Material is drawn from Biblical sources, travel chronicles, biographies, and modern literary reflections. Each selection is introduced, explained and contextualised by the author. The opening and closing chapters link the idea of Jewish travel as well as personal reflections/experiences of the author’s own Jewish journeys.
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'Jewish Journeys is organized around Leigh’s thoughts after years ofteaching and guiding tours. He occasionally muses on contemporary Jewish travel: Do Jews visit Masada to consider whether the zealotry of its holdouts is an inspirational example or to see the sun rise over Jordan? Does a satirical sketch on Israeli television about Holocaust package tours reflect the ambiguity of a trip to Poland. . . . Pointed observations and excellent selected passages.’ (Jewish Book World )
About the Author
Jeremy Leigh was born in London but has been living in Israel since the early 1990's. He has been working in the field of Jewish education and travel for the past eighteen years; guiding groups and writing books for other guides (Holocaust Education Trust 2000; UIA Canada Education 2003; UJIA Education 2005). These travels have taken him across Europe and to North America. When not travelling he teaches Jewish History and Israeli Studies to visiting students in Jerusalem.
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What does one pack for a Jewish journey? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
What does one pack for a Jewish journey? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By Jeremy Bevan
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
That Jewish journeys are about more than just going from A to B is made clear from two snapshots in Jeremy Leigh's fascinating little book. In the first, a young English Jew, low on petrol, calls up a rabbi for advice on whether it's OK to visit York (a city prohibited to orthodox Jews since a massacre of the city's Jewish population in 1190) to find a petrol station. In the second, a Rome rabbi walks his congregation backwards through Titus' triumphal arch in the city when Israel comes into existence in 1948. This symbolises the reversal of a moment some 1900 years earlier when captive Jews were marched through the city behind Titus, celebrating his defeat of the Jewish rebellion in Judea - a rebellion that would culminate in the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem itself.
Leigh writes engagingly about the `state of mind, purpose and pure heart' needed to really journey as a Jew. Since Moses led the people out of Egypt, Jewish journeys have always been both physical and spiritual - often compelled, of course, due to persecution and/or expulsion. Blending his own reflections as a tour guide to some of Judaism's most `freighted' spots - Vilna, Cracow, Granada, and of course Jerusalem - he supports his insights with deftly-woven quotes from sources as diverse as psalm 126 (a pilgrim hymn), the medieval thinker Nachmanides, and the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. The final section of the book quotes (sometimes, in my view, at rather too great length) more extensively from biblical, rabbinic, medieval and a range of contemporary writers, further illuminating the many-stranded phenomenon that is the Jewish journey. Fascinating - and a very nicely produced little book, too.
Leigh writes engagingly about the `state of mind, purpose and pure heart' needed to really journey as a Jew. Since Moses led the people out of Egypt, Jewish journeys have always been both physical and spiritual - often compelled, of course, due to persecution and/or expulsion. Blending his own reflections as a tour guide to some of Judaism's most `freighted' spots - Vilna, Cracow, Granada, and of course Jerusalem - he supports his insights with deftly-woven quotes from sources as diverse as psalm 126 (a pilgrim hymn), the medieval thinker Nachmanides, and the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. The final section of the book quotes (sometimes, in my view, at rather too great length) more extensively from biblical, rabbinic, medieval and a range of contemporary writers, further illuminating the many-stranded phenomenon that is the Jewish journey. Fascinating - and a very nicely produced little book, too.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a novice to the genre of 'travel literature' I was pleasantly surprised to discover this charming book- the author holds your hand gently whilst contouring the historical, religious and metaphorical journeys of Jews over the centuries. Great anecdotes beautifully blended together with a relevant passages from the great classic literature and religious sources. An easy, enjoyable read/journey!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and meaningful Jewish traveling
9 July 2012
By Shalom Freedman
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This is an unusual kind of 'guide-book'. It provides a personal set of reflections on Jewish historical journeying. It makes use of a wide variety of sources and documents to explain the meaning of the journeys, culturally and religiously. It in a sense looks upon the whole process of Jewish history as a series of journeys. It is written in a clear and often moving way. It also includes a great deal of worldly background knowledge and is so richly informative about the places themselves. Reading it provides a kind of mind- traveling which may at times be difficult and painful as Jewish history has often been, but is too at times celebratory and joyous. It is always interesting.
This book should be in the library of all those who take interest in the Jewish historical experience.
This book should be in the library of all those who take interest in the Jewish historical experience.
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