Title: The Hidden Hand: Uncovering Divine Providence in Major Events of the 20th CenturyAuthor: Yaakov AstorPublisher: Judaica Press 

 Yaakov Astor applies the time-honored tradition of examining world events through a Torah lens, which he applies to the 20th century, leaving readers wiser than they were before.

 The author includes facts, supported with End Notes – which are often overlooked by mass media and too rarely appear in history texts. By educating his readers with a more complete context for events such as the lead-up to World Wars I and II, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Gulf War, he enables us to better appreciate the messages in the parshiot of the corresponding weeks.

 By the time your spine stops tingling over the Divine significance of 39 Scuds falling on Israel, your sense of kedushat Shabbat will have improved forever. The rest of the book quite possibly makes the reader hunger to learn Torah.

 This 256-page hardcover makes a superb addition to any library and is a terrific kiruv tool. The see-through paper cover and hand motif atop the chapter headings impress a sense of peering through the veil of humanity’s intellectual limitations and onto Heavenly intentions.

 The news gets better. A sequel to The Hidden Hand, covering the events of the Holocaust – including Hitler’s rise to power through usurpation of Germany’s weakening democracy, is nearing the end of its editorial stage. It might arrive on store shelves Chanukah time. As current events propel us to pray harder and to ponder what Hashem wants of us, both books make for recommended reading.