Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Jewish Books FEATURED IN THIS EMAIL: * "Haikus for Jews: For You, a Little Wisdom" by David M. Bader * "Yosl Rakover Talks to God" by Zvi Kolitz * "The Illustrated Hebrew Bible: 75 Selected Stories" by Ellen Frankel * "Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings" by John Rogerson "Haikus for Jews: For You, a Little Wisdom" by David M. Bader http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/060960502X/entertainmentsit "Of all the many forms of Jewish-Japanese poetry, the Jewish haiku is perhaps the most sublimely beautiful," begins the foreword to the wickedly funny and tirelessly bizarre "Haikus for Jews" by David M. Bader. If you can't abide a little fun with stereotypes, read another book. But if you don't mind a little ribbing, take a look at the following haiku, which gives only a mild taste of the yummy-as-lox treats gathered in this collection: "Jewish voodoo tip-- /mention an acting career, /then watch for chest pain." And if you liked that, you'll love this: "Lightbulb out again-- /how many of us must meet/to change it this time?" And they just keep getting better. "Yosl Rakover Talks to God" by Zvi Kolitz http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375404511/entertainmentsit "Yosl Rakover Talks to God," a short story that was thought for years to be a nonfiction testimonial, is one of the most highly regarded works of literature to emerge from the Holocaust. It presents itself as the last words of a dying Jew to God. Yosl Rakover, a resistance fighter against the German assault on the Warsaw Ghetto, and the last surviving member of his family, takes pen to paper on April 28, 1943, to write a searing confession of strength and humility. ("The sun probably has no idea how little I regret that I shall never see it again.") He then seals the story in a glass bottle and hides it in the rubble before returning to the battle in which he will die. This edition of the story includes a long essay about its composition and reception by journalist Paul Badde, an essay from the 1950s by the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, and a response to that essay by Leon Wieseltier (the author of "Kaddish"). This is a strange and beautiful book, with great power to persuade its readers that we must take time to state for ourselves the nature of our belief or unbelief. Yosl Rakover cherishes the story of a Jew who escaped the Spanish Inquisition and prayed: "I will always believe in You. I will love You always and forever--even despite You." Many readers will cherish "Yosl Rakover Talks to God" in a similar way. "The Illustrated Hebrew Bible: 75 Selected Stories" by Ellen Frankel http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556709412/entertainmentsit "The Illustrated Hebrew Bible" is a massive, elegant edition of 75 powerful stories, parables, and prophesies from the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, adapted by Ellen Frankel. A fresh translation, based on the translation of the Jewish Publication Society, brings familiar stories lurching to life: "In the very beginning, God created a world--the heavens and the earth--out of nothing. But this world was without rhyme or reason. Darkness covered the face of the deep, and the breath of God glided over the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light!'" More than 100 color illustrations add drama and texture to this Bible--from Michelangelo's vision of Adam and Eve expelled from Eden to Marc Chagall's rendering of Jacob's Ladder. This is a book that many families will keep, with reverence, for years. Even young children will be drawn to its vivid language and brilliant pictures. Just make sure they wash their hands before you settle down on the sofa to read together. "Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Ancient Israel" by John Rogerson http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0500050953/entertainmentsit "Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings" charts the rise and fall of the leaders of Israel from Abraham to Herod. The first founders of the nation (such as David, Solomon, and Moses) and the prophets who first judged their leadership (such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Elijah) are brought vividly to life with lavish color maps, time lines, photographs of archaeological treasures, and reproductions of later artists' imaginative renderings of each figure. These features alone make "Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings" a whiz-bang coffee-table book. In addition, author John Rogerson, a professor of religious studies at the University of Sheffield, provides an accessible, absorbing set of profiles of Israel's leaders. He considers all of the crucial debates in biblical scholarship today: Did the earliest biblical leaders of Israel actually exist? How much can we know about them? And how should that historical knowledge influence our reading of the Bible? Rogerson's intrepid exploration of these questions, presented in such a stylish volume, makes "Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings" a valuable addition to any library of books about religion. --Michael Joseph Gross is a former political speech writer, now working as a freelance journalist. ****** You'll find more great books, articles, excerpts, and interviews in Amazon.com's Religion & Spirituality section at Religion & Spirituality ******
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