JL;DR

In her book "Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World," journalist Tara Isabella Burton explores the rise of bespoke religious identities in contempo...

"The Accusation: Blood Libel in an American Town" by Edward Berenson tells the story of the Massena blood libel, which occurred in 1928 in Massena, New York....

Barry Gewen's book "Tragedy and Power" explores the life and worldview of Henry Kissinger, a prominent figure in international relations. Gewen highlights Ki...

"The Lehman Trilogy" by Stefano Massini, translated by Richard Dixon, tells the story of the Lehman Brothers bank's collapse in 2008. Although the play and n...

The Fall 2020 issue of Letters from the Jewish Review of Books features a variety of reader responses to various articles. One reader comments on the artwork...

In "Take Your Son...", Aaron Koller discusses the story of the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22. He explores various interpretations of the text, including mid...

In his book "Ireland and the Promised Land," Alexander Kaye explores the relationship between religion and the state in Israel. He argues that the idea of a ...

The article discusses the increasing concerns over China's investment and influence in Israel, particularly through its Belt and Road Initiative. There are w...

In "Crazy Rich Sephardim" by Jonathan Kaufman, the author focuses on the interconnected stories of the Sassoon and Kadoorie families, two prominent Sephardic...

In "The Professor and the Con Man" by Ariel Sabar, the author unravels the story behind the Gospel of Jesus's Wife, a controversial fragment of papyrus that ...

This exchange of articles explores the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish response to COVID-19. Yehoshua Pfeffer's original article examines the haredi community...

In this article, the author responds to a previous critique of the Israeli haredi community's response to COVID-19. They agree with the criticism that haredi...

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the failure of haredi leaders in Israel to understand the difference between rabbinic rulings and public policy. Despit...

"Camp Mountain Lake, 1977" is a collection of photographs taken by Andy Sweet, a young photographer who was tragically murdered in 1982. The book includes ph...

"The Law of the Baby" by Mara H. Benjamin is a philosophical exploration of the nature of obligation in Judaism, using the experience of motherhood as a lens...

"Mikhal Dekel's book, Tehran Children, tells the story of her father, Hannan, and his sister, who were part of a group of Polish refugee children who made th...

"The Milchik Way" by Ben Katchor is a book that explores the history and significance of dairy restaurants in American Jewish culture. Katchor, a graphic art...

"Morningside Heights" by Joshua Henkin is a novel that explores the changing landscape of Jewish life and intellectualism in New York City's Morningside Heig...

Benjamin Taylor's memoir, "Not a Nice Boy," explores the complex and sometimes contradictory character of the acclaimed writer Philip Roth. Taylor, who was a...

The article discusses the Haredi response to COVID-19 in Israel. It highlights the failure of the community to comply with government regulations and the hig...

This series of letters from the Summer 2020 issue of "Letters" discusses various topics related to Jewish history and culture. The first letter challenges Da...

"Hidden Heretics: Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age" by Ayala Fader explores the lives of ultra-Orthodox Jewish individuals who publicly observe Jewish law but...

"We Found Our Outrage" edited by Richard Landes is a book that recounts the story of Andrew Pessin, a professor who was falsely accused of being an anti-Pale...

"Lives in Translation" by Hillel Halkin is a book that explores the relationship between Hebrew literature, the Hebrew language, and Zionism. The book consis...

The author discusses their experience of translating the characters and objects from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone into Yiddish. They give example...

The essay "Spinoza in Warsaw: Fragments of a Dream" explores the fascination of early 20th-century Yiddish intellectuals with the 17th-century philosopher Ba...

The burning of Jewish books throughout history, such as during the Trial of the Talmud, has been a cruel punishment experienced by the Jewish people. However...

This text discusses the history of the Hasidic movement in the late 18th century, particularly focusing on the leadership of Rabbi Dov Ber Friedman, known as...

The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the case of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel, which involves t...

The article explores the friendship between Ruth and Naomi in the book of Ruth. While some interpretations see Ruth's famous declaration as a form of convers...

The article discusses the HBO adaptation of Philip Roth's novel "The Plot Against America," focusing on the implausibility of the character Rabbi Bengelsdorf...

The article discusses the significance of Lag BaOmer, a holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Omer, counting the days between Passover and Shavuot. It ex...

"Unorthodox" is a four-part miniseries on Netflix that follows Esty, a young woman from a Hasidic community in Williamsburg who escapes to a secular life in ...

Tom Segev's biography of David Ben-Gurion challenges the perception of the Israeli leader as a miraculous figure during the country's War of Independence, em...

"The War on History" discusses the historical narrative surrounding Palestinian identity and the Palestinian national movement, particularly critiquing the l...

In "How Many Tears?" by Robert Chazan and Adam Teller, the historiography of Jewish suffering and migration is explored. Chazan challenges the traditional vi...

Rafael Medoff's book explores the complex relationship between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the American Jewish community during his tenure. Despi...

In "Marx and the Jewish Fingerprint Question" by Shlomo Avineri, the discussion revolves around Karl Marx's Jewish origins and their influence on his work. T...

John Barton's book, "A History of the Bible," offers a comprehensive overview of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, tracing their interpretation and tra...

In the Letters from Spring 2020, Menachem Lorberbaum, Michael Walzer, Noam Zohar, and Elisheva Carlebach discuss their project, "The Jewish Political Traditi...

The Jewish Review of Books reflects on a decade of literary recommendations by engaging with 10 writers discussing their favored books from the past 10 years...

Laura Arnold Leibman's book "The Art of the Jewish Family" explores the history of Jewish women in the United States and the Caribbean from 1750 to 1850 thro...

David Caplan's poetry collection "Baal Teshuvah Poetics" explores the complex inner world of a baal teshuvah, a Jew who returns to Orthodoxy, particularly th...

In this text, the focus is on T. E. Lawrence's involvement in the Middle East during World War I and the subsequent negotiations that took place, including h...

The article discusses the recent controversial firing of librarians from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, which houses a significant collection of Yid...

"Family Papers: A Sephardic Journey Through the Twentieth Century" by Sarah Abrevaya Stein delves into the history of the Levy family from Salonica, explorin...

The article discusses the exploration of Thoreau's "Walden" with a study partner in Jerusalem, highlighting the parallels between Thoreau's writings and trad...

The text discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily life and Jewish traditions. It reflects on the cancellation of events like a Jewish conferenc...

"Super Stan" by Liel Leibovitz explores the influential role of Stan Lee, a Jewish creator, in shaping the superhero comic book industry through characters l...

The discussion revolves around whether the actions depicted in the Exodus story were deceptive tricks by God or necessary measures. Bar-Ilan University profe...