Far from Zion : in search of a global Jewish community / Charles London.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

London, Charles, 1980-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jewish diaspora.

London, Charles--Religion.

London, Charles.

London, Charles--Travel.

Jews--Identity.

Jews.

Jews--Civilization.

Physical Description:

viii, 310 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

[New York] : William Morrow, [2009]

Summary:

Raised in a nonreligious Jewish family, London knew his heritage but had no strong desire to experience it personally. But in the summer of 2004, while doing relief work with children in Bosnia, he stumbled upon a community where Jews worked alongside Muslims and Christians to rebuild a city ravaged by war. London liked this idea of a humanitarian Judaism, and this encounter gave him the idea for a journey around the world and back to his roots. From a shopkeeper selling Jewish trinkets in Iran, to a Hanukkah celebration in an Arkansas bowling alley; from Rangoon, where a chain-smoking caretaker watches over an all-but-forgotten synagogue, to an engineer in Cuba proud of his Jewish heritage, yet even prouder of his Communist ideals, pockets of the Diaspora endure. Their decision to stay put offers hope that peace may lie not in congregating behind borders but in the promise of a global community of neighbors.--From publisher description.

Contents:

Belonging

Caretakers

Newcomers

Rebirth

Siege and survival

Converts

Imperiled?

Revolutionaries

Zion.

ISBN:

9780061561061

0061561061

OCLC:

310399039