By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Writing a review of book that turns out to be very different from what you expected can be difficult. For example, I mistakenly thought “Conceived in Hope: The Struggles of Biblical Mothers in the Tapestry of Redemption” by Chana Tannenbaum (Maggid Books) was go…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Years ago, an author told me that she enjoyed seeing her novel “in dialogue” with a second book. I’d never phrased it that way before, but, when two books inform each other, it is usually far more interesting to read and review them together. This was true of …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
“Going Home”
How to define a family is just one of the questions raised by Tom Lamont’s “Going Home” (Alfred A. Knopf). When 30-something Téo Erskine volunteers to babysit Joel, a toddler who is the son of his friend and former crush Lia, he doesn’t ex…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The self-help trend is a popular one. It’s estimated that, in 2024, Americans spent more than $800 million on self-help books, with more than $45.7 billion being spent worldwide. That means many people are dissatisfied with all or part of their lives. Can Judaism …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Reviewing a book by a political activist with one by a rabbi is not something I would normally contemplate: they obviously have different approaches to life. However, the latest works by Israeli author and political activist David Grossman and a French religious lea…
