Jewish Review of Books
Fictional Revisionism
9 Aug 2021
Joshua Cohen's novel, "The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family," has received mix...
9 Aug 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Foundation Stone
22 Jun 2021
In the book "With Us More Than Ever," Yoram Bilu explores the belief held by some Chabad Lubavitch Hasidim that their deceased leader, Menachem Mendel Schnee...
22 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Even If the Ship Is Not Sinking
21 Jun 2021
In the book "Even If the Ship Is Not Sinking" by Ori Yehudai, the author explores the topic of Jewish emigrants who left Israel after World War II and critic...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Heart Work
21 Jun 2021
The text discusses the relationship between the author's father, a successful novelist, and his godfather, a poet. The author's father faced accusations of w...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Memory Palace
21 Jun 2021
Edmund de Waal's book "Letters to Camondo" is a blend of family history and memoir, exploring the story of another Jewish family of art collectors who suffer...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Letters, Summer 2021
21 Jun 2021
In this collection of letters, several topics pertaining to Judaism are discussed. The first letter discusses David Wolpe's book review, which highlights the...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Of Synagogues and Seinfeld
21 Jun 2021
The ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv has reopened after a renovation, offering a modern and inclusive vision of Jewish peoplehood. The museum feat...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Time and Ink: The Minimalist Devotions of Jacob El Hanani
21 Jun 2021
Jacob El Hanani, an artist known for his abstract minimalist drawings, incorporates Hebrew letters and Jewish themes in his work. His upbringing in a traditi...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
The Essence of Dignity
21 Jun 2021
In this book review, the author discusses Michael A. Meyer's biography of Rabbi Leo Baeck, a prominent figure in German Jewish culture. The review highlights...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Friendship?
21 Jun 2021
"Mazel Tov: The Story of My Extraordinary Friendship with an Orthodox Jewish Family" by J. S. Margot is a memoir that offers a glimpse into the closed commun...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Jerusalem in Albion
21 Jun 2021
"Jerusalem in Albion" explores the historical significance of Hebrew and Judaica collections in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The book highlights the influ...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Lilith and the Knight
21 Jun 2021
Gavriel Savit's "The Way Back" is a fantasy novel set in a mythologized Eastern Europe, featuring a demon-ruled land of the dead. While the book draws on Jew...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
A Murder in Miropol
21 Jun 2021
"A Murder in Miropol" by Wendy Lower is a book that explores the horrifying murder of Jews in Ukraine and Belarus during the Holocaust. The author, a histori...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
WeShtick
21 Jun 2021
"Billion Dollar Loser" by Reeves Wiedeman is a thorough account of the rise and fall of WeWork and its founder Adam Neumann. The book highlights the extravag...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Getting Out from Under: The Philip Roth Story
21 Jun 2021
Philip Roth: The Biography by Blake Bailey examines the life of renowned novelist Philip Roth, particularly his efforts to shape his own narrative. Roth coll...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Dionysus and the Schlemiel
21 Jun 2021
This text discusses the life and work of the Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. It highlights his unrequited love and desire for wealth, as well as his complex rela...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
The Court Jew Who Hated Kings
21 Jun 2021
Isaac Abravanel, a prominent Sephardic leader during the Spanish Inquisition, is the subject of Cedric Cohen-Skalli's intellectual biography. Abravanel's lif...
21 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
These Heroic Girls
9 Jun 2021
"The Light of Days" by Judy Batalion uncovers the untold stories of brave Jewish women who were part of the resistance during WWII. These women, like Tema, B...
9 Jun 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Revisiting Hill 24
14 Apr 2021
"Hill 24 Doesn't Answer" is a landmark Israeli film about the country's War of Independence. Directed by Thorold Dickinson, the film was released in 1955 and...
14 Apr 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Let the People of Israel Remember
13 Apr 2021
The article discusses the origins and impact of the book "Yizkor," which was published in Palestine in 1911 to honor fallen heroes of Zionism. It was a colle...
13 Apr 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Fog
12 Apr 2021
This text is a personal reflection on the experience of grief and loss. The author describes living with a metaphorical "fog" that surrounds them after the l...
12 Apr 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Attack on Liberal Christian Bigotry and American Slavery
1 Apr 2021
In 1840, amid a theological dispute within Protestantism regarding the relationship between the Old and New Testaments and Judaism and Christianity, Chief Ra...
1 Apr 2021
Jewish Review of Books
A Season of Tzuris: The Shtisels Return
25 Mar 2021
The highly anticipated third season of the Israeli TV show "Shtisel" has finally arrived on Netflix, bringing with it a new set of challenges and trials for ...
25 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Smitten with Sympathy
21 Mar 2021
The article discusses two commonly asked questions during the Passover Seder about the customs of dipping a finger into the wine and reciting a shortened ver...
21 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Moshkeleh the Thief
21 Mar 2021
The article discusses a short novel by Sholem Aleichem called Moshkeleh Ganev, which was largely forgotten despite being published in 1903 and serialized in ...
21 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Faith and Miracles: Hasdai Crescas’s Passover Sermon
21 Mar 2021
Hasdai Crescas, a 15th-century Jewish philosopher and chief rabbi of Aragon, composed a sermon that explored the nature of faith and its relation to miracles...
21 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
The Beginning of Politics
21 Mar 2021
"The Beginning of Politics" by Leon R. Kass is a book that approaches the biblical book of Exodus as an integrated whole, challenging the prevalent view of i...
21 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Time Ticks Away in Portugal
20 Mar 2021
"Hitler's Jewish Refugees: Hope and Anxiety in Portugal" by Marion Kaplan explores the experiences of Jewish refugees in Portugal during World War II. Despit...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
And the Heart Is Forever Broken
20 Mar 2021
The article discusses a recently discovered short story by the Polish Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, titled "Undula." The story, published in 1922 under a pseud...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
From Venice to Harlem
20 Mar 2021
In "From Venice to Harlem," Daniel B. Schwartz explores the history and evolving meaning of the word "ghetto" in Jewish and popular culture. He traces the or...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Screwball Tragedy
20 Mar 2021
"The Lost Shtetl" by Max Gross is a quick-witted novel that tells the story of Kreskol, a Jewish village in Poland that has been isolated from the outside wo...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Between Literalism and Liberalism
20 Mar 2021
The book "Between Literalism and Liberalism" edited by Michael Marmur and David Ellenson explores the complexities of American Jewish thought in the 20th cen...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Return without Returning
20 Mar 2021
In Micah Goodman's book, "The Wondering Jew," he argues for a middle path between strict adherence to tradition and complete abandonment of Jewish values. He...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Life in Learning
20 Mar 2021
"Life in Learning" is a book that explores the world of Orthodox Jewish yeshivas and the significance of Torah study in Jewish life. The author, Jonathan Boy...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Cynthia Ozick’s Art and Ardor
20 Mar 2021
Cynthia Ozick's novel, "Antiquities," explores the themes of history, memory, and the value of objects, ideas, and experiences. The story is narrated by Lloy...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
In the Beginning, There Was Angst
20 Mar 2021
"The Blessing and the Curse: The Jewish People and Their Books in the Twentieth Century" by Adam Kirsch explores the significance of books in Jewish culture....
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Sharansky’s Exodus
20 Mar 2021
"Sharansky's Exodus" is a memoir written by Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy, in which Sharansky recounts his personal journey from a Soviet refusenik to a leadi...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Letters, Spring 2021
20 Mar 2021
The first letter discusses the debunking of claims regarding the Zionism of the Vilna Gaon and his followers, while also mentioning early proponents of Zioni...
20 Mar 2021
Jewish Review of Books
All-American Esther
23 Feb 2021
Esther in America, edited by Stuart W. Halpern, is an anthology that explores the wide-ranging influence of the story of Esther in American history and cultu...
23 Feb 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Jews, Genes, and the Black Death
7 Feb 2021
This article discusses the commonly held belief that Jews were able to largely avoid the bubonic plague during the Black Death due to their cultural practice...
7 Feb 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Infinite Mirrors
19 Jan 2021
Nicole Krauss's new collection of stories, "To Be a Man," explores themes of identity, longing, and the complicated relationship between past and present. In...
19 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
My Father and Birnbaum’s Heavenly City
3 Jan 2021
In this text, the author reflects on their father's unpublished work on Uriel Birnbaum, a Jewish poet, painter, and thinker from Vienna who was overlooked in...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
The Medieval Blueprint: A Rejoinder
3 Jan 2021
The author discusses Alexander Kaye's avoidance of using the term "halakhic state" when describing premodern Jewish regimes, only employing it to refer to pr...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Halakha and Theocracy: A Response
3 Jan 2021
In response to a review of his book, "The Invention of Jewish Theocracy," Alexander Kaye clarifies his argument that the idea of a halakhic state in Israel i...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Write a Modern Letter, Live a Modern Life
3 Jan 2021
The brivnshteler, or letter-writing manual, was a popular self-help book in Jewish communities in the early 20th century. These books provided Yiddish speake...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
When Heidi Met Shimen
3 Jan 2021
"When Heidi Met Shimen" is a book by Moshe Koppel that expands upon his blog, "Judaism Without Apologies," where he juxtaposes the lives and ideals of two Je...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Objective Muddles and Persuasive Testimony
3 Jan 2021
The book "Objective Muddles and Persuasive Testimony" explores the relationship between analytic philosophy and Judaism. It argues that analytic philosophy's...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Miami Vices
3 Jan 2021
In "Miami Vices" by David Hopen, the novel follows 17-year-old Ari Eden as he navigates the world of a Modern Orthodox Jewish high school in Zion Hills, Flor...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
Zero-Sum Game
3 Jan 2021
"The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace" by Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf is a book that challenge...
3 Jan 2021
Jewish Review of Books
The Yiddish-Speaking Hitmen’s Union
3 Jan 2021
"The King of Warsaw" by Szczepan Twardoch is a crime novel set in interwar Poland that explores the underworld of Jewish gangsters in Warsaw. The protagonist...
3 Jan 2021