Overview

In Tevye's Grandchildren: Rediscovering a Jewish Identity, Eleanor Mallet describes the unusual journey she took to understand her Jewish past. Like many American Jews, she was secular, assimilated and part of the successful mainstream. When her sons came of age, they reached for a richer, more open way of being Jewish. Their interest sent her on an exploration in which she plunged into the dynamic and relatively recent field of Jewish history, studied Hebrew and traveled to Israel and Germany. Mallet's book provides a tour, from a personal vantage, of the historical forces that are in play for Jews today. In it she connects the spare outline of her Jewish past with its fleshy, fractured history. Her Judaism had a passionate center, which found expression in part in Israel. Yet it was also filled with the dissonance that flowed from American assimilation and the Holocaust's aftermath. These are the forces that have preoccupied the Jewish community for quite some time. Understanding them has taken on a new urgency with the recent and not always welcome prominence Jewishness and Israel have on today's world stage.

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9781608992256

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Reviews

In narrating her remarkable spiritual and physical journey of self-discovery, Eleanor Mallet gives voice to the story of an entire generation of baby-boomer Jews. Her explorations of America, Israel, and Berlin as the three major pivots defining modern Jewish identity show us why hers is the generation that regenerated Jewish life after the Holocaust. --Susannah Heschel, author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus and Chair, Jewish Studies Program, Dartmouth College The reader is treated to much more than a well researched, artfully written slice of Jewish history, from the second half of the 19th century to our days. We are in fact being offered to bear witness, by joining the author in search of her own place in the wide spectrum of the Jewish heritage. I find myself, as I am sure others will, swept up by this intelligent, honest, and touching account that transforms the author, and by extension, the reader as well. I for one am grateful for being invited to participate in this inspirational and cathartic journey. --David Salczer, Siegal College of Judaic Studies, Beachwood, Ohio Eleanor Mallet weaves a beautiful tapestry in Tevye's Grandchildren. The threads of her personal struggles and reflections and scholarly and historical conclusions intersect to create a compelling story. All of us can relate to her commitment to better understand her heritage as we think about our individual place in a multicultural society. --Carol A. Cartwright, President, Kent State University Beautifully crafted, Tevye's Grandchildren, is a fascinating voyage of self-discovery by journalist Eleanor Mallet. Searching for her identity as a Jew in America with travels through Israel and Germany, Mallet describes her life with such clarity, warmth, and passion that this is a must book for people of all ages. --Ruth Gruber, author of Haven and Inside of Time Mallet takes the reader on her journey of exploration and discovery, as eventually she reclaims her heritage. Anyone who has ever struggled with identity will be touched. Those who haven't will be surprised at what they learn. It is among the very best on the subject--and a good read. --Ann Schorr, demographer, Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland (retired)

Author Information

Eleanor Mallet has been a journalist for over 20 years. She received The Ohio Excellence in Journalism Award in 1997. She is a former columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland. Ohio and a graduate of Oberlin College. She lives with her husband David Bergholz in Shaker Heights. Ohio.

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