New Books in Jewish Studies

Igor H. De Souza, "Rewriting Maimonides: Early Commentaries on the Guide of the Perplexed" (de Gruyter, 2018)

Maimonideanism, the intellectual culture inspired by Maimonides’ writings, has received much recent attention. Yet a central aspect of Maimonideanism has been overlooked: the formal reception of the …

01:28:42 | Fri 27 Jan 2023

Frank Wolff, "Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration: The Transnational History of the Jewish Labour Bund" (Haymarket Books, 2021)

Frank Wolff's ground-breaking Yiddish Revolutionaries in Migration: The Transnational History of the Jewish Labour Bund (Haymarket Books, 2021) investigates how this social movement transformed itsel…

01:19:37 | Wed 25 Jan 2023

Silvia Nacamulli, "Jewish Flavours of Italy: A Family Cookbook" (Green Bean Books, 2022)

Jewish Flavours of Italy: A Family Cookbook (Green Bean Books, 2022) is a culinary journey through Italy and a deep dive into family culinary heritage. With more than 100 kosher recipes, Silvia offer…

00:56:27 | Wed 25 Jan 2023

Progressive Souls: Religion and the Pursuit of a Just Society (Part 2)

Religious people have played an important role in progressive politics in the US for its entire history. Contemporary leftists should look to build bridges and include religious voices in the pursuit…

00:24:59 | Sun 22 Jan 2023

Progressive Souls: Religion and the Pursuit of a Just Society (Part 1)

Religious people have played an important role in progressive politics in the US for its entire history. Contemporary leftists should look to build bridges and include religious voices in the pursuit…

00:27:18 | Sat 21 Jan 2023

Richard Bradford, "Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, firstly in 1969 for The Armies of the Night and again in 1980 for The Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer's life comes as close as is possible to being the Great Ame…

01:12:09 | Fri 20 Jan 2023

Nothing Matters: About the Idea of "Emptiness"

Between the Buddhist doctrine of ‘emptiness,’ the Jewish idea of Ayin, and the quantum mechanical zero-point energy of a vacuum, it turns out there’s quite a lot to be said about Nothing. Guests Jan…

00:27:18 | Tue 17 Jan 2023

James M. Deem, "The Prisoners of Breendonk: Personal Histories from a World War II Concentration Camp" (Mariner Books, 2020)

Fort Breendonk was built in the early 1900s to protect Antwerp, Belgium, from possible German invasion. Damaged at the start of World War I, it fell into disrepair . . . until the Nazis took it over …

01:09:23 | Mon 16 Jan 2023

Elia Meghnagi, "Escape from Benghazi: Diary of an Imposter" (Vallentine Mitchell, 2022)

Elia Meghnagi last saw his childhood home in Benghazi when he was only seventeen. A member of the endangered and fast-shrinking millennia-old Jewish community of Libya, in 1958 Elia was forced to fle…

01:52:26 | Sun 15 Jan 2023

Donna Stein, "Archaeology of Metaphor: The Art of Gilah Yelin Hirsch" (Skira, 2022)

Characterized by a search for meaning, Hirsch’s oeuvre connects psychological, scientific, and philosophical implications of form, bringing together ideas in art, science, ecology, and human consciou…

00:39:18 | Sat 14 Jan 2023

Mordechai Schiffman, "Psyched for Torah" (Kodesh Press, 2022)

Today I talked to Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman about his book Psyched for Torah (Kodesh Press, 2022). His writings on the weekly parsha exude complete fluency in both traditional Jewish sources like…

00:39:49 | Fri 13 Jan 2023

Wout J. van Bekkum, "The Religious Poetry of El'azar Ben Ya'aqov Ha-Bavli (Baghdad, 13th C.)" (Brill, 2022)

Wout J. van Bekkum's The Religious Poetry of El'azar Ben Ya'aqov Ha-Bavli (Baghdad, 13th C.) (Brill, 2022) is a comprehensive edition of Hebrew hymns composed by Eleazar the Babylonian, a prolific co…

01:18:12 | Thu 12 Jan 2023

Sarah Imhoff, "The Lives of Jessie Sampter: Queer, Disabled, Zionist" (Duke UP, 2022)

In The Lives of Jessie Sampter: Queer, Disabled, Zionist (Duke UP, 2022), Sarah Imhoff tells the story of an individual full of contradictions. Jessie Sampter (1883-1938) was best known for her Cours…

01:06:21 | Wed 11 Jan 2023

David Z. Moster, "Etrog: How A Chinese Fruit Became a Jewish Symbol" (Palgrave Pivot, 2018)

Every year before the holiday of Sukkot, Jews all around the world purchase an etrog―a lemon-like fruit―to participate in the holiday ritual. In Etrog: How A Chinese Fruit Became a Jewish Symbol (Pal…

00:42:14 | Wed 11 Jan 2023

Gil Hovav, "Candies from Heaven" (Green Bean Books, 2023)

"Uncle Aron's compliments, which hadn't changed since the days of the Bible, didn't sound so great. One time, he told my mother that she was 'awesome like an army with flags.' Another time, he inform…

01:19:39 | Sun 08 Jan 2023

Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff, "Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature" (Hadar Press, 2014)

In Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature (Hadar Press, 2014), Joshua Kulp and Jason Rogoff introduce the modern Talmud student to the techniques deve…

01:04:00 | Sun 08 Jan 2023

Melila Hellner-Eshed, "Seekers of the Face: Secrets of the Idra Rabba (the Great Assembly) of the Zohar" (Stanford UP. 2021)

Seekers of the Face: Secrets of the Idra Rabba (the Great Assembly) of the Zohar (Stanford UP. 2021) opens the profound treasure house at the heart of Judaism's most important mystical work: the Idra…

01:08:38 | Wed 04 Jan 2023

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