Customer Reviews

Home Lands: Portraits of the New Jewish Diaspora

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Home Lands is an interesting collection of vignettes of Jewish communities and families. But this book is thin in its assertion that a new, strong Judiasm is unfolding across the world. Tye uses very few communities to illustrate his point, and ultimately, the book becomes contrived. Because the stories themselves were not groundbreaking enough or entertaining enough to stand on their own, Tye tries desperately to sew them together with his thesis, which might be interesting if one could believe that a handful of communities represent all the world's Jews. To be frank, this book is dwarfed by a multitude of books on the subject that are backed by much more research.

This is a very well- written study. It provides information and insight into Jewish communities such as the one in the Ukraine or the one in Dublin, Ireland which receive scant attention. However its writing is stronger than its central thesis i.e. that Judaism in the Diaspora is strongly reviving and that it now is on a par with Israel as ' center' of the Jewish people. Anyone who knows the elementary demographic data on the assimilating and aging Jewish diaspora knows that this thesis is based on looking at an important minority element in the community . i.e. those Jews who care more now than before about their connection with Judaism, especially the more religious Jews. Moreover in simple theological terms it is either ignorance or heresy to put the Diaspora on the level of Israel. Israel is in Jewish religious terms the place where one can best serve G-d. And in terms of Jewish national life, and any semblance of an independent Jewish community and world it is the single center we have .
The book again is very well written and provides interesting insights into a number of Diaspora families and communities.

This is an interesting, in-depth look at Jewish communitites in Europe, America, and Israel, including some citites where we don't usually think of as Jewish, such as Dublin or Dusseldorf or Atlanta. Tye focuses on 1-2 individuals to give the broader history, which makes the study more accessible. Well-written, but for a more serious reader, you will feel as if you know these city's Jews and their community very well after each chapter. If you're interested in just one of the cities, you can read that chapter independently as well. Well worth the time and effort if you want to learn more about today's Jews outside of Israel.

I am almost done with this book and I disagree with the above reviewer! I think it is very well-written, informative, and links some very interesting aspects of the Jewish people. This helps to understand this people who have survived in so many settings, still with a strong sense of connection to Judaism. Whether they are religious or not, there is just some indefinable something that exists. Larry Tye does a great job of looking around the world in a multilevel way to explore this powerful element. I also found his stance on the strength and permanence and acceptability of Diaspora life to be realistic and positive. I give it four stars only because I worry that it is a bit too optimistic about the future... Highly recommended!