Title: Yom Kippur A Go-Go
Author: Matthue Roth
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir

5 or 6 months ago my rebbetzin asked me if I would organize a class or reading group at shul. She knows what a voracious reader I am and how much of the stuff I read relates to Judaism in some way. So I came up with an idea for “Not Your Bubbe’s Bookclub.” Part curated reading list, part book club, I’m trying to bring some new ideas and new styles of literature into the shul. At the first meeting I presenting the class with three potential tracks to kick off with. The class unanimously chose the “Tradition Transformed” track which consists of Yom Kippur A Go-Go, Yentyl’s Revenge and The Big Kahn.

We started with Yom Kippur A Go-Go and I am so nervous to find out tomorrow night what the small group thought of this book. I loved it but there are some actually Bubbes in this group and I was blushing just thinking about them because of Roth’s liberal use of “fuck”, his no holds barred descriptions of a friend’s sex toys and all the debauchery he encountered while living the life of an Orthodox Jew he was also a wild-child poet in San Francisco in the early part of the last decade.

What I really want to get into with our discussion tomorrow night is how much room in the Jewish tradition there is for individuality and individual paths and how to navigate those paths to stay close to the heart of our tradition while being true to ourselves. Without any judgement of Roth I say that his self-identity as an Orthodox Jew and his very strict observance of shabbat and kashrut coupled with a lack of any real discussion of any outward manifestations of Jewish ethics was confusing to me. But that’s good because it’s given me a lot to think about.

I’m pretty nervous about the discussion tomorrow night. I can only hope that the Bubbe’s got past the language and talk of trannies and dry humping enough to let the book make them about some big questions as well.

Title: The Rebbe’s Army: Inside the World of Chabad Lubavitch
Author: Sue Fishkoff
Genre: Non-Fiction, Judaism

I think just about every Jew has an opinion on and a fascination with Chabad, on some level. My opinion is of course skewed by the fact that Chabad rejects both my flavor of Judaism (Conservative) and my very status as a Jew (only Orthodox conversions count in their eyes). Even so I recognize that Chabad does very good work in many arenas and this book highlighted that good work even more.

This was a really good book. Well written, well researched and it neither endlessly praised nor condemned Chabad. It answered a lot of questions I have about Chabad and their Rebbe but I’m still left wondering about the strong messianic bent that’s present in some (a lot?) of the Chabad world and how on earth the Rebbe didn’t have a succession plan in place.

Title: Megillat Esther
Author: JT Waldman
Genre: Graphic Novel

This is a very cool retelling of the story of Queen Esther in graphic novel form. Highly recommended if you’re into Purim, midrash or religious storytelling.

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: 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.

Title: Miriam’s Kitchen
Author: Elizabeth Ehrlich
Genre: Non-Fiction, Loved

What a fascinating book this was. On its surface this is the story of a woman transforming her kitchen into a kosher one and the rhythm of her family’s life into an observant one. Deeper it’s a story about making life more meaningful, a deepening of the understanding of ritual, connection to family and community and also it’s a cookbook of sorts. That’s a lot for one book to take on and this one did it beautifully. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the role food plays in our lives and families and anyone interested in personal stories about spiritual journeys.

Title: The Book of Jewish Values: A Day-By-Day Guide to Ethical Living
Author: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Genre: Judaism

I read this book over the course of a year. Give or take a few missed and a few catch up days I read one value each day. This book has had such a large impact on my behavior in lots and lots of ways. One of the most obvious ways is the way I deal with panhandlers and homeless people I encounter. If someone asks me for a dollar and I have a dollar I will now give it to them and I will look them in the eye and tell them to have a nice day. If I don’t have a dollar I’ll offer to buy them some food. The chance that the person might just be scamming me is not nearly reason enough to deny someone (and myself) an act of compassion.

That’s just one example, there are countless others. Seriously, I can’t overstate how much this book impacted me. And I learned a lot of Talmudic information from it as well so win-win.

Title: Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South
Author: Marcie Cohen Ferris
Genre: Judaism, Non-Fiction

I really enjoyed this book and learned lots about the eating habits and
cultural lives of those who identify as both Southern and Jewish. Good stuff. Read this book and you’ll know how Coke became kosher for Passover, what “kosher-style” means and all about some Southern Reform congregations throwing shrimp and crawfish boils as fundraisers(!). Some really, really interesting stories in this book and several good recipes. Come Rosh Hashanah I’m making the honey cake recipe in fact.

Title: Every Tallit Tells a Tale
Author: Debra W. Smith
Genre: Judaism

I went tallit shopping yesterday and couldn’t help but pick up this book since it was so topical. My rabbi has been encouraging me to buy a tallit for a while now. A couple weeks ago, while things were so hard for me, I had a dream about a magical tallit. In the dream the tallit was like a bullet proof super hero’s cape. If you were wrapped in the tallit everything was ok, everything was going to be alright. I commented about the dream on Twitter which got fed to Facebook where my rabbi saw it. This past shabbat he nudged me again about buying a tallit, he said he thinks the dream was telling me to. I don’t know about that but I did agree that it was time to buy one. I’m still processing what the tallit might potentially mean to me and processing why I chose the one that I did.

In any case this book is a collection of (mostly) first person essays about tallit. Lots of stories about how the writers chose their tallitot, what the significance of the tallit is to the individual, etc. It was a very fast read and it actually gave me a lot to chew on as I define what my tallit means to me and my place l’dor vador (from generation to generation).