Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?: “The Four Questions” Around the World by Ilana Kurshan

Description

Bibliographic Details

• Author: Ilana Kurshan
• Title: Why Is This Night different From All Other Nights? "The Four Questions" Around The World
• Publisher: ‎ Schocken Books; First Edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: ‎ English
• Format: Hardcover – 142 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 080524252X
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0805242522
• Item Weight: ‎ .70 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 0.75 x 7 inches
• Book Condition: New / Like New – Excellent
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good (may show slight cut on back edge from box cutter)

Synopsis:

This fascinating, informative, and beautifully illustrated books translates the Passover seder's Four Questions into twenty-three languages and provides capsule histories of the Jews in the countries where the languages are spoken.

The recitation of the Four Questions at the beginning of the Passover seder by the youngest participant is one of the highlights of the evening and captures its very essence: to keep the memory of the Exodus of the Jews from Egyptian slavery alive in our minds, and to teach our children about their heritage and history.

This unique volume covers a variety of languages of the Jewish Diaspora—from French to Farsi, from Latin to Ladino, from Amharic to Afrikaans, from Yiddish to Swedish to Chinese. For each language a translation (and, where necessary, a transliteration) of the Four Questions is provided, accompanied by a brief overview of Jewish life and culture among the speakers of the language, and an illustrations of either historical or contemporary interest.

The perfect seder gift, Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? is also an excellent introduction to Jewish history in the Diaspora for young and old alike.

About the Author:

Ilana Kurshan is the author of If All the Seas Were Ink (St. Martin's Press, 2017) and Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights (Schocken, 2005). She has translated books of Jewish interest by Ruth Calderon, Benjamin Lau, and Micah Goodman, as well as novels, short story collections, and children’s picture books.

She is a regular contributor to Lilith Magazine, where she serves as the Book Reviews Editor, and her writing has appeared in The Forward, The World Jewish Digest, Hadassah, Nashim, Zeek, Kveller, and Tablet.

Kurshan is a graduate of Harvard University (BA, summa cum laude, History of Science) and Cambridge University (M.Phil, English literature). She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four children.