By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
When looking at novels for review, I’m sometimes unable to tell if they feature Jewish characters. If I am really interested in a book, I’ve been known to go to great lengths – from making numerous web searches for the “title/author + Jewish,” to writing t…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The phrase “a woman’s novel” is considered an insult in many literary circles, as if the deeds of daily life can be easily dismissed and are of interest only to women. For me, a woman’s novel encompasses a wide range of basic and important human behaviors th…
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
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 Bill Simons
Time is inexorable, even the human markings of eternity. Izzy Demsky, age 103, died on Shevat 10 (February 5), 2020. The is his third yahrzeit, a time for remembrance of Izzy.
Born into a poor Russian Jewish immigrant family in Amsterdam, NY, Izzy thought of himself as …
