Library Corner

Now you can shop and support OZ!
OZ receives a portion of all purchases made through
this special link only:

Reorganization Project and Vision for the Future
My current vision is to be able to order books and DVDs from the Ohavi Zedek wish list of items recommended by our rabbis, teachers and congregants. Please have a look at the wish list at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3S25KPMJHRA55 and send me additional recommendations or let me know if you have wish list items to donate.

We are wishing instead of ordering because there is no money left in the Library Fund. Consider donating to the Library Fund so that we can order new books, DVDs and CDs.

Recommended for adults: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Fic Bro. “Raz was one of those vanguard human beings of indeterminate ethnicity, the magnificent mutts that I hope we are all destined to become given another millennium of intermixing... We hugged awkwardly, the way you do in a workplace, not quite knowing whether to air kiss once or twice, getting it wrong, banging skulls, and wishing you’d just shaken hands.” p. 141

Geraldine Brooks’s description of Raz could also be a description of the entire novel inspired by a 15th century Spanish Haggadah found in a library in Sarajevo. Jewish, Muslim and Christian cultures are woven together unexpectedly throughout the present and the past. Hannah Heath, an Australian scientist, is hired to analyze the Haggadah which is mysterious because of its age, unusual illustrations and pages on which she finds an insect-wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals and a white hair. Entire stories unravel as she discovers, for example, that one of the wine stains in the Haggadah contains protein. Regular wine is processed with a bit of egg. Kosher wine goes through a different process avoiding any protein. The protein in the wine takes the reader back to 17th century Vienna, where Jews interact with Catholics more easily than in the rest of Europe, yet are still subject to oppressive laws. People intermix cautiously and with fascinating false identities. This book is a page turner.

Recommended for young children: Castle on Hester Street 25th Anniversery Edition by Linda Heller from the PJ Library. As your child develops his or her sense of identity you may want to sign up to receive books once a month from the PJ Library. You will receive beautiful picture books with a Jewish theme from such well-known authors as Margot Zemach, Howard Schwartz, Patricia Polacco, Eric A. Kimmel and Linda Heller. For more information contact Rabbi Tobie Weissman at the Yearning for Learning Center Rebtobie@sover.net and/or look at the PJ Library Website at www.pjlibrary.org.

Castle on Hester Street is the story of a little girl talking to her grandparents. The grandfather likes to tell imaginatively embellished stories from his past. His imagination is enhanced by fun illustrations of, for example, his friend the astronomer who discovers the moon is a big round piece of matzah, or of his cousin Bessie whose braids were so long she used them to jump rope. Grandma keeps interjecting with the truth so that Julie (the little girl) knows that when they came to this country from Russia, they lived in a one-room tenement instead of a castle and Grandpa had to sell buttons from a pushcart. Grandpa doesn’t give up. He tells Julie that his buttons were carved from diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. Some were big enough to use as sleds in the snow. Julie seems to be happy with listening to both versions of the past and with spending time with her grandparents.

You can sign out books and media anytime. Please use the self checkout form when Lynda and I are not there. The self checkout form is currently in a basket on the new library table. All age groups are invited to use the library. Parents, please check out our terrific Torah Time section. Teachers, take a look at the Teacher Resource collection.

Book and media donations: We are interested in recent titles. Please have a look at the wish list at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3S25KPMJHRA55

Catalogs from publishers are behind the library self-checkout sheet if you’d like to donate or recommend a book/media title. Even better, donate a book, CD or DVD with your review. Books written by OZ congregants are welcome, and don’t have to have Jewish themes. Because the library at OZ is small, we ask that you do not drop off dated material or donations without contacting me (see below).

Other library donations needed: A computer desk with shelves and cabinets that would fit the space between the radiator and first bookcase.

LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS ALWAYS NEEDED: Even if you only come in once. There are a number of ongoing volunteer jobs. I am especially looking for new OZ Library Committee members who have children beginning Hebrew School in the fall.

Contact: Ellen Gittelsohn, 657-3140, ellen@vidsync.com with questions about volunteering, donations or suggestions.

I look forward to seeing you in the library.

~Ellen Gittelsohn