Yuri Dojc and Katya Krausova found classrooms, textbooks, a synagogue, prayer books, clothing and ritual ornaments, all lovingly cared for, undisturbed, unmolested and somehow cherished since the scooping up of three-quarters of the Jews in the towns of Slovakia in…
For many of us, it is hard to get excited about a subject until we can experience it, or meet someone who has. Historical fiction can bridge the gap between simply memorizing dates and names to empathizing with those affected…
Let’s say it at the outset: this book is a gem. Every page of The Story of Hebrew by Lewis Glinert (Princeton University Press, 2017) is packed with information about the language, from its beginnings through post-1948 Israel. In addition…
Robert Gottlieb is the most renowned American book editor and publisher in the latter half of the 20th century, much as was the legendary Max Perkins in the first half. And in his riveting memoir – Avid Reader: A Life…
Don’t Break the Chain is the first publication of what the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia hopes will become a Family History series. The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia has released the first book in what…
It must have been a prodigious effort by editor Ezra Glinter to look through countless Yiddish Forward microfilms going back more than 100 years and come up with the superb collection of short fiction Have I Got a Story for…
In The American Miracle, Michael Medved argues that the success of the United States is not based on random “happy accidents.” Early America’s historical events could be seen as a set of dominoes falling conveniently into place, creating a thriving…
Dawn Lerman, age 15 in this photo, at summer camp. (photo from Dawn Lerman via JNS.org) In My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love and Family, with Recipes (Berkley Books, 2015), New York Times wellness blogger and nutritionist Dawn…
“It’s that time of year, when you are wondering what to get your husband, father, uncle, friend, or any other smooth dude in your life … so why not get them that greatest of all gifts: laughter. And what’s funnier…
Rosie Daykin’s apple-stuffed challah. Ten years ago, Rosie Daykin opened Butter Bakery and Café in Vancouver. Five years ago, it moved to its current location on Mackenzie Street and began offering breakfast and lunch, in addition to baked goods. The…
