Book review

'Agents of Change': American Jews and the transformation of Israeli Judaism - review

From gender roles to religious authority, American-trained leaders transformed key debates in Israeli Judaism.

Rabbi Danny Tropper, founder of Gesher.
Title page of first edition of the Zohar, Mantua, 1558. (Photos: Wikimedia Commons)

'The Wisdom of Truth': Reaching the attic with a ladder to the Zohar - review

MOSSAD OPERATIVE ‘Adam Feyn,’ who recently published a book in Hebrew called ‘Hoda’ah Goralit’ (Fateful Message), exploring the Hezbollah beeper operation, provides his first English-language interview about it to ‘The Jerusalem Post.’

Inside Israel’s secret operation to turn Hezbollah’s beepers into bombs - exclusive

Hurva remains, 1972.

Inside Jerusalem’s 1948 siege through the eyes of a child who survived the Old City’s fall


'On Democracies and Death Cults': Douglas Murray lauds Israel’s youth - review

On Democracies and Death Cults sets out Douglas Murray’s clear-eyed, reasoned, and deeply researched view of the pogrom committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023

 CALLING FOR the release of Israelis still in Hamas captivity, at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in April 2025.

'Sons and Daughters': The last great Yiddish novel now available in English - review

An English translation by Rose Waldman of Chaim Grade’s final, unfinished work has been published.

 JEWISH WEDDING in a Russian shtetl, complete with klezmer band; painting by Isaak Asknaziy, 1893.

'The Right to Happiness': Moving fiction about Holocaust survivors - review

While they are firmly grounded in the hearts and souls of the survivors and their families, these tales tell a universal story of love and loss that will appeal to any reader.

 A MEMORIAL to Janusz Korczak and the orphans he stayed with until their very last moments, created by Boris Saktsier, at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem.

'Rabbinic Scholarship': How the Talmud Yerushalmi was made - review

This book is a deeply scholarly and ambitious work that sheds new light on the Talmud Yerushalmi and its place within the intellectual world of late antiquity.

 An illustrative image of someone reading the Talmud.

'The Defeat of Evil': A warning for constant vigilance against a resurgent evil within - review

The Defeat of Evil ends with this somber warning: “Even in victory, we must remember: No triumph is ever complete or permanent. Safeguarding our values demands constant vigilance.”

 Israelis are seen protesting judicial reform, in Tel Aviv.

'The Human Scale': Israel-based FBI mystery is a page-turner - review

The Human Scale is a superb contemporary political thriller that goes well beyond simply keeping the reader enthralled with a succession of unexpected developments, page after page.

An FBI vehicle

'The Art of the Music Critic': Music through a former ‘Jerusalem Post’ critic's eyes - review

The Art of the Music Critic is an incisive and illuminating compendium of an expansive stretch of our musical timeline, presented in an invitingly user-friendly form.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

'Songs for the Brokenhearted': A mosaic of Israeli society - review

This cast of characters and their stories offer an authentic mosaic of the people who make up Israeli society, portraying the tensions, the long history, and the unresolved traumas.

 Jews from Yemen are seen heading to Israel during Operation Magic Carpet.

'Jewish & Israel Trivia': The perfect trivia challenge for the Passover Seder - review

If you haven’t picked up a copy before the Seder, I strongly suggest you grab one as soon as you can. This trivia booklet is bound to sell like hotcakes. 

 ALL-IMPORTANT: Children take part in a practice Seder.

'It Takes Chutzpah': Jewish senator's memoir hopes to raise next generation of activists - review

It Takes Chutzpah is crisply and clearly written, intended to raise a new generation of can-do activists with the ability to build bridges and widen constituencies in order to achieve their goals.

 US Senator Ron Wyden is seen at a demonstration outside the US Treasury.