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You Shall Tell Your Children: Holocaust Memory in American Passover Ritual »

Book cover image of You Shall Tell Your Children: Holocaust Memory in American Passover Ritual by Liora Gubkin

Authors: Liora Gubkin
ISBN-13: 9780813541945, ISBN-10: 0813541948
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Date Published: December 2007
Edition: (Non-applicable)

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Author Biography: Liora Gubkin

Book Synopsis

Passover is among the most widely observed holidays for American Jews. During this festival of redemption, Jewish families retell the biblical story of Exodus using a ritual book known as a haggadah, often weaving modern tales of oppression through the biblical narrative. References to the Holocaust are some of the most common additions to contemporary haggadot. However, the parallel between ancient and modern oppression, which seems obvious to some, raises troubling questions for many others. Is it possible to find any redemptive meaning in the Nazi genocide? Are we adding value to this unforgivable moment in history?

Liora Gubkin critiques commemorations that violate memory by erasing the value of everyday life that was lost and collapse the diversity of responses both during the Shoah and afterward. She recounts oral testimonies from Holocaust survivors, cites references to the holiday in popular American culture, and analyzes examples of actual haggadot. Ultimately, Gubkin concludes that it is possible and important to make a space for Holocaust commemoration, all the time recognizing that haggadot must be constantly revisited and "performed."

About the Author:
Liora Gubkin is an assistant professor of religious studies at California State University, Bakersfield

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     vii
Introduction: Listening to Voices from the Killing Ground     1
Passover and the Challenge of Holocaust Memory     9
Collected Memories     34
Wrestling with Redemption     62
Anne Frank, Hope, and Redemption     96
Heroism Redeemed: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising     124
Provisional Conclusions     155
Notes     171
Glossary     189
Bibliography     193
Index     201

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