By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Jewish sages
When people discuss the Talmud, they usually speak about its legal (halachic) aspects. However, its pages are also filled with aggadic material – stories about the ancient rabbis that were used to teach lessons or illustrate a point. In “The Snake a…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
“Turn it and turn it again, for everything is in it.” These words by Ben Bag Bag in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot) refer to the Torah. The study of Torah is never ending because there is always something new to learn, at least for those who are open to nove…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Summer can be a wonderful time – filled with vacations, fun and romance. People travel to the beach or fancy resorts to escape their everyday lives. Yet, not everyone has enjoyable feelings about summer, as shown in two recent novels. A mostly light-hearted look a…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Even when I promise myself I’ll take a break from World War II novels, there are always some that grab my interest. For example, I’ve enjoyed Pam Jenoff’s work and, when I saw that her latest novel “The Woman with the Blue Star” (Park Row Books) was gettin…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The exploration of family relationships – the families we are born into and the ones we create on our own – forms the basis of three recent novels. Each shows how those relationships form the core of our lives, even while noting how every family has its unique c…
