Frankenstein
The second installment of the edJEWcation bookclub
This week, we present the second installment of the edJEWcation book club. This month, we discuss Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein.
When I first suggested this book for the book club, ChayaLeah and the Rabbi looked at me as if I had two heads (each with a yarmulka on). However, after reading it, I think they came around. The book deals with several profound human questions, each of which Judaism has something to say about (but of course).
During the discussion, we examine several of the book's primary themes: the need for community, the moral responsibilities of creation, and the desire for forbidden knowledge.
The conversation highlights the importance of friendship and belonging, the consequences of isolation, and the ethical implications of scientific advancements. We explore the intricate themes of human relationships, the pursuit of knowledge, the nature of suffering, and the roles of men and women in creation.
We also discuss the complexities of love and frustration in relationships, the consequences of seeking knowledge, and the philosophical implications of suffering as a form of atonement.
I can’t recommend this book enough. If you haven’t read it, pick it up.
In case you want to know what books we’ve discussed, here is a link to the edJEWcation booklist
Maaan, I haven't read Frankenstein since I was a kid, and my brain is slowly melting, since I basically just read, like, work-related books or novels I've read 500,000 times before.
But read it in high school and really loved it, and this is ironic, because I've been on a push to re-read books I hated in high school. I just reread Ethan Frome, which is as goyish as it gets, and een more depressing than I remembered. And way too complex for teen me to understand.
In regards to the Columbia chick, I am not surprised she became a prof. No doubt her hunger stike helped get her the job, as I remember the field she was studying was one that is now all about decolonializing, like, everything.
Having said that, while I know plenty of anti-Zionist Jews grew up in Jewish, Zionist homes and feel like they were lied to. A lot are also Jew-ish, as in have a Jewish last name because dad is a Jew but didn't grow up with any religion, just the religion of being a good person. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but does mean that everyone is now bad or good, no in between.
And also, NO ONE talks about how, yes, a lot of Palestinians had to leave their homes in 1948. A higher percentage of Muslims in India had to move to Pakistan, and an even higher percentage of Hindus had to move to India, and an even higher percentage of ethnic Germans had to move to Germany from Poland. Not talked about. Not talk about who was in charge of Gaza from 1948 to 1967. Nothing.