Shalom Y'All: Images of Jewish Life in the American South

Rating:
Summary: Southern Jews - a diverse view
Review: I found this book to not only be informative, but also quite introspective. I thoroughly enjoyed the diversity that the photographs depicted, and the first-hand stories added flavor, too. Good job!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I thought the book was a wondeful portriait of a vanishing world--it was really interesting to see how these Jews bridged the gap between their two identities. The pictures and text were really beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: If you are from Mississippi and Louisiana, then you may like this book. If you are from other the southern states, you will wonder why there are no photographs -- or very few -- from these states.

I was raised in the 1930s and 1940s (until I went into the seervice in 1944) in a small Georgia town located in southwest Georgia. I find the foreword misleading in that the author implies it was normal for Jews in the south in the 1940s not to observe the Jewish traditions of bar mitzvahs, sabbath dunners, seders, etc. Atlanta and Savannah had sizable Jewish populations in those days. The largest congregation in Savannah was orthodox (and it is still that way today). Ours was a reform congregation, but we had Hebrew school and Sabbath school on Saturday. Bar mitzvahs were common in Savannah and Atlanta -- we had confirmations. For Passover, my parents drove 170 miles to Atlanta to buy their kosher groceries (the meat was shipped by train as needed). I did not know any Jewish family in my home town that had a Christmas tree, contrary to the author's statement that "We kids were raised with Christmas trees..."

I found the book disappointing, although it had inclusive photographs of Jewish life in two states -- just not THE SOUTH.

Rating:
Summary: A joy to simply page through
Review: Shalom Y'all: Images Of Jewish Life In The American South is a unique treasure trove of black-and-white images by professional photographer Bill Aron in which he expertly capturing images of Jewish daily life, culture, and tradition in America's southern states. Homes, shops, places of worship, and people young and old are vividly portrayed in these striking visuals, with a bare minimum of commentary by Vicki Reikes Fox (Founding Project Director of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience) rounding out the collection. A joy to simply page through, Shalom Y'all is a welcome and much appreciated contribution to both personal and academic photography collections, as well as Judaic Studies reference collections.