Gish Jen in the Promised Land

February 22, 2005 - 10:47 PM by Israelity

Gish Jen, author of Mona in the Promised Land, gave a talk at Tel Aviv University yesterday. In case you haven’t read the book, the eponymous protagonist is the American-born daughter of Chinese immigrants who, growing up in the heavily Jewish New York suburb of Scarsdale, decides that she wants to convert to Judaism. Recently, “Mona” was translated into Hebrew, and Jen signed copies after her talk.

It was kind of interesting, listening to a Chinese-American author speak to an audience of Israelis who immigrated from English speaking countries, about creating identity.

And it reminded me a lot of my childhood in a city where half the population was from Hong Kong. When I was a kid I thought that Chinese and Jews were basically the same: they were both tribal and family oriented; both celebrated rites of passage and holidays around tables laden with food; both stressed the importance of education; and both tended to push their kids into professions like medicine and law. We even lived in the same neighbourhoods. But the appreciation only went one way when it came to food: I practically grew up using chopsticks, but I could tell that my Chinese friends were just being polite when they expressed appreciation for my mom’s brisket and gefilte fish.

I wonder what they’d think of falafel and hummous?

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Gish Jen in the Promised Land

February 22, 2005 - 10:32 PM by Israelity

Gish Jen, author of Mona in the Promised Land, gave a talk at Tel Aviv University yesterday. “Mona” is the American-born daughter of Chinese immigrants

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