Jews on the Frontier

The idea of “mobility”, explored in this book, is a powerful one. The book suffers from two major flaws, however; one is the attempt to write in Academese (“De-normativized”). The other is the author's lack of context and seeming unfamiliarity with Judaism. For example, she misreads Hagiga 26a about the meaning of “chaverim”; similarly, signing a letter “your friend” was probably just a 19th-century affectation.