Book Review in the University of Toronto Women in Judaism Journal

The Girl from Foreign: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Forgotten Histories, and a Sense of Home

Review by Andrea Pflaumer

Sadia Shepard’s remarkable memoir The Girl from Foreign is as satisfying for the personal mysteries it solves as it is unsettling for the larger geo-political questions it raises. Born in Denver, the daughter of an American Christian father and a Pakistani Muslim mother, Shepard embraces her multicultural identity (‘it’s all one God,’) in a country that welcomes hyphenation. But as a young woman embarking on a writing career she learns that her maternal grandmother, who lived with and was an important part of the family during Shepard’s formative years, was not originally from Pakistan nor was she Muslim. She was, in fact, born into the Bene Israel community of Western India as Rachel Jacobs. In her grandmother’s final years she asks Shepard to ‘tell my story,’ launching the young woman on an arduous physical and emotional journey to discover her grandmother’s roots, a voyage that became one of self-discovery as well.

"I'm Gonna Live Forever...."

For those of you who like that song, you may be thinking, "in this decrepit body?". Well, here's a little different twist on the subject - from ancient India - published in Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter

http://jyotish.ws/wisdom/kaya_kalpa_immortality.html

Kirtan Chanting in America

My article on kirtan chanting for Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish newsletter:

In the not-so-distant past, before Homeland Security measures rendered airport lobbies off-limits, the only "orange alerts" to which weary travelers were subjected were gatherings of young people in saffron robes handing out tracts and chanting the names of Hindu deities: "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare." Back in the 1970's, the so-called Hare Krishnas raised ecstatic voices and "kundalinis" with their intoxicating drumbeats, encouraging all within earshot to turn their minds to God...

http://www.jyotish.ws/wisdom/kirtan_chanting.html

Photo of Krishna Das courtesy of KD

Singing their hearts out - my article about Kirtan chanting for Pacific Sun Newsweekly

http://www.pacificsun.com/story.php?story_id=1415