Books

'The Arab Case for Israel': Explaining the conflict between Jews and Arabs - review

The Arab Case for Israel is the book that I would recommend above all others for anyone who sincerely wants to understand the entrenched conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel.

FEDAYEEN OF the PFLP in mountains east of the Jordan River, early 1969. They carry Soviet and Egyptian weapons.
Jewish book lovers gather at the Jewish Book Council's offices in Manhattan, July 19, 2023.

Jewish authors slam Jewish Book Council for ‘bias toward centering Israeli, Zionist voices’

Don’t Feed the Lion.

Novel on antisemitism by Yonit Levi and Bianna Golodryga sells well, but New York Times ignores it

Esther Kreitman (nee Singer), born in 1891 in Biłgoraj, Poland, to a rabbinic family, became a Yiddish-language novelist and short story writer.

There was always a third Singer: Yiddish literary diamonds revealed - review


From Miami to Beit Shemesh: A doctor’s mission to restore Hebrew pronunciation

Dr. Norman Bloom unveils a clear path to reading Hebrew as it was intended to be spoken, after decades of study.

Dr. Norman Bloom.

'A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig': A Hebrew, Talmud, rabbinic expert goes ‘whole hog’

At the beginning of the Second Temple period, in the Persian era of the 4th to 5th centuries BCE, pigs did not have a unique status; other animals were viewed as equally non-kosher.

Wild boars cross a road in a residential area after the government ordered residents to stay home to fight the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Haifa, northern Israel April 16, 2020.

From golems to Horton to banana menorahs: This year’s Hanukkah kids’ books light up the imagination

Three titles garnered the recommendation of the Association of Jewish Libraries: “Construction Site, Hanukkah Lights,” “Banana Menorah,” and “Lost and Found Hanukkah.”

 An illustrative photo of religious books.

Jerusalem highlights: November 28-December 4

What's new to do in Israel's capital?

Quesadillas (Illustrative).

A book about Germans who had status, safety and power; and still chose to defy Hitler - review

In September 1943, a group that included aristocrats, a diplomat, a pioneering educator, and an intelligence officer gathered in a Berlin drawing room. Not to gossip, but to defy the Nazi regime.

“The Traitors Circle” describes a group of German elites who plotted to fight Nazism.

'Don’t Feed the Lion': Israeli, US journalists collaborate to tackle antisemitism in middle school

CULTURAL AFFAIRS: Keshet 12's Yonit Levi and CNN’s Bianna Golodryga, both respected journalists and Jewish mothers, came together to create a book they wished they found for their own kids.

‘DONT FEED the Lion’ follows three tweens in Chicago, siblings Theo and Annie, who are Jewish, and Gabe, who is part Korean, and examines how they are affected when Theo’s soccer-player idol tweets an antisemitic comment.

'Divrei HaLev': A renowned Talmudist rabbi's weekly Torah portion lessons - review

Rabbi Halivni’s magnum opus is 'Mekorot Umesorot' ('Sources and Traditions'), a monumental 10-volume, source-critical commentary on the Talmud in Hebrew.

Torah scroll 521

'The True Power of Speech': Speaking improperly has cosmic consequences - review

It is a book about what happens in the spiritual world when we cross the boundaries of proper speech into the realm of lashon hara.

THE CHOFETZ CHAIM, Yisrael Meir Kagan, arrives with a group at the first Congress of Agudat Yisrael in Vienna in 1923.

'Zaidy's Band': Revealing Canada’s contribution to World War II - review

Aron Heller's new book brings into the public arena the little-publicized history of the contribution in World War II of the Canadian Armed Forces, particularly its Jews.

THREE OF Zaidy’s comrades lie side by side in the military cemetery in Rehovot.

'Moshe Dayan': Shedding analytical light on an Israeli war hero - review

Moshe Dayan: The Making of a Strategist is an outstanding book on multiple levels, offering valuable historical assessments and useful derivative opportunities to learn from Israel’s past.

MOSHE DAYAN and Jordanian Lt.-Col. Abdullah El Tell reach a ceasefire agreement in Jerusalem, Nov. 30, 1948.