Book Reviews

In the 1880s, a substantial immigration of Jews poured into New York from all parts of Europe, Russia, and Galicia. They were eager to escape the hard life of poverty and lack of peace back home, but the reality in America was not as they had expected it to be. It was hard to find work; it was a struggle for mere existence.

Because she is keenly aware that anti-Semitism may start with the Jews but never ends with the Jews, she makes the logical connection between the opprobrium for both America and Israel so commonplace on the political left.

The Rav argues that for Rambam, a great deal of man’s striving to understand God is related to trying to understand His deeds and imitating them.

Of course, the spiritual path is something we have to work at continuously throughout our daily lives.

Title: Art of Revelation – A Visual Encounter with the Jewish Bible Yoram Raanan and Meira Raanan   Art is supremely the language of the spirit. Few...

Title: The Kosher Grapevine: Exploring the World of Wine Author: Irving Langer Publisher: Gefen

The reader is able to suspend their prior knowledge and remain engaged with the text, a testament to Gruen’s writing skills.

Assaf A. Voll has written one of the most comprehensive books on the history of the Palestinian People.

When Yankie Schwartz e-mailed me an advance copy of his new book Contemplations: Wisdom for Living (published by Menucha Publishers) for review, I decided to print out 50 pages to read over Shabbos. After all, I reasoned, 50 pages of mussar and hashkafah essays would be enough for me to form a first impression. Boy, was I wrong.

Published originally in 1965, this reissue of a classic is now more relevant than ever. Jewish law legislates that a child is Jewish if the mother is Jewish, or one who had converted to Judaism according to specific halachic requirements. Jewish identity is thus not merely sociological and demographic (if Jews live in the land of Israel) nor ethnic (differences in customs, folkways, and liturgy and practice of Ashkenazi Jews vs. Sephardic Jews), but rather determined by a maternal hereditary religious blood covenant.

Even when our prayers are ignored and troubles confront us, Rabbi Shoff teaches that it is the same God who sent the difficulties as who answered our prayers before.

One cannot exaggerate the importance of these two volumes to those interested in the Shoah.

A bit of give and take ensues but finally the name Passover wins the day.

Their stories are unique because they are not just about giving testimony, but focused on a tiny glimmer of something positive within that horrendous negative milieu… an instant of happiness if just for a moment.

Once you pick up To Mourn a Child, you will not be able to put it down, but not for the usual reasons. There is no suspense here, as we know from the outset the sad end of each story. It is rather the searing emotional intensity of this book that will grab you and compel you to keep reading.

I often found myself holding my hands to my mouth in utter amazement at the power of the writing, sometimes so engrossed I forgot to breathe.

Morah Becky describes her own foray into the world of Jewish children’s literature as a lesson in emunah and Siyata Dishmaya (help from Above).

This gentle look at nature in 26 pages comes off as a nurturing, quiet read. Lessons about middot tovot and personal potential in Remarkable Park will fill young minds with wonder.

It might still be two weeks to Pesach, but is never too early to start thinking about Afikomen presents.

The Holidays are over (please, no applause). But if you find yourself already missing them, rejoice, rejoice. A pleasurable new compendium of poetry by newcomer Yossi Huttler will keep you warm until Chanukah, Purim and – dare we say it too soon – Pesach once again come into view.

And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones can take you far from your expectations of a book about losing a child to cancer. The amazingly clear, honest prose can ennoble you no matter what you believe before reading the memoir. Listen as Susan Petersen Avitsour narrates - in her words and her daughter Timora's - the drama leading up to, during and beyond Timora's diagnosis. The family had learned it days before her bat mitzvah.

These valued teachings should surely serve as an apt example and model for application in our own times.

As we all know, time is of essence to transmit the saga of our parents' suffering in the Holocaust before there are no more witnesses alive to tell their stories. Chavi Diamond, a daughter of survivors, is a woman with a mission. She feels this urgency keenly and has initiated a groundbreaking series of Holocaust children's books geared to ages 6-12.

A chacham striving for self-control over his emotion to act vindictively against someone who wronged him should make use of the concept of hashgachah pratisto achieve this goal – as if the aggressor had no free-will and was compelled to wrong him.

How many people know the lineage of King Antiochus, known formally as Antiochus IV Epiphanes?

A healthy Purim treat for very little ones has actually been released. Author Bracha Goetz has added a new volume to her bestselling What Do You See? board book series. This is the seventh bright and colorful word-and-picture book that helps teach toddlers basic vocabulary, while happily familiarizing them with objects they see around them in their own lives.

Jews around the world are reflecting on the Jewish New Year season that recently passed. It seems that everybody is struggling with their resolutions to be better and to do better. All of us are worrying about the daunting lead-up to life's next chapter: Thanksgiving season. Xmas parties. Awkward situations, she'elot that make you blush to ask them. Bills. More bills. Tempers. Fourth quarter reports. Bosses cut losses by firing staff. Fear. Panic. You wonder what was gained by going through the Yamim Noraim. I have good news for you: The Spirit of the Seasons by Rabbi Jonathan Shooter can show you insights into the Yamim Tovim to soothe your soul and psyche.

One of the most challenging questions posed is whether there are fundamental differences between divine justice and human justice.

The book’s main characters are not mere action heroes, but deep ideological thinkers, motivated by the 2,000-year dream of re-establishing the nation of Israel in its Divinely-promised homeland.

From the aliyah of Soviet Jewry to the new anti-Semitism, Alan Dershowitz’s “Defending Israel: The Story of My Relationship with My Most Challenging Client” is almost a history of Zionism.