Turbulent Souls
A Catholic Son's Return to his Jewish Family
by Stephen J. Dubner In late 1944, Sol Dubner told a priest that he had been a Jew and was interested in Catholicism. The priest directed him to a group of fellow converts to Catholicism from Judaism. Among these was Florence Greenglass, who competently answered Sol's questions. The two kept in touch. Sol converted to Catholicism in 1945, and in 1946 the two married and became Paul and Veronica Dubner. The Dubners had eight children; the youngest was was Stephen. Paul and Veronica Dubner did their best to give their children the gift that made their own lives worth living, their belief in Catholicism, but only three of their children stayed Catholics. Stephen was intrigued by the faith that his parents had left- Judaism. His interest was somewhat fueled by a desire to know his father, who died when Stephen was ten years old.
Turbulent Souls begins with the stories of Florence and Sol, their families, and their journeys to their faith and each other. Then it moves on to their family together, their children, and Stephen's own childhood. Finally it returns to their histories, this time not as their own stories but as part of Stephen's quest. Throughout, it is Stephen who remains most murky, because he is not clear about his own beliefs. The childhood described by Dubner stands in sharp contrast to that described by Stephen Zanichkowsky in
Fourteen, because both describe large Catholic families, one far more idyllic than the other. Pictures included.
Soulful reading.
