CBD LIBRARY
Reviews by Susan Hoffman

Our next CBD BOOK GROUP meets Tuesday, June 15th from 1:30 – 3 pm in the library to discuss PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION (2009) by Sara Houghteling. “In the twilight of my life, I began to question if my childhood was a time of almost absurd languor, or if the violence that would strike us later had lurked there all along.” Thus begins the California author’s debut novel, set in Paris in World War II, telling “the story of a son’s quest to recover his family’s lost masterpieces, looted by the Nazis during the occupation.” Woven into the fiction is historical research based on a biography of a French woman who was a double-agent inside the looted art stronghold. The website, www.sarahhoughteling.com offers an opportunity to hear the author speak about her book and to learn about its art history.

I discovered two more wonderful DVDs in our library collection that should not be missed. BLESSED IS THE MATCH (2009) is a feature-length documentary about the life and death of Hannah Senesh, Hungarian poet, diarist, and member of the Kibbutz Movement which laid the foundation for the independent state of Israel, and who at the age of twenty-two volunteered for the only rescue mission for Jews that occurred in World War II. Narrated by actress Joan Allen, the movie leaves us thinking “if only,” and the unforgettable title poem resonates deeply with the line “Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart.” To learn more about Hannah Senesh, and to read her poems in their entirety, our library also has a copy of HER LIFE AND DIARY: The First Complete Edition.

For the total joy of cooking and a coming of age movie, and what those two things have to do with one another, watch BONJOUR MONSIEUR SHLOMI, subtitled “The Food That Warms A Family’s Soul,” (2004) another original, imaginative, well-written, and full of truth, comedy-drama from Israel with English subtitles. To make recommendations or for more information, call Susan at 549-0715.

It is interesting to note that in the latest issue of “Reform Judaism Magazine” (Spring 2010) there are two articles on the subject of ethical eating, even a blurb on the front cover, “Eating Jewishly: Hold The Beef.” The President of the Union of Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie writes about cutting back on red meat by 20% or more and Barry Schwartz and Cliff Librach survey readers with “Debatable: Should We Adopt Dietary Restrictions To Save The Environment?”

Our next CBD BOOK GROUP meets Tuesday, May 18th, 1:30 – 3 in the Library to discuss The Man In The White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family’s Exodus From Old Cairo To The New World (2008), a memoir by Lucette Lagnado. Call 549-0715 for more information.