Free as a Jew
A Personal Memoir of National Self-Liberation

About half way through Ruth Wisse’s memoir, “Free as a Jew,” I contemplated giving it a cautionary review. Having eagerly acquired the book upon its release, that reaction surprised me, but the book did not seem to be what I was expecting. I’m a longtime admirer of Professor Wisse as a courageous an......more

I read this book because I have read some articles by the author and have a lot of respect for her work and her political views, many of which I agree with. And there was a lot in this book to like and think about. She has led an interesting and fulfilling life and accomplished a lot for herself and......more

Ruth Wisse has been an interesting voice in the Worldwide Jewish Conversation for many years. Starting as a professor in Yiddish Literature first in McGill University in Montreal where my wife had the privilege of attending a class she taught, to Harvard University, she has demonstrated her wisdom a......more

I've admired her spirited defenses of Israel's right to exist, of Harvard's dissenters against craven groupthink, and her research on Yiddish literary and cultural persistence in the Old and New Worlds. Her autobiography (as another reviewer on Goodreads agreed) feels less weighty and more chatty, w......more

Another remarkable book by this inspiring scholar. The memoir begins with Wisse's early life--her family's escape from Romania in 1940 and her childhood in Montreal as the children of parents who are grieving for many of their family members who perished during the Holocaust. She details her educati......more