By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Some novels are difficult to define because they combine elements of several genres. For example, “A Shot in the Dark” by Victoria Lee (Dell ) and “The Breakaway” by Jennifer Weiner (Atria Books) are definitely not rom-coms, although their plots contain a he…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Jewish history is filled with fascinating tales. Sometimes, though, it takes fiction to make these stories come alive: a novel can fill in thoughts and emotions to which historians rarely have access. That’s shown in two recent novels; “Our Little Histories” b…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Americans are facing an epidemic of loneliness, at least according to newspaper articles. These reports note that people feel they have few friends and even fewer people they can count on in times of need. Rabbi Sharon Brous recognizes this desire for connections …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote so many essays for the Forward newspaper that many were published under pseudonyms. David Stromberg, who translated and edited “Isaac Bashevis Singer Writings on Yiddish and Yiddishkayt: The War Years, 1939-1945” (White Goat Press)*, …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The Hebrew word used in the Bible for the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which was found in the Garden of Eden, is peri, a generic word meaning any kind of fruit. Yet, when most people think of the story, they visualize that fruit as an apple. As Azzan Yadin-Israel…
