The Newsletter of Fig Tree Books LLC
November, 2020: Issue #12
Fredric D. Price, Founder & Publisher
OUR MISSION: Fig Tree Lit is the Newsletter of Fig Tree Books LLC. Like our books, we aim to cover the dynamic American Jewish experience.

Tell us what you think; we're eager to hear what you have to say at Info@FigTreeBooks.net.
FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

JEWS OF DIFFERENT HUES: A Black Convert Saves Judaism in Small-Town Indiana

ESSAY: My Mother's Prayer by Rossi

FOREWORDS: Although we’re a small press, we’ve been honored to have well-known authors write Forewords for our books, including Bret Stephens, Shulem Deen, Marcia Clark, Dara Horn, Tova Mirvis, and AJ Jacobs

RABBI JONATHAN SACKS, OF BLESSED MEMORY [November 7, 2020]: Takshiv Li (Listen to me) - on Leonard Cohen's Song "You Want it Darker" and parsha Vayera

BLOG: Now with commentary on culture/current events, plus mini-reviews of books

TOPICAL: Hate Needs a Vaccine by Rabbi Rachel Jackson

MY JEWISH YEAR: Activist Shabbat, by Abigail Pogrebin

BRIEF BOOK REVIEW: Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History by Nancy Sinkoff
(Not published by Fig Tree Books LLC)
FOREWORDS: Check out Shulem Deen's Foreword for A River Could Be A Tree

"As a child, little held my imagination as did the mystery of the Sambatyon River. Like every Hasidic child in our insular enclave in Brooklyn, I was raised on the stories of the Bible and Talmud. From an early age, I learned of the Israelites who’d been driven away by Sennacherib the king of Assyria, who conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and scattered our brethren tribes to places unknown. That left only us, the Judeans – the tribes of Judah and Benjamin – as the known remnants of the ancient people of Israel. The others became known as the ten lost tribes." 
ESSAY: My Mother's Prayer by Rossi

"My mother wanted to raise her kids, born in the ’60s, who grew up in the ’70s with values she’d internalized in the ’30s. She didn’t’t want us to have goyish friends, out of a terror that we might one day marry out of our faith. Her mantra was, “MY daughters are going to marry Jewish doctors, lawyers or at least fakaka accountants! My SON is going to be a doctor!”
BLOG: Now with commentary on culture/current events, plus mini-reviews of books not published by Fig Tree Books

CLICK on the BLOG image to READ, REPLY to what we've written, COMPOSE something on your own about the state of literature (Jewish or otherwise), book publishing in general, culture & current events, or a specific book that you want to let others know about. And to SIGN UP, so you don't have to wait to read our blogs once
a month when Fig Tree Lit is published.
JEWS OF DIFFERENT HUES: A Black Convert Saves Judaism in Small-Town Indiana

"In 2011, Andre Allen Hairston was arrested for dealing cocaine and sentenced to six years (he was released after five) at Indiana’s Miami Correctional Facility. He considered himself a believing Christian, even if he had not always behaved in a Christ-like manner. Midway through his sentence, Hairston joined a regular meeting of men who would study with a rabbi every week. They learned the weekly Torah portion, and they discussed Jewish spirituality. But the rabbis didn’t come simply to offer guidance to the inmates. They wanted to convert them to Judaism."
TOPICAL: Hate Needs a Vaccine by Rabbi Rachel Jackson, from Sinai and Synapses

"We have been living in a global pandemic now for nearly six months. Back in April I would check the stats every day. Statistics like where the hot spots are, what the R naught is in various places, the number of infected and the number of fatalities among many others. Nowadays I have become too sensitive and distraught to do that."
BRIEF BOOK REVIEW: Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History by Nancy Sinkoff (Not published by Fig Tree Books LLC)

By Fredric Price

I recently read From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History by Nancy Sinkoff [pictured on the right) (amzn.to/34txqQh) and would like to share a few thoughts. This biography gives an excellent understanding of how a group of pre-World War II liberal Jewish college students morphed into neo-conservatives in the latter part of the 20th century. It just won the 2020 Natan Notable Book Award from the Jewish Book Council (bit.ly/2HHPhKp).
MY JEWISH YEAR: Activist Shabbat

"Good deeds. With so many festivals and fasts oriented to healing the
world, it seems entirely fitting to attend a Shabbat dinner run by recent
college graduates who are devoting a year to fighting poverty. “Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps” is a handpicked team of more than seventy young people in four cities—New York, Chicago, New Orleans, and D.C.—who have applied to spend a year working in the nonprofit world. Each member is assigned to a communal residence
and matched with a job in one of fifty-seven organizations addressing
hunger, homelessness, affordable housing, education, or domestic
violence."