By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
“Banana Menorah”
*Picture used with permission of Apple and Honey Press* The delightful picture book “Banana Menorah” by Lee Wind and illustrated by Karl West (Apple and Honey Press) portrays the creativity that makes Hanukkah such a fun holiday. The unnam…
By Bill Simons
During the winter of 1960-61, 11-year-old me discovered a passion for reading about baseball. I played Little League, sandlot and backyard baseball; followed the Boston Red Sox on radio and TV and occasionally at Fenway Park; and traded baseball cards. Reading about the game …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
When I was visiting a friend this summer, we got to talking about food. It was a funny conversation because she kept saying whatever food I mentioned (for example, sushi) was disgusting. It turned into such a joke that I was thrilled when I was able to say that some…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
In her biography on the Binghamton University website, Talia Katz lists her areas of interest as “trauma, violence, language, subjectivity, history of medicine, gender.” An assistant professor of Israeli studies who trained as an anthropologist, Katz combines a …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
When I was talking to a non-Jewish friend this summer about a Jewish fantasy novel that I was reading, he expressed surprise that there was such a thing as Jewish fantasy. The elements of these works can be found as far back as talmudic times: the belief in demons, …
