So That Your Values Live On: Ethical Wills and How to Prepare Them
This is a revised edition of Ethical Wills ( LJ 6/15/83). Ethical wills, in contrast to testamentary ones, do not need to be drawn by a lawyer and do not transmit tangible objects. They are a Jewish tradition of passing on the wisdom of a life, more often than not a life of hardship. The book begins with wills from the 18th century, which pass on each writer's religious passions. Next come the heartbreaking cries of Holocaust victims on scraps of paper tucked into cracks in the walls, or even scratched into walls; in their brevity they speak volumes. Wills from the land of Israel follow, informed by a sense of love and duty for a new homeland. The sampling of modern wills are more lighthearted: Sam Levenson leaves his grandchildren and, by implication, us "some four-letter words for all occasions: give, care, love . . . ." Each entry is preceded by a short profile of its writer. A guide to writing these wills concludes this uplifting book.- Gerda Haas, Holocaust Human Rights Ctr. of MaineCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.