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BOOKS OF NOTE ONLY IN NEW YORK: AN EXPLORATION OF THE WORLD’S MOST FASCINATING, FRUSTRATING, AND IRREPRESSIBLE CITY Sam Roberts St. Martin’s Press, 2009. $23.99 ISBN: 978-0-312-38777-6 For years, Sam Roberts has been covering what makes New York City tick in his popular New York Times podcasts. He considers the puzzling questions about this city that most would never have thought to ask. WALTER BENJAMIN AND BERTOLT BRECHT: THE STORY OF A FRIENDSHIP Erdmut Wizisla, Christine Shuttleworth, trans. Yale University Press, 2009. $45.00 ISBN: 978-0-300-13695-1 The story of the friendship between Benjamin, the acclaimed critic and literary theorist, and Brecht, one of the 20 th century’s most influential theater artists, during the crucial interwar years in Berlin. CONTEMPORARY JEWISH LIFE BE A MENSCH: WHY GOOD CHARACTER IS THE KEY TO A LIFE OF HAPPINESS, HEALTH, WEALTH, AND LOVE Moshe Kaplan Gefen Publishing House, 2009. $12.95 ISBN: 978-965-229-433-3 Kaplan addresses a central problem of our times: what is good character, and why should we care about it? This is an anthology of people telling us that the most important achievement in life is character development. BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL VOLUNTEER CULTURE: FINDING MEANING IN SERVICE IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY Rabbi Charles Simon Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-58023408-5 Cultivating successful volunteers in the 21 st century is increasingly more challenging. Simon draws on over thirty years of experience to provide you with the resources you need to build and retain a thriving volunteer culture for your organization. DEAREST GEORG: LOVE, LITERATURE, AND POWER IN DARK TIMES. THE LETTERS OF ELIAS, VEZA, AND GEORGES CANETTI, 1933-1948 Karen Lauer, Kristian Wachinger, eds. David Dollenmayer, trans. Other Press, 2010. $24.95 ISBN: 978-1-59051-297-5 In 1934, Veza Taubner and Elias Canetti were married in Vienna. Meanwhile, an intense intellectual love affair develops between Veza and Georges, a young doctor suffering from tuberculosis and Elias’ brother. A window into the private life of Nobel Laureate Elias Canetti, through letters discovered by chance in a Paris basement. A FORMULA FOR PROPER LIVING: PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM LIFE AND TORAH Abraham J. Twerski Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. $19.99 ISBN: 978-1-58023-402-3 Twerski draws from his experience as a psychiatrist and spiritual counselor to give us lessons for life that we can put to daily use in dealing with ourselves and others. Combination of anecdotes, personal musings, and insights and wisdom from various sources ranging from Freud to the Talmud. IN SEARCH OF MILKAND HONEY: THE THEATER OF “SOVIET JEWISH STATEHOOD” (1934–49) Ber Boris Kotlerman Slavica, 2009. $29.95 ISBN: 978-0893573478 In the mid-1930’s, when the Soviet regime established Birobidzhan as the “Soviet Jewish state” with Yiddish as its official language, the local Yiddish theater assumed new prominence. This book focuses on the theater’s role as the standard bearer and guiding spirit for this controversial exercise in nation building. THE JEWISH PHENOMENON: SEVEN KEYS TO THE ENDURING WEALTH OF A PEOPLE Steven Silbiger M. Evans, 2009. $22.95 ISBN: 978-1-59077-154-9 Why have Jews risen to the top of the business and professional world in numbers staggeringly out of proportion to their percentage of the American population? This book sets forth seven principles that form the bedrock of Jewish financial success. JEWISH SAGES OF TODAY: PROFILES OF EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE Aryeh Rubin Targum Shlishi, 2009. $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-934440-96-4 Who are our Jewish Heroes? Who inspires us, makes us think, gives us hope? Here are the profiles of twenty-seven accomplished individuals dedicated to improving our world. 70 Jewish Book World Spring 5770/2010 www.jewishbookcouncil.org
THE LIFE WORTH LIVING: FAITH IN ACTION Byron L. Sherwin Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. $18.00 ISBN: 978-0-8028-6293-8 Sherwin lays out the path to abundant, fulfilled living—by cultivating religious virtues such as love, wisdom, gratitude, and humility. It demonstrates how living in partnership with God can provide us with the means to craft our lives into works of art. RELIGIOUS COMPULSIONS AND FEARS: A GUIDE TO TREATMENT Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski Feldheim Publishers, 2009. $29.99 ISBN: 978-1-59826-358-9 The accumulated experience of a psychologist and rabbi who has treated OCD and related disorders for decades in Jerusalem. The combination of immersion in Torah values and knowledge of cognitive-behavioral therapy makes it uniquely accessible for sufferers, family members, rabbis, teachers, and therapists. THE SEVEN QUESTIONS YOU’RE ASKED IN HEAVEN: REVIEWING AND RENEWING YOUR LIFE ON EARTH Ron Wolfson Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-58023-407-8 Supported by wisdom from the Jewish tradition, life’s experiences, and personal anecdotes, Wolfson writes about the transformative seven questions you’ll be asked in heaven and explores the values that are at the heart of a life that matters. www.jewishbookcouncil.org WHENCE MY HELP COME: CAREGIVING IN THE JEWISH TRADITION Yisrael Kestenbaum Mazo Publishers, 2009. $18.95 ISBN: 978-965-7344-60-6 This book gives those who provide spiritual care, both rabbis and others motivated to serve as instruments of healing, the conceptual models and practical tools to do the holy work of chesed, loving-kindness. Makes a passionate argument for the Jewish view on pastoral care that is derived form Jewish Scriptures, experience and custom. FICTION GOD’S WATER Berel Arrow Xlibris, 2009. $19.99 ISBN: 978-1-4415-1778-4 Jacob was shot by an S.S officer in World War II. He wakes up and realizes he is in heaven. An angel named Judith leads him on a journey through his life. She gives him the decision to be alive again and make the most of it. THE JERICHO SCROLLS Rafael Ruppin Mazo Publishers, 2009. $27.95 ISBN: 978-965-7344-56-9 The historical recollections of Guria Julius Antigonos, The Jericho Scrolls, were recently discovered by an antique dealer in Jericho, buried in a chest sealed with tar from the Dead Sea. The diary includes stories that even Josephus Flavius could not tell about the Jews. BOOKS OF NOTE POLYGLOT: STORIES OF THE WEST’S WET EDGE Wendy Marcus Beth Am Press, 2009. $12.95 ISBN: 978-0-615268-04-0 Chronicles lives between Washington state and Vancouver, British Columbia—the wet edge of North America. The stories reflect Marcus’ years in the Northwest’s musical, newspaper, and Jewish communities. SMASHER: A SILICON VALLEY THRILLER Keith Raffel Midnight Ink, 2009. $16.95 ISBN: 978-0-7387-1874-3 The richest, most ruthless executive in Silicon Valley is gunning for control of Ian Michaels’ rising tech company. When his wife is mysteriously run down during their morning jog, Ian suspects foul play and sets out to expose the attacker. THE SPELLMANS STRIKE AGAIN Lisa Lutz Simon & Schuster, 2009. $25.00 ISBN: 978-1-4165-9340-9 The final installment in the series featuring the intrepid private investigator Izzy Spellman and her lovable—if somewhat paranoid—family. HISTORY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 1919–1945 Phillip J. Baram KTAV Publishing, 2009. $49.50 ISBN: 978-1-60280-122-6 Using the declassified files of State Department correspondence and its wartime Spring 5770/2010 Jewish Book World 71
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Spring 5770/2010 Vol. 28, Number 1
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Now available from the Jewish Book
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JEWISHBOOKAWARDS The following syno
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ANTHOLOGIES AND COLLECTIONS Winner:
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out whom they can trust. In additio
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59 TH NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS P
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Finalists: THE WARSAW GHETTO: A GUI
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JBW 28.1_JBW 28.1 1/29/10 12:26 PM
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SCHOLARSHIP Nahum M. Sarna Memorial
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Page 27 and 28: A Conversation with David Sax By La
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Page 43 and 44: JEWISH SLOW COOKER RECIPES Laura Fr
Page 45 and 46: JUDAISM: A WAY OF BEING David Geler
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Page 69 and 70: A CHAT WITH ZACHARYSHAPIRO By Barba
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