My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq

At heart this is about a Jewish man, born and raised in America, trying as a grown-up to find a connection to the immigrant father by whom he was baffled and embarrassed as a child. Ariel Sabar knows how to tell a story, however, and it's his writing and organization even more than the story itself that makes this book such a treasure. But the story is wonderful, too. The book starts in the village of Zakho, in Kurdish Iraq, with the tale of its people, including the author's great-grandfather, Ephraim, the dyer, whom the locals believe talks to angels. Sabar makes the village and its inhabitants come alive and while I at times wished there were more photos included in the book, Sabar's writing is usually picture enough. Sabar's parents are married (arranged, of course), Sabar's father, Yona, and his siblings are born, and too many of them die. One goes tragically missing. Throughout the personal saga, Sabar presents a global context -- World Wars I & II, the relationship of his family's native language in Zakho (Aramaic) to the rest of Iraq, to the multi-culturalism and religious harmony of Kurdistan and how the area was divided in the wake of the first World War, to the changing attitudes toward Jews in Iraq and the Middle East and the foundation of Israel. In the '50's Sabar's family relocates, not entirely willingly, to Israel, where they find not the holy land of their dreams, but a huge and unwelcoming city in which they are the lowest of the low. Most of the middle of the book follows Yona's tale as he works to make something of himself in this hostile environment, eventually earning a scholarship to Yale and becoming a respected professor of Neo-Aramaic at UCLA. The final sections of the book recount the author's story and his attempts to reconnect with his roots in Iraq and reconcile himself with his father. Wisely, Sabar distances himself from the earlier portions of the book and doesn't spend much time on his American upbringing and personal story, choosing only to interject himself into the tale as it relates to his family's past. The tale is about the people, but Sabar deftly weaves throught the book language, politics, religion, and poverty without letting any of them dominate. Being from Los Angeles I find myself hoping one day that I will run into and recognize Ariel and Yona, so that I can smile at my fellow Angelino and the rumpled professor who has never felt like he truly belongs here. I know very little about my family before they emmigrated to New York, but somehow Sabar's book makes me feel as if I do. His family's story is that of everyone whose ancestors came here hoping for a better life for the people they loved, yet still missing that which was lost. Thank you, Ariel Sabar for this beautiful and heartfelt book.

The reach of this book can be understood by thinking where you would put it in your library. It is a heartfelt family drama full of varied emotions, coming of age, sorrow and appreciation. It is likewise an amazing historical account of what happened to those Jews long ago who were carried off into captivity. Jews in Kurdistan, Iraq , spoke Aramaic, got along with Christian and Arab neighbors for over two millenia and had their own traditions, customs, dress and perspectives. Ariel Sabar brings in all these facts while creating a loving , very personal story of his relationship to his past. You meet memorable personalities who stand out in their very simplicity. You likewise take your own journey into the past and present while walking along with Ariel in his . This is a special book. Read it. You will not be disappointed.

We've all heard of Kurdistan, of course--especially the Iraqi portion. And those like me who are either of Jewish descent, interested in languages, or both, have heard of Kurdish Jews and the fact that they were some of the last remaining speakers of Aramaic. But never before had I gotten such a deep insight into their culture and struggles to assimilate in the new state of Israel. They truly had more in common with their fellow Kurds than their Ashkenazi co-religionists in Israel, and this seems to have been a major reason the author's father elected to stay in the U.S. after receiving his Ph.D. at Yale. It's slightly mistitled in that, while Ariel Sabar's search and desire to reconcile with his family's past was the genesis of the book, it really reads more as a biography of his father Yona, now a UCLA professor, and of the entire Kurdish Jewish community. The son's own story, while touching, almost seemed an afterthought. I understand from the introduction that some dialogue was made up and some composite characters were created, so while this isn't quite creative nonfiction, it's not journalism either. That makes for an excellent read, but it also makes me wonder if there's an accessible but more historiographic book on this subject out there. At any rate, my thanks to Ariel Sabar for writing this and painting a vivid picture of a world I think few people know ever existed... one that was turned upside down in the space of his father's childhood and is now almost nonexistent. My thanks, too, to Yona Sabar for his important scholarship. I had no idea how important this man was to the study of Neo-Aramaic and am glad he didn't suffer the fate of too many of his fellow Mizrahi immigrants to Israel. Highly recommended.

Ariel Sabar's brilliant personal and family history is one of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time. Part history, part personal memoir, part logbook of a voyage of discovery, this book both enlightens and entertains. Set in Kurdish Iraq, in Israel, and in the academic environs of Yale University, this is narrative history at its best. There is a lyrical quality about Sabar's prose which is almost Biblical. Steeped in the language and literature of the Aramaic, which Abrahanm ibn-Ezra called "the first of all languages," Sabar writes as a kind of Israelite wanderer, invoking the rhythms and passion and vision of the desert peoples. This book equals and perhaps surpasses Bruce Feiler's estimable Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses (P.S.) as a moving introduction to Judaica. It accomplishes what the best of historical writing brings to the table--a rich introduction to a profound subject. I hope there are more books inside Ariel Sabar.