This week’s essay is dedicated to the memory of my dear neighbor, Dr. Jacob Mozak who would have been 100 years old this week. 1913, one hundred years ago, is the subject of a very interesting book entitled, “1913: In Search of the World Before The Great War,” by Charles Emmerson [Public Affairs, 2013]. Designed as a city-by-city survey of events prominent to each that year, the author gives us a unique historical panorama of a world on the brink of a military and political disaster. more

There is one book in our Bible that encompasses the writings of 12 prophets known as the “Trei Asar.” This volume is the subject of an interesting commentary and analysis by one of the … more

The Kosher Bookworm by Alan Jay Gerber Issue of September 17, 2010/ 9 Tishrei 5771 Yom Kippur often has an extra, added spiritual affect on even the most marginally observant Jews. Whether it … more

On Shavuot, we commemorate the pact of spiritual loyalty that G-d and the Jewish people pledged to each other at Mount Sinai. Yet a plain reading of the biblical text shows us that not long after the … more

In a rare observation concerning the saddest day on the Jewish liturgical calendar, Ahuva Gray, Chicago born granddaughter of sharecroppers from Mississippi and an adult convert to the Jewish … more

Several years ago I introduced to this column the precious scholarship of a Canadian rabbi, Reuven Bulka. His many books and essays span the gamut of Jewish learning that surely deserves your … more

Purim is now behind us and the next time we are going to witness a full moon is exactly one month from now, Pesach. With that exciting thought in mind, I was taken by an essay by Dr. Adele Berlin in … more

Kosher Bookworm By Alan Jay Gerber February 5, 2010/ 21 Shvat 5770 I had always assumed that learning long and hard was a virtue, and that looking for the short and easy way out was a … more

It is three weeks till Pesach, the feast of our liberation, and it all started with Yosef. And it is the biblical story of Yosef that is at the center of a unique musical production of that title in … more

With the counting of Sefirah just about to end, the festival of Shavuot commemorating the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai can not be too far behind. In fact the observance of this briefest of holidays is the exact culmination of the Sefirah count and the climax of the historic link between Pesach, the Exodus, and Shavuot and the giving of the Torah. more