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2008-2009 Feature Selection

My Father's Paradise
by Ariel Sabar

One Book, One Jewish Community: Connecting People One Book at a Time, is an exciting initiative supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, designed to bring the Greater Philadelphia Jewish Community together through shared conversations, discussions and events stimulated by a selected book and related themes.  Synagogues, agencies and other Jewish institutions will adopt the selected book as a vehicle for conversation, sharing and celebrating not only the book itself, but also the values and issues raised in the story.

 

SAVE THE DATE

OBOJC Kick-Off Conversation
with Ariel Sabar

Sunday, November 2, 2008
Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El, Wynnewood

More information to follow
Free and Open to the Public

 

 

Book Orders

My Father's Paradise will be available in hardcover in bookstores in September 2008.  You will be able to purchase them from many of your synagogues at a discounted rate!  Be in touch with your Rabbi or Executive Director for more information. 
If you are interested in purchasing books in bulk (25 or more copies), contact Debbie Leon, Director of Programming.
 

Past Selections

2007-2008 Feature Selection Outwitting History, by Aaron Lansky
For information about the book, our resources and more, click here

 

 

For more about

My Father's Paradise...

www.arielsabar.com

 

 

 

About the Author

Ariel Sabar covered the 2008 U.S. presidential campaigns for the Christian Science Monitor and is a former staff writer for the Baltimore Sun and the Providence (RI) Journal.  His work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Monthly, Mother Jones magazine and other publications.  My Father's Paradise is his first book.

A Letter from our Author

Dear One Book, One Jewish Community,

Thank you so much for choosing My Father's Paradise as 2008-2009's "One Book."  It is an honor to be hosted by the Jewish community in a city as great as Philadelphia, and humbling, too, particularly for a first-time author...

Read the rest of the letter by clicking here

About the Book

A mysterious and forgotten corner of Iraq.  An ancient language and a tribe of mystics, traders, and storytellers.  A vanished history.  And a son's epic journey back to his father's lost homeland. Want to read more?  Click here 

 

 

Early Reviews for My Father's Paradise:

"Taut and extravagant. A sweeping saga with the cadence of a Biblical tale.” 
--Daniel Asa Rose, author of Hiding Places: A Father and his Sons Retrace Their Family’s Escape from the Holocaust.  

"An enchanting combination of history, family and discovery – Ariel Sabar’s chronicle of his journey is flat-out wonderful."
--Rabbi David Wolpe, author of Why Faith Matters.

"This touching and brilliantly written book tells a story through a blend of community history and the author's own family biography. It is an incredible story of a man divided among three cultures. The striking discontinuities in Yona Sabar’s journey reveal the transformations of an immigrant’s life as much as its trials and heartbreak."
--Sammy Smooha, Ph.D., winner of the 2008 Israel Prize for Sociology and author of Arabs and Jews in Israel.

photo of Ariel Sabar by Elana RH Rivel