Friday, February 3, 2012
Shalom Auslander’s ‘Hope: A Tragedy’
by Elaine Margolin
Shalom Auslander's novel, "Hope: A Tragedy" is a strange and disturbing story about a man named Kugel who moves to a small town in upstate New York. . .
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Himmler: An ordinary man turned villain
By Jonathan Kirsch
No matter how much is written about Nazi Germany, there is always some new horror to behold and some new paradox to ponder. That’s how I felt when. . .
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Guide to a master reader’s works
By Rabbi David Wolpe
In a moment of unwarranted despair, the young Keats wrote his epitaph: “Here lies one whose name is writ in water.” Yet creative geniuses achieve. . .
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Fred Weintraub: The Serendipitous Producer
By Jonathan Kirsch
Fred Weintraub is not merely an eyewitness to the history of American pop culture. As we discover in his wholly winning memoir, “Bruce Lee,. . .
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Notable books of 2011
By Jonathan Kirsch
In addition to our prizewinner, we also want to honor some of the other exceptional books that came to our attention in 2011, each of which is. . .
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
‘What They Saved’ wins first Jewish Journal Book Prize
By Jonathan Kirsch
Since 2009, when I was first given the opportunity to serve as book editor and chief reviewer for The Jewish Journal, and thanks to the extraordinary. . .
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Pico Iyer unravels his mind’s shadows
By Jonathan Kirsch
Pico Iyer conjures up Graham Greene in the title of his new book, “The Man Within My Head” (Knopf: $25.95), and that’s why it caught my. . .
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
In the beginning, there was Monterey
By Jonathan Kirsch
One way to mark the chronology of the counterculture, a pastime that is beloved by the baby boomers, is by reference to rock festivals. Woodstock and. . .
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
‘Unusual’ Jewish books
by Donald Altschiller/JointMedia News Service
During the 1978 Frankfurt Book Fair, an enterprising bibliophile conducted a meticulous search of the vast exhibit hall with an unusual purpose: to. . .
Friday, December 16, 2011
Amy Ephron’s intimate view of a life well lived
by Dora Levy Mossanen
Amy Ephron’s captivating new book, “Loose Diamonds … and other things I’ve lost (and found) along the way” (William Morrow, $19.99), is a. . .
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Jerusalem, behind the veil of piety
By Jonathan Kirsch
Jerusalem is always in the headlines, or so it seems, but the same city on a hill has commanded the attention of the Western world without. . .
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Book review: The risks of trusting others
by Steve Weinberg
Those who follow the teachings of religion by presuming the innate goodness of fellow human beings will quite likely find the book “Dangerous. . .
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
A scholar reveals the Qur’an
By Jonathan Kirsch
No book is regarded with more fear and loathing in the West than the Qur’an, the fundamental religious text of Islam, and yet I am confident that. . .
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Howard Cosell: The man fans loved to hate
by Steve Weinberg
When Howard Cosell achieved fame as a sports journalist, the last thing he wanted was to be thought of as a Jewish sports journalist. But because of. . .
Monday, November 28, 2011
Israel’s ‘Unmaking’
By Jonathan Kirsch
No book review I’ve written for The Jewish Journal has prompted as much feedback as the one I wrote about “A New Voice for Israel” by Jeremy. . .
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
A gift for every reader
By Jonathan Kirsch
From novels to memoirs to movie reviews, and much in between, here are a few standout books for Chanukah gift giving.. . .
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Books: The J Street Zionist
By Jonathan Kirsch
“Israel’s existence is in fact threatened by a progressive, terminal illness,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder of J Street, writes in “A New Voice. . .
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Spend Shabbat with the senator
By Jonathan Kirsch
A joke was told about U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman during the 2000 presidential campaign. Not only was Lieberman the first Jew to run for vice president,. . .
Friday, November 4, 2011
Exploring the mitzvah of social action
By Jonathan Kirsch
Among the gifts of the Jews, to use Thomas Cahill’s flattering phrase, perhaps none is more stirring and enduring than the biblical call to social. . .
Friday, November 4, 2011
Martin Fletcher’s ‘List’ offers hope amidst tragedy
by Erika Dreifus
Martin Fletcher may already be familiar to you from his long career as a television news correspondent. Or you may recall that Fletcher is the author. . .
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Shimon Peres remembers Ben-Gurion
By Elaine Margolin
The overly creased and still tender face of Shimon Peres looks like he has always been crying; he seems to carry centuries of Jewish suffering upon. . .
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
An insider’s view of Ariel Sharon
By Jonathan Kirsch
Ariel Sharon was a figure of controversy throughout his long career in war, politics and diplomacy, but no one can deny that he looms large in the. . .
Thursday, October 20, 2011
A Jerusalem woman’s tale of faith and art
by Dora Levy Mossanen
Let me begin by saying that when I finished reading the engrossing “Jerusalem Maiden” by Talia Carner (Harper Collins, $14.99), two thoughts. . .
Thursday, October 20, 2011
A guide to becoming Jewish
By Jonathan Kirsch
Jennifer S. Hanin was raised Catholic and converted to Judaism after marrying a Jewish man.. . .
