3 minute read
Sue's Bookshelf
October 2023
By Sue Littauer
When Rabbi Jeremy Barras moved to Charlotte, I knew him not only as a new rabbi fresh out of rabbinical school but also as a neighbor. He was an associate rabbi at Temple Beth El for five years before moving to Miami. I’ve followed his journey and there are some things I know about Rabbi Jeremy Barras: I know he’s a mensch and that he loves Israel. I know he has a lovely family, and that he comes from a family of rabbis. I know he is the well-loved and respected senior rabbi at the largest reform congregation in the Southeast United States. What I didn’t know about him is that he is an excellent writer!
When I first learned that Rabbi Barras had written a book, I quickly checked it out at the Levine-Sklut Judaic Library. The blurb on the back cover of the book indicated he was an extraordinary author on par with Leon Uris and Daniel Silva. Seriously? Seriously.
There is no way I could describe the book better than to copy the description on the book. “In ‘A Reason to Rise,’ the Groh rabbinic dynasty takes the reader on an international journey of the Jewish experience in the 20th century. From the depths of the Holocaust to the establishment of the state of Israel, to the systemic rise of antisemitism across Europe, one family does their part to keep Judaism alive.”
The book begins in 1946, when Rabbi Sam Groh is asked to travel to Greece to accompany a group of Holocaust survivors to Palestine. During the dangerous sea voyage, he establishes relationships with the rag-tag passengers, and nurtures them after the group settles in Kibbutz Nof Kinneret. Rabbi Sam Groh’s history with the kibbutz is passed on with warmth and compassion through the generations of families on both sides of the Jewish world.
In 2020, amidst the rise of antisemitism in Europe, Rabbi Eitan Groh is asked to travel to the Ukraine to assess the situation of the Russian Jews wishing to make aliyah to Israel. As he narrows in on the situation, he becomes involved in espionage and terrorism at the highest levels of government both in the United States and in Israel.
How will Rabbi Eitan Groh make the biggest difference in the growing battle with antisemitism? Should he stay in Israel or come back home to Miami where he can guide his congregation and American Jews in the rising tide of antisemitism? This is the question that leads to the very emotional climax of the book.
I contacted Rabbi Barras with a few questions, one being, “I know the book had to be written prior to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. Why did you choose to set the second part of the book there?” He replied, “I wrote the book during COVID. When I wrote the Ukrainian sections, it was 2020 and 2021. I chose the Ukraine because the Day School at our temple has a sister school in Odessa. Since I know a lot about it and the situation of the Jews there, it made sense to me. Plus, I needed a country that had a critical mass of Jews who could one day find themselves in danger and need to make aliyah to Israel.”
“A Reason to Rise” is a page turner and a very thought-provoking book. I highly recommend it as an excellent choice for book clubs.
