What do Jews think scripture is? How do the People of the Book conceive of the Book of Books? In what ways is it authoritative? Who has the right to interpret it? Is it divinely or humanly written? And have Jews always thought about the Bible in the same way?
#2610124 in Books NYU Press 2012-11-12 2012-11-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .75 x 5.98l; 1.25 #File Name: 0814717381280 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. California WinemakingBy Leif HatlenThis was a fascinating book weaving together many different subjects: the birth of winemaking in California; Italian immigration to Californa (and for good measure all of the United States); modern Italian history; and immigration in general. I bought this book because I have a long interest in winemaking and in particular winemaking in California. However the author's observations on the general subject of immigration; for me became the most interesting parts of the book. The other parts were great; but the comments; observations on immigration to the United States during the late 1800s and earlier 1900s were wonderful. As a second-generation member of an immigrant family I found the comments right on. In particular his comments that immigrants come to join with other immigrants from the same area in economic activities and that this '...circumstance totally conflicts with the popular image of the wandering migrant searching the world over for work and freedom...' is a concept that I had known about but had really not known how universal it probably is.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Italian Immigrants and the Origins of the Wine Industry in CaliforniaBy Kenneth ScambrayIn Soft Soil; Black Grapes; Simone Cinotto has made an original contribution not only to California wine-making history; but to the history of immigration in the U.S. before WWII. Focusing on the winemakers Andrew Sbarboro; the founder of the Italian Swiss Colony Winery; Ernest and Julio Gallo; and Secondo Guasti; founder of the Italian Vineyard Company in what is now Rancho Cucamonga; Cinotto argues that these early winemakers; all from northern Italy; did not necessarily bring old-world viniculture skills to America. Rather; they succeeded as businessmen by exploiting the growing ethnic economy in America at the time through social and cultural capital. Cinotto's well-researched history draws upon archives from northern California to southern California. It is widely known that the original Italian immigrants to northern California came from northern Italy; from A. P. Giannini; Marco Fontana; Domenico Ghirardelli; and Giovanni Pedroncelli; Robert Mondavi; and the Cellas to Secondo Guasti; Andrew Sbarbaro; and the Gallos. What distinguishes these northern Italian immigrants is that they came not as peasants looking for work; but as businessmen looking to exploit the new markets that they imagined would be awaiting them in America. Some; such as Ghirardelli and Guasti; immigrated first to South America and Mexico; where they began their New World business careers; before they migrated to America. They brought with them their business experiences and also a higher degree of literacy than their southern Italian counterparts who would make up the vast majority of the Italian immigrants coming to American. As Cinotto explains; Sbarboro; as well as all the other Italian businessmen; could not have become successful without the labor of those southern Italian immigrants; as well as other immigrants; that came West. The unique contribution to immigrant studies that Cinotto makes in Soft Earth; Black Grapes is how the immigrant economy worked for Sbarboro; Guasti; and the Gallos; as well as his workers; in spite of their low wages. In the exchange of what Cinotto calls social capital; the winemakers hired Italian immigrants at a lower and even; it could be argued; an exploitive pay scale. But in return the laborers had a more secure working environment. At Secondo Guasti's Italian Vineyard Company; Mexican and southern Italians worked as laborers and foremen; while Guasti's top managers were from his home region and spoke his dialect. Japanese labor contractors provided Guasti with the bulk of his seasonal workers; but not always at a fair pay scale. Soft Soil; Black Grapes is a window into the workings of the immigrant economy; not just Italian but by implication all immigrant communities before World War II and well into the twentieth-first century. Ethnic communities; whether urban or rural; are not just cultural entities; but enterprise zones where immigrants have always relied on each other culturally and economically to succeed; from the Japanese and Italian farmers in the West before World War II to Chinatowns; Little Italies; and Barrios throughout the U.S. However; these same economic opportunities were not available to Native Americans and African Americans. For the careful reader; Cinotto's study opens yet another important discourse over the issue of race in America: who is or is not "white." Cinotto has laid the basis for further studies on how all immigrant communities succeed in spite of resistance; historical and contemporary; to their settlement in America. Ken Scambray; Univ. of La Verne.
