The Robert Kutner Library offers traditional favorites and volumes for religious and personal study, as well as new, modern children's selections for our youngest of readers. A computer desk and computer are available and the library is an integral part of the religious school curriculum.
Book Reviews by Sheila Goldberg
Our library committee is updating the catalogue listings. They will all be online soon - we need more volunteers! You will be able to find a listing of all books on the Library's website page.
We are in the process of converting from the Dewey system to the Library of Congress System of cataloguing. I will try to give a brief book review each month. I would also like to thank publicly thank everyone including our previous Rabbi (Daniel Stein) for the amount of work he put in to get this project moving.
Cover of book may vary
THE RETURN by Sonia Levitin
This book would be of interest to teenage readers. It is told by a 12-year-old girl, Desta, who lives in a poor Jewish village in the mountains of Ethiopia, where the Jews were terrorized and yearning for freedom. Her story details her flight, together with her brother Joas, and her 9-year-old younger sister to reach The Promised Land, in particular, Jerusalem. The book is rich in detail about the life of Yemenite Jews living in the mountain villages especially under communism, and also their hazardous journey.
I read this book with great interest since I was very familiar with the Magic Carpet flights of rescue in 1948 and 1949. Levitin calls the rescue mission “Operation Moses”. The book has a variety of interests, romance, tragedy, suspense and excitement, as well as providing a view of life in another culture. Although it is not a new book (published in 1987) I highly recommend it. Even as an adult I was fascinated by her story.
Cover of book may vary
SOTAH by Naomi Ragan
If you have not already read this book, let me recommend it highly, especially today in light of the religious and cultural problems in Israel. I do not want to spoil the story for you by telling the plot. Suffice to say that this is the story of a woman from within the boundaries of Israel's ultra Orthodox Communities. Dina, our heroine, married to Judah, struggles to maintain her marriage while desiring freedom and fulfillment in her life, It is an exciting read, full of pathos and sympathy for Dina. I highly recommend this book to any who have not already read it. Naomi Ragan is an author of many books, some of which have been most widely read.
SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF EASTON SINCE 1839