Title: Ethics of the Sages (Pirke Avot)
Author: Translation and annotation by Rabbi Rami Shapiro
Genre: Judaism, loved

Pirke Avot 3:12
If your kindness exceeds your wisdom,
your wisdom will endure.
If your wisdom exceeds your kindness,
your wisdom will not endure.

When it to books about Jewish ethics this small book is at the top of the (substantial) pile. It’s a collection of Talmudic wisdom with modern commentary. It’s really a wonderful book and full of so much ethical goodness to think about on I’m ready to re-read it again though I only finished it yesterday.

Title: The Sabbath
Author: Arthur Phillips
Genre: Fiction

I wanted to love this book. I was hoping it would be something like a fictional “Love is Mix Tape.” It was not. I try to be careful when I criticize things because there is no good or bad in art there is just good and bad to you/me. So I won’t say the book was bad. I would instead say that I wish the author had made some different choices for his characters and that a couple plot developments had been left out.

Title: The Sabbath
Author: Abraham Joshua Heschel
Genre: Non-Fiction, Judaism

This is the most poetic book that isn’t actually poetry I’ve ever read. Heschel was in love with the Sabbath. Seriously in love with it and its place within Judaism and the world. This 100 page book is love song to it. When I took the Big Dunk one of the questions my Beit Din asked me was what particular observance meant the most to me and I said Shabbat. At the time my Shabbat observance was only a fraction of what it is now but even then it really was a sanctification of time for me.

Now Shabbat has become absolutely sacred time for B and myself. The Sabbath helped me see and think about Shabbat in new ways that can make it even more special. It’s funny though but my week really does revolve around Shabbat. On Sunday afternoon I usually start thinking about what I’m going to make for Shabbat dinner. Then I get to start looking forward to shopping on Friday morning and spending Friday afternoon cooking and preparing for Shabbat. I light the candles and serve B a nice Shabbat meal before we cozy in to spend some quiet time together. Then on Shabbat morning she makes me breakfast before I go to shul. I can’t describe to you how much more lovely our weekends our since we started observing Shabbat as a family.

Title: Rashi
Author: Elie Wiesel
Genre: Non-Fiction, Judaism

This small little book was a joy to read and deeply frustrating at the same time. A joy because Wiesel’s deep affection for Rashi is plain to see. A joy because Rashi the person and his influence on Judaism are so fascinating and rewarding to read about. Frustrating because the book really just barely scratches the service on Rashi and his contributions to Jewish scholarship. You can’t read this book and not be hungry for far more information about Rashi and his Torah and Talmud commentaries.

I realize that I only have 14 more books to read before I reach my goal of reading 45 books in 2009. I think I’ll scope out what I want those final 14 to be this weekend.