Far from Zion

by London, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780061561085
• ISBN10: 0061561088
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-02
• Publisher: Perennial

Summary

Raised in a nonreligious Jewish family, Charles London knew his heritage but had no strong desire to experience it personally. Then in the summer of 2004, while doing relief work in Bosnia, he stumbled upon a remarkable community-where Jews worked alongside Muslims and Christians to rebuild a city ravaged by war. This encounter gave him the idea for a journey that would take him around the world and back to his roots.Far from Zion is the story of Jews in far-flung, often surprising places. Despite efforts by Israel to bring these scattered people home to Zion, they have chosen to remain in the lands of their birth: a shopkeeper selling Jewish trinkets in Iran, a caretaker keeping watch over an all-but-forgotten synagogue in Rangoon, revelers at a Hanukkah celebration in an Arkansas bowling alley, a Cuban engineering professor, proud of his Jewish heritage and prouder still of his Communist ideals. It is through their stories and many others that London examines his own identity, as he, too, struggles to come to terms with his connection to Zion.

Author Biography

Charles London is the author of One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War. He is a fellow of the Truman National Security Project, and his work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Hadassah; New Voices; and on The Huffington Post. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Belonging	p. 1
Caretakers: The Jewish Community of Burma	p. 24
Newcomers: The Jewish Community of Bentonville, Arkansas	p. 58
Rebirth: The Jewish Community of New Orleans	p. 98
Siege and Survival: The Jewish Community of Bosnia	p. 124
Converts: The Jewish Community of Uganda	p. 156
Imperiled?: The Jewish Community of Iran	p. 192
Revolutionaries: The Jewish Community of Cuba	p. 227
Zion	p. 260
Epilogue: Home	p. 301
Acknowledgments	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.