Some Tales from Two Joshes 

By ISJL Education Isaac Gamoran
 
​Here at the ISJL, we are graced with the serious good fortune of having not one but two Joshess in the office! Josh Parshall is the head of our History Department, while Josh Altshuler is one of our 2018-2020 Education Fellows. Besides sharing a name, and a great sense of humor, these two have one major passion in common: a love of books.
 
Sine it’s Jewish Book Month, we thought there may never be a better time to highlight these two humans, and give both of them a chance to share their expertise with all of you! This article provides a firsthand take on their respective answers to my question, “What books or genre of books should religious school classrooms give a second glance?”
 
From Jewish graphic novels to cookbooks and comedy albums, the ISJL received all sorts of inspiring ideas. Read below to find out what those possibilities are!
 
An Altshuler Addition to the Classroom
Education Fellow Josh Altshuler emphasized one genre often overlooked that need not be ignored: Jewish graphic literature and memoirs. He believes that this medium offers a fresh supplement to religious school lessons and warrants special attention.
 
The Jewish graphic novel is a niche subject that was born out of the comic book industry during the early twentieth century. In the 1930s, at a time when Jews experienced challenges finding employment, the comic book industry was one setting where folks found opportunity. Jews like Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and Marvel mastermind Stan Lee set the stage for those to come.
 
Starting in the 1970s, an innovative medium, known as the graphic memoir, surfaced out of the comic book. There have been many fantastic Jewish graphic works since 1970, but there are three that are most practical to the classroom: Will Eisner’s A Contract with God, Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus, and Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor.
 
These three texts pinpoint important aspects of this medium that can be discussed in class. A Contract with God was the first graphic memoir (and coincidentally, the first Jewish graphic memoir), and references Jewish immigration to America and a personal dilemma with God. Maus gave legitimacy to a growing medium of graphic narratives and launched a new approach to documenting trauma. Spiegelman’s work explores his father’s memories of the Holocaust and his own identity as a “survivor of survivors.” Finally, American Splendor, an autobiographical comic book anthology from 1976-2008, details the mundane life experiences of Pekar as an American Jew on the streets of Cleveland. All three graphic pieces present perspectives on life as a Jew in America and greatly enhance the classroom experience for eighth graders and high schoolers. Note: These memoirs do contain mature themes and content!
 
So, the real question is, why does this genre matter to Jewish education today? As Altshuler so eloquently puts it: “The graphic memoir is becoming a new way of communicating the influence of the past and complexes of identity […] and as we think about the books that we teach kids and adults, this medium is one way that we can build stronger connections to text. Sometimes we get lost in words alone, but bringing words and pictures together in tandem is a new way to experience Judaism and build engagement for teachers and students.”
 
Parshall’s Three Thoughts
Moving on from one Josh to the next: Dr. Josh Parshall is the Director of the ISJL History Department and keeper of the ISJL’s Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities.  In response to my question about books, after a long, contemplative pause, Parshall whipped out three spectacular titles that he believes could and should be on a religious school’s radar.

1. Matzo Ball Gumbo by Marcie Cohen Ferris. Parshall began with, in his words, “a classic of Southern Jewish History.” In this illustrative cookbook, Ferris details the experience and impact of Jews in the South through food. With recipes in every chapter, the book has major potential to serve as an interactive lesson using stories and recipes for programs as a class. By looking at history through a different lens, food, the book also forces the reader to pay attention to women who might otherwise be overlooked. In Parshall’s words, Matzo Ball Gumbo is “a serious history told through an accessible lens, since we all eat, and most of us cook […] and there are recipes, which are very good! Fun fact: my grandmother is co-credited with the brisket recipe in the book.”

 

1. And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl by Roger Bennett and Josh Kun. According to Parshall, this is a quintessential coffee table book. Bennett and Kun take the reader on a journey through Jewish music records across time and space, from the 1940s to the 1980s, to piece together a forgotten story of Jews in America. The book uses album graphics and artist spotlights to highlight all sorts of Jewish musicians, from comedy artist Mickey Katz and “The Goldberg’s” star Gertrude Berg, to celebrities like Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. The book could add a new lens to Jewish history for students in the classroom, and highlight what music albums say about different Jewish experiences through the 20th century. Parshall ended by stating that this compilation is “smart but tongue in cheek, and provides lots to think about with regards to Jews and American popular entertainment.”

 

1. Sing This at My Funeral: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons by David Slucki. After pondering a few options for a third and final book, Parshall landed on a book on his to-read list. Fascinated by Jewish politics, he has had this memoir on his book list for quite some time. He explains, “I haven’t read this yet, but it sounds like a compelling work of history tied together with personal reflections on family memory.” Sing This at My Funeral is a significant personal family history about Holocaust trauma, but also an account of what is passed down from generation to generation over time. The book could serve as material for a lesson on what we want our legacies to be, and what we want our students to take away from class.

 
Hopefully, the ideas from each ISJL Josh will help spice up the classroom book shelf with alternative titles and poignant stories! Happy reading y’all!