The Secret Chord
It's a good bet that many Americans are doing some deep thinking about the qualities we seek in a leader. Do we value charisma over moral purity? Do we forgive personal flaws in deference to rank and power?
We Were the Future: A Memoir of the Kibbutz
The word “kibbutz” may suggest a healthy, outdoorsy lifestyle on a self-sustaining farm, a cooperative of hardy, dedicated men and women, living and working together, sharing their lives. Yael Neeman’s memoir, We Were the Future details a surprisingly different scenario.
L’Chaim: Pictures to Evoke Memories of a Jewish Life
The book is large and fits comfortably on a lap. The color photographs nearly fill each page. Each image depicts real people doing everyday Jewish things — a young girl eating matzah ball soup; a bubbe and her grandchildren lying in the grass; a man wearing tefillin, praying. The sentences are in large print; they are simple ("Mother says the blessing over the candles") and easy to read.
Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier, Leader, Statesman
There is a photograph in my study of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shaking hands with me in a crowded Jerusalem hotel ballroom.
The Mandela Plot
Adolescence, otherness, and Apartheid make a literally explosive cocktail in National Jewish Book Award winner Kenneth Bonert’s new novel, The Mandela Plot. Half hyperbolic adventure and half historical fiction, Bonert elevates his unlikely hero, Martin Helger, to almost mythic status, while reminding readers both of South Africa’s Jewish diaspora and the horrors of Apartheid.
Shoah Memorial Prayer
This memorial prayer for those who perished in the Holocaust is the centerpiece of a six-prayer Yom HaShoah liturgy. It also appears in liturgist Alden Solovy’s book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.
For the Children of Newtown
There are no words. Yet we need them. Words of consolation. Words of prayer.
A Reflection on Psalm 23
The most famous verse in the most famous Psalm offers insight and counsel that is tragically timely. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me."
A Time of Anxiety
Eternal God, You abide though all things change. We are anxious and fearful, and we turn our hearts to You, looking to You and leaning on Your strength.
When Burdens Are Too Heavy
We come to You, O God, for your gracious help. You dwell within our heart, You feel our distress, You know our pain, and how burdened we are. Give us strength to bear our burdens with courage, wisdom, and grace.