Page 7 - Jewish News_December-2020

FEDERATION NEWS December 2020 7A

People of the Book...continued from page 6A
to realize how much has changed identity, whatever that might look like. we learned that we really should never How does your book speak to
since then. The Jewish community has What do you hope people take have agreed to write a single-volume Jewish identity?
grown infinitely more diverse these home from your book? book attempting to explain all of Jew- As the guest staff rabbi on various
past six decades. We welcomed in SB: We hope people see the rich- ish history, culture and life. The Talmud cruise ships, it was always a joyful ex-
new members, new forms of worship ness of the Jewish experience, and real- tried to do just that, and it took them perience to meet Jews from other lands.
ize that being Jewish more than 60 tractates. So, we were They might speak different languages
is something to not humbled, and turned to friends and (although they could all speak English,
just be proud of, but experts for help, letting them write the too, at least to some degree) and prac-
to enjoy and engage entries they knew a lot about and that
with. We aimed to represented their Jewish communities
offer something new and experiences. Then we learned that
and surprising on by learning to be conveners of conver-
every page, whether sations, not high and mighty authors,
it’s a pop culture ref- we definitely made the book better.
erence or a biblical Hallelujah!
story. We want peo- Rabbi Corinne Copnick /
Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz ple to see that all of A Rabbi at Sea
and new traditions. And our own pod- this combined creates the Jewish story, Rabbi Corinne Copnick’s ordination as
cast, Unorthodox, largely grew out of and that all Jews are part of it. a rabbi at the age of 79 led her to a very
a desire to explore all these fascinat- LL: We hope that readers of our unconventional pulpit – one that took
ing and wonderful changes, all of the book do what Jews have been doing so her around the world. A Rabbi at Sea,
ways that people today actively choose successfully for thousands of years: ar- is a compilation of 40 interconnected
to be Jewish. A book struck us as the gue. Because it’s preposterous to think stories from the five years she spent as Rabbi Corinne Copnick
next logical step, and we wanted it to that something as rich and profound a guest rabbi on various cruise ships. tice diverse Jewish traditions, but they
capture every conceivable corner of as Judaism can be summed up in one It’s an anecdotal and uplifting explo- were still delighted to celebrate on an
Jewish life, from religious observances slick book, we wanted the entries in ration of Jewish life across the globe. ocean-going voyage with other Jews.
to cultural references. We believe there this very unorthodox encyclopedia to Her travels took her from the countries They welcomed the opportunity to cel-
are a thousand different ways you can be the beginning of the reader’s jour- of Central and South America, to Aus- ebrate sacred Jewish rituals together
be Jewish, and we wanted a book that ney, not the end. We hope each entry tralia, Morocco, the Canary Islands, as “a community within the communi-
had a thousand entries, each an invita- incites further reading, further probing, Southeast Asia and beyond. Embedded ty” of the ship’s many guests. At one
tion to a conversation. further disagreeing, further debating – in her stories are insights into the peo- shipboard Passover Seder, I asked for
SB: We realized, after a few years all deeply traditional Jewish responses. ple and places she encountered. continued on next page
of hosting our podcast, that a lot of What did you learn about your-
Jews – and those who love them! – self by writing this book? For a complete schedule
have questions about all sorts of things, SB: We learned that being Jewish of events, admission
from Jewish rituals to Jewish history means something different to every-
and beyond. We wanted to give them one, and that is something to celebrate. information, author bios

a book that was beautiful and engaging It also helped me to realize what be- PEOPLE OF THE BOOK and book synopses,
and allowed them to flip from the hu- ing Jewish means to me, and helped
morous to the profound, and help them strengthen my own Jewish identity. visit jfedsrq.org/books.
create or strengthen their own Jewish LL: While working on the book,

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