An American Jew in Israel
By Uri Regev
Jessica Fishman's skillfully written memoir Chutzpah and High Heels: The Search for Love and Identity in the Holy Land presents to the reader a key chapter in the life of a young American Jewish woman who attempted to transform her life through Aliyah. It describes the numerous challenges she confronted in her decision to uproot herself to immigrate to Israel. It is written with candor and humor, and it raises many fundamental issues involving Israel-Diaspora relations. For all its sharp criticism of different facets of life in Israel, it is at its core a Zionist treatise anchored in a deep love for the State and its people. It also offers a thought-provoking indictment of the young generation of American Jewry. This is a story of Jewish life’s complexity, of core values and of the challenging...