A Brilliant Life by Rachelle Unreich

   

     How does a mother’s love make a difference against the forces of a totalitarian Nazi regime? How can her legacy help us move forward with hope and resilience as we face the pain of losing innocent lives due to the terrorist actions of a tyrant in power? How can we raise awareness on the need to preserve democracy? 

       How can we teach the new generations that democracy matters?

   When we learn the lessons from history, we are better prepared to face the challenges with the foresight needed. Perhaps voting will be understood as a duty to save lives…I will never understand why so many people have taken democracy for granted in the United States of America.

      Rachelle Unreich’s book is a good resource to believe in the power of our knowledge and determination, to stand together against the abuse of power of a regime that slanders, labels and persecutes decent human beings.

     Mira Unreich has a lot to teach us after surviving four concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and a Death March. She was eighty-eight years old when she was diagnosed with cancer in Melbourne, Australia, where she lived. Rachelle, her youngest daughter, was taking care of her mother when Mira was battling cancer. She asked her questions as a form of distraction, but then she realized that her mother’s experiences could be a source of hope for others. She was right. Her book came to me when I needed it. This is what happens with books. They are like satellite souls of the authors with the gentle power to build bridges of understanding, solace and community. They forge paths of hope and faith. 

   I want to share a quote from Rachelle’s book; it refers to the coincidences in her mother’s life. “It was how it was in Mira’s life: coincidences folding over and over each other, forming such an elaborate pattern that it was impossible to tell where they started, and if they were finished.”

      Mira passed away ten years ago. During the pandemic Rachelle decided to write down her story.

     How did Mira survive the atrocities she witnessed and the devastating experiences she went through during her teenage years?

     Mira was born to a loving family in a small town in Czechoslovakia. She had a talent for singing and learning different languages. She loved to tell stories. People were attracted to her warmth and positive attitude.  Love, music and joy filled her childhood; it was a pleasure to read about her culture. Things changed for them, however, when the dehumanizing and scapegoating of Jews under the Nazi regime took over Germany like an epidemic; Jewish children had to drop out of schools; Jewish families were treated as “suspicious”. The Nazis imposed legislation to strip away their civil and human rights, and to destroy their livelihoods, jobs, businesses.

  The nazi regime targeted and and killed millions of Jews, but it also persecuted and murdered LGBTQs, Poles, Roma, people with disabilities, communists and dissidents of the regime. 

     Mira had three brothers and one sister. Her sister and one of her brothers were taken to concentration camps and died. Her father was shot in front of the family the day the Gestapo officers forced themselves into Mira’s home, a few hours before Mira and her family were about to escape from their house.

   The details of her life as a prisoner in the concentration camps were hard to read. Through Rachelle's book,  I continued to learn more about the cruelty of the Nazis and the brutality of the Holocaust. The sadistic behaviors of the abusers are hard to comprehend, but one can perceive the same kind of cruelty in certain modern speeches in America.

  The dehumanization of people they considered different fueled the executions, the tortures, the starvation of millions of people exposed to the elements. Families were torn apart, and many of them were sent to work under inhumane conditions that led  to their deaths.

        Following the liberation of the Neustadt concentration camp on April 30, 1945, Mira knew she had to brace herself for the dangers that lurked around her. No place around her appeared to be safe. I was astonished to learn about the cases of rape of  former prisoners by soldiers who were supposed to be there to liberate them. Those days were full of uncertainty and confusion. Thankfully, Mira did well and managed to be safe, but other women were raped or even lost their lives in the hands of soldiers. I was impressed by the painstaking approach to her story, by how she was able to put all the information together.

    All in all, A Brilliant Life is not only a relevant historical testimony but also an examination of how the trauma of Mira’s experiences somehow touched aspects of her life and her relationships. Yet it did not prevent her from living life to its fullest potential.

   Mira would finally reunite with two of her brothers under the most incredible circumstances, and they would start a new life after the war. Read A Brilliant Life and find out more about it.

   As she shared her story, Mira tried to focus on the goodness of those who helped her along the way.  Despite the horrors, I was able to savor the mystical moments of “protection” that enabled her to survive in the concentration camps.

   During the worst days of her captivity, there were helpers who made a difference. I was speechless to learn about them. Those were moments of wonder and faith, like little miracles that saved her life. The kindness of those people made a world of difference, and the love of Mira's mother was always inside her, sustaining her hope… I needed this book this week. I also needed to share it.

    Mira survived but millions of people perished in the hands of the Nazis. I would like to believe that human beings learned something from history, but the election of November 2024 in America showed that this was not the case. It was not enough to stop seventy-seven million people from voting for a man who liked to read Mein Kampf and spewed Hitler-like speeches at rallies.  Referring to his opponents as “vermin” and accusing immigrants of  "poisoning the blood of Americans" are just some examples of this. Additionally, ninety million people in America looked the other way and chose not to vote, empowering a criminal. Think about it for a minute: a woman needs to be perfect to become president in America; a man can be anything...

     One aspect I want to highlight about reading this book is how the Nazis tried to hide their evil, depraved behaviors, how they found a way to convince others that what they did was right. We need to pay attention. As I write this, people are being kidnapped by masked men in America. People die in detention centers. Why is the access of Democratic members of Congress to ICE facilities restricted in Minneapolis? This is serious.

 

 

A message of solidarity

  I am deeply sad and outraged about the brutal murder of Alex Pretti. Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse. He worked hard saving veterans’ lives.

  Alex was giving aid to a woman when a bunch of border patrol agents attacked him viciously. Seven Border Patrol “agents” bludgeoned him to the ground and then they shot him ten times. It is not true that he had been brandishing a gun. He was a legal gun owner, but he was doing nothing illegal. Alex had only been filming the violent actions of those agents with his cell phone, but Nazis like to hide their evil actions so they murdered him. Seven cowards against a brave, courageous, kind man of integrity. Seven Gestapo agents against one hero. It is hard to watch. It is heartbreaking.

  This is what the trump regime is doing, so, please, America, wake up. Please vote out anybody who supports the trump regime.

   Let’s not forget Renee Nicole Good. Say her name.  Let’s not forget Keith Porter. I recently learned about him. What kind of government slaughters innocent citizens and falsely accuses them of being domestic terrorists? Think about that for a moment.

 

   My heart is with the people of Minnesota, where innocent citizens are being kidnapped from their homes by cowards wearing masks. These thugs force themselves into homes without court orders, just like the Gestapo did in Nazi Germany. The trump regime violates the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments of the US Constitution. Now they also want to violate the Second Amendment. They want to trash our democracy. They think they are above the law but nobody is above the law. They should be held accountable. Remember that the trump regime is using our tax dollars to cause terror, persecute and even kill innocent people.

   Desperate to hide the Epstein files and the Trump effects on the economy the trump regime does whatever it can to cause outrage, sow division and spread hatred. That is all the trump regime has to offer. There is nothing else but constant lies, corruption, cruelty, violence and hatred.  There are threats to invade other countries and there is propaganda to praise the regime. This is what the Nazi regime did. 

   If you have not done so yet, read my blog post on Alexei Navalny’s book. Putin’s tactics are set in motion in America through the trump regime. Also, read Alexei Navalny’s book if you have not done so yet. You will not be disappointed.

  Thank you for visiting this site. Stay strong. Stay informed. Remember that every voice matters. Every act of kindness and solidarity can help make a difference.

   Democracy depends on us.

 

Relevant links:

https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-immigration-us-citizen-detained-hmong-d009590a491c0c8243ef21ef24db7182

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bK4bjsiGg

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti-15ade7de6e19cb0291734e85dac763dc

 

 https://www.theglobalist.com/trumps-disgraceful-and-destructive-use-of-presidential-pardons/

 

https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-shooting-congress-visit-ice-5eb6749b18d59ed8c47b5eeab9784432

 

 

https://apnews.com/article/israel-holocaust-remembrance-day-auschwitz-survivors-f6ed4882964e9455cc014f243b307fec

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRXAy5SLMyg

The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

 

“Don’t follow the flow. Be the flow.” From the book The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

  I was fascinated by one of the characters in this philosophical novel: Shams of Tabriz. I enjoyed every minute of his interactions with others until something happened that made my hair stand on end. Falling in love with Rumi led him to do something cruel and stupid.

    Shams of Tabriz was a Persian poet, a wanderer, a Dervish who lived in the thirteenth century in the Middle East. He is credited with turning Rumi into a poet. Shams was not afraid of speaking truth to power. He did not waste time on pleasantries; he viewed gossip with contempt.  One of his talents was to see through people, and he had visions…

   I liked him because he was never misled by bigots, and he evaluated situations and people with fresh eyes without being influenced by gossip. His intelligence and introspective nature enabled him to defeat the bigots through the peaceful power of his words, and so they hated him. By diving into the truth, he cared to expose the light that the bigots refused to see.

     Rumi was a popular scholar and a privileged member of society, but he felt that something was missing in his life. There was some kind of void. When Shams met Rumi, they discovered that they shared a kind of profound spiritual connection. Close to the end of this novel, however, Shams did something cruel and outrageous. He married a fifteen-year-old girl. Shams, a sixty-year-old man married Kimya, a gifted fifteen-year-old girl. (I will share more about this later in the post).

    In The Forty Rules of Love there are two stories that run parallel to each other. One is the story of Ella. The other one is the story of Rumi and Shams. Ella is as boring as a neat, tidy garden loaded with pesticides and herbicides. I am not judging her as a person here. I am simply stating that after reading the first chapter of the novel I wanted to stop reading it because I was not interested in reading her story. Her husband, David, cheats on Ella and she accepts it as part of her marriage. It is presented as a normal part of their relationship. Let’s not feign surprise here.  A man cheating on his wife is acceptable and normal in the eyes of seventy-seven million people in America. The only reason I continued reading the novel was the number of positive reviews I had encountered. I was intrigued.

        Ella is the mother of three children and she has been offered a job at a literary agency. As part of her job, she is expected to read unpublished books and write reports about them. Her new assignment is to read a novel titled Sweet Blasphemy, which had been written by a Scottish man who had become a Sufi. His name is Aziz. Because of this assignment Ella writes to Aziz, and they start exchanging emails. The chapters of the novel alternate between the chapters about Ella’s life and the chapters of Sweet Blasphemy, a novel about the life of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. In the chapters about Ella’s life, we follow the spontaneous interaction between Ella and Aziz, which takes place through emails.  

    Both stories unfold in different time periods. Rumi and Shams of Tabriz lived during the thirteenth century, and they meet for the first time in Konya, Turkey, in the year 1244. Ella’s story takes place in 2008 in the state of Massachusetts. Azis lives in Amsterdam.

   The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak is a philosophical novel that narrates two different stories in alternating chapters. Yet these stories are analogous to each other, even though they happen in different time periods. I invite the readers to become aware of the synchronicities of these two stories. The analogy responds to the theme of the novel: the fact that everything is interconnected; the idea that we are one. This idea is well summarized in the following quote by Shams of Tabriz:

  “The universe is one being. Everything and everyone is interconnected through an invisible web of stories. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in a silent conversation. Do no harm. Practice compassion. And do not gossip behind anybody’s back—not even a seemingly innocent remark.”

 

  I will share what I loved about the novel and what I disliked about it. There is a lot to appreciate about the story, and there is a lot to dislike about it as well. I do recommend it.

 

What I loved about the novel

 

 The synchronicity and harmony between the two stories kindle a sense of wonder in the reader. The reflections of the novel and the so-called “rules” of love are the gist of the novel. They provide the core upon which the stories hinge. The thought-provoking revelations do not sound preachy because they harmonize with the situations that arise. These reflections are an invitation to discuss topics that affect our present. They can generate introspective conversations and raise awareness on social issues that pervade society.

      I wrote down many of the quotes because I like to share them and I enjoy revisiting them.  They can be a source of hope and inspiration. I encourage you to seek them yourself. I will be keeping many of them in my notebook, like hidden treasures.

   Here’s one of relevance today:

“There are more fake gurus and false teachers in this world than the number of stars in the visible universe. Don’t confuse power-driven, self-centered people with true mentors. A genuine spiritual master will not direct your intention to himself or herself and will not expect absolute obedience or utter admiration from you, but instead will help you to appreciate and admire your inner self. True mentors are as transparent as glass.”

   Let me share more quotes by Shams here:

“There is only one kind of dirt that cannot be cleansed with pure water, and that is the stain of hatred and bigotry contaminating the soul. You can purify your body through abstinence and fasting, but only love will purify your heart.”

   There are several different characters in Sweet Blasphemy. One of them is Desert Rose, a sex slave in Tonya, Turkey. The author refers to her as a “harlot”. She should have referred to her as a sex slave instead. I did not like that the author did not use the proper word. Think about the implications of referring to a sex slave as a "harlot". The influence of a patriarchal society in the author’s words is clear. 

   When Desert Rose tried to escape from the brothel, she did not get much support. In response to this situation, she offered the following reflection:

 “Some people feed on the miseries of others and they don’t like it when there is one less miserable person on the face of the earth…”

  Desert Rose risked her life to recover her freedom. This is an example of strength and resilience.

  Now think about how many people are okay with the existence of sex slaves in this world. Think about how some powerful people support the trafficking of sex slaves and cover up for pedophiles and you will agree with Desert Rose. It is not difficult to see that people who cover up and facilitate this exploitation normalize the objectification of women and girls. It is also sad and tragic that the author does not use the word “sex slave”. 

    There are many thought-provoking statements in The Forty Rules of Love. I appreciate the insights into the behavior of religious bigots. For example, Shams said, “Instead of losing themselves in the love of God and waging a war against their ego, religious zealots fight other people, generating wave after wave of fear.”

 

 Here’s a reflection on patience:

“Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn.”

 

 

   What I did not like about the novel

 

  If Rumi was so enlightened, why didn’t he let Kerra have access to his books? I get it. He lived in the Middle Ages, but even in the Middle Ages, I would not have expected a fifteen-year-old gifted girl to “fall in love” with a sixty-year-old man who could have been her grandfather. The author of the novel tries to make us believe that Kimya fell in love with Shams, a sixty-year-old man. The fact that the novelist shows us that Kimya was so deeply in love with Shams is a clear indicator of how powerful the patriarchy influenced Elif Shafak’s writing. She also wants to make us believe that the words “beating a wife” can mean something reasonable and acceptable. No, Elif, I disagree with your word salad on the matter. Beating a wife means beating a wife, so do not try to manipulate the readers into believing something different.

     Shams did not love Kimya back, but he had no problem humiliating her, so how enlightened was Shams? This was truly nauseating. The unhealthy attachment between Shams and Rumi led to the suffering of others. Furthermore, divine love is not about physical attachment, which was evident in the relationship between Shams and Rumi. Divine love is about understanding, compassion, empathy, respect, dignity and freedom.

      The fact that children are still forced to marry men and the fact that girls and women continue to be trafficked and abused should be a reason to shock people, but the truth is that too many people participate in this, which is why this still happens. Also, the word “harlot” is not the same as sex slave. I did not find a single review stating this.

 

    Seeing Desert Rose teach Kimya how “to win Shams’ s heart” was deplorable and humiliating in many ways, but I will let the readers read about this and reach their own conclusions.

 

    Ella trusted a stranger in a way that made me uncomfortable. I think this aspect of the story is overrated. However, it is understandable that novels are fiction, and, for this reason, they can present unlikely scenarios and situations that may be extremely rare in real life. Also, the email exchange is referred to as an “affair” even though there was no evidence of “an affair” when they exchanged emails. What did I miss here? David Rubinstein, on the other hand, had affairs-real affairs- but the author does not even care to explore that part of the story. I did not like this. What happened with David? Yet the author refers to a simple email exchange between Ella and Aziz as an “affair”. 

  What is wrong about two human beings exchanging emails? That does not make it an affair. Ella eventually meets Aziz in-person. That is another phase of their relationship that should not even be considered an “affair” because Ella had already told David that she loved Aziz.

 

    Last but not least, it is annoying and disappointing that the women in this novel seem to need the input of a man to be inspired and encouraged to change in constructive ways. Apparently, Elif Shafak does not believe that women are clever enough to do so without the feedback of men. Again, the patriarchy did a “good job” influencing the writing of this novel.

 

 

   Conclusion

 

  The Forty Rules of Love is a philosophical novel with thought-provoking insights and reflections that have the potential to dissolve the provincial attitudes and behaviors that keep the world stuck in patterns of injustice and inequities. The way the two stories unfold creates a sense of wonder and intrigue that makes the read engrossing. Unfortunately, the influence of the patriarchy is present like a shadow in this novel, even though the author tries to convince us that the women were “transformed”. On the one hand, the author expresses brilliant ideas and insights, but on the other, she sabotages those ideas by assigning more wisdom, power and authority to men and by choosing words that demean women. In many cases she portrays them in ludicrous situations that do not represent their true selves.

    Did Ella follow the flow or was Ella the flow?  Read The Forty Rules of Love and reach your own conclusions.

 

In The Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall

 

  If you enjoy reading about the behaviors of animals from the perspective of a compassionate naturalist, you will enjoy this one. The Book of Hope inspired me to search for her first book, which was published in 1970, after her pioneer work with chimpanzees in the forests of Gombe in Tanzania, far away from the comforts of human civilization. 

   I was impressed by her writing skills. It is an engaging adventure shared with evocative power. It activates our senses and awakens our curiosity to learn and love the natural world. As readers we effortlessly soak up her motivation and passion for the study of chimpanzees and wildlife while absorbing the beauty of the setting.

 Chimpanzees have complex relationships and societies. Her detailed observations reveal the intricacies of the bond between a mother and her child. She watched several mothers in the groups and she delved into the ways in which those relationships can be different based on the mothers' personalities. For example, the bond between Flo and her kids is one Dr. Goodall carefully followed and documented, and it was fascinating to see how the mother-child bond generated respect in the group.

 There are chance interactions as well as firm friendships. There are humorous situations and some dramatic ones. There are setbacks and frustrations, but also opportunities to learn and get closer to the chimpanzees, to understand them better.

 I was reluctant to believe that there could be parallelisms between the behaviors of humans and chimpanzees, but I was shocked to notice some parallelisms. Human beings are animals after all. One of these examples is the one illustrated by a situation of possible jealousy and competition of females. I have witnessed it myself ten years ago when I lived in a place ravaged by prejudices and provincial attitudes. I did not expect to remember this when reading about chimpanzees, but the read summoned up memories. Anyway, I do not believe that the cruelty of humans bears any resemblance to the behaviors of chimpanzees. 

  The most challenging days of Jane Goodall’s research were the days of the unexpected outbreak of polio in the region. Jane Goodall had to figure out how to provide the oral polio vaccine to the chimpanzees in order to protect them. She and her partner, Hugo, had to take the vaccine too. Unfortunately, the polio outbreak in a human community  had spread to the chimpanzees and had devastating consequences for them.

    One of the main accomplishments of the book is the way it immerses the reader in the experience of being a naturalist living close to the chimpanzees. (This was her first book, so you will find some outdated statements). You can visit the Jane Goodall Institute for updated information on the work they do.

 In The Shadow of Man made me reflect on Jane Goodall’s accomplishments and impact. Her legacy continues to inspire me to be active in every way I can. 

 

 If you enjoyed this post, make sure you check my writing on the following books:

 

The Wisdom of Wolves

 

Unforgotten

 

The Sixth Extinction

 

I encourage you to do your part  to support life and the planet we inhabit. You may find these links helpful:

https://www.idausa.org/take-action/

 https://earthjustice.org/action

 https://www.peta.org/

 

A message of support 

  My heart is with the family of Renee Nicole Good and with the people of Minneapolis. I was sad and horrified to learn about the shooting of an innocent woman who had just dropped her child in school. It was terrifying to watch. Her vehicle was not blocking anybody. She was simply trying to drive away when the cowardly ICE agent shot her in the face. It was an act of misogyny and I am surprised that nobody is using this word, 

 

   To add insult to injury we had to hear Donald Trump and Vance making false accusations about the victim of this horrific act. They falsely claimed that she was a radical extremist and that she had tried to run over the agent. We clearly see in the video that this is not true, but the false accusations against the innocent victim are not surprising. This is exactly what Putin does in Russia. This is the russification of the United States of America by the tyrant in power. They are excusing the execution of a person in public and they slander the innocent person to justify their brutality. Feel free to read my writing on the book Patriot by Alexei Navalny to get an understanding of what tyrants do.

 

   Let’s be clear on this: ICE agents are not police officers. They do not have the training of a police officer. The incompetence and lack of professionalism of ICE agents are deeply disturbing. Renee was given different instructions by different agents at the same time. The cowardly ICE agent who shot Renee Good even insulted her after shooting her in the face. I will not repeat his words but they are a clear indicator of the agent’s misogyny. Furthermore, this ICE "agent" did not allow her to have the urgent medical attention she needed. A doctor showed up and volunteered to provide aid and the despicable officer did not allow him to provide it. This is criminal behavior. First he shot her and insulted her and then he prevented a physician from helping her.  

     Not only did the cowardly ICE agent shoot Renee in the face, but he also slandered and insulted her. Dog killer Kristi Noem said that this was an act of domestic terrorism. Indeed, the domestic terrorist, an ICE agent, shot an innocent woman who was simply trying to drive away to return home.  She was not blocking the ICE agents in any way. There is no evidence of this in the videos.

     Let this sink in: the ICE agents are the puppets of an incompetent administration that is trying to operate like Putin does in Russia. Now the agents of the trump regime spread lies and propaganda to excuse their hateful crimes.

    Renee Nicole Good was a poet, a writer, a mother, and she was the member of a loving community. Let’s show trump and his sycophants that we are united against trump’s hate and shameless lies. We are driven by love, empathy, respect and integrity. 

   If the trump regime is allowed to normalize the murder of Renee Good and the ICE agent is not convicted, there will be no limits to this regime. This ICE agent did not follow the Rule of Law. He is a danger to society. Let's demand justice for Renee Nicole Good. Every voice matters. 

   I am sharing relevant reporting here by independent journalists:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er1rMAt_mqM

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhhxeLpEdyg

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1SksU91xoE

 

https://www.theglobalist.com/trumps-disgraceful-and-destructive-use-of-presidential-pardons/

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trumps-military-intervention-in-venezuela-serves-big-oil-not-the-american-people/

 

 Thank you for reading this. I appreciate your visit.

 

    

These are some of the books I am planning to  read in 2026:

 

The Penguin book of Italian Short Stories, edited by Jhumpa Lahiri

 

The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

 

Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton

 

El Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges

 

Looking for the Hidden Folk by Nancy Marie Brown

 

Do it Like a Woman by Caroline Criado Perez

 

Lost Boys by James Garbarino (I do not have sons, but I want to understand the roots of male violence to study how this can be prevented).

 

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

And the list goes on but I will stop here for now…

Till next time.