The Genizah

When the Second World War began, Theodor Meron was a Jewish-born boy of just 9. He survived ghettos, camps and unimaginable atrocities, but lost most of his family, finding sanctuary in British Palestine after the Holocaust. Now, more than eight decades later, Judge Meron is a recognized world leader in both the scholarship and practice of international criminal justice--having served as the president of three UN tribunals, delivering landmark decisions on genocide and war crimes.<br> <br> This extraordinary memoir revisits Meron's time as a legal adviser to governments, often swimming against the tide; as a restless diplomat, a boundary-pushing scholar and ultimately a ground-breaking international judge. Meron has given his life to the service of justice. He is famous for his 1967 opinion finding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to be illegal under international law, an opinion he issued as a legal adviser to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More recently, he has advised the International Criminal Court on potential crimes in the Russia-Ukraine war, and in Israel and Gaza since 2023.<br> <br> The founding institutions of international justice today face unprecedented threats. Meron's life story could not be a better timed reminder of the importance of accountability.

"Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli Maoz Inon are unlikely peacemakers, dedicated to finding a solution to the bitter war that has decimated historical, ancient land and ended family lines. Despite the losses they have suffered, the resolve of their friendship has taught them that strength and unity are more powerful than the violence of separation. Throughout their travels, they have been constantly asked: In the face of so much pain and suffering on both sides, when there have been so many lives lost and families shattered, how can they ever find hope? Their answer is always the same. One cannot find hope. We must create it. In The Future Is Peace, Sarah and Inon take readers on their unforgettable weeklong journey across the holy land while exploring each other's personal and national histories in a land of competing narratives, amid the turbulent push and pull of near constant war, and the recent devastation that has rocked the world. Their mission-to explain the naivete in believing that more violence can bring security and prosperity to either people while in search of a true and lasting peace. Pairing unapologetic candor and inspirational prose, Sarah and Inon are sending a message to humanity that the people have the power to make change. Peace is achievable, not just between the river and the sea, but throughout the world"-- Provided by publisher.

Bridge builder: My life since the Holocaust is the fourth and final volume of Shimon Redlich's autobiographical cycle, which began with Together and Apart in Brezany (2002), a description of relations among Poles, Ukrainians and Jews in his native town and his survival during the Holocaust. It continued with Life in Transit (2010), an account of his family's resettlement in postwar Lodz and a new life in Israel. A New Life in Israel (2018) portrayed his adjustment to life on a kibbutz and service in the Israel Defense Forces. In Bridge Builder, Redlich recounts his life since the late fifties. It features his academic journey from student in Jerusalem and the US to professor at Ben-Gurion University, his friendships, his encounters with Jews and non-Jews in Eastern Europe, and his unconventional approach to controversial topics. As in previous volumes, in Bridge Builder Redlich's own memories are supported and enriched by meticulous historical research.

As a self-described ‘90s suburban high school weirdo, Alicia Jo Rabins spent her time practicing violin and smoking cigarettes behind the mall while secretly dreaming of setting out on a spiritual quest no one around her seemed to understand. She often found herself drawn to the more ritualistic and rigorous Judaism that her parents had abandoned to assimilate and “become American.” In college, a chance meeting led her on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to study rabbinical texts (and play bluegrass fiddle on the street for cash). But that two years of immersing herself in traditional observance was only the start of a journey full of twists and turns. When We’re Born We Forget Everything follows Alicia’s relentless, often embarrassing, sometimes enlightening search for the sacred in everyday life as she tours America playing with a klezmer-punk band, falls in and out of love, scrapes through the initiations of motherhood, and witnesses the beauty—and danger—of mysticism. Rabins braids this personal narrative with the hidden stories of biblical women, uncovering a path of queer identity, feminist awakening, and spiritual self-invention. This lyrical, searching memoir is a meditation on longing, lineage, and what it takes to find meaning in a fractured world.

Kylie Ora Lobell grew up in a typical American home: religiously lukewarm, where they only went to church on Christmas and Easter. Though she believed in God when she was a child, after her parents’ divorce and her grandmother’s untimely death, twelve-year-old Kylie lost her faith. She began experiencing depression and anxiety, and constantly asked herself, “What am I living for?” In college, she meets Danny, a stand-up comedian who is Jewish but gave up practicing Orthodox Judaism after some negative experiences. The one event he still attends is Shabbat for Friday night dinner, and once they start dating, Kylie comes along. Sitting at the Shabbat table, Kylie has an epiphany: This warm feeling in her chest is none other than God. God is real, and she wants to convert to Judaism with the help of an Orthodox rabbi. But Danny vehemently rejects her decision to pursue an Orthodox Jewish conversion, which threatens the future of their relationship. Despite the many challenges—including potentially losing the love of her life—Kylie knows she must move forward. In Choosing to be Chosen, she details the spiritual journey she must take to become the person she was meant to be all along.

The existence and achievements of Jewish “self-rescuers” within Nazi-occupied Hungary remains, in spite of their significance, historically underexplored. In this illuminating chronicle of the life and work of a Jewish couple, László and Eugenia Szamosi, Remembering Resistance seeks to address this lacunae, offering a unique insight into a family’s personal history of resistance under the Nazi regime. Combining oral testimony from fellow survivors, with a previously-unpublished translation of László’s memoir, this book foregrounds the remarkable work of the Szamosis and their network, in rescuing Jews from the Death Marches and reuniting displaced families. Through doing so, this book offers a powerful framework for mediating how we remember Jewish experiences of the Holocaust.