The flawed and the complex; the historic and the particular. These are the qualities that I look for in a good book. Below are some of the Jewish books I read and enjoyed in 2023.
Adam is an almost bar mitzvah boy, and his coming of age is set against the background of antisemitism, the Soviet Jewry movement, and relatable cringe-worthy moments of awkwardness.
Ethics of Our Fighters has as its background the Jewish reaction to being confronted with the moral challenges of warfare.
To truly appreciate the people of Israel is to understand the Israeli character, how they coalesced after a year of division to rise to the occasion with a singular national purpose.
The Elephant in My Room is the story of seven-year-old Benny, whose father is called up for military service on October 7.
It is a comprehensive history and development of these trees, which includes multiple examples that the author has collected to illustrate his subject.
These are specifically Jewish stories, and unlikely to be appreciated or understood without a background in what is commonly called Yiddishkeit.