5 comments about Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel.

1. A very sad but true story and it shows that humankind has a long way to go before we can live up to the meaning of "Human".



2. Alex the Ukrainian's dialog is written with such obvious and desperate attempts at comedy, I couldn't take it any more.
   
   It wasn't even funny on page one.
   
   I'd rather not read an entire book constructed of amateurish caricatures pulled from the coddled mind of a precocious 20-something.
   
   Not my idea of a good time.



3. This is by far, my favorite book of all time. Foer has an amazing ability to cover all the ranges of human emotion, from comedy to intense pain and sadness. The characters are so beautifully developed and complex; unreal enough to make them magical, but real enough to make you wish they were alive. Granted, the book is a little slow in the beginning, it took me quite a few weeks to read the first 2/3rds of the book, but then one night to read the last 1.3rd. Foer sets up a story that spans over many generations, which all comes rushing together at the end with a terrifyingly beautiful force.
   
   To sum it up, this book is everything you could wish and fear life to be.



4. This is my second favorite book. The imagination and narration is simply fantastic. I have never experienced imagination as beautiful as the telling of TrachimBrod. Every chapter about this city is glowing with incredible anecdotes and interesting characters. In fact, Brod is by far the best character i have ever encountered.
   And Trachimbrod is just about a third of the whole story!
   This book is modern literature, which is what i like about it most. Beyond its plot and characters and historical look at the lasting effects of WWII, there are themes of writing itself, of communication, of stories told 3rd or 4th handedly (Foer the character writing about Trachimbrod through a book about Trachimbrod, then us reading his writing). I am willing to bet colleges will start using this book in certain curriculum, like modern American literature or something like that.
   Read this book, and read every detail of it and Foer's imagination will overwhelm you.



5. My review title says it all. This book is so utterly obnoxious, I don't know where to begin. For starters-----and, this will render my review pointless to many, which is fine-----I didn't finish it. I found the book to be so utterly horrid, I couldn't finish it. I read about half of it, putting it down, and picking up another book in its place.
   
   The book gets the first star, for I liked the horrid English from Alexander, which I enjoyed. However, for some reason, I wonder if the author has some sort of repressed sexual tension, as he seems unable to keep sexual things of a middle-school locker-room nature out of the dialog, which I found to be most obnoxious.
   
   The book gets the second star, for it inspired the movie, which I enjoyed. It's funny, because the movie has been criticized for 'straying' from the book too much, namely in the trippy backstory segments of the book (which I found to be most intolerable). I'm happy Liev Schreiber did so, otherwise I would've found his movie to be as intolerable as the book. I'll stop there, so this doesn't become a positive review for the movie.
   
   In closing, I once again openly admit to not finishing this book, and invite any and all flaming that may ensue in that regards. But, alas, how can I be expected to finish a book which annoys me to no end? At least I gave it a shot, eh? If this is the kind of writing and storytelling which receives accolades today, then I think I might stop trying out these "modern classics", and stick with the old greats (Dostoyevski being my favorite author, for the record).

5 comments about Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited.

1. Arthur takes us on a trip down memory lane-- the food of our bubbies, brought with them from the "Old
   Country," some adapted to, or created for Jewish life of the new country. Arthur has updated the recipes, so that they can be enjoyed without guilt. Potato pancakes, noodle kugel, Roumanian carnzelach (meat "sausages")
   --and more.
   
   His delightful commentary--he is a very knowledgeable guy--makes the book a great read, and his careful testing of every recipe makes him one of the most trustworthy food writers around. There are plenty of cookbooks about the food of the Ashkenazic Jews--but this book is unique. A wonderful companion to Arthur's superb "New York Food."



2. Excellent book. I made the brisket in the book and it was wonderful. I also made the Apple Cake and it was the best. I would consider giving this book to brides.
   FS



3. I am sending this book as a gift to my friends. Most of the recipes I know from my heritage, but it wasn't the recipes that made me enjoy this book it was his introductions to each. A must buy for the generation whose parents were born here!



4. My husband and I love this cookbook. It brings back a lot of memorys for my husband and we have tried many of the recipes. They are all good.
   
   The stories are so similar to our own lives. It really is a joy to read.



5. This is an okay cookbook. I bought this based on the rave reviews it received from Amazon customers as well as journals. Unfortunately it was a disappointment. None of the foods tasted as good as promised and were ultimately very bland. In fact several of the recipes, including the one for the babka, turned out a disaster. You could find a much better cookbook then this . . .

5 comments about Milkweed (Readers Circle).

1. This book deals with a boy who has to deal with the time and events of the Jewish past. The main character (Misha or Stopthief) has to learn what's really happening in the present time and how to survive it. The incidents of the past might confuse him on what was really happening and what's in the world. But luckily he doesn't have to do it on his own. Throughout his adventure he'll get help from his friends Uri and Janina. Maybe all together they can crack the code which is his past.
   
   Reading this book thousands of emotions might come through you and might change throughout the book. Just reading the first couple of pages will make you think and ask questions about the story. And also the first couple of pages will get you through a tough roller coaster which is a story of life and the past.
   
   Warning: lead character may piss you off!!;]



2. 
   This is a great book. The way Jerry Spinelli developes the character, Misha Piludski, and makes it so that you really get a feel of what it was like to be Jewish during the Holocaust. This book is one of the best books i have ever read. It leads you through the story of a boy that with a little help will make it a long way. And learn to make with what he has. To be smart. And to care for others. Overall this is a great book for people looking for a page turner. The plot and the characters are so great that anyone who like historical fiction will like this book. You have to read this book!



3. When I first started reading this book, I was impressed by the writing. The vivid descriptions. The emotions. The strong dialogue. The steady pace. Then when things were getting intense, the pace of the writing sped up like a runaway train hurling downhill. The author crammed a lot into the closing scenes and left me feeling exhausted and cheated. Many loose ends were never tied up. A very disappointing read indeed.



4. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys WWII and holocaust books.
   
   This story is about a boy. A boy who has no name, no family, no home. This boy is taken from place to place ripped from new friends and put into the hands of enemies. Put in jail cells one day, then living in the homes of strangers the next. It's always hard to find food, always a struggle to keep warm. He meets new people, and his told who he is countless times. He is called thief, Gypsy, Jew. He was called Misha. He is called one-eared Jack.
   
   This book is all about this boy finding who he is. Bad things may happen, but that doesn't change who you are. This boy finally found who he is. After years and years of hurt and pain, hunger and thirst, friends and enemies, he knows who he is. He is... Poppynoodle.



5. In this book, the Nazi invasion of Poland is seen through the eyes of a small homeless vagabond of a child, a child who is both too naive to understand properly what is going on around him, yet also more street-smart and much better at surviving the hard life than the adults around him.
   
   I found this book refreshingly unique, intelligently written, and compelling too - in fact, I found it so impossible to put down that I ended up staying up most of the night to finish it. However, it is a very realistically written book, and none of the harshness of war is sugar-coated, so I would not recommend letting young children read it. Also, kids might need to ask a few background questions about World War 2 so that they can understand fully what the story is about, and they're probably going to need the holocaust and the Nazi death camps explained to them as well...and I myself would definitely not enjoy having to explain that to young children, especially not when it comes to the "But WHY would the Nazis do something so horrible like that?" part. Still, let's just hope that if our future generations learn about this sort of stuff, they can stop anything like it from happening again.

5 comments about Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith.

1. Although this book is a bit difficult to read (due to all the information contained within) it is a must read for those of the Jewish faith or those looking to understand the basis for Christianity! Wonderful book full of heavy reference material. Provides a detailed path from early Judaism to the Christian church (and all that transpired in between).



2. Dr. Wilson's book is the best single volume work on the Jewish roots of Christianity I've ever read. It may be a tough read for some and not academic enough for others, but I prefer to think it splits the middle! The review questions at the end of each chapter help nail down the most important points in the book. Necessary reading for all Christians.



3. Excellent book - Dr. Wilson is a marvelous author who takes you through the history of the Church thru Hebraic eyes. I have never learned so much from one author. Churches need to get this book in the hands of their pastors who could use it for sermons and/or bible studies. Haven't you ever wondered how the church came to be what it is today??? Why so many different religions?? Why the anti semetic atmosphere even today?? Read this book!!



4. I found the book to be good until I got the part that mentions that gentiles are NOT obligated to follow the commandments of YHVH. In essence it is saying that He has two standards. Not true. Multiple times in the Torah YHVH mentions that there is one law for the homeborn and the stranger that sojourns with them. He has only one standard for all mankind who choses to follow Him. The "noachide laws" are a way that man has come up with to try and get around the fact that we are to follow YHVH's commandments. Of course a good study is in order to decide if what I say is true or not. Nazerene Israel is the faith of the apostles throughout the book of Acts. Shouldn't it be ours too?
   
   Another false point that I found in this book is that they believe Yahshua died on a Friday instead of Wednesday. This is an interesting study for those who are serious about being seekers of the truth. The only sign Yahshua said He would give was 3 days and 3 nights. A Friday death and Sunday resurrection is 3 days by reckoning but only 2 nights, not 3. In this study you will find that He was killed on a Wednesday and rose right at the end of Sabbath (Saturday), see Mt 28:1, the seventh day not the first as is typically taught.
   
   I figure that if this book can't get Yahshua's name, death and resurrection, and the importance of one law and one standard for all correctly then there really is no point in anyone reading this book. It was written and caters to mainstream christianity and its dogma. The truth is out there. Seekers of the truth will find it. Yahshua meant this in Mt 7:14. Few will "FIND" it.
   
   Be blessed seekers.



5. As a researcher, I use this book often, even when I am discussing non-religious topics. Wilson offers insightful wisdom in many areas of social life. He offers not only historical perspectives on Christianity and its Jewish roots, but also on areas such as education, family life, language, and culture.
   
   This book is a must-have for any personal library. It remains academically enriching as well as personally challenging to me ten years after I first read it.

5 comments about A Tale of Love and Darkness.

1. This memoir by the Israeli novelist Amoz Oz is a fascinating depiction of both European and Israeli Jews. Although the author was born in Israel, his parents and relatives were all European Jews displaced by the events leading up to World War II.The graphic depiction of what anti-semitism does to an individual explains the need for a Jewish state more fully than any essay could, and the history of the first war against the Jews by the Arabs, aided openly by the British army which then controlled Palestine, and which started the very evening in November, 1947 of the U.N. vote to establish a Jewish homeland, not, as I previously thought, in May, 1948, when the state of Israel was officially declared, lends credence to the unfortunate belief that the Arabs will never accept the state of Israel. This makes the book sound incredibly sad, and of course it is in one sense. But in another, by creating the milieu of these early settlers in Jerusalem and their intellectual strengths and interests, and also the new Jew of the kibbutz, to which Oz went after the death of his mother and his father's remarriage, and where he lived and wrote for 30 years, the book turns out to be the best one I have read about this frantic period of Jewish history.



2. This mixture of biography with the history of the birth and growth of Israel is a wonderful, warm , and poignant tale--well worth one's time.



3. This is a beautiful and moving memoir from a sensitive and humanistic writer of great skill and style. The reader will feel that he or she is personally experiencing growing up with the author in the most modest and simple circumstances, in the young State of Israel, from before statehood and into its early years, getting to know as friends and neighbors some of its intellectual leaders who were the writer's family members and friends. The book is a sheer delight, and highly recommended.



4. Amos Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness is a memoir of his life and the life of his family up until the time of his mother's suicide at the age of 38 in the early 1950s. Oz's mother's suicide, never treated fictionally in his other work (as far as I can recall) is treated here with great care and thoroughness: there is anger, guilt, shame, sadness, loss, a sense of regret, and penetrating understanding. Without a doubt the book is strongest when Oz discusses his mother and her family. His mother, brought up on a romantic, Hebrew education in Rovno, was not ready for the tawdriness of life in Palestine, "the rough terrain of everyday life, diapers, husbands, migraines, queues, smells of moth balls and kitchen sinks." The story of his mother's mental decline and suicide is also the story of the convergence and divergences of Jewish life in the 20th century; the outline of the gap between the real and the ideal of the Zionist dream. That said, A Tale of Love and Darkness is generally overwritten. There is much useless repetition here which drags down the trajectory of the memoir. I do not recommend this work as the first work of Amos Oz to be read, but the last. It makes for an instructive book end with Where the Jackal's Howl and Other Stories on the other side.



5. This review was published in The Australian, August 16, 2008. Greg Sheridan is the Foreign Editor.
   [...]
   Memoirs are made of this
   
   OPINION: Greg Sheridan | August 16, 2008
   
   A FEW years ago I experienced a severe addiction to travel literature.
   
   With the contemporary serious novel in such a mess, travel writing, like biography, offers many of the traditional pleasures of the novel: story, character, good dialogue, development, resolution. But I can't say I discovered any great literature there, much as I enjoyed Bill Bryson's wit and Paul Theroux's misanthropy.
   
   Now I am immersed in a frenetic bout of memoir reading and here the story is different.
   
   When Tom Wolfe was promoting the new journalism, which has been with us several decades now, his essential insight was to bring the techniques of the novelist to bear on journalism: exploring the subjective elements of a story, the characters' inner lives and interior monologues, with the advantage that the events had actually happened.
   
   A novelist's memoir can achieve this supremely. A Tale of Love and Darkness is the childhood memoir of Amos Oz, Israel's greatest novelist and surely soon a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
   
   This is an incomparably good book. Perhaps it is the best book I have read. It tells of growing up in Jerusalem in the 1930s and '40s. Oz conceives life as one part comedy, one part tragedy, one part humdrum, quotidian concreteness, and if you are Jewish, the chance always of utter disaster.
   
   His life proceeds against the backdrop of the Holocaust and the birth of Israel. Oz is an only child and his life is also shaped by the suicide of his mother when he is 12. This colossal roadblock dominates and shapes the book and yet does not distort the loving portrait of his father, a frustrated academic, out of his depth and at his wits' end with his wife's melancholy.
   
   Oz's technical accomplishments in this book are dazzling. He writes of his grandfather:
   
   It was not easy for him to go out. Grandma had a highly developed, super-sensitive radar screen on which she kept track of us all: at any given moment she could check the inventory, to know precisely where each of us was, Lonia at his desk in the National Library on the fourth floor of the Terra Sancta Building, Zussya at Cafe Atara, Fania sitting in the B'nai B'rith Library, Amos playing with his best friend Eliyahu next door at Mr Friedmann the engineer's, in the first building on the right. Only at the edge of her screen, behind the extinguished galaxy, in the corner from which her son Zyuzya, Zyuzinka, with Malka and little Daniel, whom she had never seen or washed, were supposed to flicker back at her, all she could see by day or night was a terrifying black hole.
   
   This passage is instructive. First, there is a lovely metaphor for domestic life. How many grandmas have their perfect family radar screens? Then, everyone is mentioned by name. There is the accumulation of small details of location that give the passage life. But suddenly, at the end, the shocking reality of the Holocaust explodes this domestic tableau, as it does intermittently throughout these beautiful memories.
   
   Almost every page of this book contains an observation or metaphor so striking you cannot let it go, or rather it will not let you go. Oz writes: "Both my parents had come to Jerusalem straight from the 19th century."
   
   The contrast, indeed conflict, of east European Jews trying to recreate an idealised Europe, one free of anti-Semitism, in the hot, dusty climate of Israel, surrounded by hostile Arabs, is mined by Oz as much for comedy as tragedy. And there is endless comic delight in the crazy clash of expectation with reality. For bookish, intellectual, urban Jews such as Oz and his family, the kibbutz pioneers were a new kind of Jew. Oz mocks his own earnest idealisation of kibbutz pioneers, yet somehow affirms it as well:
   
   Tough, warm-hearted, though of course silent and thoughtful, young men and strapping, straightforward young women ... I pictured these pioneers as strong, serious, self-contained people, capable of sitting around in a circle and singing songs of heart-rending longing, or songs of mockery, or songs of outrageous lust ... (people) who could ride wild horses or wide-tracked tractors, who spoke Arabic, who knew every cave and wadi, who had a way with pistols and hand grenades, yet read poetry and philosophy.
   
   Oz is free of self-pity. Instead there is a generous human solidarity and understanding for everyone. But there are passages of aching melancholy and pain. The night the UN votes to establish Israel is the happiest night imaginable. Though it too is tinged with fear, as the Jews of Jerusalem are always in dread of a second holocaust. But the recognition of the Zionist dream is a fulfilment of generations' desires.
   
   In all his life, Oz never sees his father weep, except that night. The father crawls into bed beside young Amos and tousles his hair:
   
   Then he told me in a whisper what some hooligans did to him and his brother David in Odessa and what some gentile boys did to him at his Polish school in Vilna, and the girls joined in too, and the next day, when his father, Grandpa Alexander, came to the school to register a complaint, the bullies refused to return the torn trousers but attacked his father, Grandpa, in front of his eyes, forced him down on to the paving stones and removed his trousers too in the middle of the playground, and the girls laughed and made dirty jokes, saying that the Jews were all so-and-sos, while the teachers watched and said nothing.
   
   Now, the father tells Amos, people may bully you, but not because you are a Jew: "Not that. Never again. From tonight that's finished here. For ever." Most of the book is not political in that sense. It's full of jokes, though its genius is to blend comedy and tragedy. Oz recounts how as a kid he talked all the time, but that was fine because everyone in Jerusalem talked all the time. A professor tells Oz that the odds of there being an afterlife, as there is no conclusive evidence either way, are 50-50. For a central European Jew in the generation of Hitler, those chances of survival are not at all bad.
   
   When a great novelist writes a memoir with all the technique of the novel at its best, you get a superior art form. If I could recommend just one book to tell you something about the human condition, this would be it.

5 comments about Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide.

1. Aryeh Kaplan was a rare individual. A Jewish scholar taken from us too early. If you get the chance take a look at his biography. This is one of his better books and the best book on Jewish meditation. Nothing comes close. Oddly enough, it is also a book that I think would have great appeal to anyone who is not Jewish or perhaps not even that relegious. This book has a lot of pleasant surprises. Enjoy and learn.



2. Even though this book focuses on Jewish meditation and the Quabalah, the book can be read and used by anyone, either practically by following the exercises or simply to enrich their knowledge of meditation intellectually.
   
   Some readers may avoid the book thinking that it would only be worthwhile to a follower of a Jewish tradition, a pity, since the book has much to offer everyone interested in meditating.
   
   For those interested in a more in-depth treatment of Jewish Meditation and the Quabalah Aryeh Kaplan's other book 'Meditation and Kabbalah' goes into further detail.



3. Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide by Aryeh Kaplan is the best book I have read so far on this topic. It is extremely interesting, inspiring, and easy to understand and has a wealth of information. I liked the fact that the author warns his readers about certain methods of meditation that are not for beginners while at the same time gives clarity about the various types of meditations that are safe with guidelines how to practice them. There are also a lot of extremely interesting facts about Judaism that I was happy to learn. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in meditation from a Jewish perspective and gaining some basic knowledge about Kabbalah.



4. This book describes the essence of most of the meditation techniques I've come across while trying out meditation. The techniques are described in a jewish context, but the insightful and profound truths are valid for meditation in general. I particularly enjoyed the chapter "Nothingness", which shed new light on a Rudolf Steiner meditation I have practised.



5. The first 2 chapters of this book (What is Meditation? and Why Meditate?) offer the most lucid explanation of the basic point of meditation I have ever seen.
   
   For those who have a contemplative practice in any tradition, it is sometimes a struggle to explain or get across to non-practitioners just what it is you are doing (or trying to do) in your practice.
   
   These first 11 pages are a simple, factual description. A breath of fresh air, and without imperative. Not a sales job. Simply an explanation. A useful tool if your family or friends don't get it yet.
   
   The other 150 pages describe a variety of specific meditation techniques that are, each one, a treasure. Savor it slowly, and don't rush through. And especially, don't ignore the author's warning to attempt certain techniques only with a teacher. These techniques were developed in deep community and connection, and are still best used that way.

5 comments about Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures--The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text.

1. This is a readable translation of Hebrew scriptures. It is easily understood in distinction to the KJV, but without the English poetry. It is far more authorative than KJV. The paperback version (mine) is easily held and convenient to read.



2. I think this is a truly beautiful translation. I was also very happy with the quality of the book itself. Well worth every penny.



3. This has been a most welcome and very handy source for us whenever we seek English translations of Jewish sacred texts.
   
   We also own the Stone edition of the Tanach: The Torah, Prophets, Writings, including all 24 books of the so-called "Old Testament," in Hebrew and English, with commentary. We also own The Torah: A Modern Commentary, which includes only Torah, better known as the Five Books of Moses, along with the readings' assignments to the Jewish holidays.
   
   But this edition is by far the most used in our household, and we recommend it highly, to Jewish and Christian readers alike.



4. Let's get one thing out of the way. All Bible translations have a bias. The Bible: Authorized King James Version (Oxford World's Classics) was a protestant document through and through. While many claim to be easier to understand, most of them sacrifice ambiguity and humor in the interest of "clarity". The worst offenders change the Bible stories altogether.
   
   This particular version of the Bible is Jewish. Note the name as Tanakh and not "Old Testament" since in Judaism there is no "New Testament". The stories are arranged by the title - Torah - Nevuvim - Khethovim - or Torah, Prophets and Wisdom literature (Job, Ruth, Song of Songs, etc.) One can quibble with this translation losing some of poetry (unlike The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (The Schocken Bible, Volume 1) which strives to preserve the poetic verses and repetitive words so that English readers can get a true taste of the Torah as it sounds to a native Hebrew speaker) but this is a fine translation full of passion and storytelling.
   
   Of course, my personal bias in favor of this translation began when I read it for class and fell in love with stories that I once thought of as only prologues to Christianity. Gone are the "proof texts" that litter many a Christian missionary reading. Isaiah is looking at a young woman and not a virgin about to give birth. Psalm 22 is talking about lions not the crucifixion of Jesus. But what makes this more interesting is how fun some of the stories are, particularly Samuel (the story of David) which is ultimately tragic but has some hilarious bits along the way including the Philistines being stricken with hemorrhoids in chapter 5 and making golden rat and hemorrhoid statues to honor the G-d of Israel. Most other translations wimp out and say that they died of "the plague". Sure, it's immature to look through a Bible for scatological humor, but if it's there, it's there. And it makes God Knows seem a lot less blasphemous in comparison.
   
   In many ways, this is the redheaded step child of Bible translations. Artscroll has been cornering the market on translations and they like to use Rashi commentary in place of translation (which means a thoroughly awful castrated version of Song of Songs) and others prefer King James for poetry, but I still find this one to be my favorite. Maybe because of some of the weaknesses or maybe because in a field ripe with biases and agenda, this one tries to be non-biased as it can be.



5. This is not a full sized book and it's made from that onion-skin type biblical paper...and the covers are VERY weak cardstock. The book bows when I pick it up. I'm very unhappy. Had I known this about this particular edition I'd have gotten the hardbound one. This book is a keeper, meant to be read and dog earred etc...but I don't know that this one will be able to stand up to such use. I'm in the process of trying to reinforce and laminate the covers so at least they will be more sturdy. If this book is not that important to you, then it will be OK. But if you mean to use this book a lot, pay the extra for the better quality book. I wish I had.

5 comments about All But My Life.

1. Despite the horrors around her, and fellow prisoners dying and becoming mentally unbalanced every day, young Gerda Weissman managed to survive several Nazi camps from the late 1930s through the grisly end of World War II.
   
   Imagine being a teenager, wrenched away from your beloved parents, older brother and home -- and never seeing any of them ever again. It would be enough to make anyone unstable, not to mention bitter. Yet somehow, Gerda emerges from her horrifying ordeal stronger than she began. As her body heals in a hospital run by the Allies during the spring of 1945, Gerda begins a relationship with Kurt Klein -- a young soldier who urges her to tell her story.
   
   Now an elderly woman living in Arizona, Gerda Weissman Klein is able to see just how far she's come from the young Jewish girl living a priviledged life in Poland. Yet at the same time, her writing style allows readers to see clearly just how that same persona has managed to live such a rich, eventful life to the fullest all of these years.
   
   I've read many Holocaust memoirs, though I must say that Gerda's story is beautifully and distinctly told.



2. I read this book a long time ago and just got done listening to the book on tape for the second time. It is the most powerful representation of the Holocaust I have found. Please read this book if you want to learn about the Holocaust from a gifted author and survivor.



3. This book was gripping and I could not put it down until I finished it. It's so hard to believe the hardships so many endured for being Jewish. A must read. Beautifully written with rich detail.



4. I have read many of the holocaust books out there but this is the one I pass on to friends to read. Especially moving is the liberation of the prisoners at the end of the book. I wish all schools made this mandatory reading. What a way to learn history! This author is quite an incredible woman.



5. This is one of the first Holocaust survival stories that I read. It is by far one that has stayed with me in the most detail.
   
   What a strong girl Gerda is. she was told to never give up her boots and in the end it is one thing that saved her life after marching in a blizzard half frozen to death. How she survived is nothing short of a miracle.
   
   Reading this when you are in a hard time reminds you that you do have the inner strength to survive. If she can do that then I can face my problems. It is quite graphic and tells the truth of really happened in the holocaust.
   
   I'm not going to give the story away I'm just going to say you will cry and rejoyce in this story. It will touch you to core of your very being.
   
   I must read for EVERYONE!

5 comments about The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts.

1. Book was promptly delivered in excellent condition, just as I have learned to expect from Amazon.



2. This is one of the books by Finklestein and Silberman. Based on verified archaeological finds, they reconstruct the history of the early Bible and show it did not happen in the time period or in the way claimed by the Bible. The conservative Christian will not like this book, because it contradicts much of hat many consider to be the history of the Bible. I found the book to be scholarly and very well documented. If Abrah, Isaac and Jacob did not exist, or did not exist in the appropriate Biblical history, if David and Solomon are historically questionable and the Biblical claims are fairy tales, where does this leave Christianity, initially based on the early Jewish texts?



3. The thesis set forth in this book is not new for those who have been following modern research on the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), and the bibliography is not the kind one would expect in a serious scholarly treatise.
   However, the book was not written with the intention of being an original contribution to the scholarly discourse - ecen so, in some ways it is - but to provide the educated reader with the latest theorization about the origins of the Tanch, in particular its historiographical literature, and this it does with great success.
   The writing is lucid and readable, the ideas clearly presented. The bibliography at the end of the book is basic, but it includes some of the most important biblical research literature.
   I recommend this book to all my Bible students (in its Hebrew translation), and in one of my courses, several chapters are required reading.
   Dr. Jonathan D. Safren
   Dept. of Biblical Studies
   Beit Berl College
   Beit Berl, Israel



4. Ancient Israel was not an empire of great cities but was a tiny kingdom. The spell-binding saga of the Exodus was not a historic epic but was a moving product of human imagination. Many of the stories happened in a different era than portrayed in the Bible; many were exaggerated and misrepresented; some didn't happen at all.
   
   Here's just one example of how we know this:
   
   The stories of the patriarchs are loaded with camels but archeology clearly tells us camels were not domesticated and widely used until centuries later. The camel caravan in the Joseph story carried gum, balm, & myrhh, products of 7th & 8th century BCE trade during the Assyrian empire, but not before. Likewise, numerous cities, significant in the 7th & 8th centuries BCE, were mentioned in Genesis, but were either non-existent or were merely insignificant villages at the time.
   
   This is just a tiny part of the voluminous evidence that tells a story much more mundane than does the Bible. The stories of the patriarchs reflect concerns of a seventh century Israel - projected onto the lives of legendary figures from a mythical past. The first archeologists studied the holy land with a "Bible in one hand and a shovel in the other." William Albright provided us with the first book representing more modern archeological methods in 1945. F&S have provided us with the first comprehensive update to that book - well worth the time of anyone interested in this subject.



5. A meticulous examination devoid of mythological leanings, based in the accuracy of measurable examinations yielding erudite conclusions throughout. Such works should not dismiss ones want of faith; as unbiased research only affirms the footing of facts which are truly there and those which in word or deed, never were. Simply put, this is a sophisticated, wonderful work.

5 comments about Hip Kosher: 175 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes for Today's Kosher Cooks.

1. Bravo! I tried 3 recipes at different times: Couscous with Dried Cranberries and Toasted Almonds, Tomato Salad with Toasted Bread and Feta Cheese, and Meatballs in Marinara Sauce. This book actually tempted me to go into the kitchen and try them. Not a place I generally like to be but it was quick and better still it not only worked but I receive received raves from my grandchildren. I am now going to work my way through the fish chapter for my husband and myself.
   Thank you Ronnie Fein



2. This book is a great find - from fun recipes filled with loads of learning made easy. I look forward to flipping through the pages and finding a new recipe to try - they've all been hits with our friends so far. Easy to follow - definitely well tested - and they all paste the taste test of top notch food! Thank you, Ms. Ronnie Fein, for bringing this book to us!



3. This book is a winner. The recipes are simple, modern, and focused on fresh fruits, vegetables, healthy entrees. It arrived on Wednesday and by the following Sunday, I had experimented with six different recipes ranging from terrific side dishes to salmon to dessert. All were winners and I'll make them all again. This cookbook IS hip and you don't have to be kosher to enjoy it.



4. Ms. Fine's new book is perfect for those of us who are not born cooks. Her tips and sidebars give excellent advice and make the recipes easy to execute. My favorite so far is Turkey Couscous Salad for which I used chicken that I had on hand. It is simple and delicious, not like anything I have prepared before. Ms. Fine also suggests other ingredients that would work in this dish; I will experiment with these. A wonderful recipe for lunch or supper on a warm summer's day.



5. I was amazed at how many ways Ms. Fein has figured out how to make kosher food fun! The cover caught my eye, I wasn't even looking for a new cookbook. But boy am I glad I stopped and picked it up.
   I don't know where to begin, all the recipes look so fabulous!
   Love the creativity and the user friendly design of the book.
   Thanks so much!!