This book is:
1. A continuous meditation on the mantra "I am Jewish". Like a niggun.
My father is Jewish
My mother is Jewish
I am Jewish
These, Pearl's last words, could be a prayer from a Siddur I haven't yet seen. If they aren't, they really should be. Closest one would be "Thank you for making me a Jew."
2. My bed time story. Each night before I go to sleep, I read about another Jew -- some are famous and some are not -- then fantasize about what my chapter might say.
Note to self: Visit Reform shul in Scarsdale to witness davening lead by first-ever Korean American Rabbi/Chazzan, daughter of Korean Buddhist mother and American Jewish father.
It is difficult to write a few lines about this book without thinking about the cruel and evil event that led to it. The murder of Daniel Pearl simply because he was Jewish would seem to take us back into the darkest times of Jewish and human history, to the Nazi era. And in truth the new Islamic Fundamentalism in whose name Pearl was murdered is a frightening and abhorrent phenomenom which is a threat to human civilization and freedom as a whole.
Pearl's last words ' My father is a Jew. My mother is a Jew . I am a Jew' are as I understand it a courageous affirmation of his own identity and connection with his people. It connects with generations of Jewish martyrs who died on ' Kiddush Hashem' crying out as their last words the Jewish declaration of faith in G-d, " Shema Yisrael"
The book itself consists in around one- hundred and fifty personal statements by largely well- known Jews about what being Jewish means to them. The selection to my taste is a little slanted to the ' left and to the Diaspora' and should in my opinion have had more Israelis, and more with a strong religious identity. There are a few who I would not have included. But on the whole the selection is varied, interesting and provides a great deal of meaningful thought. I especially was touched by the words of Kerri Strug the courageous Olympic gymnast but there are many other inspiring accounts also.
This is an important book for anyone who wishes to see the collective face of the Jewish people at this time.
