By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Strictly for adults
Confession: I hated sleepaway summer camp. Why, then, you might wonder, did I ask for a review copy of “Camp Pock-a-Wocknee and the Dyn-o-mite Summer ‘77” written and drawn by Eric Glickman (Black Panel Press)? Because the PR material mad…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Let the past remain in the past: that’s the constant refrain for some who survived World War II. It’s not only true for those in concentration camps as two recent novels – “The Incandescent Threads: A Novel in the Form of a Mosaic” by Richard Zimler (Part…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The traditional way to study Talmud is to follow the general flow of the work. Rarely do those studying the text stop to compare and analyze stories that occur in different tractates. However, Judith Hauptman, E. Billi Ivry Professor Emerita of Talmud and Rabbinic …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Most books are relatively easy to define. Even those that straddle genres or categories can usually be described in simple terms. That’s not true for “JEWels: Teasing out the Poetry in Jewish Humor and Storytelling” edited by Steve Zeitlin with lead commentar…
Mystery/thriller
Hardboiled detectives certainly had it easier in the past. They didn’t have to worry about ex-boyfriends with connections to the Jewish mob; a grandfather who drinks too much; a gay brother, David, with mental health issues; and a mothe…
