Category Archives: Book Reviews

‘The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures’ by Psychologist Michael J. Salamon

I’m enjoying this book about finding a Jewish spouse. It has some great anecdotes, such as the one about a young man given the phone number for a young woman. When he dials, however, he finds the phone answered by … Continue reading

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Is It OK To Have Affairs If You Need Them For Your Art?

Are writers accountable to a different moral code? As their art is so necessary, their perceptions so keen, perhaps they have to live up to a different Torah? Fred emails: I can see the dialog now: Dear, I have a … Continue reading

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Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California

My favorite part of this biography by Hellman’s great-great-granddaughter Frances Dinkelspiel came on page 181. It describes how affluent German Jews in the San Francisco Bay Area reacted with ambivalent feelings to the arrival of Russian Jewish immigrants. Why were … Continue reading

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War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism

I was really looking forward to this book and then when I tucked into it today, I found it was deadly dull. Feith writes about "terrorist extremists." As opposed to "terrorist moderates"? He also uses the phrase, "I personally." I … Continue reading

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‘A Fabulous Tale’ Set In North Africa

From Princeton:       Midway through rabbinical school, Burton Visotzky fell in love with midrash — rabbinic narrative and interpretation of the Bible. Maybe it is not a surprise that an English major from the University of Illinois would be … Continue reading

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