The Ramah Year-Round Staff Love To Kill a Mockingbird!

It seems like all of us here in the Ramah winter office really love Harper Lee's seminal novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this past summer!

Readers of this blog might remember Rabbi Gelb's great d'var Torah from July, in which he discussed his love for To Kill a Mockingbird.  Here's an excerpt:

This week, I had an "aha" moment when I thought about To Kill a Mockingbird and my other favorite book, the Torah, together.  To Kill a Mockingbird is about the relationship between children and parents, and more specifically, between a father and son.  It is about how Jem discovers how vulnerable his father, Atticus, is while reestablishing why he holds him in high esteem.  I can relate to that.  The Torah, too, chronicles many complex father-son relationships (think Abraham with Isaac and Ishmael, Isaac with Jacob and Esau, Jacob with Joseph and his brothers).  When I read parshat Va'etchanan, in which Moshe reviews the ten commandments, I realize how deeply meaningful the mitzvah of honoring one's parents is to me.

Click here to read Rabbi Gelb's blog in full.

I also took the opportunity to re-read To Kill a Mockingbird recently, and I wrote about my feelings on re-reading the novel over at MotionPicturesComics.comClick here to read my post.  After re-reading the novel, I couldn't resist revisiting the famous 1962 film version, starring Gregory Peck.  Click here to read my thoughts on the film.

If it's been a while since you've revisited To Kill a Mockingbird, or if — gasp! — you've never read it, I encourage you to pick it up!  It's one of the great American novels of all time.  I can't imagine that you'd be disappointed.