ARCHIVE - SEPTEMBER 2016 - The House of Twenty Thousand Books

[Teri]

Chapter Overviews and Summaries
Week Three

(view spoiler)[Chapter 3 – The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 127 - 150

This chapter picks up with Yehezkel continuing to seek a visa from the Soviet Union. A place where Chimen felt isolated at times, unable to have many friends as a young boy. We return back to 5 Hillway, Chimen and Mimi’s home. We get some more background on Mimi and learn that she loved to cook and entertain. Mimi used the kitchen as a place to create love through food. Chimen used the kitchen in a different way. He often brought people here for tea to discuss politics. The kitchen was also the place where Mimi often conducted her business, counseling patients over the phone. The author then discusses how Chimen and Mimi lead a kosher life despite not following the Jewish religion. There is also a discussion of Chimen’s contradictory feelings toward America.



Chapter 4 – The Front Room: The Haskalah – 151 - 206

We now move into the front room. This is the room where Chimen and Mimi entertained guests after a bit of tea in the kitchen. The author discusses the music that Chimen and Mimi listened to in that room on their hi-fi. One particular friend was Itzik Manger, a man that Chimen had, at one point a strained relationship with. We then learn about the Jewish Enlightenment period known as Haskalah. The books that Chimen kept in the front room were mostly Holocaust, Anti-Semitism, and books about the 1870 Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune. The author goes on to discuss the different political theories that Chimen read about, from Maimonides to Aristotle to Marx. There is a discussion about Chimen’s collection of holocaust books. The author relates a story of Chimen traveling to Prague to examine Torah scrolls gathered by Jews at the time. These scrolls had a profound effect on Chimen. It was at this time that Chimen had been a fervent anti-Communist. The final pages of this chapter are dedicated to a discussion of Russia of the 40s and 50s and Chimen’s writings of the time.


Itzik Manger (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Week Three Discussion Questions – Entertaining at Home

(view spoiler)[1. What memories of family and friend get-togethers do you have? Did you have a matriarch that was the family cook, like Mimi? If not, how did / do you spend time with family and friends?

2. In chapter four, the author talks about how the house always had noise going on due to all of the guests that would visit. It was if the house was alive. Was there a home in your family or within your friendship circle that was the social center, so to speak? Not just for parties and get-togethers, but the place where everyone seems to gravitate for a visit, to get advice or help?


A Seder Meal (hide spoiler)]

[Kressel]

The Kitchen

(view spoiler)[I'm so glad we're up to this section because it's my favorite part. In the Oral Tradition of Judaism, we learn that the patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah operated a sort of hotel in the desert, which is why he was at the door of his tent in the heat of the day when the three angels came to visit him. They fed people, gave them something to drink, which is very important in the desert, and taught their guests about monotheism. I see Chimen's and Mimi's similarity to their ancestors in this. They too operated an open house like Abraham and Sarah - a place where food was abundant and ideas were discussed. It's so quintessentially Jewish! (hide spoiler)]

More on Rav Chatzkel - Response to Kaleen (and anyone else interested)

(view spoiler)[I brought this book up at Shabbos dinner at the home of the rabbi and rebbetzin I was visiting. (This is a perfect example of what I was talking about above. We learned from Abraham and Sarah that when Jews get together, they honor G-d by eating food and talking ideas.) This couple was very impressed at everything I was saying, and particularly the relationship between Rav Chatzkel and Chimen. Many Jews who became Communists or haskalists would make feasts on Yom Kippur or report yeshivos to authorities or do all sorts of things to bring down Orthodoxy. Look at the respect Chimen had for his father - keeping a kosher home and making sure his son married under the chuppah! This rabbi and rebbetzin were very impressed.

Then the rabbi told me a story about Rav Chatzkel and one of the greatest rabbis of the 20th century, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. He said that he heard that when Rav Moshe received a phone call from Rav Chatzkel, he stood throughout the conversation as a sign of honor to Rav Chatzkel. Now that's BIG! (hide spoiler)]

[Helga]

The Kitchen

(view spoiler)[ I have to agree with Kressel. I like this chapter and can relate with it. In Judaism, every life cycle event, holiday and Shabbat and Oneg Shabbat involves food. There are special foods associated with every holiday. A few examples are Passover which incorporates the seder plate , potato latkes are a specialty during Chanukkah. Rosh Hashanah-Jewish New Year-has apples dipped in honey. We make Hamantaschen, or the popular tri-cornered cookies filled with poppy seeds or preserved fruits for Purim. We have a challah-braided egg bread for Shabbat. Every Jewish event has food and drinks. <./spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Michele]

The Kitchen and Entertaining at Home

(view spoiler)[ When I was a kid, I had lots of Thanksgivings in the kitchen and long hallway at my aunt and uncle's house. I think aunt and grandma teamed up. As an adult, different relatives host different events at their houses. Come to think of it, that happened when I was a kid, too.

Kitchen is the heart of the home. Food, drink, laughter, all happen in the kitchen and around the table. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Kaleen wrote: "Week Two Discussion Questions - Master Bedroom: The Citadel – 66 - 84"

Kaleen - Master Bedroom

(view spoiler)[I found it so interesting that in some respects, you had to "earn your way" into the Citadel, certainly for Chimen's professional contacts, but for family and close friends it was a normal thing to go in there. It shows just how important that room and those books were to him. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Kaleen wrote: "Week Two Discussion Questions - The Hallway: An Extraordinary Portal – 106 - 126."

Kaleen - Chimen and His Parents

(view spoiler)[I think this is a great lesson to many out there, that yes like you said, despite having differing opinions, they are still your parents and the reason you are here. Not everyone feels that way, unfortunately. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Kaleen wrote: "Week Two Discussion Questions - Mimi."

Kaleen - Mimi

(view spoiler)[I do like Mimi too. As of this chapter, we only get some glimpses of Mimi, and will learn more about her as we move on. I didn't want to discount her in our discussion. I envision her and Chimen playfully bantering back and forth on all kinds of subjects. Don't you think she was the one that really ran the household and left other things to Chimen, yet got speak her peace about things? (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Kressel wrote: "Helga wrote: "Teri, I heard from Sasha Abramsky. He said he was honored that we were reading his book this month. He will be happy to join us in the discussion. I sent Bentley the email I received ..."

Kressel, Helga, and all - I know that Bentley sent Mr. Abramsky an email to invite him to our group and discussion with the links to join. I've been watching for him in our member list and he has not joined at this time, but I'll see to it that he finds his way here if he does join.

[Teri]

Helga wrote: "The Kitchen"

Kressel and Helga - The Kitchen

(view spoiler)[I have to say, I loved this chapter too. I appreciate both of your stories and perspective. I knew that Jewish holiday were abundant with food, and liked that you gave us the particular traditional offerings for each holiday, Helga. What was very interesting to me in this chapter was keeping a kosher kitchen. I kind of knew there were some rules, but not to the level that was described. It really shows how important family was to Chimen and Mimi, despite having different political / religious views from their parents (particularly with the Rabbi and his wife). I had to smile a little that Mimi would be known to eat some none kosher food (pork!) when not at home. ;-)

To your point, Kressel, I love the idea of a open home. I think different cultures have their own way of doing something similar with their own spin. I don't know that you see this so much in urban areas, but certainly rural areas or in close knit cultural circles you see this. What a great way to celebrate family and faith. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Michele wrote: "The Kitchen and Entertaining at Home."

Michele - Family Celebrations

(view spoiler)[You make a great point, the kitchen is often the center and heart of a home. We built our home with the kitchen being the focal point of our living area.

What great memories you have and will always have of your Aunt and Uncle's house at Thanksgiving. Is that your biggest get together of the year? It is ours! (hide spoiler)]

[Kaleen]

More on Rabbi Yehezkel
(view spoiler)[
Ok, so I am starting to get the sense that the importance of Yehezkel to the Jewish community is definitely downplayed somewhat in this book. I suspect the author didn't want to take away from Chimen's story. Here is a little article I found about Yehezkel's funeral.

http://www.jta.org/1976/09/21/archive...

(hide spoiler)]

[Kressel]

@ Kaleen - Thanks for the link!

[Teri]

Kaleen wrote: " More on Rabbi Yehezkel ."

Wonderful Kaleen. Would you be so kind as to add it to our spoiler thread for the book?

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Teri]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 127 - 138

(view spoiler)[1. On page 128 the author states, “Collecting people was as important to Mimi as collecting books was to Chimen.” We now start to see the Abramsky home in a different light, not just a place full of books. Are your impressions of their home starting to change? How so?

2. For Mimi, the kitchen was the place that she created love in the form of food. It was a place for her to entertain family and friends. For Chimen, it was a different kind of place. How did their lives in the room differ and in what ways were they the same?


Jewish Tea Set (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 139 - 150

(view spoiler)[1. On page 140 the author states, “That Mimi and Chimen kept a rigidly kosher home in which they routinely fed militantly nonreligious diners, bespoke the larger issues of the contradictions between the personal and the political, between their cultural Jewish identity and their rejection of religion.” What are your thoughts on this disparity?

2. In the last paragraph of this chapter, the author talks about how the kitchen was basically the place where everything happened for Chimen both before and after his wife died. For the author, “…I had better conversations with him than anywhere else in the house.” Is there a particular place in your home where you feel most comfortable, that is the “life” of the home?


Ivor Montagu (hide spoiler)]

[Helga]

Teri wrote: "Kressel wrote: "Helga wrote: "Teri, I heard from Sasha Abramsky. He said he was honored that we were reading his book this month. He will be happy to join us in the discussion. I sent Bentley the e..."

I received an email from Sasha Abramsky through his phone. He said he was traveling and would next week be okay. I said yes and that he was welcome to join us anytime.

[Kressel]

Week Three, Discussion Question 1 - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 139 - 150

(view spoiler)[1. On page 140 the author states, “That Mimi and Chimen kept a rigidly kosher home in which they routinely fed militantly nonreligious diners, bespoke the larger issues of the contradictions between the personal and the political, between their cultural Jewish identity and their rejection of religion.” What are your thoughts on this disparity? ..."

I've been discussing this contradiction with anyone I can and thinking about it plenty on my own. Here is what I conclude: Chimen and Mimi were raised in pious Jewish homes, and people always end up reflecting some of their parents' values even when they are rejecting others. Much credit certainly belongs to Rav Chatzkel for never disowning his son, which maintained the relationship. Chimen, too, could have been one of those rebels who took on a hateful attitude toward everything Jewish, including his parents, but he did not, so that speaks well of him, too. But Chimen's strong Jewish identity didn't translate to subsequent generations, which you see in later parts of the book. The closer to Rav Chatzel and the Torah lifestyle, the greater the Jewish identity. That is why it was strong in Chimen and Mimi, but much less so in Sasha. (hide spoiler)]

[Kressel]

Helga wrote: "Teri wrote: "Kressel wrote: "Helga wrote: "Teri, I heard from Sasha Abramsky. He said he was honored that we were reading his book this month. He will be happy to join us in the discussion. I sent ..."

Great, because if nothing else, I'm going to ask permission to photocopy certain parts of his book and distribute it to friends.

[Teri]

Helga wrote: "Teri wrote: "Kressel wrote: "Helga wrote: "Teri, I heard from Sasha Abramsky. He said he was honored that we were reading his book this month. He will be happy to join us in the discussion. I sent ..."

Good news. Thanks, Helga.

[Brina]

That is exciting news. It will give me incentives to get to a computer and post questions accordingly with correct citations. I am still planning on reading this next month.

[Teri]

Kressel wrote: "Week Three, Discussion Question 1 - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 139 - 150"

Kressel - Kosher / Non-Jewish Kitchen

(view spoiler)[Great analysis, Kressel and helpful for those of use looking in from the outside. I also suspect, since they kept a mainly kosher kitchen that they had their parents over somewhat often and other friends / family from the Jewish community. I wonder how much maintaining those relationships fostered Chimen and Mimi's decision to leave the Communist Party. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Brina wrote: "That is exciting news. It will give me incentives to get to a computer and post questions accordingly with correct citations. I am still planning on reading this next month."

Looking forward to your input and interaction with the author.

[Teri]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Front Room: The Haskalah – 151 - 179

(view spoiler)[1. In this chapter, the author discusses the different political / religious theories during the Jewish Enlightenment period. Why do you think there were so many different ideologies? What was the climate of this time in Europe?

2. On page 174 the author compares Maimonides’ concept of miracles as pre-determined reminders of God and being the answers behind unexplained occurrences in everyday life to Chimen’s ideals of revolutions as the breaking up of the everyday patterns that are found in history. What are your thoughts on this comparison?


Maimonides (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Front Room: The Haskalah – 180 - 206

(view spoiler)[1. Consider Chimen’s trip to Prague to evaluate the Torah scrolls collected by Jews during the holocaust. That was a dangerous trip for him, a man who was an atheist Jew. Why do you think he took this trip despite the danger involved? What was the impact historically, religiously, and politically to make those available?

2. The final note in this chapter shows the author’s frustration over some of his grandfather’s writings, particularly in response to the obituary that he wrote on Stalin. “I want to grab C. Allen by the throat and punch him. I want to shout at him for being a damn fool. I want to scream that he’s sullied my memory of my grandfather. But C. Allen is nowhere to be found.” What are your thoughts on the changes seen in Chimen?


Czech Memorial Scrolls with original Prague cards (hide spoiler)]

[Kaleen]

Week Three Discussion Questions – Entertaining at Home
(view spoiler)[
1. What memories of family and friend get-togethers do you have? Did you have a matriarch that was the family cook, like Mimi? If not, how did / do you spend time with family and friends? My Nana (my dad's mom) was definitely the matriach. And I always remember her cooking. However, it wasn't until I was older that I learned she was actually a horrible cook. Regardless, the kitchen was her space.

2. In chapter four, the author talks about how the house always had noise going on due to all of the guests that would visit. It was if the house was alive. Was there a home in your family or within your friendship circle that was the social center, so to speak? Not just for parties and get-togethers, but the place where everyone seems to gravitate for a visit, to get advice or help? My Nana's house was that way. My dad comes from a family of 8 kids. And then they all had kids, 28 grandkids total. And we were all running in and out of the house. Quick visits. And then of course there were the numerous second and third cousins, along with neignborhood. That same house today is still a central visiting spot, as my aunt and her family still live their, but not to the same extent.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kaleen]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 127 - 138
(view spoiler)[
1. On page 128 the author states, “Collecting people was as important to Mimi as collecting books was to Chimen.” We now start to see the Abramsky home in a different light, not just a place full of books. Are your impressions of their home starting to change? How so? Honestly, my first impression of the home was hoarder house! But one of the main psychological reasons for hoarding is to build a wall against people, and that is not the case with Chimen and Mimi. So my second thought was, that it sounded very homey!

2. For Mimi, the kitchen was the place that she created love in the form of food. It was a place for her to entertain family and friends. For Chimen, it was a different kind of place. How did their lives in the room differ and in what ways were they the same? Each room had their own special place.
Their Sanctum. I think we all have a room in our own homes that we like place. It's our place. I definitely see the same thing with Chimen and Mimi.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kaleen]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 139 - 150
(view spoiler)[
1. On page 140 the author states, “That Mimi and Chimen kept a rigidly kosher home in which they routinely fed militantly nonreligious diners, bespoke the larger issues of the contradictions between the personal and the political, between their cultural Jewish identity and their rejection of religion.” What are your thoughts on this disparity? While it is easy to avoid practicing a religion, it is harder avoid one's culture. Culture is incredibly ingrained in our lives. Many times we may do things because it's part of our culture not realizing that they were for religious reasons first.

2. In the last paragraph of this chapter, the author talks about how the kitchen was basically the place where everything happened for Chimen both before and after his wife died. For the author, “…I had better conversations with him than anywhere else in the house.” Is there a particular place in your home where you feel most comfortable, that is the “life” of the home?It's the family room. It's where when all the family is together we hang out. There is something comforting about playing board games, watching tv and having loud arguments
(hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Kaleen wrote: "Week Three Discussion Questions – Entertaining at Home."

Kaleen - Your Nana

(view spoiler)[I smile about your comment on your Nana's cooking. I am sure that all she made, she made with love, no matter how it tasted. I suspect that anything you have now that is even remotely the way she cooked brings back a flood of memories of your childhood. My father, to this day, remembers the flavor of the cookies his grandmother would make when he was little. My mother spent her whole married life trying to recreate those cookies for him. She never had the recipe but made them as close to the way they were supposedly made but they just never tasted the same to my father. I think that as we grow older, we remember childhood things differently than they actually were. It is not about just the taste, but the feelings and surroundings of those memories. It's very hard to recreate them. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Kaleen wrote: "Week Three Discussion Questions - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 127 - 138"

Kaleen - A Horder House?

(view spoiler)[I have to admit that I had a similar assumption, primarily based on the pictures of the bookshelves. But like you, I get the feeling that the house was actually somewhat structured, warm, and inviting. The kind of house you'd expect an ivy league professor might have. With the exception of the kitchen...I liked the image the author paints of the years of splatter grease around the stove / oven. What a mess to clean, but you know that is because Mimi was more involved in cooking and entertaining than making her kitchen sparkling clean. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Kaleen wrote: "Week Three Discussion Questions - The Kitchen: Salt, Sugar, and a Dash of Love – 139 - 150."

Kaleen - Religion and Culture

(view spoiler)[There are some religions that are ingrained culturally and others that are less so. Our Jewish members participating may want to chime in here to correct me if I am wrong, but to say one is Jewish is not only to say that they are following the Jewish faith, but that is also (for most) their cultural heritage. So I get why Chimen was considered an Atheist Jew and why he and Mimi kept their home they way they did and was still respectful of their actively devout Jewish family and friends. I don't think that say, a Christian would necessarily follow a certain culture if they left the faith and became an atheist. Would you agree or not? (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Kitchen

(view spoiler)[1. At the beginning of this chapter, the author talks about Chimen as a young boy. "As a child, he would sometimes recall, he had been desperately lonely. He and his elder brothers were educated at home because his father was anxious to avoid his sons coming into contact with the world around them..." How much do you think this had an effect on Chimen later in life and his decision to be involved with "the world" and leaving his faith?

2. In talking about Chimen's views of others, the author states, "And yet Chimen considered himself to be an über-rationalist, a man enlightened by a political vision. It was this side of his personality that allowed him, in time, to come to love both my mother and my uncle dearly." Why do you think that Chimen and Mimi surrounded themselves with such a melting pot of friends and family, despite their, seemingly, hard core ideologies?


Traditional Jewish Food (hide spoiler)]

[Michele]

Response: The Front Room: The Haskalah – 180 - 206

(view spoiler)[ 1. Consider Chimen’s trip to Prague to evaluate the Torah scrolls collected by Jews during the holocaust. That was a dangerous trip for him, a man who was an atheist Jew. Why do you think he took this trip despite the danger involved? What was the impact historically, religiously, and politically to make those available?

I think he took the trip out of a sense of history. To retrieve those scrolls, was to take part in recovering from the holocaust. The condition some of those scrolls were in, was a testimony to the horrors the owners had been though. To make them available again was to grab a piece of the past and bring it to the present.

2. The final note in this chapter shows the author’s frustration over some of his grandfather’s writings, particularly in response to the obituary that he wrote on Stalin. “I want to grab C. Allen by the throat and punch him. I want to shout at him for being a damn fool. I want to scream that he’s sullied my memory of my grandfather. But C. Allen is nowhere to be found.” What are your thoughts on the changes seen in Chimen?

Like many people, I think he was reluctant to let go of something that had sustained him for so long. Communism had been his beacon of light that it was hard to grasp how Stalin had sullied it. Idealism dies hard. (hide spoiler)]

[Samanta]

Response to Week Two Discussion Questions – Purchasing Books

Sorry, I'm a bit late in reading. Work is keeping me busy.

(view spoiler)[1. Where do you buy your books? Have you ever bought books from an auction?

I usually buy books at my favorite bookstore in Zagreb and some from Amazon. I don't mind buying used books so I regularly stop by some kind of an impromptu book stand I find while walking through the city. Also, there is this coffee shop called Booksa in Zagreb, that organizes charity book fairs, selling books left to them by random people visiting the coffee shop. They sell books for 10.00 HRK apiece (around 1.5 dollars) and give the money to whichever cause they are interested in at the moment.

I've never been to an auction. Always thought of them as events rich people go to, I guess. :)

2. Do you still hand write letters? Have you saved letters that you have written / received?

I don't remember if I've ever written a letter to someone and I've never developed the habit of writing letters. I'm actually very bad at correspondence in general. I prefer communicating with people eye-to-eye. (hide spoiler)]

[Samanta]

Response to Week Two Discussion Questions - Master Bedroom: The Citadel – 45 - 65

(view spoiler)[1. On page 50, the authors talks about Chimen reading notes and bibliographies of books. “The differences between editions gave him a glimpse of the author’s evolving thoughts on a topic. The bibliographies enabled him to chart an intellectual odyssey." Do you read the notes and bibliography of a book, like Chimen did? Why / why not?

I rarely thoroughly go through the bibliography section because I'm always much more interested in the story, and not the "technical" details. I may roam through it to see if I'm familiar with any of the sources and that's it. Only, if I'm really, really interested in the subject, I might check it out.

2. Did you get an impression of what Chimen’s relationship with his father must have been like?

I see Chimen as the usual teenager, rebelling against that which is imposed upon him (been there, done that!). I think most of us go through a "phase" in which we go against everything we were taught by our parents (especially when it comes to religion). For some it is just a phase, and some are changed for good. Neither solution is bad, unless you start imposing it on someone else.

3. How do you feel about Yehezkel and Raizl leaving behind family when they left Russia? Would you be separated from your family over your religious / political views?

I don't put any stock in religion or politics and those reasons would never be enough to leave my family, BUT, I haven't been in their situation and I can't judge. Who knows what the regime would come up with to get rid of Yehezkel. This way lives were saved, even those of the children temporarily left behind. (hide spoiler)]

[Samanta]

Week two - The Hallway

(view spoiler)[Rose Uren, Mimi's best friend is hilarious. I would love to have known her personaly. (hide spoiler)]

[Samanta]

Response to Week Two Discussion Questions - Master Bedroom: The Citadel – 66 - 84

(view spoiler)[1. What do you think was the key to Chimen’s friendship with Henry Collins? The author talks about how Chimen was not able to finish their project on Karl Marx after Collins’ death and was not able to write his own autobiography with him.

The author himself states that Chimen had so many great thoughts, but wasn't able to put them in writing in a way that other people would understand it or appreciate it. Henry Collins was good in making jumbled thoughts into something making sense. It might sound cliche, but Chimen and Henry completed each other in that sense.

2. Why do you think that Chimen chose to put the Marxist / Socialist rare books in his bedroom? Consider who is allowed into a person’s bedroom / who has access to these books.

Well, those books were his most prized possessions, since he idolized Marx, even when he already left the Party. Also, the author says that Chimen had to lead a "double life", hiding his love for Marx and Socialism from his religious family, so his bedroom was the safest place to hide the "incriminatory evidence".

3. What are your thoughts on the final story told at the end of the first chapter, where the author reflects on Chimen’s death?

People often can't come to terms with a loved one's death and they dream about them being alive. I can relate and can honestly say that, no matter how great it is to see the person you love alive in your dream, I absolutely hate those dreams, because they leave you screaming and crying upon waking up, just as the author said. That short paragraph really hit the nerve with me, because I've been there....and still am sometimes.
I think that the author dreaming the House of Books without the books in it, was his subconsciousness acknowledging Chimen's death. (hide spoiler)]

[Samanta]

Comment on Week Two Discussion Questions - Mimi

(view spoiler)[I can't seem to answer the questions you posed, because I just couldn't get the sense of Mimi. I think the author is more focused on his grandfather than his grandmother, that I feel like she is always somewhere in the background. I am sure that she was a fore to be reckoned with in her own right, but she just doesn't come alive for me while reading. I have to admit, I am a bit bothered with this. (hide spoiler)]

[Samanta]

Response to Week Two Discussion Questions - The Hallway: An Extraordinary Portal – 85 - 105

(view spoiler)[1. What similarities can you make between the Abramsky family and the Nirenstein family? What differences do you see?

A seemingly perfect Jewish family, with a strong traditionalist parents, the children rebelling against the upbringing with the first chance they got. The difference would be that the Nirenstein girls got all revolutionary, because the death of their father left them without anyone to guide them (I presume that the mother was struggling too much as it was, and just lost the reins). On the other hand, the children of the Abramsky family rebelled because they were feeling suffocated by and overbearing father.

2. Do you think that Chimen and Mimi would have fallen in love had one of them not been a part of the Communist party?

If you believe in fate, than you could definitely say that if it was meant to be, it will happen. (hide spoiler)]

[Samanta]

Response to Week Two Discussion Questions - The Hallway: An Extraordinary Portal – 106 - 126

(view spoiler)[1. What are your thoughts on the way Chimen kept his political leaning out of public view to save his father any embarrassment within his religious community?

I think it was a sign of respect towards his father. He knew he lived in a close-knitted community where everyone knew everyone and where his father held an influential position, so it he kept his views for himself. And why not, anyway. I feel like, today, your political or religious views define your status in other people's eyes (which is stupid!), and you are obliged to share them with everyone. I think it's completely ok to have certain view on a subject on not speak about it out loud. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Week Three Discussion Questions - The Front Room: The Haskalah

(view spoiler)[1. Talking of the parties that Chimen and Mimi would have with like minded political friends, their friend Raph said, "The Party...had some resemblances to a 'gathered' church: a people apart, in the world but not of it. We comported ourselves as an elect, a moral aristocracy, a congregation of true believers." What are your thoughts? Do you think that Chimen approached his political views as earnestly as one might religion?

2. We start to see how Chimen "organized" (I assume rather loosely) his library by rooms. More socialist books in the bedroom, more holocaust and revolutionary books in the front room. Why do you think he organized these particular books in these particular rooms? I'll likely ask this question again as we get toward the end of the book.


Velvl Zbarzher - Jewish Folk Poet (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Michele wrote: " Response: The Front Room: The Haskalah – 180 - 206 "

Michele - Chimen's Trip to Save the Scrolls

(view spoiler)[I agree. I think that goes back to what we've talked about on being Jewish culturally vs. actively following the faith. Those scrolls are pieces of his and his people's heritage. What a wonderful thing he did. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Samanta wrote: "Response to Week Two Discussion Questions – Purchasing Books"

Samanta - Rare Book Finds

(view spoiler)[I've yet to come across any rare books, but I look when I stop in at antique stores. One of these days, I am in hopes of finding something very rare, something very cool for very cheap and find out it's worth a million (or two or three).(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Samanta wrote: "Response to Week Two Discussion Questions - Master Bedroom: The Citadel – 45 - 65"

Samanta - Leaving Family Behind

(view spoiler)[I can only imagine what it must be like. You certainly have to have strong convictions and faith that those you leave behind will be fine. I agree, you can't judge them. It was a different time, a different place and in their shoes, who knows, I might have done the same. (hide spoiler)]

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Folks, I did contact the author quite awhile ago after Helga contacted me - I personally have not heard back from him.

[Teri]

Chapter Overviews and Summaries
Week Four

(view spoiler)[Chapter 5 – The Dining Room: Rituals and Rebels – 175 - 196

We begin this chapter in the 1950s when Chimen and Mimi would entertain members of the Historians Group of the Communist Party. These meetings would be conducted around the Abramsky dining room table and usually included serious conversations about Karl Marx or funny Yiddish stories and songs. They would also host Passover Seders, often two, one for family and one for their communist friends. The author then goes on to discuss how Chimen comes to leave the Communist Party.


In late 1946 the Historians’ Group – made up of historians, friends, and members of the Communist Party – started regularly meeting in Marx’s House in London, pictured here.

Chapter 6 – Upstairs Front Room: Roots – 231 - 266

The upstairs front room is the focus of this chapter. It was referred to as “The Jungle”, and was even more private than any other room in the house. It was floor to ceiling in books of all language. It would more appropriately be considered a Judaica library. The author talks about some of the import Jewish books that Chimen collected.


The Hebrew Bible had been published at Soncino in Lombardy in1488. In 1516/7 Daniel Bomberg and Felix Pretensis printed the first edition of the Rabbinical Bible (i.e. the text with the Targum and standard rabbinical commentaries), after obtaining a licence from Pope Leo X forbidding any other printer from doing likewise for ten years. (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Week Four Discussion Questions – Changes

(view spoiler)[This week we see Chimen leave the Communist Party and his focus on his book collection changes from communist / socialist works to Jewish works.

1. As your personality, interests, and / or ideals have changed in your life, has your home changed as well?

2. When Chimen left the Communist Party, some of his friendships and professional connections changed as well. Have you or someone you know lost friendships and / or professional relationships due to changes in interests or ideologies?


Chimen Abramsky's House of Books by Teddy Thomas Photograph: Martin Argles/The Guardian(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Samanta wrote: "Week two - The Hallway"

Samanta - Rose, The Friend

(view spoiler)[I thought she was a hoot and agree, she would have been fun to know! (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Samanta wrote: "Response to Week Two Discussion Questions - Master Bedroom: The Citadel – 66 - 84"

Samanta - Friendships and Dreams

(view spoiler)[I think friendships/relationships like that between Chimen and Henry are sometimes rare and important to have, even if it is only on a professional level.

I am fascinated by dreams. One of these days I'll read more about them and why we dream what we dream but I always think that if I dream about someone who has passed, that they are sending me a message, but I rarely know what that is. ;-) What do you think? (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

Samanta wrote: "Comment on Week Two Discussion Questions - Mimi"

Samanta - Mimi

(view spoiler)[She definitely is not the focal point of the book, but I believe that behind every great man is a great woman. ;-) Most of the time anyway. Which is why I posed the questions. Even though we don't know much about her or the other women in Chimen's life, I think they had a profound influence on him and it's left up to the reader to wonder about that. We definitely get a sense of a woman who runs the home, in many ways. She was the greeter and the entertainer.

To me, I get the sense that she reeled them in with her food and he would follow up with the important discussions and business. I also think that she cared for Chimen and did a lot for him. They were deeply connected to each other and he was lost when she passed away.

But I also think she had her own mind, since she left The Party before him. They were yin / yang.

Others may think differently, but that was what came across to me. I think I would have liked to have met her. (hide spoiler)]