My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 18, 2010 Katie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: male-author, __middle-east, non-fiction, memoirs

This book tells the story of the author, Ariel Sabar, and his father, Yona. The story begins when Yona is a Jewish boy growing up in Kurdish Iraq in the early twentieth century, a time when the Muslims, Christians, and Jews of the region lived in relative harmony. When religious tensions began to escalate in the Middle East mid-century, teenaged Yona and his family emigrate to Israel, thus forfeiting their Iraqi citizenship. Yona eventually moves to the United States and becomes a leading schola This book tells the story of the author, Ariel Sabar, and his father, Yona. The story begins when Yona is a Jewish boy growing up in Kurdish Iraq in the early twentieth century, a time when the Muslims, Christians, and Jews of the region lived in relative harmony. When religious tensions began to escalate in the Middle East mid-century, teenaged Yona and his family emigrate to Israel, thus forfeiting their Iraqi citizenship. Yona eventually moves to the United States and becomes a leading scholar at UCLA in Aramaic, his native language.

I was really fascinated by the part of the book that took place in Israel. I had never thought much about the difficulties that were encountered as the country’s population grew so quickly with immigrants from so many different regions and nationalities. Yona and his family struggled to make their way in a society dominated by European Jews, facing the stereotypes and prejudices against Kurdish Jews and Middle Eastern Jews in general.

I was very impressed by the Ariel’s personal journey and the way his relationship with his father grew. He spent his teenage years and young adulthood embarrassed by his father, trying to distance himself from his father’s heritage and become a full fledged American. When he has a son of his own, he begins to realize the importance of family legacy, and starts a journey to understand his father’s past. Ariel and Yona travel to Israel and Iraq together to gain insight into the past.

The book was very well balanced between history, politics, and personal narrative. I learned a lot about the history and politics of the time and region. The book is by no means overly political or religious, but there are definitely valuable insights into both. The personal story was very well-written and heartfelt. The author did an excellent job depicting himself, his father and their relationship. I was in tears by the end of the book seeing how their relationship progressed. I debated between four and five stars. I would definitely recommend this book.
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