The Book of Fathers
For twelve generations in the Csillig family, the firstborn son would record his memories in a journal called “the book of fathers” and pass it down to his own son—beginning with Kornél Csillig, who started the journal to record his life’s events from the time he returned to Hungary from Germany
The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread
Who would think that a history of the Jews could be written through the story of the bagel? This cogent little book delivers the taste and texture of the Jewish experience through the bread that has traveled with Ashkenazi Jews over time.
Emancipation: How Liberating Europe's Jews from the Ghetto Led to Revolution and Renaissance
Americans generally relate the term “emancipation” to the liberation of African-American slaves during the Civil War—but Michael Goldfarb, a London-based journalist and former bureau chief of NPR, uses it to refer to the single most important phenomenon in modern Jewish history: the Jewish strugg
The Modern Men’s Torah Commentary: New Insights from Jewish Men on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions
Why a men’s Torah commentary, when the traditional rabbinic commentaries are all by men? “The great, often unspoken crisis facing modern liberal Judaism is the disengagement of its men,” writes Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin.
Good for the Jews: A Novel
Is it good for the Jews?” The title of Debra Spark’s novel uses a familiar expression for putting Jewish security at the center of every issue. It also sums up the different worldviews of two generations. Mose Sheinbaum, the 60-something hero of the book, judges all events by this litmus test.
Day After Night: A Novel
In her best-selling novel, The Red Tent, Anita Diamant reimagined the lives of women in biblical times, the community of support between them, and their unmarked footsteps in history.
America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story
Bruce Feiler opens up the Exodus story in a new way by viewing it through a different lens—the history of the United States of America. “For four hundred years, one figure stands out as the surprising symbol of America,” Feiler writes.
They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust
Having recently returned from a trip to the Polish town of my mother’s childhood, I was eager to see Mayer Kirshenblatt’s paintings of Jewish life in prewar Poland on exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York.
Capturing the Moon: Classic and Modern Jewish Tales
On Friday mornings, Rabbi Ed Feinstein explains, he used to tell stories to the children in the Jewish day school where he served as principal, and on Friday nights, he gave sermons at his congregation—until he realized that grown-ups prefer stories too.