I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl

by Judea Pearl (Editor), Ruth Pearl (Editor), Ehud Barak (Contributor)

Being Jewish. What does it mean today and for the future? Listen in as Jews of all backgrounds reflect, argue, and imagine.

When Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was brutally murdered in Pakistan, many Jews were particularly touched by his last words affirming his Jewish identity. Many were moved to reflect on or analyze their feelings toward their lives as Jews.

The saying "two Jews, three opinions" well reflects the Jewish community's broad range of views on any topic. I Am Jewish captures this richness of interpretation and inspires Jewish people of all backgrounds to reflect upon and take pride in their identity.

Contributions, ranging from major essays to a paragraph or a sentence, come from adults as well as young people in the form of personal feelings, statements of theology, life stories and historical reflections. Despite the diversity, common denominators shine through clearly and distinctly.

Contributors include: Ehud Barak Sylvia Boorstein Edgar M. Bronfman Alan Colmes Alan Dershowitz Kirk Douglas Richard Dreyfuss Kitty Dukakis Dianne Feinstein Tovah Feldshuh Debbie Friedman Milton Friedman Thomas L. Friedman Ruth Bader Ginsburg Nadine Gordimer David Hartman Moshe Katsav Larry King Francine Klagsbrun Harold Kushner Lawrence Kushner Shia LaBeouf Norman Lamm Norman Lear Julius Lester Bernard-Henri Levy Bernard Lewis Daniel Libeskind Joe Lieberman Deborah E. Lipstadt Joshua Malina Michael Medved Ruth W. Messinger Amos Oz Cynthia Ozick Shimon Peres Martin Peretz Dennis Prager Anne Roiphe Sandy Eisenberg Sasso Vidal Sassoon Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi Daniel Schorr Harold M. Schulweis Lynn Schusterman Natan Sharansky Gary Shteyngart Sarah Silverman Michael H. Steinhardt Kerri Strug Lawrence H. Summers Mike Wallace Elie Wiesel Leon Wieseltier Sherwin T. Wine Ruth R. Wisse Peter Yarrow A. B. Yehoshua Eric H. Yoffie"

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Nonfiction, Religion, Essays, Memoir, Biography

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Judea Pearl (Hebrew: יהודה פרל) is an Israeli-American computer scientist and philosopher, best known for championing the probabilistic approach to artificial intelligence and the development of Bayesian networks.

Reviews

[Lori Tessel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful tribute to the life of Daniel Pearl. A collection of essays by a wide range of individuals who share their thoughts about their own Jewish identity. I loved it so much that I give it as gifts.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just picked this up at the Library today. At least 100 prominent Jews are talking about what it means to them to be Jewish. (Larry King, Richard Dreyfuss, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, etc) It covers, Identity, Heritage, Covenant-Chosenness and Faith, Humanity and Thenicity,TIKKUN OLAM (Repairing the World) and Justice --Milton Friedman says: My Jewish origin has always been a source of pride. I share in and benefit from a deep and brilliant stream of culture and intellectual activity that has flowed for thousands of years and is flowing strongly still. I am sitting here--it is 12:25 and I am getting bleary-eyed, but as I read comments from this book, I am fascinated and drawn to these people, and I don't know why. Some of these names,I am surprised--Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary), Vidal Sassoon, Kitty Dukakis, and on and on. And I am going to sleep--you all make me proud.

[Samuel Rood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A variety of perspectives and essays on what it means to be Jewish. A good way to see how Jews understand themselves.

[Devorah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the essays are wonderful. Others just seem to have been mandated by someone's agent and barely reflect any Jewish identity or knowledge.

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, moving, insightful book!

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

My heart aches for the family of Daniel Pearl and the brutal and senseless way he was murdered. That said, this book did not move me. While Daniel Pearl died a Jew, he really didn't live as a Jew. I felt most of the essays (with some exceptions) were in that vein - cultural Jews with a loose affiliation. I was truly horrified by Larry King's essay, in particular. It got repetitive, too.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I haven't read this book cover to cover, I'm moving it from my "reading" section to my "read" list. I've read most of the essays, skipping around, and think that this is a really nice book to have.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, good concept, repetative at the end.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven collection of essays but a must read

[Daniel Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great essays (and some awful ones). Overall, a worthwhile read. Judea Pearl's introduction is fantastic.

[Jo Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas from different people on what it means to be Jewish.

[Falyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the book concept of exploring what "two Jews, three opinions" means in practice really hooked me, unfortunately I felt the content fell a bit flat. It got very repetitive likely due to the fact that, as per usual, it was dominated by Ashkenazi-American perspectives. The book would have benefitted from more diverse sourcing.