A well-crafted portrait of a religious phenomenon, sure to be of wide interest.
A searching account of “a new entity: an ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement that attracts mainly non-Orthodox Jews.”
In 1993, writes Jerusalem Post correspondent Fishkoff, a young member of Mendel Schneerson’s Lubavitcher congregation approached her with a tale of the ailing rabbi’s final days and the efforts of his closest aides to combat “a dangerous messianic tendency that was fast gaining ground among the Rebbe’s followers.” She had never met a Hasid before, Fishkoff writes, and associated those ultra-orthodox Jews only with “Shabbos tables, dietary restrictions, and one-way conversations with God.” A few visits to Crown Heights, and thence to points removed (including the seemingly unlikely venue of Salt Lake City, where Lubavitchers are establishing a presence among curiously receptive Mormons, and Alaska, where the movement has found a similarly warm welcome), afforded her the more nuanced view that she brings to these pages. The Chabad-Lubavitch movement, established 250 years ago in Brooklyn, is perhaps the fastest-growing tendency in American Judaism, she writes, having dispatched more than 3,800 “emissary couples” around the world to bring Jews back to Judaism; among other things, Lubavitchers host Passover seders for backpackers in Katmandu, feeding as many as 1,500 at a time, and they maintain the “world’s first and largest Jewish web site, which gets millions of hits a year”). Favoring action over talk, the Lubavitchers also run schools, drug-recovery centers, and poverty-relief programs, enlisting the help of celebrities such as actor Jon Voight and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel to further the cause. Although she rejects many points of Chabad-Lubavitch doctrine, Fishkoff writes of their work with a sympathetic eye. Still, she worries, along with other critics, that the movement will become denatured by the incorporation of so many hitherto nonobservant men and women “who don’t know the Hebrew prayers and who don’t eat kosher,” even as it continues to grow.
A well-crafted portrait of a religious phenomenon, sure to be of wide interest.Pub Date: April 15, 2003
ISBN: 0-8052-4189-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Schocken
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
A tour de force narrative history that provides readers with detailed and engrossing biographies of several notable Jesuits. French journalist Lacouture (De Gaulle, 1992, etc.) has crafted an original approach to Jesuit history here. Instead of following a traditional, chronological history of the Society of Jesus, he has chosen to provide a ``multibiography'' that emphasizes the contributions of a few innovators, including the movement's founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Lacouture has been quixotic in his sampling, choosing occasionally to highlight some obscure, understudied Jesuit in lieu of a more celebrated priest. But despite the eclectic nature of his foci, Lacouture proves he is no dilettante. The result is a nearly perfect blend of stories from various cultures, and the author, a gifted raconteur, is always passionate about his subject matter. He challenges the widely held stereotype that the Society was driven solely by blind obedience to Rome and instead explores the Jesuits' evolving commitments to syncretism and cultural exchange. As the Society founded missions in diverse cultures, Lacouture maintains, it abandoned much of its absolutism in favor of a Christianity that would adapt to its surroundings and ``be all things to all men.'' Lacouture traces the development of Jesuit missions in regions as far-flung as Japan, India, and Paraguay and demonstrates a surprisingly profound knowledge of non-European histories. He also reveals some of the ``forgotten'' history of the Jesuit movement, such as the short- lived attempt to establish a sister order in the 16th century. Lacouture's historical reconstructions are greatly enhanced by his prolific use of diaries, memoirs, and letters. That the book is so well-written is pleasantly surprising, since it has been translated and abridged from the bestselling two-volume French edition. Beautifully told, with an occasional dose of sardonic humor, Lacouture's well-crafted ``multibiography'' is destined to become a classic of Jesuit studies. (16 pages b&w photos)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-887178-05-8
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Counterpoint
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
Another unconvincing call to women to run with wildlife—this time the reindeer. Leonard (Meeting the Madwoman, 1993, etc.), a Jungian analyst, explores the cross-cultural archetypal meanings of the reindeer. She unearths many myths among Northern peoples, particularly the Sami of Lapland and the Evens of far northeastern Siberia; some cultures see reindeer as shamanic messengers, other believe they are goddesses. She argues that the realities of these animals' lives help to explain their symbolic importance to humans; the seasonal shedding of their antlers, for instance, suggests decay and rebirth. They can also represent survival and even generativity, especially for women, since reindeer annually make their seasonal migration when females are pregnant. The way Leonard integrates myth with natural reality to explain why reindeer are important in northern cultures is often sound. However, she wants to universalize the reindeer's significance in a manner that is not always plausible. The reindeer clearly has a different meaning for New Agers living in San Francisco (Leonard's current home), than for Laplanders who depend on its meat for survival. Some of her analogies between humans and reindeer also seem a stretch, as when she writes, ``Transforming hopelessness into faith requires digging into the depths of the soul, just as the reindeer must dig deep in the snow for lichen''; after all, much of the animal world digs around for food. Leonard's contemporary pop spirituality clichÇs (``reindeer dance,'' ``wisdom,'' ``spiritual pathfinder'') may also frustrate readers whose sensibilities have not already been dulled by such stuff. Foggy logic and bland language will leave many seekers uninspired.
Pub Date: Nov. 13, 1995
ISBN: 0-553-07300-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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