Books & Resources – Page 6 – Coffee Shop Rabbi

10 Great Jewish Websites

Jewish Holiday Calendars & Hebrew Date Converter – If I had a browser that could go to one website, and one website only, I’d get a new browser. But if I were stuck with it, this is the website I’d set it to. It is an essential Jewish calendar, date converter, and reference.

The Times of Israel – Only have time for one source for news about Israel? The Times of Israel is as middle-of-the-road as anything you will get about news from Israel.

Jewish Telegraphic Agency – This is my go-to site for news anywhere in the Jewish world.

My Jewish Learning – This is a great reference site for questions about Jewish holidays, rituals, and practice. I appreciate that it is respectful of all streams of Judaism.

Virtual Jewish Library – This is an encyclopedia of Jewish history and culture produced by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.

Sefaria – Sefaria calls itself “a living library of Jewish texts.” It provides access to Jewish texts and commentaries on the texts. Teachers can use it to make source sheets. Volunteer translators are constantly working on making the texts accessible. It’s a lovely cooperative effort. There are other sources for Jewish texts (notably Mechon Mamre) but Sefaria’s interface is more sophisticated.

Jewish English Lexicon – Want to know the meaning of that word your father-in-law keeps using? Come as close as you can to spelling it and look it up here. This site is the brainchild of Dr. Sarah Benor of Hebrew Union College.

Judaism 101 – Another encyclopedia of Jewish practice and belief, this one from an Orthodox point of view. Amazingly, it is the work of a single individual, Tracey Rich. You may also recognize it by its net address, jewfaq.org.

Anti-Defamation League – The ADL fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry; it defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all. It is a good source of information about how to deal with incidents of antisemitism or bigotry, also.

Reform Judaism – The institutions of Reform Judaism offer a website that you can search for articles specifically from the Reform point of view.

There are many great Jewish websites on the Internet. Which resources do you use and trust? Please add to this list by joining the conversation in the comments!

Meet An Expert on Islam

rabbi-reuven-firestone-phd Recently the Jewish Journal carried an article by one of my teachers, Rabbi Dr. Reuven Firestone, Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College (HUC). It reminded me that he has written books and articles that are quite accessible and might interest some of you.

I first met Dr. Firestone in the context of a class in which he taught me how to read Mikraot Gedolot – the traditional commentaries on Torah, all neatly bound together in a few volumes. I enjoyed learning with him, and when I finally reached the point that I had the option of elective courses, I took every class on Islam that he offered.

I had many good teachers at HUC, and a few great ones. Dr. Firestone is among the greats. I admired the courage of his scholarship, because he did not just sit in Los Angeles reading about Islam. He spent a sabbatical in Cairo (this was before the revolution) He took his whole family with him. Even then, it was not a friendly place for Jews, and he has a realistic view of Jewish-Islamic relations.

Much of the information about Islam that we get from the news media and politicians is sadly ignorant. Talking heads quote the Quran and hadith literature without any understanding or context, much the way antisemites quote snippets of Talmud. These pundits don’t read Arabic, haven’t studied the literature, and don’t understand what they are quoting.

So if I have tantalized you, if you would like to learn more about Islam from a reliable source, let me suggest these articles and books by Dr. Firestone:

“Heads of the Hydra” (Jewish Journal article)

“No, Pamela Geller, the Quran is not Anti-Semitic” (The Forward)

An Introduction to Islam for Jews

JIhad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam

Lehrhaus 360 Lecture “War and Peace, Jewish Perspectives” (VIDEO)

My Basic Jewish Book List

I just updated the list of recommended books I give to my beginning students. I thought I’d share the update with you.

I can recommend all of these books. As far as I know, all are currently in print. Many are available inexpensively as used books. Obviously, which you choose will depend on availability and your curiosity.

General Introductory Texts on Judaism

Settings of Silver by Stephen Wylen. (The 1st text I use for Intro to the Jewish Experience)

Judaism’s 10 Best Ideas: A Brief Book for Seekers by Rabbi Arthur Green (The other text I use for Intro to the Jewish Experience)

Basic Judaism by Milton Steinberg. A classic text, first published in the 1950’s but still good.

What is a Jew? by Morris N. Kertzner. Another good basic text.

Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant.

Jewish Literacy by Joseph Telushkin.

Judaisms: A 21st Century Introduction to Jews and Jewish Identities by Aaron J. Hahn Tapper

Jewish Bibles

Every Jewish home should have a Tanakh, a Jewish Bible. Most Reform and Conservative synagogues use a JPS Tanakh in some form.

If you are curious as to how the Jewish Bible is different from the Christian Bible, read Beginners’ Guide to the Jewish Bible. For a discussion of the various translations of the Tanakh available, read Which Bible is Best, Rabbi?

If you would like to own a commentary on the Torah, a book with footnotes that explain things in the text, some of the most popular are:

The Torah: A Modern Commentary, ed. Gunther Plaut

Etz Chaim: Torah and Commentary, ed. Jewish Publication Society

The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, ed. Tamara Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea Weiss

A Torah Commentary for our Times, ed. Harvey J. Fields

What’s In It for Me? Finding Ourselves in Jewish Narratives by Stephen Fuchs This little book is helpful for those who wonder what a collection of old stories and rules has to say to modern Jews today.

Haggadah

Every Jewish home should have at least one copy of the Haggadah, the script by which we lead the seder every year at Passover. There are many to choose from, from some rather uninspiring (but free!) free haggadot to very expensive art books. Some of the best fall in between those two extremes. The best way to find one is to go to a bookstore during the month before Passover and browse them until you find the one that speaks to you.

Jewish Holidays

Seasons of our Joy by Arthur Waskow.

Guide to the Jewish Seasons editor Peter Knobel.

The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Keeping Passover by Ira Steingroot

The Days of Awe by S.Y. Agnon

This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation by Alan Lew

Jewish Home

How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg (orthodox practices)

On the Doorposts of Your House, CCAR Press (also in .pdf format)

Jewish Lifecycle

Gates of Mitzvah: A Guide to the Jewish Life Cycle by Simeon Maslin

Jewish Spiritual Parenting: Wisdom, Activities, Rituals and Prayers for Raising Children with Spiritual Balance and Emotional Wholeness by Rabbi Paul Kipnes and Michelle November, MSSW

How to Raise a Jewish Child by Anita Diamant

The New Jewish Baby Book by Anita Diamant

Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah by Salkin, Lebeau, and Eisenberg

The New Jewish Wedding by Anita Diamant

A Time to Mourn, A Time to Comfort: A Guide to Jewish Bereavement by Dr. Ron Wolfson and David J. Wolpe

Mourning and Mitzvah by Anne Brener

Choosing a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant (conversion)

Choosing Judaism by Lydia Kukoff

Jewish Thought

Finding God: Selected Responses by Rifat Sonsino and Daniel Syme. Clear and simple approach to the question, What do Jews think about God?

The Book of Jewish Values by Joseph Telushkin

Jewish History

Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s History of the Jews by Chaim Potok

My People: Abba Eban’s History of the Jews by Abba Eban

A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson

A Short History of the Jewish People by Raymond Scheindlin

The Story of the Jews by Stan Mack (graphic novel format but quite good)

Israel

Israel: A History by Martin Gilbert

Israel is Real by Rich Cohen

A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time by Howard M. Sachar

The Unmaking of Israel by Gershom Gorenberg

The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, 7th Edition by Walter Laqueur

Judaism’s 10 Best Ideas

I have a new favorite “First Book about Judaism.” I like it so much, I’m going to add it to the required reading for my Introduction to the Jewish Experience students this fall.

Judaism’s 10 Best Ideas, by Rabbi Arthur Green, is a wonderful guide to the most important aspects of Judaism. All else: the holidays, the mitzvot, the life cycle events, the institutions – all of that! is a vehicle for learning and living these essentials. And frankly, without these ten, the rest of it is theater. Living Judaism may take many different forms, but it always begins and ends with these ten ideas.

What are they? I can give you Rabbi Green’s chapter titles, although the book will flesh it out for you:

Simchah – Joy
Tzelem Elohim – Creation in God’s Image
Halakhah – Walking the Path
Tikkun Olam – Repairing the World
Shabbat – Getting off the Treadmill
Teshuvah – Returning
Torah – The People and the Book
Talmud Torah – “Teach Them to Your Children”
L’Hayyim – To Life!
Echad – Hear, O Israel!

Lay hands on a copy if you can. Split the cost with a friend if need be (at less than $10, it’s a bargain.) Read it and find someone to chat with about it. It will stir up your heart and your mind and you will know where you want to go next: learning, doing, action, something.

Enjoy.

Books for Elul & the High Holy Days

Wondering how to prepare for the High Holy Days? One way many Jews prepare is with a good book. Here are some books I have used for this purpose:

Preparing Your Heart for the High Holy Days by Kerry Olitzky and Rachel Sabath – Two Reform rabbis guide readers through a gradual process of preparation for the High Holy Days.
This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation by Alan Lew – Rabbi Alan Lew was a Conservative rabbi who had extensive training in Buddhist practice. He brought both to this remarkable book.
Days of Awe: A Treasury of Jewish Wisdom for Reflection, Repentance, and Renewal on the High Holy Days by S.Y. Agnon. For readers who want more text and less guidance, the Nobel Prize for Literature winner Agnon provides this little book of texts about the High Holy Days. It is a classic compendium of material from all eras of Jewish history.
Entering the High Holy Days: A Complete Guide to the History, Prayers and Themes by Reuven Hammer – Rabbi Reuven Hammer is a scholar of Jewish liturgy and a Conservative rabbi. This book is particularly good if you want to learn about the history and themes of the High Holy Days, and it will enrich your experience of the services, which are unique in the Jewish year.
The Machzor – various – The Machzor is the prayer book for the High Holy Days. One way to prepare is to read the prayers ahead of time and ponder their words while you have time to do so without rushing. There are many editions of the Machzor available, including:
- Mishkan HaNefesh, the new Reform machzor
- Kol HaNeshamah, the Prayer Book for the Days of Awe, a machzor from the Reconstructionist movement
- Machzor Lev Shalem, a machzor from the Conservative movement.
- Koren Sacks Rosh Hashanah and Machzor and Yom Kippur Machzor – An Orthodox machzor with commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Koren Press in Jerusalem is noted for the beauty of the books it produces.
- or: whichever machzor your congregation uses.

And now, dear readers, what have I left out? Is there a book you’ve used for High Holy Day preparation that you particularly recommend? Please share it with us in the comments!

How About Some Fun Summer Reading?

Summer and vacation are on their way, and I am looking for some entertaining light reading. Here is my offer: I’m going to suggest some books with Jewish content that I have enjoyed recently in hopes that the denizens of the newly-lively comments section (you know who you are*) can suggest other books. Then we’ll all have a nice list for prowling the used book store or the library or the e-book shops.

Why specifically Jewish reading? There are lots of lists online for finding generic beach books and pleasure reading. Let’s make this the list that is harder to find: Jewish-themed pleasure reading – doesn’t have to be recent, it just needs to be something you’ve enjoyed.

My suggestions:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon – This book won a Pulitzer in 2001 for telling a story about young comic book writers among the Jewish immigrants of NYC.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon – What if the Arab armies had succeeded in extinguishing Israel in 1948? What if Jews had been given a limited lease on a sliver of Alaska as a temporary refuge and the lease was about to run out? What if this story were structured as a whodunit?

Rashi’s Daughters, Books I, II, and III by Maggie Anton – Historical fiction about the three daughters of the most famous commentator in Jewish history.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok – A classic story about two fathers and two sons in NYC in the 1940’s. If you are in the habit of referring to “The Orthodox” and think they are all more or less alike, this is one way to learn better. I will not list all his other fiction in this list, but anything he wrote is good.

As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg – This novel brings the sages of the Talmud to life.

The Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur – This is the first in a series of murder mysteries by Israeli writer Batya Gur. Her hero, Chief Inspector Michael Ohayon, is a likeable Israeli of Moroccan descent. Six of the mysteries are available in English translation.

Fax Me a Bagel by Sharon Kahn – This is the first in a mystery series which features a rabbi’s widow, Ruby, as the protagonist. The series is fun and quite authentic: the author was married to a rabbi for 31 years.

So, nu? What books do you suggest? What have I missed? I await your comments!

*You need not have commented before to recommend a book. In fact, it would be a special treat to get recommendations from readers who have thus far been silent.

What I’m Reading Now

I’m down with back problems at the moment, on orders not to sit too much. My posts will be limited until things improve. In the meantime, here’s what I’m reading lately on my e-reader:

Just finished The Bible’s Cutting Room Floor by Joel M. Hoffman. This is a wonderful book by an author who genuinely knows his subject. There is so much garbage available about “bible codes” and “secret books” and such nonsense, Dr. Hoffman’s scholarship and readability are a fresh breath. If you crave “Bible secrets,” check him out. He has real secrets to tell.

I’m just starting Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder. I originally learned of it from a current Intro student, who recommended it highly. I did some quick online research on Dr. Snyder (distinguished scholar at Yale, widely respected for his scholarship, check!) and the reviews of the book (most agree it’s top notch scholarship) and I bought my copy. I’ll let you know what I think.

Also on my reading table (I like to keep a lot of things going at once, always have):

Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea by Reuven Firestone. Full disclosure: Rabbi Dr. Firestone is one of my favorite and most-admired teachers at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, the Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam there and President Elect of the International Qur’anic Studies Association. I took every class he offered while I was at HUC/LA, and when he publishes a book, I read it. If you’d like to get to know him a bit, I recommend this article from the Forward.

Body Respect: What Conventional Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, and Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight, by Linda Bacon, PhD, and Lucy Aphramor, PhD, RD. Linda Bacon’s previous book, Health at Every Size, was a game-changer for me as a fat woman. I’m looking forward to reading this new book.

You’ll recognize these books, which I have in hardback on my study table at the moment. I listed them in a previous post about Passover reading:

Arnow, David and others, My People’s Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts & Modern Commentaries, (2 vols) These volumes, like those from the popular series My People’s Prayer Book open up the haggadah in multiple ways for learners.

Tabory, Joseph and Stern, David: The JPS Commentary on the Haggadah. This is a heavy-duty scholarly commentary on the haggadah, not for beginners or the faint of heart, but very satisfying for some.

OK, my time is up. I apologize for any typos and will come back and fix them when I have “sitting time.”

What I’m Reading Lately

Some books I’ve been reading since the secular New Year:

Didion, Joan – The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion wrote a painfully honest book about the year following her husband’s sudden death. Didion writes honestly but artfully, using her considerable craft to walk us through a year of irrationality. It is a magnificent book; I could hardly put it down.

Boyne, John – A History of Loneliness. Edmund Burke wrote, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” I do not want to give away too much about this book, but it is about the price to be paid when good people refuse to see what is before their eyes. It is a book about paralysis of the soul.

Laymon, Kiese – How To Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America. I don’t recall who recommended this book to me – someone on Twitter – but I thank them. Laymon is a brilliant essayist and I am going to look for his novel, Long Division. This one slim volume convinced me that I’m woefully ignorant about African American realities and I plan to remedy that.

Bliss, Eula – On Immunity: An Inoculation – This is a wide-ranging book on the history and science of vaccination, on the fears that may underlie current controversies around it, and about this one mother’s uncertainties in facing motherhood. I found it fascinating and yet eventually the confessional portions wore me out. Ms. Bliss is not a great writer, merely a competent one, but I will grant her this: she made me think and stirred my compassion.

Almog, Shmuel, ed. – Antisemitism Through the Ages – Professor Emeritus at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, editor Almog was born in Berlin in 1926. He (and presumably his family, although I do not know for sure) emigrated to then-Palestine in 1933. The book is from 1988 and is no longer in print; copies are expensive, so I have not provided a link. This is one of the books recommended in a class I’m taking on antisemitism. When I have a book on the topic I can recommend that’s a bit more available, I’ll do that, I promise.

What have you been reading? Anything to recommend?

Good Books for Basic Judaism

Are you looking for a list of good basic books about Judaism?

This is the list I give to my students in Exploring Judaism and Intro to the Jewish Experience.

General Introductory Texts on Judaism

Settings of Silver by Stephen Wylen. (text for this course)

Basic Judaism by Milton Steinberg. A classic text, first published in the 1950’s but still good.

What is a Jew? by Morris N. Kertzner. Another good basic text.

Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant.

Jewish Literacy by Joseph Telushkin.

Living Judaism by Wayne Dosick.

To Life!: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking by Harold Kushner

Jewish Bibles

I don’t require you buy one for this class, but every Jewish home should have a Tanakh, a Jewish Bible. Most Reform and Conservative synagogues use a JPS Tanakh in some form.