From Our Writers in the Village
Reviews, reflections, and essays from our community of writers, journalists, educators, and passionate readers.
Essay
Teaching Contempt: How Children’s Books Instill Hatred of Israel
Author
Marjorie Gann
Marjorie GannIf you visit your public library or browse the displays at any teachers’ conference today, you’ll notice that some people have other ideas about what picture books should do — and there are now more than a dozen anti-Israel preschool books to help them.
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Review
Unsafe at MIT: A Chronicle of a Campus War on the Jews
Author
Yossi Sheffi
Jaime HerndonThe events of October 7, as well as the aftermath in the United States, changed the higher education environment—perhaps irrevocably. Yossi Sheffi, a professor of engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), arguably one of the top universities in the country, knows these changes firsthand. Sheffi is Israeli and Jewish, and his newest book, Unsafe at MIT: A Chronicle of a Campus War on the Jews, is case study, memoir, and immersive reportage, all wrapped up into a damning account of the institution.
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Review
Ezra-Nehemiah: Retrograde Revolution Named Book of the Year
Author
Yael Leibowitz
Ben RothkeBen Rothke, writing in The Jewish Link, named Yael Leibowitz's Ezra-Nehemiah: Retrograde Revolution his Book of the Year for 5786 — “a work rich in sophisticated ideas, intellectual nuance, and insights that reveal their depth with every page.”
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Review
The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Million Little Stories Behind Israel's Birth
Author
Emmet Hirsch
Arnon Z. ShorrEmmet Hirsch's new novel attempts to bring — by means of fiction — some of the humanity back into our understanding of the history of Israel's founding, through the sweeping life of a Lebanese Jew named Joseph.
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Review
God and the First Families: Parenting, Trauma, and Healing in Genesis
Author
Stephen Spector
Yehudit Singer-FreudAs someone with a deep curiosity about families and models of relationships, I am frequently drawn to works that engage classical texts with relatable life scenarios. In God and the First Families, Stephen Spector bridges biblical exegesis with modern psychological research.
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Review
Stained Glass — A Reflective History of Antisemitism
Author
Flora Cassen
Neville TellerProfessor Flora Cassen is a Belgian-born historian. Specializing in European Jewish history, her recent work has expanded into the analysis of contemporary antisemitism. In her new book, Stained Glass, she traces the history of Jew hatred in Europe across the centuries.
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Releases
The Ancient City of Refuge: A Thriller?
Author
Jay Bailey
Howard Jay MeyerJay Bailey's choice to present this narrative as a fictional thriller blended with historical facts will leave readers feeling excited and more educated. By reading this book you will have a greater appreciation for the Land of Israel, its people, culture and history.
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