Our blog features essays, book reviews, coverage of FTB titles, and noteworthy news of American Jewish experience by our publisher.
Black and White in the U.S.A
Posted on July 13, 2020
I posted the following four paragraphs on Facebook during the last four weeks that I think are worth seeing together. They include references to 2 books, 1 video trailer for a movie, 1 music video, 1 link to a Facebook account, and 1 article. July 4: During these very troubling times, with a president who, in […]
Thinking of Starting a Book Club?
Posted on June 29, 2020
Ideas for Your Book Club No two book clubs are alike. Each has its own flavor, its own personality. There’s no “right” way to run your book club. But these suggestions might give you some ideas to help your book club develop a unique life of its own, one that will enrich the lives of […]
The Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protests
Posted on June 17, 2020
Here is a superb article from The New Yorker magazine that goes in-depth on the frustration behind the George Floyd protests: Whether you are on the Left in the Center or on the Right politically, this article will make sense to you. It’s long, but well worth the read. Bryan Stevenson on the Frustration […]
Edward Lewis Wallant
Posted on June 8, 2020
We re-published Edward Lewis Wallant’s extraordinary novel The Pawnbroker in 2015, with a superb Foreword by acclaimed novelist Dara Horn. You can read the Foreword for free. The Pawnbroker is available for just $3.99 as an e-book and $9.99 in a print edition. Wallant’s life was cut very short but his contribution to literature and […]
To Blurb Or Not To Blurb
Posted on May 29, 2020
Guest blog from Anonymous: I’m all things bookish and Jewish: author, editor, book club leader, blubber, and reviewer. I’m tough on myself, having set standards that other editors whom I admire impressed upon me when I was younger and just starting out as a writer. It’s helped me enormously; I walk away from my own […]
Kibbutzim
Posted on May 26, 2020
Kibbutzim have changed radically since they first appeared (to the world) as a representative of what life was like in pre-state Israel starting a hundred years ago. (See: bit.ly/2zB6n8G.) The changes have been even more dramatic since the Six Day War in 1967. Jessamyn Hope gives us a view of the complicated lives of kibbutzniks from […]
‘Disruptive’ Judaism
Posted on May 19, 2020
I was privileged to be interviewed on Judaism Unbound, a groundbreaking podcast by Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg. The subject was ‘Doing Jewish for Yourself.’ If you want to know more about disruptive Judaism, sign up for this podcast. Here’s what they’re all about: “Judaism Unbound, a project of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future, is […]
The Plan of the Jewish Year
Posted on May 11, 2020
The Plan of the Jewish Year “Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under heaven” (Kohelet 3:1). The Jewish calendar, with its seasons and holidays, breathes into the Jewish experience a rhythm and ritual that connects us to each other, to our history, and to the earth. When understood and […]
Podcasts – A Lifeline to Others During the Covid-19 ‘Lockdown’
Posted on May 4, 2020
During these unusual times when many of us are homebound, it’s comforting to know that we can interact with friends and families via video conferencing, download books and movies from streaming services, and listen to podcasts that we might ordinarily know about. Here are four of our favorite podcasts that deal with important issues that […]
Why do we discuss the Passover story?
Posted on April 5, 2020
From Robert Friedman: Q: At the Seder on Passover the text we use is called a “Haggadah”. The word means “telling”. Why are we enjoined to tell and discuss the Passover story at the Seder rather than sitting back in a comfortable chair and reading quietly about it? A: Exodus 10:2 tells us, “And in order that […]