By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
A new subgenre of detective fiction features alternative versions of our world. For example, in “Sunset Empire: A Morris Baker Novel” by Josh Weiss (Grand Central), while World War II and the Holocaust did take pl…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Minor historical figures can have an unusually large impact on history. Take for example, David Reubeni. In his introduction to “Diary of a Black Jewish Messiah: The Sixteenth-Century Journey of David Reubeni through Africa, the Middle East, and Europe” (Stamfor…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Is there a difference between Jewish humor and humor about Judaism? Jennifer Caplan, author of “Funny You Don’t Look Funny: Judaism and Humor from the Silent Generation to Millennials” (Wayne State University Press), certainly thinks so, which is why she does…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Reading two novels that focus on similar time periods and characters can make for interesting reading. Reading two novels that were written and published almost 100 years apart makes for fascinating reading. If I hadn’t known that “Bread Givers” by Anzia Yezi…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Fiction making history come alive: that describes two recent novels about World War II. Pam Jenoff and J. C. Maetis (better known as thriller writer John Matthews) take lesser known events from the war and create page-turning works about those who resisted or hid f…
