Building the Temple
The Dollmaker of Krakow
Young adult Holocaust narratives aren’t too hard to find. Prisoner B-3087, Refugee, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas are among the many novels striving to broach a challenging subject for a teen or tween audience. Because children and teens were profoundly impacted by the events leading up to and during World War II, sharing a story from their point of view is a natural entry point for a reader of the same age.
Alfred Stieglitz: Taking Pictures, Making Painters
Phyllis Rose’s book Alfred Stieglitz: Taking Pictures, Making Painters (part of Yale’s Jewish Lives series) brings her subject out of the shadows and into his deserved place in history as the person who made “taking pictures” a respected art form.
Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent
In his highly readable and concise biography – Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent (Yale University Press) – of the famous philosopher, Paul Mendes-Flohr, chief editor of the 22-volume German language collection of Buber’s works, described him as a man who championed “a life of dialogue” and taught that “all real living is meeting.”
Pirkei Avot: A Social Justice Commentary
Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Ancestors) stands out among the 63 tractates of the Mishnah as a treatise devoted to ethical exhortation and guidance. Some scholars claim it was originally a manual directed at rabbi-judges.
The Lions' Den: Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky
Sometimes a book arrives at a necessary moment, a moment in which it can become part of the public conversation and help set the stage for political arguments to come. The Lions’ Den: Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky is such a book.
...And Often the First Jew
Rabbi Stephen Fuchs and his wife, Victoria, had a choice to make, a choice that would transform their lives. Should they cut all ties with Germany, where their parents were born and survived the Holocaust, or should they begin a positive dialogue with Germans?
The Art of Leaving: A Memoir
Ayelet Tsabari’s beloved father died suddenly shortly before her tenth birthday. She cites this traumatic event as the reason for her quest to find a permanent home and to find herself – the life journey she describes in this compelling memoir.
Stories We Tell: Made to Hug
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah -- Yitro: Courageous Leadership
In this episode of On the Other Hand, Rabbi Jacobs talks with Rabbi Judy Schindler. They discuss Parashat Yitro, expanding the tent of Jewish life, the legacy passed down by her father, social justice activism, and Rabbi Schindler's bo