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Leonard Bell and Diana Morrow (eds.) (2012) Jewish Lives in New Zealand: A History. Random House New Zealand.
Much has been written about New Zealand's increasing diversity, particularly since changes to immigration policy in the late 1980s opened the doors to migrants from a wider range of source countries. However it can also be argued that New Zealand's population has always been ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse - it is just that minority groups that have historically assimilated or integrated into society have been less visible. Jewish Lives in New Zealand: a History, edited by Leonard Bell and Diana Morrow, demonstrates the nation's hidden diversity when it comes to people with a Jewish heritage who have lived or are living in New Zealand.
This book spans New Zealand's history from the early days of European settlement through to contemporary contexts in surveying the social, cultural and political impact of Jewish people (never more than 0.5 percent of the total population) on the country. In fact the Jewish contribution is clearly diverse in itself and this is reflected in nine of the book's eleven chapters offering a 'who's who' of Jewish New Zealanders. These chapters are devoted specifically to music, art, literature, academia, education, business, medicine, journalism, and performing arts and food.
Contributors to the book, many of whom have Jewish connections themselves, include a number of academics such as Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University Paul Morris, Associate Professor in the Arts at the University of Waikato Sarah Shieff, historians Ann Beaglehole, Derek Dow, Leonard Bell and Diana Morrow, as well as journalists and writers David Cohen Miriam Bell and Steven Sedley, and photographers Naomi Bell, Marti Friedlander and Stephen Robinson. The other two chapters of Jewish Lives divert from a focus on the professions to provide information relating to Judaism in New Zealand. Cheryl Pearl Sucher writes about New Zealand as the southern-most Jewish community in the world, while sociologist Professor Paul Spoonley details the pervasiveness of anti-semitism in reaching even this far away country that has inherently expressed pride in its race relations. These chapters provide important contextual information that detail the challenges past and present for one of New Zealand's lesser known minority groups.
Jewish Lives provides a comprehensive unveiling of...