10 Things Every Jew Should Know Before They Go to College by Emily Schrader and Blake Flayton, with illustrations by Kimberly Brooks; Los Angeles: Griffith Moon; (c) 2025; ISBN 9781736-773895; 307 pages plus index and appendices; $20.
SAN DIEGO — This book is a valuable primer not only for entering college freshmen but also for adults who haven’t kept up on their reading.
It is divided into the following ten sections: 1) the Jewish people; 2) Israel: the Nation; 3) the Middle East; 4) Israel’s conquests; 5) international financial support for the Palestinians; 6) the United Nations; 7) lies and misconceptions; 8) the media; 9) the campus; and 10) the future.
These sections are further divided into bite-size morsels. For example, the first chapter tells in a paragraph or two for each category, which Jews are Mizrachi, Ashkenazi, Beta Israel, Bukharian; Kafkazi; Desi, Kefkeng or just Jewish. It goes on to define the Torah the Tanach, the Talmud, the Abrahamic Religions, the Ten Commandments; Orthodox, Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Hasidic, Haredi, Chabad, Secular Jews, and Jews by Choice, among other topics.
Other chapters are similarly broken down to provide a lexicon and a framework for understanding antisemitism on and off campus. Additionally, the book has an extensive index, so students and others can thumb through this book and brief themselves on hundreds of topics.
Chapters Seven and Nine, respectively dealing with “Lies and Misconceptions” and “The Campus,” prepare students to anticipate the arguments that they might encounter from left-wing and right-wing antisemites about Israel and Jews in general. Provided are some salient facts that students might marshal to correct the record. Chapter 7 deals with “common lies about Israel” including the assertion that anti-Zionism is different from antisemitism and others that Israelis are White colonialists who practice apartheid and commit genocide.
In Chapter Nine, paragraphs are devoted to various resources available to Jewish students including such campus organizations as Hillel, Chabad, AEPi, AEPhi, and Young Judaea. The book also pitches the opportunity through Birthright to take a 10-day trip to Israel.
In short, the book is a well thought-out, highly readable resource for college students who wish to fortify their Jewish identities with facts.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.