OPT Judy Recommends

Judy Gross Recommends

My top 10 Jewish books constantly change, but here is a current list, after, of course, a Bible, and probably a prayer book, haggadah, and some general Biblical commentary (like Plaut or Hertz or JPS):

1. Gates of Understanding (CCAR and UAHC) - an outstanding, concise explanation of prayer and our prayer book (Gates of Prayer), including Biblical and Talmudic sources. Another absolutely wonderful book is Jewish Liturgy and Its Development by A. Z. Idelsohn, which is especially good on explaining changes in the liturgy made by the Reform Movement in Germany.

2. Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliot Friedman - a really interesting discussion of biblical criticism, including different probable authors.

3. The Book of J by Harold Bloom and David Rosenberg - provocative and fun translation of and commentary on the parts of the Bible thought to have been written by the J author (which is most of the good stuff).

4. A popular history of Judaism, including any or all of the following:

The Sacred Chain by Norman Cantor

A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson

Judaism by Hans Kung

A History of the Jewish People, ed. Ben-Sasson

A History of the Jewish Experience by Leo Trepp

5. The Complete Book of Jewish Observance by Leo Trepp - very good discussion of holidays, customs, and laws.

6. Why Should Jews Survive? Looking Past the Holocaust to a Jewish Future by Michael Goldberg - current thought on direction of Judaism.

7. The Last of the Just by Andre Schwartz-Bart - legend, history, Holocaust, and one of the most beautiful novels ever written.

8. Zohar, The Book of Enlightenment, Daniel Matt abridged translation - old time New Age.

9. Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning by Victor Frankel - a psychology book that is one of the best practical statements of Judaism I have ever read.

10. Assimilation and Its Discontents by Barry Rubin - out of print and pretty heavy-duty, but a very interesting discussion of Jewish assimilation, especially in Germany in the Nineteenth Century. For those who want a lighter discussion, Embracing the Stranger, Intermarriage and the Future of the American Jewish Community by Ellen Jaffe McCain, about Jewish men and women not getting along is a very interesting book, especially for its reanalysis of the infamous 1990 Jewish population survey.

10 1/2. Liberal Judaism by Eugene Borowitz - a good statement of principles of Reform Judaism that I believe all attending a Reform temple should read (but many people in the book discussion group didn’t like it; they thought it was dry).

I tried to cover most of the basic topics, but I really want this list to be the top 100 or so. I did not list many primary sources because most people find them difficult to dive into. And I can’t end my top 10 list without including the tape or CD Renewal Of Spirit by Debbie Friedman. (The link here takes you to JewishMusic.com, not Amazon.com.)