A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia & Ukraine

Rating:
Summary: Terrific travel guide to Russian & Ukrainian Jewish history.
Review: Approximately 120 years ago the majority of the world's Jews lived in what was called the "Pale of Settlement" in the Russian Empire of the Czar. Most American Jews today trace their ancestry to Russia, the Ukraine, and the surrounding territories and provinces of the old empire. Until Communism fell, the Jews of Russia and Ukraine had been suppressed and denied human and religious rights. With the collapse of the Communists, Judaism has emerged from centuries old persecution and pogrom and the synagogues, monuments, schools and other Jewish historical sites are available and accessible to the western visitor. Ben Frank's A Travel Guide To Jewish Russia & Ukraine is an invaluable, highly recommended travel guide for planning and implementing a trip in search of their family heritage and religious roots throughout Russian and the Ukraine.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific travel guide to Russian & Ukrainian Jewish history.
Review: Approximately 120 years ago the majority of the world's Jews lived in what was called the "Pale of Settlement" in the Russian Empire of the Czar. Most American Jews today trace their ancestry to Russia, the Ukraine, and the surrounding territories and provinces of the old empire. Until Communism fell, the Jews of Russia and Ukraine had been suppressed and denied human and religious rights. With the collapse of the Communists, Judaism has emerged from centuries old persecution and pogrom and the synagogues, monuments, schools and other Jewish historical sites are available and accessible to the western visitor. Ben Frank's A Travel Guide To Jewish Russia & Ukraine is an invaluable, highly recommended travel guide for planning and implementing a trip in search of their family heritage and religious roots throughout Russian and the Ukraine.

Rating:
Summary: book summary
Review: Discover the many fascinating, historic Jewish sites that have survived seventy years of Communism. Until Communism fell a mere half-dozen years ago, the Jewish communities of Russia and the Ukraine had been suppressed and denied human and religious rights. Today, not only are they reborn, but they are rebuilding a new, vibrant community. Here, the author guides visitors to synagogues, monuments, and schools in cities including St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, and even Kishinev in Moldava.

Rating:
Summary: A ***correction*** to misinformation by "daryoush"
Review: I just got back from Russia and found this book. I wish I had found this earlier. It was hard to find English speaking guides in Russia as most excursions are in Russian. It would have been nice to read about the Jewish influences in the Russian history before the travel.

I also liked the writing style, very clear and captivating.

For completeness sake, I have one request from the authors....I am planning a visit to Lebanon, West bank and Gaza soon. I hope a brave soul would write about recent Jewish history in these areas before I go there. I like to better understand the Israeli massacres in the refugee camps, the villages and cities that they destroyed, the prisons and concentration camps that Israelis operated in southern Lebanon, and the occupied territories, etc. Such a book would be a valuable tool in understanding the current Middle East.

Rating:
Summary: Nice, but incomplete series
Review: I just got back from Russia and found this book. I wish I had found this earlier. It was hard to find English speaking guides in Russia as most excursions are in Russian. It would have been nice to read about the Jewish influences in the Russian history before the travel.

I also liked the writing style, very clear and captivating.

For completeness sake, I have one request from the authors....I am planning a visit to Lebanon, West bank and Gaza soon. I hope a brave soul would write about recent Jewish history in these areas before I go there. I like to better understand the Israeli massacres in the refugee camps, the villages and cities that they destroyed, the prisons and concentration camps that Israelis operated in southern Lebanon, and the occupied territories, etc. Such a book would be a valuable tool in understanding the current Middle East.

Rating:
Summary: It made me drop my chalupah and turn the page
Review: Not only informative but terrific reading. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. A travel log that's enjoyable to read whether you visit the places or not. Put on your seatbelt because this is a journey well worth taking!

Rating:
Summary: A ***correction*** to misinformation by "daryoush"
Review: This is a response to an earlier review that contained a major, major Big Lie.

Specifically, "daryoush" from Seattle, in the course of commenting upon this book and expressing interest in a book about "recent Jewish history" in Lebanon, West bank and the Gaza strip, says the following:

"I like to better understand the Israeli massacres in the refugee camps."

He/she also goes on to make several other specious statements including usage of the term "concentration camps."

Daryoush's statement is a Big Lie masquerading as a review. I have serious reservations about his/her agenda, but setting that aside for a second, the deaths in the refugee camps (that I assume he refers to, related to the 1982 war in Lebanon) were not "Israeli massacres." They were carried out, by all credible accounts, by Lebanese militiamen arguably under Israel's influence. This is not to excuse the killings, nor even Sharon's alleged negligence or complicity, but even in the worst case terming them "Israeli massacres" is simply inaccurate.

One has to wonder about the mindset of someone who would use such a term.

The need to respond to such garbage is a sad commentary upon the state of discourse on Israel and our times generally.

- Ezra in Minnesota

Rating:
Summary: A ***correction*** to misinformation by "daryoush"
Review: This is a response to an earlier review that contained a major, major Big Lie.

Specifically, "daryoush" from Seattle, in the course of commenting upon this book and expressing interest in a book about "recent Jewish history" in Lebanon, West bank and the Gaza strip, says the following:

"I like to better understand the Israeli massacres in the refugee camps."

He/she also goes on to make several other specious statements including usage of the term "concentration camps."

Daryoush's statement is a Big Lie masquerading as a review. I have serious reservations about his/her agenda, but setting that aside for a second, the deaths in the refugee camps (that I assume he refers to, related to the 1982 war in Lebanon) were not "Israeli massacres." They were carried out, by all credible accounts, by Lebanese militiamen arguably under Israel's influence. This is not to excuse the killings, nor even Sharon's alleged negligence or complicity, but even in the worst case terming them "Israeli massacres" is simply inaccurate.

One has to wonder about the mindset of someone who would use such a term.

The need to respond to such garbage is a sad commentary upon the state of discourse on Israel and our times generally.

- Ezra in Minnesota