The Spoon from Minkowitz: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands
Judith Fein, 2014
GlobalAdventure.us
256 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780988401938
Summary
Obsessed with her grandmother's mysterious village in Russia from the time she was a child, Judith Fein knew only six facts, and her life became a detective story as she tried to track those facts down.
An award-winning travel journalist with an insatiable curiosity, Judith Fein embarks on an “emotional genealogy quest” to connect to her ancestors in The Spoon from Minkowitz: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands. Like a latter-day Marco Polo, Judith follows “arrows” of opportunity in her search for the shtetl her Jewish grandmother left behind in what is now Ukraine. Accompanied by photojournalist husband, Paul Ross, whose roots also lie in Minkowitz, Fein not only solves the mystery of where she came from, but strengthens her marriage and her life.
A chronically “rootless” traveler, Judith Fein finds her roots in Minkowitz, and comes to realize how ancestors influence every aspect of our lives and how pain, rage and fear are passed down from generation to generation. Understanding the ancestors is a stepping stone to transformation.
She leaves her grandmother’s homeland with a new goal: to encourage others to dig deep into family roots to find out who they are and where they came from—and take their own “roots journey.” This compelling historical and cultural travel memoir will provoke deep emotions and personal memories of family and ancestors. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—New York, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Cornell University; graduate
work, City University of NewYork
• Currently—lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico
A communicator since birth, Judith Fein is a dynamic public speaker, workshop presenter, as well as author of the popular travel memoir, Life Is a Trip: The Transformative Magic of Travel, which focuses on encounters with different cultures and new ways of dealing with life issues. She specializes in off-the-beaten track, culturally-rich destinations and people. She is the co-founder and executive editor of the award-garnering experiential travel blog, Your Life Is a Trip. Fein was a contributor to Rudy Maxa's public radio show, “The Savvy Traveler," for six years. She has been a guest on public radio stations all over the U.S., talking on how to travel deeply, even if your trip is to the next town.
Fein has written for over 100 publications, including the L.A. Times, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, Jerusalem Post, and National Geographic Traveler. She also blogs about travel for Psychology Today and the Huffington Post. She has swum with Beluga whales, consulted with a Zulu sangoma in South Africa, eaten porcupine in Vietnam (“not with relish”), and reported on which bugs to eat in Thailand.
Recently, Judith Fein won prestigious Society of American Travel Writers gold awards for the best magazine and newspaper articles of the year. Paul Ross won a Travel Classics award for best article written by a travel journalist. Judith and Paul give acclaimed, humorous, engaging multimedia talks, conduct workshops, and occasionally take the curious with them to exotic locales. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Book Reviews
As tense as a thriller and as tender as a love story, Judith Fein’s story of her quest to connect the dots of her life will have readers laughing, crying and, most of all, cheering her on.
Catharine Hamm - Los Angeles Times
It's as if Joseph Conrad took his journey up the river into deepest darkest Minkowitz. And the best part: for many of us, this is our story, too.
Danny Rubin, screenwriter, Groundhog Day
Unlike any other back-to-roots book…driven by the author's almost mystical quest to recover the past…Her curiosity, openness and passion take us along on a journey that turns out to be ours as well.
Zelda Shluker - Hadassah Magazine
This is a book for all cultures...Fein is a natural storyteller. There is mystery, history, revelation, laughter and tears in every chapter.
Charmaine Coinbra - Charmaine’s Muse Pallet Blog
A travel writer of the soul...Fein takes us on a journey that calls forth our own inner travels. In her intimate voice that challenges us to explore the hidden landscapes within, we hear how one’s story encourages all stories. Fasten your seatbelt and get ready to discover unexplored territory for her and for you.
Rabbi Malka Drucker, author (White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America)
A primer for travelers on how to get beneath the surface of the place you are visiting. The lovely writing –moving and amusing by turn–pulled me through the story and I was sorry to see it end.
Vera Marie Badertscher - A Traveler's Library Blog
Judith Fein works tidbits of her life and the lives of her family into the larger history of the Jews in the Ukraine—not just the pain and devastation, but also the hope and joy in rebuilding and reconnecting in the now. By the end, she realizes it is not just about Minkowitz; it is about the total experience of the people from whom she came.
Bennett Greenspan, President, Family Tree DNA
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think the author was so interested in Minkowitz when she was a child?
2. Was there something that intrigued you when you were young? If so, were you encouraged or discouraged from pursuing your interest?
3. Do you have a sense that you have a mission or destiny in life?
4. People seem to show up when the author needs them. How do you explain this?
5. Is there a particular ancestor to whom you feel drawn? Do you know why?
6. Do you think we owe anything to our ancestors?
7. What is your legacy as a future ancestor?
8. What are the different kinds of love explored in the book?
9. What behaviors or traits have been passed down in your family and how did they impact you?
10. Why do you think the author didn't give up her quest?
11. Have you ever been on a quest? Did you find what you were looking for?
12. Did you have the kinds of parents you needed?
13. If you could say one thing to your ancestors, what would it be?
14. Would you want to visit the place your ancestors came from?
15. Do you think it is possible to communicate with those who are deceased?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)