REVIEWS BY JOANNA BRICHETTO
A trio of wildly different Jewish books awaits readers and gift-buyers this Hanukkah.
The "you" in Barbara Rushkoff's Jewish Holiday Fun for You! targets a specific demographic:
the hip, 30- or 40-something "who wants to crack the mystery of Jewish holidays." Rushkoff, creator of the webzine Plotz, offers this crash course to instruct and entertain. She leads readers through the holidays using diverse conceits: a test booklet (multiple choice) for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; zaftig (Yiddish for "well-endowed") paper dolls of Ruth, the Biblical character, for Shavuot; and a catalog of wacky prefabricated Sukkah kits for Sukkot (including inflatable, hypoallergenic and mother-in-law versions).
Each holiday is introduced by a quirky, one-sentence definition: Passover is "the one with the big crackers," Purim is "the one they call the Jewish Halloween" and Shabbat is "the one where you can't do anything because it's Saturday." For years, I've heard similar descriptions when mildly curious non-Jewish buddies identify a current holiday with, "Is this the one where you build a hut in the backyard?" (Sukkot.)
As the book's title says, the accent is on "fun," so don't look for practical how-tos here. This is more an excuse to indulge in nostalgia with hip hindsight, sassy wit and retro-flavored graphics galore. Rushkoff fans: prepare to plotz (Yiddish for "burst with excitement").
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An ancient bestseller revived
The Book of Customs: A Complete Handbook for the Jewish Year is described as "the best-selling guide to Jewish life for three centuries." If this is true, then why haven't we heard of it? Two reasons: because until now it has not been translated into English, and because the 300-year period of the book's popularity was centuries ago! Lucky for us, Scott-Martin Kosofsky, an award-winning book designer and editor, has plucked it from obscurity to revive it for a new generation.
This revival is a complete transformation. Kosofsky frames it with tradition, expecting each reader—whatever his or her denomination—to pick and choose what material is required. The author admits that if Judaism "is a 'cafeteria' religion, then it's one that serves the traditional main courses." Readers will find a banquet here, whenever hunger strikes, and at whatever intensity.
What exactly is on the menu? A comprehensive guide to the Jewish year: the weekly cycle (revolving around the Sabbath), the yearly cycle and the life cycle (birth, marriage, death)—for home and synagogue observance. There is material enough to pilot a beginner or a practiced hand: from how to light the Sabbath candles to when to say the Amidah on the first night of Sukkot. Pithy tidbits, cross-references and Biblical or Talmudic citations are packed into the margins, enticing us to further study. Kosofsky packs a lot in this user-friendly, attractive guide.
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Centuries of Jewish life
The Jewish World: 365 Days is a compact, weighty tome that cries out for a coffee table. It, too, is organized
around the idea of a year: 365 exquisite items from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem pace themselves from January to
December. More than a catalog of accoutrements, this is visual testimony from centuries of sacred and secular lives:
books, textiles, interiors, jewelry, pottery, manuscripts, paintings, clothing, toys and much more. Culled from one of
the world's finest collections, it lives up to its goal as "a celebration of Jewish life throughout the ages." Life
throughout many lands is celebrated as well, because Jewish people, with no nation of their own from 70 AD to 1938,
have dispersed throughout the world, adapting ancient traditions within host cultures. Thus, for example, will be
found Sabbath lamps from Yemen, herb bags from Afghanistan and even a woodcut from a 1713 Amsterdam edition of
The Book of Customs, an earlier incarnation of the new book described above.
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Joanna Brichetto is a graduate student in Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University who longs for sassy wit and hip hindsight.
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