Fragile Branches: Travels Through the Jewish Diaspora - Hardcover

Ross, James R.

3.62

16 ratings by Goodreads

9780756760205: Fragile Branches: Travels Through the Jewish Diaspora

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0756760208 ISBN 13: 9780756760205

Publisher: Diane Pub Co, 2000

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A Ugandan village. An island in the Amazon. A Peruvian mountain town. Throughout the world, in the unlikeliest places, isolated communities are embracing Judaism despite enormous obstacles. In this tour of six far-flung Jewish communities, James Ross creates a portrait of people who are currently risking their lives and livelihoods to exist as Jews, though in some cases they have no historical links to Judaism.
As Ross describes communities in India, Peru, Brazil, Israel, and Uganda, a variegated picture of contemporary Jewish life emerges, offering us new perspectives on ancient precepts, thoughts, and rituals, and inspiring us to reexamine our own relationship with tradition. In reminding us of the diversity and richness of Jewish life, which has always borrowed from surrounding cultures, Fragile Branches begs the ever-perplexing question of who is a Jew, a question that has troubled Jews and non-Jews alike for centuries.

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Review:

Fragile Branches: Travels Through the Jewish Diaspora is James R. Ross's account of his journeys among the world's most far-flung Jewish communities in countries including Uganda, India, Peru, and Brazil. Ross's accounts of the ways that each community discovered Judaism, and the ways that geographical isolation allows for both preservation and evolution of Jewish traditions, demonstrate a sophisticated grasp of theology and anthropology. His vivid anecdotal style (which grips the reader from the book's first scene--set "inside the gates of a small Jewish cemetery in Parintins, a dusty island town between the banks of the Amazon River") is that of a skilled literary journalist. Fragile Branches is not merely picturesque, however. Its concise introduction establishes the political and moral stakes of Ross's travelogues. Despite Israel's law of return (which permits immigration of anyone with one Jewish parent or grandparent), Ross notes that "Indians, Peruvians, and black Africans who practice Judaism face bureaucratic barriers and long delays from political and religious officials." Ross believes such harassment is unconscionable, considering that many of the Jews he visited have "sacrificed their jobs, friends, and even their families in their struggle to become Jews." In Fragile Branches Ross forcefully argues for the integrity of his subjects' religious identity, and against parochial notions of Judaism that would exclude them. "These disparate communities are searching for their places in the world. How we ... respond to them is nothing less than a reflection of how we look at ourselves." --Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author:

James R. Ross is an associate professor and acting director at the School of Journalism at Northeastern University in Boston.

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