After growing up as a fully assimilated Jew, Paul Cowan embarked in his mid-thirties upon a journey to discover and appreciate his true identity and heritage. This "orphan in history" relates his search for these roots, detailing the path he took from his Park Avenue home to nineteenth-century Lithuania to a contemporary Israeli kibbutz, leading to remarkable personal discoveries that will move everyone who has yearned to know more about their past.
An Orphan in History is a classically beautiful, inspiring story of how one man evolved from describing himself as "an American Jew" to "an American and a Jew."
This story will inspire you to journey in search of your true self.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Powerful Personal Memoir about Attraction to Jewish Spirituality:
I read this book many years ago, and still remember it. Cowan was raised a secular Jew, in a wealthy family, in one of the richest suburbs of Chicago. His parents did raise him to be proud of his culture, and to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust.
After he attends elite schools (one Episcopalian), and moves to Manhattan as a journalist, he becomes interested in Judaism, especially its spiritual aspects. He studies it; attends synagogues; and becomes very open to it in every way. He eventually takes... more info
