By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Some detective novels are filled with actions and dialogue. Descriptions are at a minimum and the focus of the detective’s thoughts is on “whodunnit.” Anyone looking for that type of mystery can skip the rest of this review because one of my notes on “One M…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The desires of the human heart are difficult to define, whether their focus is religion, politics or love. Trying to fulfill these desires is not always easy, especially if someone or something must be sacrificed in order to make them a reality. Two recent novels p…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Making jGirls voices heard
Adults often look back at their youth through rose-colored glasses. But life is not always easy for the teenagers, something that becomes clear in the poems, stories, essays and artwork by Jewish teens that appear in “Salt and Honey: Je…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Novels that take place in Germany when the Nazis began to control the country, but before World War II and the Holocaust occurred, can offer a different perspective on the feelings of German Jews. Two recent works – “Reunion” by Fred Uhlman (Everyman’s Libra…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Is it really possible to analyze a biblical character? The text itself offers limited information, which means that these analytical works often either focus on a specific aspect of the story or use additional, non-biblical material to supplement and expand what is …
