CHANUKAH EDITION
SECTION E PAGE 12
We can think of no one better prepared to write a book called The Scattered Tribe than veteran travel writer Ben G. Frank, whose Jewishly-focused globetrotting has been entertaining readers for decades.
Frank is a classic traveler in the best meaning of the term. Hes an intelligent observer and curious investigator whose endless fascination with the people, things and places he encounters is nothing less than contagious.
The author has long specialized in but never limited himself to Jewish travel writing. He has an uncanny eye for finding traces and fragments and often still surviving remnants of Jewish life in the most unlikely places.
His dogged pursuit of all things Jewish (or at least somehow Jewish-related) reminds one of an adage sometimes applied in Jewish journalism: Theres always a Jewish angle to a story. You just have to find it.
Finding things is one of Franks chief talents. In this breezy and intelligent book, he uncovers Jewish fascinations in such seemingly obscure places as Morocco, Siberia, Algeria, Vietnam, Myanmar, even the tropical paradise of Tahiti.
He clearly does his homework on the social, historical and geographic background of the communities he visits, but Frank is never scholastically dry, his writing never remote or stilted.
Instead, he approaches his subjects with a refreshing subjectivity, often interjecting his own reflections, muses or daydreams, into his writing.
At one point, he ponders whether the poverty in such countries as Cuba and Myanmar (historical Burma) is responsible for the uncommon friendliness of the people who live there.
Ultimately, he concludes that no, its not poverty that causes such friendliness and expresses his conviction that the Cubans and Burmese will still be warm and outgoing, even when their nations finally prosper.
Such casual and kindhearted expression, coupled with Franks lively prose and skillful eye for catching the unusual and hidden streams of Jewish culture, makes The Scattered Tribe an excellent read for anyone interested in Jewish travel, or in travel period.
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
