Bagels and Grits : A Jew on the Bayou

by Moses, Jennifer Anne

• ISBN13: 9780299224400
• ISBN10: 0299224406
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-07-20
• Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Pr

Summary

Jennifer Anne Moses left behind a comfortable life in the upper echelons of East Coast Jewish society to move with her husband and children to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Searching for connection to her surroundings, she decided to volunteer at an AIDS hospice. But as she encountered a culture populated by French Catholics and Evangelical Christians, African Americans and Cajuns, altruistic nurses and nuns, ex-cons, street-walkers, impoverished AIDS patients, and healers of all stripes, she found she had embarked on an unexpected journey of profound self-discovery. In a keenly observed memoir that embraces both pathos and humor, Moses takes us into a world that is strange and sad but also suffused with the holy. As witness to dire poverty and extreme adversity, Moses discovers a deeper commitment to her own faith-Judaism that asks not for blind belief, but rather daily commitment. She recounts the challenges of taking on a life committed to God in a postmodern world that has little use for the divine. Telling her story of redemption with an honesty that goes right for the guts, she leaves the reader with new hope. Outstanding Book, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Best Books for Regional Special Interests, selected by the Public Library Association

Author Biography

Jennifer Anne Moses teaches Hebrew at Beth Shalom Synagogue.

Table of Contents

With God In Baton Rouge	p. 3
The Dancing Widow	p. 32
Dr. God	p. 57
Hebrew on the Bayou	p. 70
Holy Ghost	p. 79
The Memory Books	p. 94
Glimpses	p. 106
Afterward	p. 110
Kaddish	p. 120
Coming of Age in Baton Rouge	p. 126
Where They Landed	p. 144
God's Arms Are Very Long	p. 149
Signs	p. 162
Postscript: After the Storm	p. 166
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.