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CO

AT LAST,
A GREAT GUIDE FOR ALL
JEWISH MOMS A\D DADS.

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor

How to Be a Jewish Parent: A Prac-
tical Handbook for Family Life by

Anita Diamant, with Karen Kushner. Pub-
lished by Schocken Books, copyright 2000,
290 pages, S14.

:•&

This is good. This is very good.
Imagine that you know next-to-nothing
about cars, or even that you know a lot
about cars but would still like to know more,
and suddenly someone hands you a book
called How to Be a Good Mechanic. Prob-
ably you will, understandably, whine and
groan and expect to read a lot of sentences
that leave you more confused than when
you started.
Then imagine opening it, and instead dis-
covering an easy and fun-to-read text, com-
plete with great ideas and all the informa-
tion you have ever wanted to know about
your car.
Welcome to that How to Be a Good

HOW TO BE A

EWIS

PARE

a practical handbook

for family life

ANITA DIAMANT

1)(< . , ofTliE BED TENT

KAHAN KUSHNER

Mechanic for Jewish parents.
Yes, there are explanations of the holi-
days and of significant events, such as a
brit and a bar or bat mitzvah. If you
don't already know all this, Diamant
gives an excellent introduction. But if, as
most parents, you already do, you'll still
be pleased by her ideas for celebrating
holidays. (Since the Pesach seder can be
quite long, she recommends that parents
create a special "tent" filled with games
where their own little wandering
Israelites, also known as children, can
gc when they get restless.)
Diamant also has mastered the chal-
lenging task of always advocating
Judaism, but not writing in such a way as
to threaten anyone or sound preachy.
She is thoughtful and generous, and
often enlightening. Though she does thor-
oughly discuss the dietary laws of
kashrut, Diamant considers not only the
Torah's directive to keep kosher, but the
way in which it can positively effect
one's life.

1/19

2001

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