Beautiful story

I love to read history (that matters). I fully realize that the events of the past are just that - events of the past; they don't change the present but they do help us better understand the present. I also enjoyed reading about a boy (now a man) reuniting with his father.
As a follower of Jesus, who spoke Aramaic, I was very interested in learning about the nuances of his language and the culture of the Kurdish Jews who seemed to hold fast to some of the same lifestyle. ( )

My Father’s Paradise : A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq - Sabar
4 stars

This is Ariel Sabar’s personal investigation into his family history. It’s an immigrant story, a refugee story. It’s a memoir of a first generation American/Iranian/Kurdish/Israeli/Jewish boy. It’s the story of the drastic economic and social changes inflicted upon a small isolated community during the 20th century. The story is full of political, religious, sociological, and linguistic information. It was fascinating. And, a little overwhelming.

Sabar is a journalist. His book was strongest when he wrote as a journalist. I was confused in the early part of the book with his fictionalized accounts of his ancestors in Zakho. The book wandered from presenting the factual history of Zakho’s location and population. There’s a good historical fiction novel in the story of his great grandparents their offspring. It was just awkward to have it at the beginning of a first person memoir. Sabar’s journalistic style was easier to follow.

I’m very glad to have read this book. In some ways, I learned more than I expected. In other ways, I felt that Sabar’s story had much in common with other first generation Americans, whatever the cultural origins of their ancestors. I was also truly delighted to read that despite being of different generations, different faiths, and different genetic histories, Ariel Sabar and I were (probably) born in the same city. Life is strange. ( )

For three thousand years after they were banished from Israel, a community of Jews lived in an isolated Kurdish region of Northern Iraq. Dirt poor, illiterate and removed from all modern aspects of the world, they lived in relative harmony with their Muslim and Christian neighbours. The author's father, was the last boy Bar Mitzvahed in Zakho, before the tensions created by the Nazis and continued by the creation of the state of Israel forced almost every single Jew living in Iraq to flee during the 1950's.

The author, trying to reconcile with his father, a respected scholar at UCLA, endeavors to learn about the history of this lost tribe, and more specifically, his family. I found the stories about the community, and his family's experiences really fascinating. I was less interested in the author's struggle to overcome his lifelong daddy issues, but many who have read the book loved this aspect as well. ( )

This was very interesting, especially Sabar's fathers history. I found the section about Sabar and his own search less interesting. But I appreciated how honest he was about his relationship to his father and his father's family. ( )

This book tells the story of the author, Ariel Sabar, and his father, Yona. The story begins when Yona is a Jewish boy growing up in Kurdish Iraq in the early twentieth century, a time when the Muslims, Christians, and Jews of the region lived in relative harmony. When religious tensions began to escalate in the Middle East mid-century, teenaged Yona and his family emigrate to Israel, thus forfeiting their Iraqi citizenship. Yona eventually moves to the United States and becomes a leading scholar at UCLA in Aramaic, his native language.

I was really fascinated by the part of the book that took place in Israel. I had never thought much about the difficulties that were encountered as the country’s population grew so quickly with immigrants from so many different regions and nationalities. Yona and his family struggled to make their way in a society dominated by European Jews, facing the stereotypes and prejudices against Kurdish Jews and Middle Eastern Jews in general.

I was very impressed by the Ariel’s personal journey and the way his relationship with his father grew. He spent his teenage years and young adulthood embarrassed by his father, trying to distance himself from his father’s heritage and become a full fledged American. When he has a son of his own, he begins to realize the importance of family legacy, and starts a journey to understand his father’s past. Ariel and Yona travel to Israel and Iraq together to gain insight into the past.

The book was very well balanced between history, politics, and personal narrative. I learned a lot about the history and politics of the time and region. The book is by no means overly political or religious, but there are definitely valuable insights into both. The personal story was very well-written and heartfelt. The author did an excellent job depicting himself, his father and their relationship. I was in tears by the end of the book seeing how their relationship progressed. I debated between four and five stars. I would definitely recommend this book.
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