Books

"Don’t travel naked in Switzerland" and more tips for visiting a foreign country

A new travel book offers 100 tips for proper and respectful behavior in a foreign country.

|ByWALLA! TOURISM
Don’t travel naked in Switzerland
Peter Beinart attends the PEN America 62nd Annual Literary Awards at Town Hall on March 31, 2026 in New York City.

Peter Beinart’s ‘Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza’ wins PEN America award

Judges said the book “offers a model for writing a new story when inherited narratives no longer hold.” PEN America's CEO left in 2024 after the group published a report accusing Israel of genocide.

|ByGRACE GILSON/JTA
FEDAYEEN OF the PFLP in mountains east of the Jordan River, early 1969. They carry Soviet and Egyptian weapons.

'The Arab Case for Israel': Explaining the conflict between Jews and Arabs - review

The Arab Case for Israel is the book that I would recommend above all others for anyone who sincerely wants to understand the entrenched conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel.

|ByABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
Jewish book lovers gather at the Jewish Book Council's offices in Manhattan, July 19, 2023.

Jewish authors slam Jewish Book Council for ‘bias toward centering Israeli, Zionist voices’

A new open letter signed by 42 authors argues that the Jewish Book Council, which was founded in 1925, should commit itself more to spotlighting Jewish voices who disagree with traditional Zionism.

|ByANDREW LAPIN/JTA

Novel on antisemitism by Yonit Levi and Bianna Golodryga sells well, but New York Times ignores it

The novel follows three middle schoolers in Chicago and examines how they are affected when Theo’s idol, a soccer player, tweets an antisemitic comment.

APRIL 9, 2026ByHANNAH BROWN
Don’t Feed the Lion.

There was always a third Singer: Yiddish literary diamonds revealed - review

Esther Kreitman, sister of Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, wrote powerful Yiddish fiction capturing Jewish life, struggle, and survival.

APRIL 4, 2026ByNOAH ROTHSTEIN
Esther Kreitman (nee Singer), born in 1891 in Biłgoraj, Poland, to a rabbinic family, became a Yiddish-language novelist and short story writer.

A lost novel from 1943 that predicted the Holocaust has been recovered

Friedrich Torberg recorded his image of a German concentration camp in “Mein ist die Rache,” written decades before the capitalized “Holocaust” entered common parlance.

APRIL 2, 2026BySHIRA LI BARTOV/JTA
A portrait of Friedrich Torberg, Jan. 1, 1970.

'The Road to October 7': The long centuries of hatred that led to Hamas’s attack - review

This review of The Road to October 7 follows an interview with its author published in the Magazine earlier this month.

MARCH 28, 2026ByNEVILLE TELLER
Germans read an antisemitic tabloid on a billboard: 'The Jews are our misfortune.' That was in 1935. The Palestinian Authority still teaches hate and violence toward Jews today, the author writes.

Matzah pizza and Miriam star in new children’s books for Passover in 2026

The new books range from Karen Katz’s brightly colored, joyful picture book to an ornately designed volume published by a Chabad-Lubavitch imprint.

MARCH 25, 2026ByPENNY SCHWARTZ/ JTA
New children's books for Passover in 2026 include ones about welcoming guests and women of Jewish history.

Jerusalem highlights: March 20 – March 26

What's new to do in Israel's capital?

MARCH 21, 2026ByHAGAY HACOHEN
Ron Mueck, ‘Boy,’ 1999, shown at a past Venice Biennale (see Tues day).

What history teaches about October 7, according to Rafael Medoff

A renowned historian’s scholarly work examines alarming trends to watch out for.

MARCH 8, 2026ByATARA BECK
Cars belonging to Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak members were also mutilated on Oct. 7, 2023.

Be a refusenik: Survival guide for Jewish students facing campus antisemitism

New playbook for Jewish defiance on campus takes a page from Soviet refuseniks.

MARCH 8, 2026ByABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
David Hazony (from L) Natan Sharansky, Rawan Osman, Izabella Tabarovsky, and Noah Shufutinsky at the January launch event for Be a Refusenik at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.

Wedding invitation from 1955: A stroll through cherished memories - opinion

A simple wedding invitation from over 60 years ago provides memories of family and the moments that shaped a life.

MARCH 1, 2026ByDVORA WAYSMAN
The Writer's wedding invitation from 1955, to take place in Melbourne’s St. Kilda Synagogue.

'Rogue Justice': Exploring how Israel’s top court turned into a political powerhouse - review

Yonatan Green reveals how Israel’s Supreme Court seized power, shaping law and politics with little democratic oversight.

MARCH 1, 2026ByNEVILLE TELLER
Entrance hall of the Supreme Court, decorated with a section of mosaic pavement recovered from the 5th-to-8th-century Hamat Gader synagogue, near the Golan Heights.