By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Pages from “Remember Us to Life,” by Joanna Rubin Dranger, published by Ten Speed Graphic, 2025 are used with permission from Ten Speed Graphic.
“The aim of the Nazis was to exterminate every Jew in Europe – simultaneously erasing all memories of them. In m…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
“Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation”
Sarah Yahn’s novel “Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation” (Dzanc Books) has one of the best opening lines I’ve read in years: “‘My mother was raised an Orthodox Jew and then became an Orthodox Freudian, so she patholog…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The word bamidbar, which means wilderness, is the Hebrew name for the biblical book of Numbers. For some, that title feels accurate since its chapters contain lists of the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness, coupled with their complaints about the lack of ap…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Trauma often reverberates through several generations, even if parents attempt to protect their children by never talking about what occurred. Deciding whether or not to share knowledge can be a difficult as is shown in two recent novels that explore mother/daughter…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Many novels that combine social action and personal stories feel preachy, as if the characters exist solely for the politics. Fortunately, that is not true for two recent novels. While political action is close to the surface in “Love, Coffee and Revolution” by …
