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Hands Across

For this year's Freedom Festival, marking
(July 1), a look at some recent books exploring the

On The
American Side

As you're getting your fill of sun, food
and family fun this Fourth of July, do
not overlook the pleasure that can be
found in some light reading.
Two selections that are bound to
bring smiles and shed light on your
gray matter are Everything You Need To
Know About America's Jews and Their
History by Rabbi Roy A. Rosenberg
(Plume; $13.95) and Louis Brandeis
Slept Here: A Slightly Cynical History of
American Jews by David Gleicher
(Gefen Books — Jerusalem).

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Were No Slaves Named Goldberg,"
Gleicher traces Jews from young
America to the present suburbaniza-
tion of the Jewish community.

Rabbi Rosenberg explains Jewish
culture and history through a series of
questions and answers about every-
thing from personalities to professions,
word definitions to immigration
trends, holidays to food. What is the
Sutro Tunnel? How are Jews uniquely
connected to Galveston, Texas? Who
was the first Jew to serve in an
American legislative body?
This guide is entertaining and
informative and a great way to learn
about the full range of contributions
of Jews in America. There are even
several charts listing exemplary rabbis,
sports figures, artists, intellectuals, etc.
In the Brandeis book, Gleicher mod-
ifies his series of lectures delivered on
American Jewish history over the
years; but rather than producing a dry,
historical tome, the author provides
the reader with a sometimes cynical,
sarcastic and skeptical set of observa-
tions in the mode of Dave Barry.
With chapter headings such as
"The First Jews or There Goes the
Neighborhood" and "Why There

The author includes some of the
infighting among the various denomi-
nations, and he is generous with his
opinions. His clever footnotes — one
states, "Just wanted to make sure you
were paying attention" — and the
appended glossary to explain Yiddish
expressions make for an enjoyable,
educational read.
By the way, the Sutro Tunnel, devel-
oped by German-Jewish immigrant
Adolph Sutro, was an engineering boon
to miners, providing ventilation and
curtailing flood. Galveston was part of
an experiment to resettle Russian Jews.
Francis Salvador, a young Sephardic
Jew from England, was selected to rep-
resent South Carolina in the First
Provincial Congress.

—

Sy Manello

Crossing Over
To Canada

Gerald Tulchinsky has a theory
about small-town Jews in Canada. A
professor of history at Queen's
University in Kingston, Ontario, he
believes they are closer to the Canadian
majority in culture and spirit than big-
city Jews. That's because unlike in large(
metropolitan areas, small-town Jews
didn't have the opportunity to live in
clusters, where they could enjoy social
and cultural activities of ethnic origin.
Raised in a small Jewish community
in southwestern Ontario, Tulchinsky
conveys that experience along with the
cosmopolitan view in two books about