The Singing Fire by Lilian Nattel

This novel is set in Victorian England and follows two Jewish women who immigrate to London. Nehama is from shtel and has dreams of making money and sending for her parents and sisters. Emilia is from a wealthly family in Minsk who leaves for London to escape her tyrant father after finding herself pregnant.

Both have their dreams dashed in London, a city dealing with the "Jewish" question. Nehama finds herself quickly lured into prostitution When she leaves this life, she is taken in by a couple who nurture her and she eventually finds a loving husband.

Emilia abandons her newborn daughter to Nehama who raises her. Emilia "passes" as a gentile and marries a Jew, only to be faced with conversion before her child is born.

The author makes some interesting points about Jewish life in mid-Victorian England, but the novel itself is disjointed.

Read: October 11, 2009

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah

Both Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah immediately follow Sukkot. They are separate and distinct from Sukkot.

The eighth day of Sukkot is Shemini Atzeret. The term means “the Eighth (day) of assembly.” The holiday is dedicated to the love of G~d. This holiday marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel. Its major feature, therefore, is the recitation of the prayer for rain.

Simchat Torah means “Rejoicing in the Torah.” It is a festive holiday that celebrates the completion of and the beginning of the yearly cycle of weekly Torah readings. During the year the complete Torah is read publically in weekly portions, beginning with Genesis and ending with Deuteronomy. On Simchat Torah, the last few verses of Deuteronomy are read, then immediately the beginning verses of Genesis are read, reminding Jews of the circle of life.

During the Simchat Torah celebration, all the Torah scrolls are removed from the ark and are carried around the synagogue. The congregation gets up and follows the Torah scrolls procession while singing and dancing. Often candy is tossed at the children as a reminder that study of Torah is sweet.

Strangers in the Land of Egypt, by Stephen March (2009)

Strangers in the Land of Egypt is a fascinating story of the rural south and the anti-Semitism that is still very prevalent there.

Jesse Terrill is a young teen-aged boy, whose mother left the family and whose father was seriously brain-damaged by an act of violence. In addition, Jesse's older brother was killed in a terrorist attack while serving abroad. Jesse is now living with his uncle.

One evening, Jesse and some of his wild buddies go out and vandalize the local synagogue. He is arrested and tried. Because he refuses to name is friends, he takes the fall for the crime. The judge seeing some goodness in Jesse, places him on a 2 year probation and requires him to do community service. He is assigned to assist Mendal Ebban, an elderly Jewish Holocaust survivor living in a nursing home.

Ebban is a religious Jew who is still very tortured by the events he survived in the concentration camp. He is wheelchair bound and his eyesight does not permit him to read. He has Jesse read Torah to him. Slowly they form a friendship in which Ebban teaches Jesse the ethics of living a good life.

While Jesse struggles to behave, so as not to be sent to the brutal detention center, he is faced with dealing with some not-so-gentle people. He wants to take revenge on the man whom he thinks injured his father. Jesse comes up with what he thinks is the perfect plan, and he fantasizes about how he will carry out his plan.

One of his friends is LaFay, who has an abusive boyfriend. Jesse gets into a fight with the boyfriend, seriously injuring him. When Jesse is later beaten and left for dead, he refuses to tell the police the details of his attack for fear that he will be sent to the detention center for his own prior attack on LaFay's boyfriend.

This was a beautifully written book about a young boy's struggle to be good in a terrifying world.