shoould not do to make peace, but this book highlights better than anything else what the daunting reality is vis-a-vis a solution. While we may all "pray for the peace in Jerusalem," the reality is that more than prayer is needed, and there may not be A single solution or long-term peace -- at least not without other Arab countries stepping in.

   This is an extremely well-written, highly enlightening book, and the next time I hear anyone stating a firm opinion as to what Israel should do, I'm going to recommend they read this before the spout off again!




5. I started "If A Place Can Make You Cry" expecting what the dust jacket promises -- the story of a family's move from California to Israel, from safety to war, why they did it and how it affected them (particularly the children). What I got instead was something very different, worth reading for the many questions it raises, but profoundly sad and dispiriting -- one man's journey from a religion and culture based on moral values to one based on land and security. As Gordis puts it toward the end of the book, "when you finally understand what is important to you, you have to be willing to fight for it." (266) The land of Israel itself becomes that important to Gordis, important enough that he is willing to stand aside and tolerate the suffering of innocent Palestinians (of which he admits there are many) in order to secure his family's safety. (See pages 186-87 for an explicit admission that he is sacrificing his values for security.) Maybe I would do no better in his place, but it still sad to watch.

   Gordis will make you think about other interesting questions -- what does it mean to have a home? Can one live a meaningful Jewish life outside Israel? How does one justify where one lives (or doesn't live)? Gordis is of two minds on many of these questions -- for example, he states several times that he's not suggesting all Jews are morally obligated to move to Israel, but at the same time, he does in fact suggest that meaningful Jewish life is possible only if it is at risk (see, e.g., page 259). Gordis seems to be utterly befuddled by the idea of secular Israelis or secular Jews (for example, at pages 66-67, where he asks "what is the point?" of having this country if it's not religious) -- apparently ignoring the fact that there would be no State of Israel without the secular Zionists. (For an interesting look at combining secular values with the religious and cultural heritage of Judaism, read "From Jerusalem to the Edge of Heaven," by Ari Elon.)

   It is not surprising that Gordis fails to offer any solutions to what are obviously very complicated problems. Where it seems to me that the book really fails is in the limited range of viewpoints it presents. Perhaps because the book originated in personal emails to family and friends, it consists almost entirely of Gordis' personal observations and angst, his own questioning of himself, his values and his actions. His wife and children are present only as foils, for Gordis to react to something they've said, done or experienced. I did not come away with any sense of who they are or what any of them really think. Secular, Orthodox and Palestinian viewpoints are barely mentioned (of these, the best represented are the Palestinians, interestingly enough, although mostly to illustrate Israeli failures). At the end, it's hard to say whether you've learned much about the state of Israel today or if you've just learned something about one man's viewpoint. And although that viewpoint develops somewhat over time, the constant hammering away at the same issues becomes tiring by the end by the book (again, if you read one email/chapter every few weeks, it probably wouldn't be nearly so bad).

   Despite these significant qualifications, the book is generally well written, a quick read, and I am giving it extra credit for presenting a point of view we seldom get to see and for making me think about the questions he raises.

3 comments about Hidden on the Mountain: Stories of Children Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon.

1. This non-fiction book is a unique collection of real-life accounts from individuals who as children were sheltered during the Nazi era in the mountains of Southern France in a town called Le Chambon. This work is quite admirable, as individuals interviewed recall their experiences in journal form. The stories attest to the heartbreak and the realistic dangers of the times, but provide an added sense of hope and an appreciation for those who rose up against evil. Each entry is followed with an epilogue that gives the reader the satisfaction of knowing what has become of each child. The stories are not without pain and great loss, but what shines through is the righteousness of the citizens of La Chambon. The Jewish children who were sent to La Chambon, a Protestant community, were separated from their parents. In the face of trauma, the children were warmly welcomed into their new community. The children attended school, worked on farms, and participated in activities with other children. The uniqueness of La Chambon was in the sense of duty the entire community had in protecting the Jewish children. Many of the individuals discuss their Judaism, including the struggle to make sense of their religious identity. The "Note to Readers" in the beginning of the book, clearly details the research process and the care taken by the authors to share these stories with authenticity. The authors' passion for the project is felt throughout the book. For ages 11- 16.



2. I just chanced upon this remarkable book: Hidden on the Mountain by Deborah Durland DeSaix and Karen Gray Ruelle: Stories of Children Sheltered from the Nazis in Le Chambon. The authors spent four years finding and interviewing people, who as children and youth were protected during WWII by this community. They have then masterfully proceeded to tell their stories.
   
   Le Chambon is a mountainous region of France inhabited by Huguenot Christians. These people, many poor farmers, opened their homes and supported three children's homes for children needing safe haven during WWII. Many of these children were Jews. They are credited with saving at least 3,500 Jews as well as about 1,500 other refugees.
   
   In addition to the memories of the children and youth, the book includes a detailed time line of events of the war; numerous pictures of the children, people, and places mentioned in the book; a glossary; index; maps; and informative chapters about the war, the region, and its people.
   
   This book was written for children and is exactly what I am looking for to share with my children, ages 10 and 13, as we study WWII.



3. This book is geared for preteens and reflects absolutely accurately the interviewees' stories. We can attest to it, because we were there and are written up in the book. To this day, the people of Le Chambon do not understand why they are going down in history because "they only did what was right". This book is definitely worth reading.
   Hanne & Max Liebmann

1 comments about As Good as Anybody.

1. This is a good nonfiction picturebook for older children interested in the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. It compares the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Polish Jew who fled the Holocaust as a young man and came to the United States, where he was drawn into the civil rights movement, and became one of MLK's allies in the Jewish community. Both men were bright, articulate and charismatic, and they were both motivated by their sensitivity to injustice, which they saw plenty of in their own young lives. The book shows how people from different cultures and divergent faiths can join together for a common good, and transcend the differences that are often used to keep people apart. Although their religious faith is mentioned, it is used in a restrained, tasteful way, making the book accessible to more secular or nondenominationally-oriented readers. Good starting point for a 20th Century civics/history lesson. (ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

4 comments about Coming Home: A Woman's Story Of Conversion To Judaism.

1. I've been thinking about converting for two years. I read Kukoff's book and Embracing the Convenant for the same reasons but was looking for a single person's journey in depth rather than a bunch of quotes or a series of stories by others. Shires doesn't speak just for herself, though, but for many who are wondering about taking such a huge step. Judaism is a different world view. Even making a meal involves questions and decisions. She talks about moments like that. This is not a how-to book but it treats the steps that someone takes who has to go slow towards life change. Courses, rituals at home, going to synagogue, coming to terms with family and the past. The parts on Torah didn't bother me. I read them as another aspect of Jewish life that a convert deals with. There is a section early in the book where she stands up for Judaism before she knows she will convert that I found convincing as part of the process of deciding. Plus she's not afraid of being wrong or appearing stupid. Shires even laughs at herself now and then which is good in a book like this. Two of the interesting women she met on the journey were the artist Helene Aylon and the author Blu Greenberg. I believe the chapter on women and Judaism brought together well a lot of ideas that I've read about here and there but hadn't put together before. I found the book helpful and will go back to it.



2. I agree with the reviewer who felt that Ms. Shires's textual analysis didn't flow well. I found the majority of this book to be rather dull, tedious, slow-going, and uninvolving. It was an original idea to tell the story of her conversion by relating issues she had difficulty with or areas she found inspiration in to certain passages of Torah and the similar writings of others, but it just didn't seem executed well. If this is supposed to be a conversion memoir, why does so little of the book actually concern her conversion or even her herself? The sections when Ms. Shires is writing about herself, such as in the beginning section, the ending chapter about her visit to her husband's native Germany, and the middle chapter about the mikvah, are quite good and interesting, because they're actually related to her life and to her conversion and not just tediously rambling on about certain Torah passages.
   
   From reading this, it seems as though she were the classic child who does not know enough to ask. She says she did a lot of reading prior to her conversion because she really wanted to know the religion and to approach it from a variety of disciplines, but in many sections she admits that she didn't know about some pretty important things or issues till after she converted. For example, she says that she hadn't had a lot of education about the mikveh and had been too embarrassed to ask her converting rabbi, and therefore went into her conversion day feeling she had to immerse herself because she was thought to be "contaminated" and "dirty" as a non-Jew and had to cleanse herself before being admitted to the tribe. How could anyone in any denomination, particularly if she's had such a long process of education and learning as Ms. Shires evidentally had, reach conversion day thinking such a thing and not having learnt more about the custom of mikveh? (I was also annoyed that her chapter on the mikveh used the dated and inaccurate translations "contaminated" and "unclean" for the Hebrew words "tumah" and "tamei." That continues to give the completely false impression that menstruating women are thought to be dirty and unclean, when in actual fact the words surrounding this state of being are translated more like "ritually impure," and the impurity refers to a spiritual, not a physical, state of being.)
   
   I was also left wondering why she converted under the auspices of the Conservative Movement when she so clearly feels ill at ease with many of their official positions, or at least the positions her own community seems to take. She really seems like she'd feel more at home in a Reform, Reconstructionist, or Renewal community. I'm also baffled as to why she frequently says that the Conservative Movement hasn't done enough for the inclusion of gays and women, unless her community isn't as liberal as many other Conservative communities are. Or are the changes of the past few decades not radical and sweeping enough for her? I also share her belief that women, gays, the disabled, and other groups that traditionally haven't always been included fully in Jewish life need to be completely integrated and granted full equality and participation in the community, but at times her call for this reads more like a political polemic and speaking from personal experience as opposed to really representing the great strides the Conservative Movement has made in these areas in the past few decades. I'm not doubting her personal experiences with people she's known and what she's dealt with in her own community, but it just seems baffling if she's trying to say the entire Conservative Movement takes those positions as well.
   
   A couple of interesting chapters do not a very recommendable book make. Most of this was just very slow going for me, and the divrei Torah weren't that novel or insightful either. I've heard most of these interpretations and analyses before, only not in such dull language. I'm actually disappointed I bought this book, though at least I got a cheap used copy. I'd looked forward to reading a conversion memoir, but instead got a tedious exercise in boredom that had almost nothing to do with the author's life, either before, during, or after her conversion.



3. Some books make you think and this is one of them. She engages with the traditions in different ways than most. It challenged me to think about Jewish life and Torah freshly. I found the beginning and the last section about going to Germany most moving.



4. I have read many individual conversion stories to Judaism. The majority are remarkable and beautiful as they highlight the personal transformation of an individual's path to conversion. That said, I found this book to be very tedious. The textual analysis did not flow well and it did not keep my attention.

4 comments about Dona Gracia of the House of Nasi.

1. I read this after reading Naomi Ragen's fictionalized version of Dona Gracia's life, The Ghost of Hannah Mendes. The two books are complementary, as Ragen's romantic treatment of Dona Gracia's life adds depth (though not necessarily historicity) to the relatively few facts about her that we actually know and that Roth recounts.
   
   Roth writes in the style of an old-school historian, trying to weave a human tale from sometimes fragmentary records. The footnotes, in which he points out his disagreement with other historians of the Inquisition and of the converso Jews, and sometimes his own changes of mind about the sequence of events, are perhaps the most fascinating part of the book. He is also a master at historical detective work, getting the most he can from the documents available.
   
   At bottom, however, we don't know all that much about Dona Gracia, so Roth's extravagant claims that she was the most important Jewish woman in a millennium or more do not quite ring true. Were it not for that consideration, I would have given this fascinating monograph five stars.



2. Certainly, the title character must have led an interesting life. But I found this book less interesting than I had hoped, just a listing of one event after another. However, I did get some sense of how difficult the lives of Jews were in Southern Europe; even Iberian Jews who converted to Christianity were never safe from Christians who were happy to accuse them of backsliding in order to have an excuse to confiscate their property.
   
   The only way to avoid this problem was to move (as Dona Gracia did) to Muslim lands, because the Ottoman Empire was much less anti-Semitic than most Christian governments. In fact, the Ottoman Empire actually protected Jews in Christian Europe by insisting on decent treatment of Jews with ties to the Empire. One lesson of this book is that Jews never have permanent allies or permanent enemies, only permanent interests.



3. This is the biography of Dona Gracia, a Jewish woman who lived in the 15th century and whose personality is characterized by intelligence, shrewdness, generosity, and religious devotion. Born in Spain, she went to Portugal in 1492, following the expulsion of the Jews. In Portugal she was forcibly converted to Christianity and became one amongst many "New Christians," "Marranos," or "Conversos." At the age of 18 she married Francisco Mendes, the richest merchant in Lisbon at that time. Seven years later she became a widow and successfully took over her husband's business. Determined to reach Turkey where under the protection of the Ottoman Empire she would be able to profess her faith freely, she embarked on a long journey, which took 17 years. This journey took her to London, Antwerp, Lyon, Venice, Ferrara, Ancona, Ragusa, Salonika and finally Constantinople. Throughout her perils she proved to be highly courageous and an excellent businesswoman. She used her wealth and contacts to help Jews escape the Inquisiton, became the self-appointed protector of the conversos, built houses of prayer and teaching, devoted herself to good works, and was know as "the heart of her people."

   There are two importnat factors in the history of Dona Gracia: first, she represents one of the rare examples of fight against repression to the Jews by the use of commercial tactics (the Ancona Boycott), and the first to establish a Jewish colony in Paletine (Tiberias), a self-sustaining settlement for Jews and conversos from an hostile Europe.

   The author Cecil Roth is a well-known historian. He clearly demonstrates his admiration for Dona Gracia, his praises are many, and openly admits to the fact that he has not been able to find any historical proof to the contrary. Despite this embellishment, Dona Gracia remains a distant character, she carries an aura of mystery which contributes to her "divinity." Had the Jewish faith room for "canonization" Dona Gracia would certainly be a downright candidate. Her name stands amongst famous Jewish women, and as her contemporary the author Samuel Usque says, "she is much a heroine as Miriam, Deborah, and Judith."




4. This novel was amazing in detail and mesmorizing in content. It was well researched! I would recommend this to anyone who loves romance, intrigue, deceit and history.