My Father's Paradise

I belong to the Texas Tech University Osher Life Long Learning Institute, and attend the Reading Circle... We met today to discuss "My Father's Paradise" by Ariel Sabar http://www.arielsabar.com/. 

The discussion was lively and interesting.   Many of us agreed we would not normally have read the book, but were enriched by it... We discussed the "pecking order" of immigrants.   The desire of immigrants not to acknowledge their heritage so they can assimilate.  The loss when that happens.  The difference between "the melting pot" and the respect and acknowledgement of individual cultures.  The importance of preserving family heritage and stories.

Many of us were surprised that there was a social stratification of Jewish immigrants in Israel.  We were interested to learn that this area of the world (Kurdistan) , where Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived, had had a sort of homeostasis, that was disrupted by outside influences (the Nazi regime during World War II.).

We talked about using the Aramaic language, including in some recent movies.

It was a good discussion...