A Long Overdue Update

So sorry for the prolonged silence. I have not in the least forgotten my loyal fans and have not been idle. On the contrary, I have been submerged with work getting articles and a book ready for publication so that you will have more to read.

I was busy for several months making revisions for the 10 articles I contributed to the immense Histoire juive de la France (A Jewish History of France) published by a very prestigious, internationally recognized French publishing house, Albin Michel. I was honored to be the only Canadian scholar invited to participate in this project, and I was indeed in excellent company. There were scholars from Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, Cornell, Oxford, the University of Paris, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, among many others. When a colleague exclaimed: "My God, you've made it to the top!", I replied: "If this is what it means to be discovered overnight, it has been the longest night of my life."

The Editor in Chief sent a letter of thanks to all the contributors, including myself, because the reaction in the French media has been extremely enthusiastic. In fact, every major French newspaper and news magazine has praised this huge coffee table book to the skies. It was in its second printing barely five months after being launched. I feel very proud to have been part of this project.

Then I nearly ran myself into the ground getting ready the English-language version of my book in French on the novels of the Nobel Prize winner, Elie Wiesel, renowned for his first great text titled Night. I did not translate my original French version into English. This was a re-writing with many modifications. It was like writing the book a second time. It will be published by Mosaic Press in Canada and hopefully will be in print sometime in October of this year. I have always maintained that Elie Wiesel bares his soul far more in his works of fiction than in his essays and articles. This is the paradox of art. He created imaginary destinies in order to see far more clearly within himself. I have tried to be deep as well as immediately accessible. I will let you know as soon as it is available.

For the time being, I wish you all a wonderful, fulfilling summer season and look forward to chatting with you again in the near future. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. I would very much enjoy hearing from you.

All the best,

Leonard