No comments about Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement.

No comments about Blessed is the Daughter, Eighth Edition.

No comments about Rahel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewess.

5 comments about Facing History and Ourselves: I Promised I Would Tell.

1. As far as Holocaust stories go, Sonia's is fairly short and interspersed with poetry rather than presenting the full facts and memories. The book is more appropriate for a younger audience, though mature readers may appreciate the simply-worded poetry as well. I had the privilege of meeting Sonia in 2001 through a small inter-faith dialogue group and enjoyed hearing her story in her own words.



2. THERE IS ONLY A RELATIVE HANDFUL OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS STILL ALIVE, AND I WISH THEY WOULD RECORD THEIR STORY AS SONIA WEITZ DID, AS A WAY OF MAKING SURE THE HOLOCAUST IS NOT FORGOTTEN. IT ALSO DETAILS HOW A PERSON CAN LIVE THROUGH THE MOST INHUMANE INCIDENT IN RECORDED HISTORY, AND GROW OUT OF IT WITH A SENSE OF DETERMINATION, WARMTH AND LOVE. IT SHOULD BE ON THE SHELVES OF EVERY PUBLIC AND SCHOOL LIBRARY IN THE NATION.



3. i read this book in my reading class just recently and i thought it told a tragic story about how the life of a innocent girl can change within a instant.....it tells us how lucky we are today that we dont have to worry about these things. please read this book....this will be a story that you will never forget...



4. This incredible and devestating tale of Sonia Weitz and her family depicted the horror of the Holocaust and what it was really like for the Jewish population in Europe. I thought this book was very well written and the poetry all brought insight to what was happening back then.



5. It was ok, but kinda boring. I thought it was also pretty good cuz it was emotional and helped understand the Holocaust.

3 comments about Conversations with Papa Charlie: A Memory of Charles E. Smith.

1. Conversations with Papa Charlie made me miss my grandfather and the stories he used to tell me. growing up in the Washington area, Charles E. Smith was a familiar name to me. I always thought it was a made up corporate entitity. It's nice to see that Chalres Smith was a real person, and not a heartless corporate giant. I recommend this book to all those who are looking for a little guidance in life, and for anyone who just wants to read some heartwarming stories.



2. I DON'T THINK I'LL FORGET PAPA CHARLIE FOR A LONG TIME. HE HAS TRULY INSPIRED ME!!!!!

   It is nice to know that there are businessmen who are not just---interested in making money. This wonderful memoir shows how the elegant Mr. Smith, a Russian immigrant who came to America at the age of 10, went from rags to riches---twice. His initial success was achieved as a builder of homes and small shopping centers in Brooklyn, New York shortly before the Depression. Feeling that a stock market disaster was imminent, he confided to his partner-cousin that he wanted to get out of the business. But his cousin believing Smith to be irrational, talked him into staying in the business through 1929; in 1930, the agreed, they would stop building. Unfortunately the Crash came and Smith lost all of his money, but not his spirit. The lesson he learned--one of many he passes on to the reader in "Papa Charlie"--is never to go against your intuition. Smith eventually re-constructed his wealth--the second time in Washington, DC twenty years later--but in the end retired suddenly at the age of 66 to spend the rest of his life as a philanthropist. In the 28 years he was to live, he raised money for numerous causes, and co-founded the Institute of Psychobiology in Israel. As his grandson-author, David Bruce Smith, reveals, Smith would also peruse the Washington Post each morning, looking for human interest stories that moved him. The reader learns about the poor woman for whom he bought a washing machine, the friends he helped during financial reversals, and the kind and compassionate way he treated his employees. Reading Conversations with Papa Charlie was a moving experience for me. I would recommend it for ANYONE. Smith's story makes you believe that Good Samaritans still exist.




3. Every day, we hear names of business giants such as Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller. But what we don't hear is the story of what makes or made these men who they were. How they lived. Who they loved. What inspired them.What they ate for breakfast.

   Conversations With Papa Charlie gave me a real look behind the scenes at Charles E. Smith--one of the biggest names in real estate. I discovered who Charles E. Smith really was--his successes, his failures and lessons--not just for business but for life.

   It is a magical and charming memoir that I would recommend for anyone of any age who wants to be inspired.

1 comments about Diario de Ana Frank.

1. Excellent book. I teach mostly Hispanic students. We read the English and Spanish version simultaneously. It really helped them understand. I always tell them it only takes one person to change the world, even a little 14 year old German girl. Now they understand.Well written, clearly translated.

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

5 comments about A Joyful Noise: Claiming the Songs of My Fathers.

1. The author gave a birth of her daughter in ' 89, so did I deliver my third kids . This may be only one common thing to share between her , except both are Shubertian.
   Jewish and Japanese are often compared, and they are conspicuously differnt in the spiritual distance of each individual from the history of their own people. We , Japanese ,are genious of forgetting and we could change the attitude toward US so dramatically that Ruth Benedict couldn't help studying Japanese war captives. Whereas Jewish people,language wise, music wise , are trying to carry on the tradition, even though great constraint between the host country culture and also between generations of their own people.
   And 'an die Music'. Tan Dun, a Chinese composer living in NY,once said,' Western music develops horizontally'. I also admit, music are differnt in East and West, maybe because of Eastern ear VS Western ear. But when lyrics intermediate sounds and internal reality that words evoke , what type of ears you may have, you can enjoy music of differnt culture. So many operas, lied, Italian songs and hymns apperared in this books have told me so.



2. The author gave a birth of her daughter in ' 89, so did I deliver my third kids . This may be only one common thing to share between her , except both are Shubertian.
   Jewish and Japanese are often compared, and they are conspicuously differnt in the spiritual distance of each individual from the history of their own people. We , Japanese ,are genious of forgetting and we could change the attitude toward US so dramatically that Ruth Benedict couldn't help studying Japanese war captives. Whereas Jewish people,language wise, music wise , are trying to carry on the tradition, even though great constraint between the host country culture and also between generations of their own people.
   And 'an die Music'. Tan Dun, a Chinese composer living in NY,once said,' Western music develops horizontally'. I also admit, music are differnt in East and West, maybe because of Eastern ear VS Western ear. But when lyrics intermediate sounds and internal reality that words evoke , what type of ears you may have, you can enjoy music of differnt culture. So many operas, lied, Italian songs and hymns apperared in this books have told me so.



3. "A Joyful Noise," Deborah Weisgall's serious and brooding memoir, is far from a fluffy celebration of music and Judaic heritage. Its subtitle, "Claiming the Songs of My Fathers," more accurately captures the sense of conflict and struggle which permeates the life of a talented, tormented and frustrated young woman, who at once soars with the rich musical background of both her father and grandfather but simultaneously is denied participation and validation because of her gender. "A Joyful Noise" elicits both compassion and anger from the reader; one senses that had the author been born some twenty years later she would have had much more direct access to both her own talents and her clearly-articulated love for her heritage. The author does not disguise the central theme of her memoir. After a disappointing experience at a Passover seder, Deborah expresses her yearning to join her father and grandfather as full participants in both music and heritage. "I hummed the songs as quietly as I could, aching to get them right, afraid that my father would hear my wrong notes and correct me. They ran perfectly through my head but not from my mouth. I loved them. I wanted them." Yet, she understands that her ambition does not correspond with the very heritage she so deeply desires. Segregated, minimized and isolated due to sexist traditions and practices, Jewish women have had to sublimate their otherwise honorable ambitions into other avenues of expression. Sensing that possibility, even as a child, Deborah laments: "My desire was as strong as theirs; my voice was not. My breath stalled against my vocal cords, and the back of my throat throbbed from stopped-up songs and angry tears. I wanted to sing. I wanted to be heard." Weisgall's quest for authenticity, for voice, occurs during a period of national affluence and cultural indifference in the 1950s and on the cusp of our nation's profound social revolution of the 1960s. Deborah comes of age in a tension-riddled family; her non-religious mother, Nathalie, is indifferent to housework, and her beloved father, Hugo, consistently produces operas which are artistically gifted but critical failures. The Weisgalls constantly move from their Baltimore roots, whether it be to Maine for summers, or from college town to another, where Hugo can sustain his family's material needs while he tries to fulfill his own battered expectations as an artist. Deborah realizes the discored in her family is real; her mother's physical beauty cannot hide her bitterness just as her father's rapture with musci cannot hide his own frustration with failure and betrayal. Looming like a dense cloud over the family is the Holocaust, whose disruptive horror has created a permanent sense of dread and loss. In a desultory search through her parents' closet, Deborah discovers a shoe-box stuffed with raw and brutal photographs of cocentration camp victims. She understands in a visceral sense the impact of genocide on her father, who directly witnessed the horrific scenes while he served as a translator for the liberating United States Army during World War II. The Weisgalls are derivative survivors, having lost their past, their roots, their culture through the Holocaust. The author is able to trace the genesis of family friction to this loss of place. Nathalie, a lover of beauty, flounders in America; Hugo, linked in memory to his childhood in Czechoslovakia, wrestles with his own struggle to match his father (Abba) without the support of cultural stability and identity. The memoir is not without its faults. Unless one has a solid grasp of opera and classical music, Weisgall's detailed descriptions of her artistic passion tend to overwhelm the reader. Deborah's ultimately successful climb to identity occurs too abruptly, as well. Her ultimate chapters, which recount her experiences as Radcliffe and her emergence as an independent, secure woman, appear rushed and lack the elegant detail so prevalent throughout descriptions of her childhood. Nevertheless, this serious and introspective work deserves the critical praise it has garnered. "A Joyful Noise" deftly interweaves music, religious heritage and family into a tapestry both instructive and inspiring.



4. "A Joyful Noise," Deborah Weisgall's serious and brooding memoir, is far from a fluffy celebration of music and Judaic heritage. Its subtitle, "Claiming the Songs of My Fathers," more accurately captures the sense of conflict and struggle which permeates the life of a talented, tormented and frustrated young woman, who at once soars with the rich musical background of both her father and grandfather but simultaneously is denied participation and validation because of her gender. "A Joyful Noise" elicits both compassion and anger from the reader; one senses that had the author been born some twenty years later she would have had much more direct access to both her own talents and her clearly-articulated love for her heritage. The author does not disguise the central theme of her memoir. After a disappointing experience at a Passover seder, Deborah expresses her yearning to join her father and grandfather as full participants in both music and heritage. "I hummed the songs as quietly as I could, aching to get them right, afraid that my father would hear my wrong notes and correct me. They ran perfectly through my head but not from my mouth. I loved them. I wanted them." Yet, she understands that her ambition does not correspond with the very heritage she so deeply desires. Segregated, minimized and isolated due to sexist traditions and practices, Jewish women have had to sublimate their otherwise honorable ambitions into other avenues of expression. Sensing that possibility, even as a child, Deborah laments: "My desire was as strong as theirs; my voice was not. My breath stalled against my vocal cords, and the back of my throat throbbed from stopped-up songs and angry tears. I wanted to sing. I wanted to be heard." Weisgall's quest for authenticity, for voice, occurs during a period of national affluence and cultural indifference in the 1950s and on the cusp of our nation's profound social revolution of the 1960s. Deborah comes of age in a tension-riddled family; her non-religious mother, Nathalie, is indifferent to housework, and her beloved father, Hugo, consistently produces operas which are artistically gifted but critical failures. The Weisgalls constantly move from their Baltimore roots, whether it be to Maine for summers, or from college town to another, where Hugo can sustain his family's material needs while he tries to fulfill his own battered expectations as an artist. Deborah realizes the discord in her family is real; her mother's physical beauty cannot hide her bitterness just as her father's rapture with musci cannot hide his own frustration with failure and betrayal. Looming like a dense cloud over the family is the Holocaust, whose disruptive horror has created a permanent sense of dread and loss. In a desultory search through her parents' closet, Deborah discovers a shoe-box stuffed with raw and brutal photographs of cocentration camp victims. She understands in a visceral sense the impact of genocide on her father, who directly witnessed the horrific scenes while he served as a translator for the liberating United States Army during World War II. The Weisgalls are derivative survivors, having lost their past, their roots, their culture through the Holocaust. The author is able to trace the genesis of family friction to this loss of place. Nathalie, a lover of beauty, flounders in America; Hugo, linked in memory to his childhood in Czechoslovakia, wrestles with his own struggle to match his father (Abba) without the support of cultural stability and identity. The memoir is not without its faults. Unless one has a solid grasp of opera and classical music, Weisgall's detailed descriptions of her artistic passion tend to overwhelm the reader. Deborah's ultimately successful climb to identity occurs too abruptly, as well. Her ultimate chapters, which recount her experiences as Radcliffe and her emergence as an independent, secure woman, appear rushed and lack the elegant detail so prevalent throughout descriptions of her childhood. Nevertheless, this serious and introspective work deserves the critical praise it has garnered. "A Joyful Noise" deftly interweaves music, religious heritage and family into a tapestry both instructive and inspiring.



5. I LOVE this book! Before I read this book, a family friend of mine read it and highly highly recommended it. When I started this book, I couldn't put it down, thats the kind of book it can be for certain people. The reason why this book was a huge page-turner for me, was because I felt relate to the author in many different levels. (...)This book isn't just text on a few pages to me, it is guidence for my life.

5 comments about Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich.

1. I first met George Tabb at a club one night last year and found out we had some old friends from the past in common. He said he had a book out called Playing Right Field that I might like and another one, Surfing Armageddon, that will be coming out in a few months. The first one was a childhood memoir, the second is about his high school and early college years. I found George really interesting to talk to, so I was determined to look up these books, and read about this guy. As my friends and I were leaving the club, he said if I was interested, I can check out his web site. So the next day at my office, I found the site and glanced at a few of his blog entries. This guy was very funny. And I thought anyone who loves their little Yorkie that much clearly has a big, big heart. So I looked up his books on Amazon, and read their descriptions.
   
   Now, being the Jewish child of Holocaust survivors, and having emigrated to the U.S. with my family when I was five, from communist Romania, where a Jew was a second-class citizen, I related to his painful daily abuse at the hands of those fascist little Greenwich aryan bullies who had it in for him and his little brothers for nothing but their ethnicity. But his home life wasn't any safer. Yet the stories themselves sounded hilarious. I was intrigued, so I ordered the first book. The second one wasn't out yet at the time.
   
   The guy sitting in the cubicle next to mine asked what book I was ordering and I told him Playing Right Field, a childhood memoir by a guy called George Tabb whom I met last night. He says, "George Tabb? You mean the guy who wrote those hilarious columns for the New York Press?" I said I don't know, he just told me about his books, and they sound really funny from their descriptions on Amazon. He says Tabb's columns were his favorites. He'd been a big fan of his writing for years, since he first saw his columns in Maximumrocknroll, a publication I'd never heard of. He says, "Hold on a minute," and emails me a bunch of links to George Tabb stories.
   
   And after reading them, I'm just blown away. One after the other, they're all clever and witty and sweetly self-deprecating. And laugh-out-loud funny. So I couldn't wait to read the book.
   
   I was not disappointed! It is one of my favorite books ever. It breaks your heart while cracks you up laughing, and in every bizarre story (all of them are bizarre) there's a lesson learned. And you find yourself smiling. After finishing the book, I emailed him that I really enjoyed it, as did my teenage son who generally doesn't like to read, but he loved this book. So did his friends who borrowed it. So I ordered it for friends and family for as holiday gifts. And in that email, I also told George I was really sorry that I didn't know any of his writing or his music when we met.
   
   The funny thing is, for a writer so well respected and so well known in the music scene, he's anything but a snob. He is the nicest, kindest, most approachable person you'd ever want to meet. It's surprising, considering he grew up so filled with rage at his abusive sadistic father, that he didn't turn out to be a serial killer!
   
   By the way, I just finished his new book, Surfing Armageddon, in which George's family leaves Greenwich for Tallahassee FL, where Jews are appreciated as much as, if not more, than they were in Greenwich! But now teenage George with hormones raging--inspired by the bad-ass music of a little band from Cleveland called The Dead Boys and that lovable NY punk band that leveled the playing field for outsider everywhere who thought they couldn't be cool, The Ramones--is on a quest to do what any healthy, red-blooded, sex-obsessed teenage boy is after. Lose his virginity. But like everything else in George's life, the road is filled with a few hilarious bumps along the way. Another gem. See my review of that one.



2. Ahoy, if you're looking to buy this book you're proboly already familier with George Tabb's style of writing. And, so this book is more or less compiled as his column's tend to be written. Most of the stories are in proper order with a few a bit out of place but, no big deal. This is more a book to read here and there on one's lunch break not a sit down and read it from cover to cover. George reminds us what it's like to be on the receiving end of childrens cruelity and dealing it out mostly on the receiving end though. Arn't most punks the rejects of the so called norm children? George also shows the era for them young punks what kids did before they had video games and all that crap. They beat the crap out of each other had crazy adventures avoided their crappy parents and more or less just pain flat survive the bs years. This book would've been a five cept the first few chapters are rather ackward.....They seem to be structed rather oddly. They offer an early peak at George and that's perhaps why they're ackward cause they're from when he was 6 and a bit under while other chapters are 6th grade up to high school so, i think his memory is a bit hazy to add his style of humor to the story whilst keeping it on the tab or real. If you like George's writing overall you'll not be disappointed. Or, if you or someone you know's just likes to read stories about others that aren't really famous than this is also a good book to pick up. So, stop reading those F'n opera books and pick up a book about real life adventures from the Seventies. See George shoot his pop, see George puke at carney island, read about his adventure of killing the tortise that ate goats and kittens, also why one should avoid the left hand of the blind child and is wrestling a fag sport?!? Find out first hand from George if it is indeed and what the hell is Fourth Trumpett!!!!! All these wonderments and questions are in this book! After you're done reading this book you'll feel like drinking and being lazy. Or just like why the hell am I still working this crap job......



3. I had never heard of George Tabb until my friend Jenni recommended that I read his book, it was all of $8 including shipping so I figured, why not?
   
   It was seriously one of the best books i've ever read, and I cannot wait for his new book to come out.
   
   The book really makes you feel for young George as a character and absolutely abhor his father.
   
   I reallly regret saying as a character since it's based on the real events of George's life.
   I plan on collecting all of George's writings that he's ever done for magazines now.



4. George rules! This book rules! It's great to know that other people are pussies too, and that they are proud of it. I don't think I've laughed as hard as I did at the crucified frog in ages. It really brought all those scary uncomfortable primary school memories back to the front of my mind. I even remember the name of the bully I concussed in fourth grade for the first time since I whacked him one. Thanks for the great read George.



5. George Tabb is a man of the people. That is to say, he knows a heck of a lot of people and a heck of a lot of people know him. He is an approachable, likeable guy and when I began reading his Maximum Rock 'n Roll columns back in the late 80s I had no idea that he was actually such a friendly person. Due to his long-standing punk rock celebrity/credibility he doesn't have to be. The fact that he IS such a great person is a testament to his character, glimpsed here in "Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich."
   
   This book is a collection of essays that span Tabb's early childhood and teen years. It is all at once heartfelt and heartbreaking. When I finished it I felt the urgent desire to seek out and brutally punish anyone who'd ever been mean to George, and believe me when I say that would be a time-consuming process!
   
   The bottom line is that this book is full of poignant, bizarre, and sometimes upsetting memories presented in amazingly rich detail. Tabb's capacity for recall is the mark of a great writer and a true talent.
   
   I believe this book is an incredibly valuable manuscript that takes the reader back to the sometimes cruel state of childhood, all the while reminding us that back then we always strove to remain optimistic in our belief that Tomorrow would be a better day. I believe that George Tabb is still optimistic - despite everything - and that this both confusing and inspiring characteristic distinguishes him as a complex man with an important voice.

5 comments about Most Holy Trinosophia.

1. This book is totally not what I was expecting. Saint-Germain uses very deep and real symbols and correspondences to communicate that which can only be communicated through this means, and only with great care and understanding. To those who overlook this, as a previous reviewer who seemed to think that "spiritual works" should be more simplistic and literal, the only possibility is that they must be missing out on a lot. Even though this book is very short, it must be very carefully analyzed. A good working knowledge of Astrology, Alchemy, Kabbalah, Neoplatonism and Hermetica is recommended. Manly P. Hall's introductory writings are also really a fascinating read, and while I am open to even the most extreme possibilities, from experience I tend to take some of his information with a grain of salt and would like to see some evidence to back them up. I think this text may also shed some light on the development of the various rites of Egyptian Freemasonry.



2. This treatise is too well disguised to trust anyone's interpretation. It reminds me of someone interpreting Alice in Wonderland. I think there many better spiritual resources. For this reader, the book proved to be a disappointment.



3. This treatise is so full of allegorical allusions that I doubt anyone's expertise to fully interpret it and I found the reading for the most part to be disappointing. I think the Godfrey Ray King books are much more interesting and insightful. In some ways it reminded me of an Alice in Wonderland journey. In my opinion, if you are looking for insight, this book will not be that need fulfilling-the Masters of the Far East series might be a better read. The most informative section is Hall's analysis.In short it was not a good read for me.



4. This is St. Germain's own words of the mystery of Immortality couched in alchemical terms which he achieved many hundreds of years ago. He was known as the Wonderman of Europe used the philosopher's Stone and alchemically created the elixer of immortality. He is still active in the world today. Read Unveiled Mysteries and The Magic Presence by Godfre Ray King. Comte de St. Germain is one of the greatest men of all time, we will know more about him in the years to come He was instrumental in the founding of America and will establish the golden age within her borders.



5. This book tells us about a symbolic path (a mixture of egyptian and grec symbolism) which is as the same time the travel of an initiate. This book is an enigma at each page but it can give us good esoteric clue if we are ready to receive it. We have to meditate on symbols and their true meaning. On my point of view this book contains highly magic components and it is the reason why it is so hermetic and can't be understood by everybody. Anyway the contents seem to be very deep. But since I am not wise enough to give a correct advice on the interpretation of different symbols given in this book, I suggest that you read this book and decide if it is helpfull or not!