Shalom India Housing Society - Softcover

Esther David

3.44 out of 5 stars

39 ratings by Goodreads

9788188965090: Shalom India Housing Society

Softcover

ISBN 10: 818896509X ISBN 13: 9788188965090

Publisher: Women Unlimited, 2007

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Language: English
Pages: 240
About the Book

Set in a fictional society in Ahmadabad formed after the communal riots of 2002, Shalom India housing society weaves together the lives of its residents through a series of stories that capture the dilemmas of the last bene Israel Jews in India. How are their relations with other communities changing? Ought they to leave? Where can they go? Do they belong in India, or in Israel? Will they feel at home in Israel?

Drawing readers into the world of a microscopic community, the novel traces misunderstandings between parents and children, lovers and neighbours, in stories that are by turns hilarious, bitter-sweet and heartwarming. The spirit of the affectionate, sometimes eccentric, Prophet Elijah to whom the characters turn in their trouble suffuses the novel. Esther David probes the shifting layers of religious and national identity-from the way people dream of homelands imagined or left behind- in prose that is understand but always engaging.

About the Author

Esther David is the author of the walled city, book of Esther, by the Sabarmati, book of Rachel and my father’s zoo. She has edited an anthology of earthquake stories and co-authored a book, India’s Jewish heritage: ritual, art and life cycle. She is published in French and her work is included in the library of modern Jewish literature, Syracuse university press, New York. She belongs to a bene Israel Jewish family of Ahmadabad and grew up in a zoo created by her father.

Contents

Acknowledgements

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Esther David is the author of The Walled City, By the Sabarmati, Book of Esther, Book of Rachel, My Father's Zoo, and Shalom India Housing Society. David started as an art critic and is now a columnist for the Times of India Ahmedabad. She also teaches art appreciation when she is not creating her own work. Jael Silliman is the author of Jewish Portraits, Indian Frames and co-editor of Dangerous Intersections, Policing the National Body, and Undivided Rights, which received a Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. Currently, Silliman is the Program Officer for Women's Rights & Gender Equity in the Human Rights Unit, Peace and Social Justice Program of the Ford Foundation.

Review

"[T]he nuanced portrayal of this diminishing community as a whole is quietly affecting." Booklist

"Hilarious and heartwarming." Asian Age

"Social anthropology, with a good deal of heart thrown in." Sunday Business Standard, India

"Though humorously tailored, Esther David has portrayed the fears and issues faced by the members of this small community to keep their identity, culture, and beliefs sacrosanct in India, a land of many gods. . . . Though the characters in this book are Jews settled in India, the insecurities the book vocalizes are the feelings and frustrations of the members of a minority community everywhere in this world." Feminist Review

"A delight to read, and an education as well, Esther David's new book is like being dropped down into the midst of an extended family's reunion. You might not know everybody when you first get there, but it's only a matter of time before you feel right at home." Blogcritics.org

"Esther David perfectly portrays the individuals of the Bene Israel Jewish community in Ahmedabad, many of them torn between Israel's siren song and their own unique Indo-Jewish heritage. Hers is a window into an all too human world, presided over by a comic though attentive Prophet Elijah." Janet M. Powers, author of Kites Over the Mango Tree

"[T]he nuanced portrayal of this diminishing community as a whole is quietly affecting." ―Booklist

"Hilarious and heartwarming." ―Asian Age

"Social anthropology, with a good deal of heart thrown in." ―Sunday Business Standard, India

"Though humorously tailored, Esther David has portrayed the fears and issues faced by the members of this small community to keep their identity, culture, and beliefs sacrosanct in India, a land of many gods. . . . Though the characters in this book are Jews settled in India, the insecurities the book vocalizes are the feelings and frustrations of the members of a minority community everywhere in this world." ―Feminist Review

"A delight to read, and an education as well, Esther David's new book is like being dropped down into the midst of an extended family's reunion. You might not know everybody when you first get there, but it's only a matter of time before you feel right at home." ―Blogcritics.org

"Esther David perfectly portrays the individuals of the Bene Israel Jewish community in Ahmedabad, many of them torn between Israel's siren song and their own unique Indo-Jewish heritage. Hers is a window into an all too human world, presided over by a comic though attentive Prophet Elijah." ―Janet M. Powers, author of Kites Over the Mango Tree