pickFor the third candle of my #Hanukkahchallenge I #reread another book about a Jewish moneylender: a fascinating retelling of the life of Court Jew for one of German dukes in 17 century - Joseph Süß Oppenheimer. A fast and very dramatic story that describes court intrigues, financial schemes and personal life of the duke, his entourage and his personal Jew that ends in tragedy for all involved. Feuchtwanger is a master of storytelling
#iamthatjew
Ah yes. 1923 NYC. Talking about Jews as foreign and overly sexual.
On the next page the author refers to the same character as “oriental.”
Classic racism.
There is nothing new in the world.
“Even downtown we got differences. Let me and the landlords wife go to the butcher store for meat. For who will the butcher pick out the fattest piece of meat? For me, who bargains herself every penny, or the landlords wife that pays him over any price he asks?”
Unintended bias is everywhere. Even in 1923.
Honestly, what were the freaking odds of finding this book.
It has no reviews on Litsy. It isn‘t mentioned in any of the other “also by this author.”
But there it was on a to be shelved used books trolley.
I‘m so excited. Talk about beshert!
so-so2.5/5⭐ This anthology of Yiddish stories translated into English is important from a cultural/religious standpoint. I can see it being used with great effect in a Jewish studies course. The editor did an excellent job organizing the stories and introducing each section with contextual information. However, the storytelling styles are very different from what I'm used to, often going on tangents and tedious to get through. #roll100
![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}
