Temple Concord Sisterhood will hold its annual book review by Rabbi Rachel Esserman on Sunday, January 26, at 11 am, at Temple Concord, 9 Riverside Dr., Binghamton. The event is open to the public. Esserman will speak following a brunch. The snow date for the event will be Sunday, February 2. The suggested donation is $5 to cover the cost of the brunch. Reservations are due by Wednesday, January 22, to Phyllis Kellenberger at 607-727-8305 or pweinste@stny.rr.com. 

“I am once again looking forward to what is one of my favorite things of the year,” Esserman said. “It’s always a pleasure to talk to Sisterhood members about books and I’m certain this year will be no exception. My book choices this year should offer something of interest to most members.” 

Esserman will review “Operation Bethlehem” by Yariv Invar, a spy thriller that won the National Jewish Book Hebrew Fiction in Translation Jane Weitzman Award in 2023. The author (whose name is a pseudonym) was a former Israeli intelligence officer. In addition to being an espionage-archeological thriller, it looks at moral dilemmas its characters face.

The second novel will be “Long Island Compromise” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. Her first novel, “Fleishman is in Trouble,” was a big hit and was turned into a TV series. Her second novel looks at how an American family tries to overcome a trauma that took place decades before. It also focuses on Jewish American life.

Esserman will also review the nonfiction work “Third Ear: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening,” by Elizabeth Rosner. Rosner is a novelist who previously wrote about being the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her new work reflects on growing up in a home where six languages were spoken. The book contains personal reflections, along with a scientific discussion of the art of listening.

Esserman is the executive editor and book reviewer for The Reporter Group, and has won numerous American Jewish Press Club Rockower Awards and Syracuse Press Club Awards for her opinion columns and book reviews.
In addition to her work at The Reporter, she serves as a chaplain for the Broome Developmental Disabilities Service Office. Her writing has been published in “The Women’s Torah Commentary” and “The Women’s Haftarah Commentary,” both by Jewish Lights Publishing. She also has had a book of poetry, “I Stand by The River,” published by Keshet Press of Temple Concord.

A Reconstructionist rabbi who says her first love is teaching, Esserman sees her position at The Reporter as an opportunity to educate the public about Judaism. She also serves as a freelance rabbi for lifecycle events, hospital visits and chaplaincy, and has been a rabbi-on-call when needed by local Reform and Conservative synagogues.
Her education includes a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, and rabbinic ordination and a master of arts in Hebrew letters from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Wyncote, PA. In 2023, she was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree from RRC for 25 years of service.