Twenty-five fascinating, revealing interviews with the mothers of twenty-five high-achieving Jewish people, including the mothers of Stephen Spielberg, ex-convict Abbie Hoffman, Nobel Medalist Rosalyn Yalow, and more.Like other mothers in the book, Clara, who died recently, exemplified a life of hard work and sacrifice, as well as worry about her child when a teacher told her Rosalyn was a genius. ("I never met the man Einstein but I heard he was a little peculiar....

A delicately rendered memoir on motherhood, family, and the beauty of the natural world.In fall 2007, Lynn Thomson experiences a huge life shift. Her teenage son, Yeats, is just beginning high school. Yeats has always struggled against the system, against the pressure to conform. He is a poet at heart: acutely sensitive, highly intelligent, and solitary by nature. Lynn and Yeats have always been close, but after fourteen years as a stay-at-home mom Lynn is going back to work for he...

A magisterial history, ranging from antiquity to the present, that reveals anti-Judaism to be a mode of thought deeply embedded in the Western tradition.There is a widespread tendency to regard anti-Judaism – whether expressed in a casual remark or implemented through pogrom or extermination campaign – as somehow exceptional: an unfortunate indicator of personal prejudice or the shocking outcome of an extremist ideology married to power.But, as David Nirenberg argues in thi...

***An Act of God (previously published as The Last Testament: A Memoir) is now a major Broadway show starring Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and directed by Joe Mantello (Wicked)***Over the course of his long and distinguished career, God has literally seen it all. And not just seen. In fact, the multitalented deity has played a pivotal role in many major events, including the Creation of the universe, the entirety of world hi...

A grasshopper walked into a bar and ordered a drink.The bartender looked at him and said, “You know we have a drink named after you?”The grasshopper replied, “You have a drink named Stanley?”Schtick happens. For five thousand years, God’s chosen people have cornered the market on knee-slappers, zingers, and knock-knock jokes. Now Old Jews Telling Jokes mines mothers, fathers, bubbies, and zaydes for comic gelt. What we get are jokes that are funnier t...

An uproarious irreverent unauthorized parody of the Christian bestseller Heaven Is A Deal tells the story of an unscrupulous Iowa couple's bungling attempts to send a preschooler to Heaven to meet Jesus—then use the kid's memories to gain fame and fortune. The perfect antidote to fundamentalist claptrap for believers and non-believers alike. You don't have to be rational to love this spoof...but it helps!

"It all happened so fast that even now, a month later, I still have trouble believing it, and I have to tell myself over and over again: Leszli, you have been kidnapped."On April 12, 1999, Leszli Kálli boarded a plane in Colombia to work on a kibbutz in Israel, but she never made it. The plane was hijacked by a leftist guerrilla group and forced to land on an abandoned runway in the jungle. Leszli, along with her father and the other passengers, were held hostage f...

Essays analyze the major traditional texts of Judaism from literary, historical, philosophical, and religious points of view.

Why is this Haggadah different from all other Haggadahs? "Three comic writers have some fun with Passover. Seders may never be the same." — USA TodayIf you've ever suffered through a Seder, you're well aware that the entire evening can last as long as the exodus from Egypt itself. There are countless stories, dozens of blessings, and far too many hand-washings while the meal turns cold. Now prepare to be entertained by another version of the book that's res...

"When they arrived at the place which God had indicated to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son..." --The Book of GenesisThe story of Abraham's acceptance of God's command to sacrifice his son Isaac is one of the most disturbing of all biblical stories. Isaac is spared only at the last moment, when an angel stops Abraham's hand. T...

This new spiritual approach to physical health introduces us to a spiritual tradition that affirms the body and enables us to reconceive our bodies in a more positive light. Using Kabbalistic teachings and other Jewish traditions, it shows us how to be more responsible for our own spiritual and physical health.Each chapter explores the meaning of traditional Jewish prayers, providing a framework for new thinking about body, mind, and soul. Simple exercises and movements help our bo...