Mr. Ben Tsur's haggadah is just that: his. Aimed at an audience that is unfamiliar with both Yemenite Jewish culture and language, and with the Hebrews and Aramaics found in every haggadah, he seems to have incorporated information with which he is personally familiar. It is, to say the least, both limited and so, inaccurate in many ways. This haggadah is clearly a compilation based on his family's haggadoth, their familial customs, and some of the modifications they and later he, made to it. Ben Tsur's family are from San'aa, Yemen's capitol, where less than 10% of Yemen's population lived. Most Yemenites lived in the blad, the 1,000 plus villages scattered throughout Yemen. The majority used regional and personal versions of the indigenous baladi haggadah, which, like the baladi prayer tradition, is briefer than the shami. And this is why Ben Tsur's haggadah is not "original Yemenite": it is shami, the Sephardic-style import that some Yemenite Jews, in San'aa and in a few other locales, purchased from itinerant peddlars who brought them from Damascus. Since the printing press did not arrive in Yemen until the late 19th, early 20th century, all books were either imported or hand-written. The main advantage of Ben Tsur's haggadah is its English translations which are, for the most part, accurate. The pictures and large print are helpful for readers with limited vision. It is hoped that, in the 3rd edition, Mr. Ben Tsur will eliminate the misleading "original" from his title and identify it accurately: as his adaptation from his family's (and perhaps others?) shami text(s).

This Passover Haggadah, edited by Chaim Ben-Tsur, is the original Haggadah of the Jews of Yemen since the early day of the Yemenite Jewry - more than 2,000 years ago. This is not a personal version of anybody - it is rather the original version which is identical (100%) to MaHaritz's Haggadah - the mighty Ga'on, the honorable and holy Rav Yosef , the son of the honorable and holy Rav Tzalach, whose abbreviated name is the MaHaritz. He was the Chief Religious Judge of Sanaa and all Yemen cities, Chief Rabbi of Yemen and the greatest scholar in Yemenite customs and Jewish laws, for the last 400 years till today. The main text of this Haggadah is 100% identical to the text that was printed in Maharitz's "TIKLAL - ETS CHAIM HA'SHALEM", 1978 edition. Also, this Haggadah is 100% identical to the Passover Haggadah, which was published by Rabbi Shlomo Korach, the Chief Rabbi of Bnei-Brak, Israel. Rabbi Korach published two versions of the Yemenite Haggadah - the "Baladi" version

and the "Shami" version. Rabbi Korach's Baladi version is identical (100%) to this Haggadah which was published by the Association of Jewish Yemenites in the United States. I have seen many manuscripts of Haggadot that were written during different times by the Jews in Yemen. One of them in the hand writing of my father - Rabbi Salem , son of Salem Jacoby, from about 80 years ago. All of them are exactly alike this Haggadah which was published by Chaim Ben-Tsur and the Association of Jewish Yemenites in the United States. The only difference in this Haggadah is the translation to English, which brings a unique and an important service for Yemenites families who live in the United States. I have heard numerous comments from people who purchased this Haggadah - all of them were positive.

Rabbi Chaim Jacoby

Unique, a first of its kind, this Haggadah is rare enough in its original form so to have it translated into English is rarer indeed. This book helps to service a small English speaking Yemenite Jewish community as well as a collector's edition for the interested.

The book opens with a thorough treatment of the most prevalent, original (Balaadi) Yemenite laws and customs of Passover. Done in bullet point form they cover all aspects of both the holiday and the Seder itself. A rare account of the way Matzoth was prepared in Yemen during the Holiday accompanies this portion of the book. This practice has dwindled to almost non-existent in the past 40 years and has finally been documented for the English-speaking crowd.

The translation of the Haggadah itself is a traditional one with instructions accompanying all rituals throughout the Seder. This Haggadah has been endorsed by two of the great, leading rabbis of the Yemenite community, Rabbi Yosef Kafih and Rabbi Shlomo Korach.

H. Zabari

Not a bad book really, rather light and amusing, and perfect for romantics who want to project an image of exoticism on Yemen. In classic Orientalist fashion, it celebrates a European perspective on the Arab world, one which insists that its culture is best when it is at its supposedly "traditional" - the antipode to (and, I would speculate, escape from) European civilization. The author is uncomfortable with the proudly multi-cultural traditions of Aden, positively angry with women in Yemen who challenge its social norms, and tied into the idea that Yemen is an unchanging paradise. Indeed, the essentialism of his portrait is summarized in this sentence: Yemen's 1,200 mile coast is "a tacked on sort of place. The essence of Yemen is here diluted in the ebb and flow of outsiders. If I treat the coast as an afterthought, I admit to prejudice." Having spent considerable time in Yemen, I certainly agree that Yemen is a charming and wonderful place, but am perhaps uncomfortable with the way the author ignores its changing political and social currents in favor of a search for an eternal essence. Such an essence doesn't exist except in the imagination and projections of Europeans. An amusing book, but ultimately Yemen is a far, far more complex, challenging place than the author is willing to confront. But, as light escapism, for fans of travel books it is reasonably entertaining.

I enjoyed this work. The author spends time focusing on most areas of Yemen- the Hawdramat, Sana'a, Aden, the mountains, and Suqutra. It would have been nice to have more detail on the coastal areas and the writing at times isn't excellent, but it is a very serviceable text. MacKintosh-Smith writes from the perspective of someone who really got inside the culture- as much as a traveler can get. He retains an etic perspective, and does not live, grow, and die with the Yemeni. But this is one of the few travelogues where one can find information on qat, and even the author using it on a regular basis (though it remains classified as a drug at the same level as cocaine by the U.S. government).

It is also one of the few places where you can find a modern description of travels in Suqutra, which is worth getting the book by itself. The chapter on Suqutra describes a land isolated biologically for millions of years, displaying evidence of gigantisism as you find in Hawaii, where few predators have controlled the growth of fauna and especially flora. There are cucumber trees there, and others that look like upside-down umbrellas. Much of the flora and fauna are unique to the island. Further, severe storms six months of the year prevent access to the island. So, while over the years there have been invasions on the coast of the island by different parties, it has largely grown up unscathed into modern times. The language diverged from South Arabian in about 750 BC, and the people seem to be a mixture of Arabic, Greek, Portuguese, and Indian- but no one knows for sure. While they do now have cars (301 of them), the cigarette lighter is still an unknown machine. And since the government severely limits non-Yemeni visitors to the island, this is a rare and exciting bit of a story of what the people are like. I only wish there was more about the island.

This work is outside the usual parameters of my taste in reading, but a stretch is good for everyone. I want to thank the author, first, for displacing the first image that comes to mind when I hear the word "Yemen": the desperately ficticious destination picked by Chandler as he trys to escape Janis on Friends. This is a wonderfully rounded depiction of a culture that somehow manages to exist in the past as well as the present. I especially enjoyed the visit to the isle of Susqatra. Mr. MacKintosh-Smith uses his insider/outsider status to great effect, and his mastery of observation and fluid description takes the reader on a journey of discovery. Bravo.

I think that any one who likes yemen should read this book because it is a book that gives every deatil about yemen.

Peter Wald, a journalist with a long personal relation to the Near East in general as well as to the Yemen(s), gives an interesting introduction for those who never happened to stay in Yemen or those who did not get into closer contact with the country and its people. The book focuses on culture (including the famous architecture) and art but starts with a relatively detailed account of the history from the beginnings (800 BC) of the Kingdom of Saba until present, including information on reunification and the last civil war. His pages on Western explorers of Southern Arabia do not content with the well-known ones but also mention Joseph Halévy, Hermann Burchardt, f.i., and give a plastic account of the adventures of Wendell Philipps who went into real trouble when trying to excavate an ancient site in Ma'rib. The choices of the tours, however, are very selective, and the added parts on travel information and on the language stay way behind the quality of the lonely planet of Pertti Hamalainen (now in its 4th ed.). This holds true for the maps, too, but it certainly was a good idea to incorporate two of them - a topical and a historical (of Carsten Niebuhr) one - into the cover pages. The glossary seems a little short, while the recommendations for further reading are quite exhaustive for non-specialists. Written in a non-academic style, and with a photo on almost every page, Peter Wald's guide of Yemen makes up for a very pleasent - while still informative - reading.

No adequate understanding of the Jewish experience is possible without some acquaintance with the history of Yemenite Jewry. Compared with the other Jews of Islam, whose experience of persecution was generally milder than that of their European brethren, Yemenite Jewry often fell prey to religious fanaticism, suffering the most grievous oppression, humiliation and social disruption. As a result, particularly since the seventeenth century, Talmudic study fell out of favor, while mysticism gained popularity. In other works, I had read that Yemenite Jewish parenting was more punitive than that of many other Jewish communities, and that alcoholism was rife. After reading this fine but harrowing history, I think I understand why.

A book about a journey through Ethiopia and Yemen should have been interesting; this wasn't. Thank goodness Cedric arrived because the Ethiopia section would really have dragged. I admire the reviewer who read this in just days; it took me weeks. The section on Yemen was more interesting but at the end I thought: "what did he learn, about either the country, qat, or himself?" I think he discovered nothing; and if he did it certainly was not in the book. I cannot help but compare people like Rushby with Burton and Thesiger (perhaps because they themselves love to) and the comparison always favors the earlier explorers and writers.

As travel writing goes, this was an okay book. Nothing memorable, but he did go to some interesting places and is a decent enough writer. That said, he also seems to be a bit of a twit, which became annoying at some points. It is actually amazing that he survived the journey, doing things like setting off to walk across the desert in Yemen from point A to point B, carrying a single bottle of mineral water which he then drops on the rocks.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading kevin Rushby's adventurous tales and unlike one of the previous revieuwers it took me just a couple of days to read. I am someone who likes to travel to out of the way places, yet Yemen had never even registered on my mental road map. I must say I would probably still be a little aprehensive to go but loved being there vicariously through this great book!

Mr.Schmidt sheds some light on an unknown war pitting the newly enthroned Iman al Badr against General Sallal. The Iman had the best intentions of reforming Yemeni society and even admired President Nasser of Egypt. General Sallal, the opportunist seized power with the help of massive Egyptian manpower and resources. The royalists fought back, with the help of the Saudi King. The civil war ends after this book was published, so the reader does not know the outcome of this civil war.
The book details a little known war on the Arabian peninsula. Few people have heard of this war. What is known is that Nasser waged aggressive war against a poorer nation simply to put his stooges into a position of control. Kind of makes Nasser's actions in the Suez Crisis look like the hypocrite he was. For those of you needing a dose of Arab politics, this book show the double dealing nature of the Middle East.

I am a Yemeni Jew who was born and raised in the U.S. After my granparents left Yemen for Israel, they realized that they had made a huge mistake. In Israel, they were subjected to even more racism and bigotry than they had been in Yemen. Babies born to Yemeni Jews in Israel were sold to adoption agencies abroad. This book, although well writen, gives the reader the wrong idea. That is that Yemen was a terrible place for Jews, and that Israel was an escape from bigotry and racism. I would not recommend this book.

A commentary on the life of the Yemenite Jews after they had settled in Eretz Yisrael. It covers the spectrum of the immigrants' almost nightmarish experience from lowest paying jobs, race discrimination, poor housing, and having to adapt to a "European/American" secular Israeli culture. The Yemenites are possibly the most Orthodox of Jews, and for these people who have cherished and practised Judaism in its purest form for centuries at great personal loss, going to the secular country was a shock. Not withstanding, Yemenites have kept their profound admiration of the Torah while they proved to be "the most" upwardly mobile group considering that they had to start at the lowest of rung of the socioeconomic ladder. They are the most organised of the "oriental" jews and it seems that they have earned the respect of the other ethnic groups. "Proud Teymani."

Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra looks briefly at the geology and climate; then spends the vast majority of the book going through a taxonomic delineation, species by species of all plant life; and finally ends with maps indicating distribution of every species mentioned in the book. It has information on every species that a botanist in this region of the world would want to study.

But it is just really dry. Scholastic texts can be much more interesting, with better writing and more informative pictures. These pictures are black and whites drawings of parts of plants. The writing describes alternate leaves and lobes and how many sepals a plant has. Unless you have vast training in botany, you'll have no idea what the plant actually looks like. The Table of Contents listed by ... and in the text is misleading- of 550 pages, only 30 deal with the topography and climate. Of those, the section on the History of Botanical Exploration is one paragraph; the section on Conservation is five- two of the more promising sections.

There are many interesting plants in this region. Qat is a mild stimulant considered a Class A drug in America, legal in Britain, and chewed by all Yemeni men and half of the Yemeni women for a few hours every day. You can't be Yemeni and not be involved with it. But there's no listing for it in the Index; presumably it's under it's scientific name. Suqutra is an amazing island, isolated for millions of years from the rest of the world and therefore exhibiting classic botanical gigantisism due to the absence of predators. (The correct name of the island is Suqutra; the authors of the text use the Western name, Socotra.) It has umbrella trees, trees that look like giant carrots, and actual cucumber trees- trees that have become cucumbers. But without knowing the scientific names, you can't find them in this book. There is no listing of all species by area, so it is hard to find the Suqutri specimens. Once you do find them, the description is so dry you would know nothing of their magnificence. And the pictures show such small parts of the plants that you wouldn't be able to even recognize it as the wondrous organism it is.

The book is basically a missed opportunity. But it's a handy and encompassing text for someone within this specific field who's willing to pay for it.

this really isn't too useful since travelling in Yemen now has changed significantly. one can tell that it was originally written quite well and written will solutions and approaches to many of the annoyances particular to Yemen in mind. i didn't find a single thing mentioned in this book to be up to date either. the only redeeming feature was the extras on Yemeni culture, history, architecture, etc. maps are mediocre.