The Jewish Week | Books

Conservative movement’s new guide to Jewish life reflects societal changes.
The ‘Middle’ Movement Affirms, Updates Its Middle Path
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 | Diane Cole | Special To The Jewish Week

What does it mean to be an observant Jew in the 21st century?

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Kashua’s third novel underlines the complexities of life in Israel for minorities.
Writing Between Worlds
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 | Sandee Brawarsky | Jewish Week Book Critic

When I ask Sayed Kashua about the roots of his humor, he says that he isn’t sure, but that it probably has something to do with his discovery, as an Israeli Arab attending a Jewish high school, that humor could protect him.

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Kasher in the Rye book cover.
From Here To Absurdity
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 | Eric Herschthal | Staff Writer

Many of the best comedians have had deeply troubled pasts. But Moshe Kasher, a rising 32-year-old comic and author of a new memoir, “Kasher in the Rye,” takes the old adage to a new level.

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New and recently translated books depict women's experiences before and during the Holocaust.
The (Piano) Keys To Her Survival
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | Sandee Brawarsky | Jewish Week Book Critic

At 108, Alice Herz-Sommer is believed to be the oldest living Holocaust survivor. Born in Prague, she watched her mother being deported to Terezin in 1942, and never saw her again. A year later, she was also deported there with her husband and son. By then, Herz-Sommer was an acclaimed pianist, and continued to play in the concentration camp, giving more than a hundred concerts to fellow prisoners and to the Nazis. Her husband was killed in the camp just before liberation.

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