It’s not always easy to find the right Chanukah gift for people. With the holiday under a week away, here are a few new book titles that will certainly light up someone’s Chanukah.
“He’s An Anti-Zionist Too! Cartoons by Elder of Ziyon.” EoZ Press. 2024. Paperback. 155 pages. ISBN-13: 979-8985708479.
The Elder of Ziyon is one of the most important pro-Israel bloggers. You can read my Jewish Link interview with him at https://bit.ly/4gVMUyT and my review of his amazing book at https://bit.ly/3ZVBvsT.
The thousands of posts on his blog detail the bias and lies spread about Israel. For example, he made it eminently clear how Hamas had infiltrated UNRWA a decade before mass media started to report on it. His many posts about that malevolent U.N. agency led me to write my post about them on Medium: https://bit.ly/41BIXef.
EoZ is back with a great new book, “He’s An Anti-Zionist Too! Cartoons by Elder of Ziyon.” In 2018, he started adding his own captions to New Yorker-style cartoons. This was meant to satirize people who think they are sophisticated, yet are clueless about Israel and the Middle East.
EoZ writes that a problem with satire, especially when discussing “anti-Zionists,” is that often their reality overtakes the satirical versions. Cartoons are one way to expose the insanity, hypocrisy and hate that animate these people. And that is something he does exceptionally well in the nearly 150 cartoons in this amazing book.
This book brilliantly details the utter hypocrisy and absurdities of those who mindlessly criticize Israel—from Amnesty International to CNN and more. EoZ’s sharp wit and insight make this a most entertaining and enlightening read.
The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is given annually for “a distinguished portfolio of editorial cartoons or other illustrated work characterized by political insight, editorial effectiveness or public service value.” These cartoons by EoZ are certainly worthy of that prize.
“Chutzpah Girls” by Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer. Toby Press. 2024. Hardcover. 232 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1592646920.
Creating “Top 10” or “Best Of” lists always leads to endless debates. Questions include whether this person is really the GOAT, or even if they deserve to be on the list.
In “Chutzpah Girls,” authors Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg aren’t necessarily trying to create a Best Of list. But they have gathered a list of 100 Jewish women in the span of roughly 3,500 years of Jewish history who exemplified chutzpah.
Wikipedia defines “chutzpah” as the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. A close English equivalent is “hubris.” The word derives from the Hebrew ḥuṣpāh, meaning “insolence.” The original Yiddish word has a strongly negative connotation, but the form that entered English as a Yiddishism in American English has taken on a broader meaning.
While parents don’t want to hear that their son is chutzpah in class, the authors here use the term to showcase 100 women who used the positive powers of chutzpah to make the world a much better place.
The list includes biblical figures such as the Daughters of Zelophehad, Devorah and Yael, up to modern times with Anne Frank, marathon mom Beatie Deutsch, neuroscientist and actress Mayim Bialik, Deputy Assistant to the President Anne Neuberger, and many more.
While many of the times are familiar to us, the authors list many others who are more obscure, such as codebreaker Anne Ross, computer scientist Kira Radinsky and biomedical engineer Shulamit Levenberg.
The authors admit that their list is incomplete and will add to it in the future. Two current Chutzpah Girls who come to mind are activists Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll and Adina Sash, aka Flatbush Girl.
Every one of these 100 women has added to Jewish history in this enjoyable read.
“The Science Behind the Mishnah” by Rabbi Joel Padowitz and Rabbi Jonathan Sassen. Mosaica Press. 2024. Hardcover. 318 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1957579979.
The Vilna Gaon stated that one’s knowledge of Torah is deficient without a deep understanding of science and math. He urged his students to study these subjects. In recent years, I have spoken with one rabbi who thinks the world is flat, and another who denies heliocentrism and brings scriptural proofs for a geocentric model.
These rabbis might want to peruse “The Science Behind the Mishnah” by Rabbi Joel Padowitz and Rabbi Jonathan Sassen. In this engaging read, the authors detail the science detailed within the mishnayot in Masechet Berachot.
The authors write that science is pervasive in Masechet Berachot. The first Mishna opens with a discussion of the recitation of Shema. This can only be fully understood after discerning what part of the day it is. But doing that requires understanding atmospheric conditions, how light refracts, and more.
Comprehending all of Masechet Berachot requires an understanding of physics, chemistry, general and human biology, and earth sciences. At under 300 pages, this book is far from a comprehensive discussion. However, the authors effectively provide a high-level overview of the science behind the Mishnah.
The next volume in this series is on Masechet Shabbat, which also includes a significant amount of science. In fact, one is hard pressed to find a single masechet that does not require scientific knowledge.
Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Both authors have a deep background in science and remarkable talents in explaining many scientific ideas clearly and lucidly. The many illustrations add to this book’s immense value.
“Sacred Time” by Meir Soloveichik. Maggid Books. 2024. Hardcover. 200 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1592646326.
If you ask someone on the street what time sunset is or the date for the new moon, they likely have to call a friend. Who might not be able to answer without the help of Google.
Ask an observant Jew those questions, and you’ll likely get an accurate answer. The reason is that time and the calendar are essential parts of Jewish observance. As written in Exodus 12:1-2, the Rosh Chodesh was the first commandment given to the Jewish people.
In “Sacred Time,” Rabbi Meir Soloveichik opens with the idea that the Jewish calendar is a key that unlocks the very essence of Judaism.
As to time, he writes that the Vilna Gaon asks why God stopped creation after six days. The answer is to show us that what we create becomes meaningful only once we stop creating it and start remembering why it was worth creating in the first place.
The book details all of the major and minor Jewish Holidays, in addition to Yom Ha’Atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim. A man of deep intellectual and spiritual understanding, Rabbi Soloveichik uncovers a deeper meaning and interpretation in these holidays.
For example, he writes that more than just a military victory, Chanukah was, first and foremost, a commemoration of the triumph of monotheism over paganism. For in 164 BCE, monotheism was known only in Judea. Had the Hasmoneans not succeeded at this crucial moment, there would have been no monotheism at all.
Time is a mystery in physics. It’s not known when it started or even if it did, nor do we know the source of the difference between the past and future. But when it comes to Jewish time, sacred time, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik makes it eminently clear in this very engaging book.
Ben Rothke lives in New Jersey and works in the information security field. He reviews books on religion, technology, philosophy and science. Follow him on Twitter at @benrothke.
