1939: Europe is on the brink of war when young Lily Shepherd boards an ocean liner in Essex, bound for Australia. She is ready to start anew, leaving behind the shadows in her past. The passage proves magical, complete with live music, cocktails, and fancy dress balls. With stops at exotic locations along the way—Naples, Cairo, Ceylon—the voyage shows Lily places she’d only ever dreamed of and enables her to…
From the review: “Bubbe faces, Zayde faces, brother, sister, friendship faces, faces of all races and places, we are Jewish faces.” Debra Davick has adapted her simple poem from I Love Jewish Faces (URJ Press, 2009), changed the refrain to “We are Jewish faces,” and included more contemporary photographs to demonstrate the diversity of the Jewish community today. The book’s photos of smiling faces of all ages and ethnicities were…
Hava (Eva) Bromberg and Ephraim Sokal were Jewish teenagers in Poland when the Nazis invaded in 1939. Hiding in plain sight, Bromberg lived among the non-Jewish Polish population, always in danger of discovery or betrayal. Sokal and his family were deported as “enemies of the people” when the Russians occupied eastern Poland–a calamity that saved their lives. Liberated by the 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Sokal fought the…
Translators: Adam Z. Levy and Ottilie Mulzet Both novels trace the legacy of the Holocaust in Hungary. The Book of Mordechai tells the story of three generations in a Hungarian Jewish family, interwoven with the biblical narrative of Esther. Lazarus relates the relationship between a son, growing up in the in the final decades of late-communist Hungary, and his father, who survived the depredations of Hungarian fascists during World War…
In this day and age it is nearly impossible to stay 100% healthy and fit. Between long hours sitting in an office chair, balancing a family, and accomplishing everything else on your to-do list, it’s no wonder that health has become a relative term. To combat this, Michael Kaufman shows you how to extend your life by living healthy and fit. Am I My Body’s Keeper contains no magic life-extending…
Throughout her life, Diana Trilling (1905-1996) wrote about profound social changes with candor and wisdom, first for The Nation and later for Partisan Review, Harpers, and such popular magazines as Vogue and McCalls. She went on to publish five books, including the best-selling Mrs. Harris: The Death of the Scarsdale Diet Doctor, written when she was in her late seventies. She was also one half of one of the most…
Here is the list of the 25 books that I posted on this site in December 2017 : Angels for Dreamtime by Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael Apocalyptic Thinking in Early Judaism; Engaging with John Collins’ The Apocalyptic Imagination by Edited by Cecilia Wassen and Sidnie White Crawford Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art; edited by Irvin Ungar Chanukah Tales from Oykvetchnik by Scott Hilton Davis A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and…
Rashi, the medieval French rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040–1105), authored monumental commentaries on the Hebrew Bible and the Babylonian Talmud. With The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary, his commentary on the Torah—regarded as the most authoritative of all Torah commentaries—is finally accessible to the entire Jewish community. Steven and Sarah Levy quote from the biblical text in both Hebrew and English, highlight Rashi’s comments relating to the parashah, and delve into…
Thirteen-year-old American girl Genevieve has spent the summer of 1939 at her grandmother’s farm in Alsace, France. Then she makes an impulsive choice: to stay in France. It proves to be a dangerous decision. World War II erupts. The Nazis conquer Alsace and deport the Jews and others. A frightening German officer commandeers a room in Meme’s farmhouse. And when Gen’s friend Remi commits an act of sabotage, Gen is…
The press release Winners of the annual Sydney Taylor Book Award were announced by the Association of Jewish Libraries today. Named in memory of Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series, the award recognizes books for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience. 2018 is the 50th Anniversary of the Sydney Taylor Awards. The first winner was The Endless Steppe: Growing…