Jewish Book Club discussion

I think we all knew this woman. A life well lived.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist, talk show host and author, has died, her publicist announced. She was 96.

The beloved German-American therapist was born Karola Ruth Siegel in the village of Wiesenfeld, now Karlstadt am Main, Germany, in 1928. The only child of Orthodox Jewish parents, she was sent by her family to a Swiss orphanage to escape the Nazis. She later learned her parents died in the Holocaust.

Stacey B wrote: "Dvora wrote: "I had read that he died but I wasn't really familiar with him. So thanks for the heads up, I just bought Armadillos."

Im glad you recorded this Jan. Sad when we lose authors.
-- Geez..."

He was probably known more for being a character than as an author. Have you ever heard his most well-known song, "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore," in which he describes beating up a white supremacist? Or his 2006 campaign for governor of Texas? I just was looking at Wikipedia, and looks like he lost all his political campaigns. He lampooned feminism and otherwise was quite politically incorrect. So maybe the fact a lot of media passed him over is a belated cancellation. He did tour with Dylan. He was a bigger than life character and Jewish satirist. I remember him fondly.

Stacey B wrote: "I think we all knew this woman. A life well lived.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist, talk show host and author, has died, her publicist announced. She was 96.

The beloved German-American th..."

Oh, yes. Reading about her in the paper this morning!

Sadly, as Im sure most of you know, we lost Bernie Marcus on November 4th at the age of 95. A man who was a philanthropist as well as an author of non-fiction books. His particular book "Kick Up Some Dust: Lessons on Thinking Big, Giving Back and Doing It Yourself" is quite apropo to the life he led.
"In 1979, Bernie Mar­cus co-found­ed Home Depot, the world’s largest home improve­ment retail­er. Upon his retire­ment, he redi­rect­ed his entre­pre­neur­ial spir­it toward a vari­ety of char­i­ta­ble endeav­ors, chan­nel­ing his gen­eros­i­ty through The Mar­cus Foun­da­tion, which focus­es on Jew­ish caus­es, chil­dren, med­ical research, free enter­prise and the com­mu­ni­ty. He has giv­en away more than $2 bil­lion and is a sig­na­to­ry of The Giv­ing Pledge."
Another of his books Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion"
Along the way, we will always have the privilege to see his name shining on the Jerusalem stone walls in Israel right above his other charitable organizations he funded.
What a wonderful legacy he leaves with us.

Stacey B wrote: "Sadly, as Im sure most of you know, we lost Bernie Marcus on November 4th at the age of 95. A man who was a philanthropist as well as an author of non-fiction books. His particular book "Kick Up So..."

Thank you, Stacey. Thanks for mentioning those books of his. Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion featured in his obit this morning. He was an Atlanta icon. He and his business partner/close friend were fired on a pretext from the California business where they were working. Thrown out on the street at about 50 years old. That's when they started Home Depot. No doubt the episode is in the book. That takes grit.

For those who are interested, here's the local obituary. Hope you can open!
https://epaper.ajc.com/popovers/dynam...

Israeli author Simcha Raz, best known for his books on Jewish rituals and Hasidic thought and for biographies of notable Jewish religious authorities, died Dec. 3. He was 93. Among his most widely read books is "A Tzaddik in Our Time," a 1976 biography of Rabbi Aryeh Levin, a Jerusalem rabbi known for his visits to members of the Jewish underground imprisoned during the British Mandate. Raz also hosted a weekly radio talk show, seeking to build bridges between his religious community and the wider Israeli public. “Thanks to his heartfelt writing, he succeeded in conveying the values of Judaism to readers and bringing them closer to great spiritual personalities, evoking deep empathy with their values,” a niece, writer Hila Wolberstein, recalled in a eulogy. Born in Jerusalem, Raz studied at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva, and was close to its head, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, a proponent of religious Zionism. In December 2020, Raz received the Minister of Higher Education and Culture Award for Jewish Culture.

Brina wrote: "It’s one I keep meaning to read. I’ll add it for the summer."

Brina, was Thinking, Fast and Slow the one you were going to add to your to-read list? And if you read it, what did you think? (Fast OR slow. Ha!)

I saw a reference to him today, in an article saying AI was doing long- as well as short-thinking. And I had forgotten that he had died. But sure enough I had added his name here. He passed away back in March of 2024.

Thinking, Fast and Slow meant a lot to me!

I never got to it so I’ll add to next year’s tbr.

Loss, not of an author this time, but of the emeritus rabbi at my synagogue, Alvin Sugarman. So well loved. It was said he made every person to whom he spoke feel like the most important person in the world at the moment, and that is true.
I have a message from him saved on my phone from over a year ago where he had called to tell me I was on the right track when somebody (another authority figure) was giving me a hard time online. How many people do that? Under those circumstances, the best most people can do is remain silent.
Thank you, Rabbi Sugarman. I'm glad you were in my life.

I'll note another local loss:
Stanley "Perry" Brickman, DDS, 1932- 2025. He was a dentist and oral surgeon who late in life wrote a book about the past antisemitism at Emory University's former dental school, which was flunking out Jews because they were Jews. Since these young men (they were all men in those days) had failed and were ashamed, nobody was speaking out, and when Perry realized what had gone on, he researched the issue, for which he received an apology and awards from Emory at a public event, then wrote a book, published in 2020. Extracted: Unmasking Rampant Antisemitism in America's Higher Education
My local book group went on to read it. I later found out he had been my son's oral surgeon shortly before retiring. His accomplishments make me proud, and his memory is a blessing.