Arts & Entertainment
People Of
The Books
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s candles light up Chanukah menorahs around
the world, new books can light the passions of
reading enthusiasts of all ages and interests.
Many recent releases feature links to Judaism — some
religious, some secular. With so many volumes, it's easy
to find an illuminating reading experience for individuals
on any Chanukah gift list.
A cross-section of possible selections — from religious
commentary to pop culture — are categorized and sum-
marized below:
For the Holiday Host
A rabbi who also is an educator gives some new ideas
about religious practices and perspectives in Celebrating
the Jewish Year: The Winter Holidays (Jewish
Publication Society; $22). Paul Steinberg goes back to tra-
ditional sources and moves forward with fresh ideas for
home celebrations of Chanukah, Tu b'Shevat and Purim.
Fnr the Spiritually Curiou,,
Rav Michael Laitman, with Collin Canright, explains what
has become very trendy in The Complete Idiot's Guide to
Kabbalah (Alpha Books; $16.95) — outlining the facts,
the fallacies and different outlooks on the mystical school
of thought.
Another approach to the same subject is Kabbalah for
Dummies (Wiley; $19.99). Arthur Kurzweil defines what
Kabbalah is and what it isn't.
For the Religious Thinker
Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in
America, 1940-1972 (Yale University Press; $40) cov-
ers politics and personality in a biography of one of the
most significant theological thinkers of the 20th century.
Author Edward Kaplan chronicles the spiritual leader's
influence outside the Jewish community as a social activ-
ist. Kaplan worked with Samuel Dresner on Abraham
Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness (Yale University
Press; $20), an earlier biography reaching back to
Heschel's roots in Chasidic culture.
FN. the Pc!mis.
A fresh look at biblical writing is found in The Book of
Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
(Norton; $35) by Robert Alter. The invigo-
rating new translation is accompanied by
history and analysis.
Experience the Psalms both visually and
verbally in artist Debra Band's I Will Wake
the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms (Jewish
Publication Society; $60), which presents 36 of
the best-known verses in the original Hebrew
and in English translation — accompanied
by full-color art and commentary by biblical
scholar Arnold Band.
For the Fiction Aficionado
Reclusive writer Nathan Zuckerman
returns to society in Exit Ghost
(Houghton Mifflin; $26), the latest novel
by Philip Roth. Meeting new people and
confronting someone from the past
awaken emotions that had seemed
gone forever.
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Read between the pages for that special book
for a special someone at Chanukah.
Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News
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For the Folktale Fancier
The territories populated by Jews are far-
reaching, and so there are two large vol-
umes to tell unique stories — Folktales
of the Jews: Tales from the Sephardic
Dispersion and Folktales of the Jews:
Tales from Eastern Europe. Edited with
commentary by Dan Ben Amos, along with Dov Noy as
consulting editor, the volumes are offered by the Jewish
Publication Society at $75 each.
For the Storyteller
Laney Katz Becker asked religious leaders for tales of
inspiration and compiled them for Three Times Chai:
54 Rabbis Tell Their Favorite Stories (Behrman House;
$22). Some are original, and some are classics told in new
ways.
For the Poet
Itzhak Perlman, playing with an impaired violin, serves
as inspiration for Grace Schulman in the title poem of her
book The Broken String (Houghton Mifflin; $22). Music
goes on to stir reflections about joy, faith and other deeply
felt emotions.
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Staff photos by Angie Baan
For the Memoir Fan
James Lipton, who asks lots of questions on his TV show
Inside the Actor's Studio, offers answers about his own life
in Inside Inside (Dutton; $27.95). The writer-interviewer
goes back to his Jewish Detroit roots and tells about the
famous people he knows.
Studs Turkel, a legendary chronicler of Americana,
reveals his own legendary story in Touch and Go: A
Memoir (New Press; $24.95). The book includes family
photos to give a fuller picture of his colorful life.
People Of The Books on page C26
MI
November 29 2007
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