Book of Jewish Short Stories: The Dao of Being Jewish

Cover image and about The Dao of Being Jewish book, a collection of Jewish short stories
Our new ad for Irene Shaland’s book “The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories”

Introducing Irene Shaland’s latest book, a collection of Jewish short stories: 

“The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories.”

Link to eBook  Edition: https://amzn.to/2HhwSng

Link to Paperback  Edition: https://amzn.to/2T1u5kK

Link to Large Print  Edition: https://amzn.to/2Cqhi6l

This book is full of Jewish survival stories and fascinating tales. It shines the light on the history of Jewish communities in ten countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa.” – GTA Books.

Two and a half millennia ago, a small party of Jews explored new trading routes for King Solomon, settled in the south of India, and lived there peacefully until today. Similarly, during the ancient Roman period, many Jewish merchants traveled to China over the Silk Route and some made it their permanent home.  

Also, before the Edict of Expulsion in 1492, Sicily was home to over 50 Jewish communities, possibly numbering 50,000 people. So, how did the Diaspora bring these wandering Jews to so many places around the globe? And why did Jews live happily in India and China for centuries and not experience antisemitism, while the story of the Jews in Europe went from persecutions and massacres to unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust? Finally, why do we see the rise of antisemitism and violence again in the 21st century?

You will find answers to these questions and much more in the current edition of Irene Shaland’s artfully illustrated book The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories. She collected these fascinating stories while visiting ten countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa and interviewing the locals in their homes, synagogues, and even cemeteries. Now, Irene Shaland’s book, replete with her husband’s photos, takes you on your own exciting journey of discovery from Austria and the Czech Republic to Scandinavia, from India and China to Sicily and Sardinia, and from East Africa to Stalinist Russia.

Learn more about Irene Shaland.

The “Jewish Question” in Vienna (excerpt from The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories)

monument in Vienna, Austria

Don’t look for the Steinedererinnerung in your guidebook: the murdered Jews of Austria have neither a Rick Steves nor a Frommer. And Vienna, basking in its Baroque and Art Nouveau splendor, would rather have you waltzing from Schonbrunn palace to Sachertorte’s shops instead of searching out the synagogues and homes of long-gone Jews. An Austrian sarcastic proverb, as noted by Magrit Reiter in her conference presentation “Antisemitism in Austria after the Shoa,” declares that Germans were the “better Nazis,” while Austrians were definitely the “better anti-Semites.”

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The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories Released

cover of Irene Shaland book the Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories

New book of stories from Irene Shaland is now available in paperback. In The Dao of Being Jewish and Other Stories Irene Shaland presents a collective Jewish narrative from various parts of the globe. She takes the reader on a fascinating journey, both familiar and unknown, from Europe to Asia and Africa, from Vienna to Delhi and Nairobi. The fate of the brilliant Jewish community of Vienna annihilated during the Holocaust shines a disturbing light on the stories of the current rise of Antisemitism in Scandinavia and throughout Europe.

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Judaica Research and Education Center in St. Petersburg, Russia

I recently attended an Educators meeting at the Jewish Federation building in Beachwood.  The meeting centered on a fascinating exhibit of old photographs from shtetls or Jewish Villages before World War I.   Titled “The Way We Looked,” the Beachwood exhibit marks the first time these photographs have been shown in North America.  The collection was loaned to Cleveland by the Center for Judaica Studies from St. Petersburg, Russia.  The co-curators of this exhibit, two scholars from the Center, Drs. Alexander Ivanov and Valery Dymshitz, presented an exciting lecture/slide show based on their in-depth research.

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Finding Home away from Home – in Africa

Nairobi Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, Kenya

We were travelling all day: through the exotic strangeness of the Zanzibar Stone Town to the Nairobi airport’s thick mess of people and suitcases, sickening smells and deafening noises. Then again, through the traffic and dust and darkness of Nairobi streets, until all of sudden, like a mirage in the wilderness, we saw a brilliantly lit Jewish star. “Are you meeting with Barbara?” a voice asked. We were.

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What does it take to preserve Jewish identity if you are a Chinese Jew?

Irene Shaland and Mr. Jin at Jewish Cemetery in Kaifeng, China

October 2012, Again – Kaifeng, China. We are at the oldest Jewish burial place in China – with Mr. Jin in front of his life-long project, his family memorial. Our new friend dedicated his life savings and his entire life to create this marble memorial book which presents – engraved in English on one side and in Chinese on another – the 900-year story of Mr. Jin’s family within the context of Chinese history.

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History of Confucian Synagogue in Kaifeng, China

Irene Shaland in Kayfeng, China

We visited this synagogue in Kaifeng in October 2012. On the photo you can see how  Irene hurriedly writes, Esther, a Founder and Director of the Kaifeng Jewish History Memorial Center, tells the story of her forebears. On the wall, is the 18th- century rendering of Kaifeng synagogue.  For anyone who visited the Forbidden City in Beijing and at least a temple or two elsewhere in China, the synagogue rendering reminds of the country’s typical residential or religious compounds.

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