Massachusetts Books

This beautiful book should be in the library of anyone who loves the open spaces on Cape Cod. It is packed wiht information that can't be found elsewhere. And that information is authoritative--the authors are botanists who really do know what they are talking about.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hover magically over a coffee table while watching your husband sprinkle plant food on your neighbor's dandelions? This is the amazing book that will no doubt show you how.

This book is a very good depiction of the early 20th century maritime history of this company. I am a little biased as capt Crowell was my great great grandfather. The price may be a little high. I got an autographed copy from the author for $45.00, and bought 3 more copies from a book store for the same price. It is historically accurate.

A Jew In America:
My Life and a People's Struggle for Identity
By Arthur Hertzberg
San Francisco: Harper (October, 2002)

Review by Elliot Fein

The late Howard Cosell, the great radio and television broadcaster at ABC Sports, used to pride himself on "telling it like it is," on saying in public on the air the absolute truth about individuals and events in the world of sports. For over six decades, Arthur Hertzberg has been "telling it like it is" about people and events in the world of contemporary Jewish life in North America, in Israel, and throughout the world.

Without the distinct Brooklyn nasal tone accent that made Cosell famous, but in a distinct voice all his own, Hertzberg has been saying and writing the absolute truth in his long and distinguished career as a rabbi, as a university professor and scholar, and as a CEO leader of various national and international Jewish communal organizations.

His book, A Jew in America: My Life and a People's Struggle for Identity, an autobiography on the famous people that he has met (usually on a first name basis) and the events that he has experienced (often as a first hand participant) is a good read because history has often proved his predictions right.

Soon after the 1967 Six Day War, Hertzberg was one of the first voices (perhaps the first American Jewish voice) that warned of the danger Israel would face if it did not return immediately most of the territories it obtained to its Arab neighbors. Hertzberg prophesized that it would rip the moral, democratic, and Jewish soul of the country if Israel attempted to keep the West Bank and Gaza and subsequently put itself in the position of occupying a growing and hostile Palestinian Arab refugee population.

Hertzberg was one of the first to fulminate against the theology that has developed among many Orthodox Jews since 1967 that the outcome of the Six Day War sets the stage for the onslaught of the world's messianic redemption. For a small country that is struggling to live among, not against, the nations of the world, Hertzberg saw from its inception how this nationalistic and fundamentalist interpretation of contemporary events could (still) easily alienate Israel among the nations of the world and lead the contemporary state on a future suicidal path.

In the early 1970's, Hertzberg was part of a contingent of American Jewish leaders who met in Israel with the then Prime Minister, Golda Meir. Golda, from a recent visit with President Nixon in the United States, wanted to talk with members of this contingent about race relations in America. She wanted to express her concern about militant African American leaders publicly articulating separatist, nationalistic, and anti-Semitic attitudes after the assassination of Martin Luther King and the decline of the Civil Rights Movement.

Hertzberg responded in this public discussion to her concern by expressing his own about Israel. He warned the Prime Minister that a `Black Panther' problem of their own was developing in Israel, that a growing number of non-Ashkenazi Jewish citizens, recent immigrants from North African and Asian countries, were feeling estranged from mainstream Israeli life.

Hertzberg predicted that the present Labor led government coalition would pay a heavy price in future elections if it did not start to listen and formally address some of the complaints and concerns of these Edot Ha Mizrachi Jews who perceived their citizenship status as second class.

Golda and her Labor party did not seem to heed the advice. In 1977, Menachem Begin and his Likud Party, with the overwhelming support of this ethnic constituency, dethroned the Labor establishment for the first time in Israel's history and formed its own coalition to lead the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

Being able to read the present and make educated predictions about the future is a gift that Hertzberg possess. It is a gift, though, that does not always translate into effective leadership. It is questionable, when reading the book, whether Hertzberg, as a pulpit rabbi or as the head of a Jewish communal organization, looks beyond the realm of symbolism in the various leadership roles he has assumed throughout his career.

Hertzberg demonstrates an uncanny ability to look at the big picture, to see the forest through trees. He is able to articulate goals and a direction that the institution or organization that he leads ought to travel. He never seems to follow through on the dreams and direction that he envisions and proposes.

Perhaps he does not feel it worthy in his latest book to write about the day-to-day work he did with other professional staff members and volunteer lay leaders trying to put his dreams into practice. Or, during his long leadership career, he perhaps felt it was beneath his dignity to engage in the mundane work after he articulates the grand vision.

Many rabbis of Hertzberg's generation have been known to take a patriarchal attitude towards their career and calling, where they look at themselves as separate from and not simultaneously as a part of the people that they lead. Hertzberg, in this regard, does not hesitate to assert without conflict his independence.

Since this patriarchal attitude usually does not succeed in the often corporate and collaborative world of contemporary Jewish life today, it is not surprising that Hertzberg has chosen in his later years to abandon the pulpit and the Jewish communal world for a university professor position where he can focus his individual energies exclusively on teaching, research, and writing.

I worked for fifteen years as a Jewish Educator in a synagogue. I had a hard time getting excited reading about the study and outside activities that Hertzberg engaged in throughout his distinguished career. It took effort for me to stop asking the question of who was tending to the store of his synagogue or Jewish communal agency while he was involved in so many endeavors that went beyond the realm of his leadership position.

I am glad I did make the effort. From reading A Jew In America, I gained a more profound understanding of where we as Jews have come from in America and a strong sense (as Hertzberg would confidently argue) where we as Jews ought to travel.

Elliot Fein teaches Jewish Studies at the Tarbut V'Torah High School in Irvine.

i loved reading this book! if you like mysteries, romance or cats you'll love this book! of course, i like all of those, so it's perfect for me! ;-) everybody says it's for 9-12 year olds, but i think adults would like it too! after all, i'm kinda adult..... :-) anyway, this book is GREAT!

this series is always good and fast paced.
sometime predictable , sometimes not.
Enjoy with a cup of joe and a cat.

This book is very interesting.If you paint landscapes you will find it interesting to see how artists over a period of time have depicted a well known landscape.If you are a student of art history you will also enjoy this book for the same reason.The essays are well written.They cover not only art but attitudes regarding preservation and use of the land.There are many paintings and photographs to ponder over.The design of this book is similar in size to a large sketchbook used to record ideas out in the field. I wonder if this book was designed this way because the exhibit deals with the landscape? The painting, "View From Mount Holyoke" by David John Grue-1903 is used to illustrate the jacket slipcover.It will invite you into the book even with the title on the front and the barcode on the back. Of course as with any book covering art and artists over a period of time if you want more information on a particular artist mentioned you will have to go to other sources.

James Lange is a practicing lawyer (drunk driving and accident cases) and a former investigator. Katherine DeWitt is a writer and editor. They claim other writers on this topic lacked legal knowledge and knew nothing of forensic science (p.ix). The writers were jurors who applied common sense and general knowledge to a problem. The authors research led them to a theory previously buried.

Joe Kennedy Sr. was not a common bootlegger during Prohibition (p.3); he made another fortune by holding import licenses for Scotch whiskies. He had made several fortunes in banking, shipbuilding, and stock brokering earlier. Like some other bankers, he supported FDR in 1932 and was given the Ambassadorship to Great Britain. Kennedy's defeatist attitude killed his political career, but his sons were ready to be all they could be. Pages 6-8 summarize Ted Kennedy's life. Ted did well as a Senator; he was a team player. Like most Senators and Congressmen, he worked in his car while someone else drove. Ted relied on other people's talents (p.10). Chapter 2 tells of Mary Jo Kopechne. No one has ever proven any irregularities in her life (p.18). The July 1969 party was at Chappaquiddick so Teddy couldn't miss it (p.20). Mary Jo didn't feel well and asked Ted to drive her to her motel. Ted made a wrong turn and ended up on the wooden bridge.

After Ted returned to Hyannis Port he was examined by a doctor (p.47). The retrograde amnesia and current confusion was diagnosed as a concussion, acute cervical strain. Ted still walked around in a daze on Monday (p.51). Ted and Joan attended Mary Jo's funeral on Tuesday. On Friday Ted plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. Ted's candidacy for a higher office was the other victim of this accident.

Chapter 5 discusses various theories about this event. Retrograde amnesia always occurs with a concussion, and explains anyone's loss of memory (p.73). Page 117 suggests they did not report the accident immediately because of Ted's confused mental state. A tearful, emotional Ted would have ended his career. This is as good a theory as any (p.123), and avoids multiplying suppositions. Chapter 7 discusses the rumors of Ted's guilt. There was nothing wrong with a closed inquest because Mass. always did it that way (p.159). This can prevent prejudicial pre-trial publicity. Pages 160-2 explain why Ted Kennedy did NOT "get away with it".

Ted Kennedy has continued to get re-elected Senator, but has no chance for higher office. This is described as due to a "flaw in judgment". Would a drunkard and adulterer make a good President? The authors imply "no" but the history books (or the present?) suggest at least a "maybe". They ask if Nixon deserved to be hounded out of office for a "third-rate burglary" (p.166)? Yes, if "Watergate" was a cover story for the attempted assassination of George Wallace.

Edgartown was the locale for filming "Jaws" in 1974. Did the Dyke Bridge appear in a background shot of the pond? Martha's Vineyard was in the news again in 1999 when JFK Jr, his wife, and sister-in-law perished in a plane crash. We later found out JFK Jr intended to get elected Senator of NY.

If you still believe that the enlightenment is more convincing than unquestioned ignorance (or what amounts to the same thing--a philosophical return to fundamentalist authoritarinism hidden within a philosophy of what is thought to be radically 'other') this book is a great book to have. Or if you are convinced by the arguments of Habermas but wish that he would stop apologising and parsing words with himself, then this brilliant and above all clear book by Karl-otto Apel is for you. Apel is one of the last philosophers left who can make a strong argument in favour of reason. He is the last great scientific and rational humanist left in an intellectual landscape which is more and more looking like an ode to the ultimate demise of reason and sanity.

A well-told story on how far you can get in state politics by using influence, well-placed friends, force and have lots of fun in the process - even if it may kill you.

A great thought-inspiring novel which gives clear insights in the mechanics of politics behind closed doors. As usual with Higgins the dialogues are the best you can read anywhere.

Very much recommended!