THE BIG READ: Cynthia Ozick’s The Shawl

We are so fortunate in our area to have a vibrant and creative public library system. The Worcester County Library is sponsoring a very important program this spring called THE BIG READ. THE BIG READ is a national program co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Arts Midwest. The book that has been chosen for this program is The Shawl by the American Jewish writer Cynthia Ozick. I hope that you will all participate in this program and the various activities associated with it. As Jews it is important for us to learn about the Holocaust, to read literature associated with it, and to be a part of the broader community as we all engage in the questions and challenges the Holocaust presents to us.

The Shawl has been described as “a devastating vision of the Holocaust and the unfillable emptiness it left in the lives of those who passed through it.” One commentator wrote about The Shawl: “There are two short stories [in the book called The Shawl], The Shawl and Rosa. Both are stunning and heartbreaking stories of the Holocaust…I have read many stories of the victims of the Holocaust about the terror and bravery, but nothing quite like this. Here Rosa fixates on a shawl that becomes almost magical in its abilities. In a unique way the shawl allows Rosa to keep living even in the face of the unimaginable…these are short stories at their best, thick and concentrated, demanding your full attention, and leaving you breathless and gasping at the end.”

The library has scheduled many activities relating to the themes associated with the book, including those of loss, survival, endurance and parenthood. There will be an evening at the Ocean Pines Branch with a survivor of the Holocaust from Washington DC. Several evenings are devoted to music related to the Holocaust by artists Dawn Ovando and Homer Williams. The film Schindler’s List will be shown. This movie, by Steven Spielberg, chronicles Oskar Schindler’s spiritual odyssey from war profiteer to humanitarian and hero. It depicts Schindler’s ultimately successful attempt to rescue 1,100 Jews from Hitler’s “Final Solution” by getting them to safety outside Poland. Another film to be shown is The Holocaust Testaments. This film is put together from Russian and American footage and represents the fullest recording of the horrors of the Final Solution ever made available.

If you have never been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington this is your opportunity to go. There will be a bus trip on Monday, March 1, 2010. The cost of the trip is only $10 (this is a required reservation deposit but will be donated to the Worcester County Scholarship fund). You can call 410-632-3970 for information and reservations. The activities surrounding THE BIG READ take place mostly in March.

Please take a brochure which we have on the table in the foyer at TBY and plan on attending this important program. Our