Howard Fast's The Jews--Story of a People

I just turned the last page of Howard Fast's The Jews - Story of a People. I was offered it by a friend in the orchestra and once I got going on it, it really riveted my attention.

The fat, 380-page, old-fashioned paperback, yellowing with age, reminded me of the delicate scrolls found by the dead sea in the 1940's--better turn carefully. The tale begins at the beginning--people very unlike today's Jews--and ends with modern life, including the State of Israel. Written in 1968, Israel had just won back some territory and the mood was exhilarating.

I learned a lot I didn't know about how Jews lived in different places and times. I didn't know about Jewish expertise in map making. It's pretty much assumed that a Jewish map expert was along with Columbus. Speaking of that, 1492 is associated with Columbus but is also the year that Jews were expelled from Spain. Because Jews were so actively involved in the economy of the country, it declined significantly after the expulsion. That showed them--well it probably didn't, since it appears that we don't learn much from history.

Jews were some of the great early doctors, and were way ahead of other groups in their knowledge and skills. That meant that many leaders kept a Jewish doctor on hand--even if the "official" policy was to drive them out of their country. Jews had well developed trade routes a thousand years ago which were broken up by the lunatic Crusaders.

The hardest thing in the book was to read about all the terrible things that have happened to the Jewish people--for so long and in so many places. So many killings and burnings and so much destruction. Some tyrant would go on a rant and hundreds of Jewish settlements perished. We all know about the Holocaust in Germany in the 1940's that took six MILLION Jewish lives--surely the worst thing ever to happen to one group of people. What I didn't know was the long history of German anti-Semitism. It was just the most recent outbreak of it. And what about the Crusades? Unspeakable horrors. It seems the Catholic church has had anti-Semitism as part of it's program since the beginning. I have hope that today is different, but we'll see.

Somehow, in his telling of the story of the Egyptian slaves to the desert wanderers, the first and second Temples in Jerusalem, and the varying strains of the Diaspora, Fast never gets you feeling too depressed. The greatness of how Jews have prospered--in spite of their difficulties--is very inspirational. And it ties in a little with what I'm sensing from my increased reading of the Jewish prayers. The tone is so positive and so much involved in praising God and feeling grateful to be alive that it must have sustained people through terrible times. Somewhere, in Jewish minds, there is a God who values the times we perform the commandments and the mitzvot we're asked to do. Well, of course, I don't do most of them, but I'm becoming aware of that as I learn what they are.

It's interesting to read about the early Jews--especially because there's so much we can't really know for sure. The later history, especially of the remarkable history of the Jewish migration from Eastern Europe starting in 1881 and lasting for decades, is easier to chronicle. I wish I could know more about my family--which came over in that movement. It's also interesting to read about the founding of Israel and the various ways that the countries tried to make it more difficult. Like anything, the more you know (and I'm just scratching the surface) the more complex the picture becomes.

I live in a special time and place on the West Coast of America in the 21st century, when it's fine to be a Jew and really no problem at all. The real issue, then, becomes assimilation, and I've done a perfect job of it. I can't be blamed, really, that in the freedom I've always known I've chosen not to participate in most of the Jewish things around me. The book places me more centrally in the history and future of Judaism. Strange that without the terrible situations that kept Jews together in their communities, we end up losing not our lives--or our comforts--but we do lose our connection to our culture and community.

What should my NEXT book be?

Upshernish - A Jewish Boy's First Haircut

Upshernish (this is not Yankele pictured)

Just one of the many traditions I didn't know about is the Upshernish (or Upsherin). It's a tradition for observant Jews to wait until the third birthday to cut a boy's hair. Of course, this means that some people will think the kid's a girl in the supermarket, but it has a real basis in what I'm increasingly understanding as a complex and meaningful world view of being Jewish.

Yesterday, I witnessed my first Upshernish, when Yankele, the son of my friend Rabbi RR and his wife, Fruma, had his long, curly locks trimmed. This is a very special young man. Besides being a beautiful-looking child, he has more self possession than many adults I've met. He is polite, respectful, well spoken and, from what I can tall, brilliant like his dad--and grandfather.

Yankele was named for his father's father, who was the esteemed Lubavitcher Rebbe's personal physician for two decades. Before the scissors came out, they ran a touching video showing Yankele at different ages, which included a tribute to his late grandfather.

Little Yankele sat on a special high chair and got his first snips from the Cohenim in the group. It's common in Jewish rites to have the descendants of the Jewish temple priests participate in a special way. I saw this at the Rabbi's new son's bris milah recently.

Afterwards, a fine spread of desserts was enjoyed by all.

This is not an event marked by prayer--it's one that marks a big change in a Jewish boy's life. Now, he begins to participate more fully in community life. Much like the the Jewish orchard commandment to not harvest the first three years' fruit, the fourth year is when the boy starts his Jewish education, working with what he has already learned. Little Yankele can say prayers already and surely knows a lot just from living with his family and community. Now, he will wear the peyot (sidelocks) and his kippa (cap) tzitit (fringed garment).  

It all made me feel the power of living a tradition. The Rabbi and his wife, extended family and entire community are celebrating this boy's increasing participation in his world, and are working to be sure that his education is carefully administered to make him into the person they want him to be. This kind of care and attention develops people who feel like part of something--and for whom their tradition is always meaningful and important.

We should all be so lucky.

This event is celebrated for any three-year-old boy--including the one in the photo above, who is not Yankele. It's a little like a junior-level bar mitzvah. If "Today I am a man" is the bar mitzvah theme, then "Today I'm not a baby anymore" would be the theme of the Upshernish.

The Rabbi told a joke (there's so much humor in Judaism!). There are the four cuts that a Jewish man endures. The first--circumcision, the second--the Unshernish. The third, at the bar mitzvah you cut him some slack, and the fourth--when he gets married and his wife cuts him down to size. I laughed.

Yesterday was also Lag B'Omer, so there was a bonfire and a delicious barbecue, but that wasn't directly related to the Upshernish, so I will talk about it separately when I go into the details of counting the Omer (which I've been doing "religiously." My joke.