JTS Library Book Talks

Braced: A Book Talk and Discussion

Kohelet's Pursuit of Truth: A New Reading of Ecclesiastes

In his book Kohelet’s Pursuit of Truth, Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal, former president of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, presents an arresting new translation and commentary on Ecclesiastes that unlocks the ancient wisdom of one of the deepest and most controversial books of the Tanakh. Segal's most striking innovations include the tracing of change within the book, an exploration of the charatcer of the main speaker, an appreciation of the literary structure, and a sensitivity to the varied voices of the main speaker. A persuasive guide to the book Thomas Wolfe called "the greatest single piece of literature I have known," Kohelet’s Pursuit of Truth demonstrates that Ecclesiastes is designed to empower the reader, emphasizing challenges rather than answers.

Kaplan was a compulsive diarist. His journal of twenty seven volumes is one of the longest on record. Communings of the Spirit, volume 2 contains in vivid detail the edited selections from 1934-1941.

Named after Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s own sharp self-description, Vulture in a Cage, translated by Dr. Raymond P. Scheindlin is the most extensive collection of the eleventh-century Hebrew poet’s works ever to be published in English.

Reading Genesis: Beginnings, edited by Beth Kissileff, gathers intellectuals and thinkers who use their professional knowledge to create an original constellation of modern readings of Genesis: a scientist of appetite on Eve’s eating behavior; law professors on contracts and collective punishment; an anthropologist on the nature of human strife in the Cain and Abel story; political scientists on the nature of Biblical games, Abraham's resistance, and collective action.

Judaism as we know it is a western Roman religion, argues Rabbi Burton Visotzky. Yes, the very empire that destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE served as the culture in which Judaism was nurtured and became the religion of the rabbis that we still celebrate today.

Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food Roger Horowitz (Columbia University Press, 2016)Kosher USA follows the fascinating journey of kosher food through the modern industrial food system. It recounts how iconic products such as Coca-Cola and Jell-O tried to become kosher; the contentious debates among rabbis over the incorporation of modern science into Jewish law; how Manischewitz wine became the first kosher product to win over non-Jewish consumers (principally African Americans); the techniques used by Orthodox rabbinical organizations to embed kosher requirements into food manufacturing; and the difficulties encountered by kosher meat and other kosher foods that fell outside the American culinary consensus.

Thinking and Killing Philosophical Discourse in the Shadow of the Third Reich

Rabbinic Judaism: Space and Place

In God's Image

Portrait of the Kings: The Davidic Prototype in Deuteronomistic Poetics

The Beautiful Possible: A Novel

All This Has Come Upon Us

Pepper, Silk & Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews and the Far East

God, Faith & Identity From The Ashes: Reflections of Children And Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors

A Dialogue of Life: Towards the Encounter of Jews and Christians

Leadership in the Bible: A Practical Guide for Today. A Discussion with Coauthor Dr. David Arnow.

A Discussion with author Dr. Richard Kalmin.

The Bus on Jaffa Road: The Story of Middle East Terrorism and the Search for Justice