Brooklyn’s Hasidic community of Lubavitchers is turned upside down when family tragedy strikes and everyday life changes forever in the life of Zev Altshul.He is first placed into the care of the closed and close-knit community where he grew up, but soon realizes he can’t stay. His saving grace is handball; it’s his gift from God, and the one thing he can rely on as he is shuttled, chased, and abandoned by trusted elders, family, and friends. Even as Zev never full...

Brooklyn's Hasidic community of Lubavitchers is turned upside down when family tragedy strikes and everyday life changes forever in the life of Zev Altshul. He is first placed into the care of the closed and close-knit community where he grew up, but soon realizes he can't stay. His saving grace is handball; it's his gift from God, and the one thing he can rely on as he is shuttled, chased, and abandoned by trusted elders, family, and friends. Even as Zev never fully escapes from the guilt...

A collection of four novels from the New York Times –bestselling, Edgar Award–winning mystery series starring a rabbi in a tiny New England town.Spend a long weekend with the scholar and spiritual leader who watches over the Jewish community in 1960s Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts—and in his spare time, solves crimes.Friday the Rabbi Slept Late: A young nanny is found dead in the temple parking lot—and...

"Wonderful!” (Grace Paley).“Heartwarming and smart and wonderfully written” (Detroit Free Press).“Provides edifying advice, intimately given, like the best-selling Tuesdays with Morrie” (the Dallas Morning News).“Altogether original” (Dr. Laura Schlessinger).“This story will speak to the humanity of the reader” (Jewish Book World).The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness is that rare, magical book—a boo...

As Passover approaches, Rabbi Small contends with infighting, backstabbing, and an actual murder in this New York Times bestseller.Edgar Award–Winning AuthorAs Rabbi David Small's five-year contract winds down at the synagogue in Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts, some members of the congregation are plotting to remove him; others are whispering about starting a new temple of their own across the...

Rabbi Small returns in this New York Times –bestselling novel to investigate a mysterious death on the Day of Atonement—from the Edgar Award–winning author.The day before Yom Kippur, the synagogue sound system is on the blink, the floral arrangements are in disarray, and a member of Rabbi David Small's congregation—in the Massachusetts town of Barnard's Crossing—is terribly concerned with how much a Torah weighs. The rabb...

Inside the closed community of Borough Park, where most Chassidim live, the rules of life are very clear, determined by an ancient script written thousands of years before down to the last detail-and abuse has never been a part of it. But when thirteen-year-old Gittel learns of the abuse her best friend has suffered at the hands of her own family member, the adults in her community try to persuade Gittel, and themselves, that nothing happened. Forced to remain silent, Gittel begins to ques...

A pharmaceutical mishap draws the rabbi into a murder investigation in this New York Times bestseller: "An endearing character . . . a devious plot" ( San Diego Union-Tribune ).Edgar Award–Winning AuthorNew Age thinking has come to Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts. The recently elected president of Rabbi David Small's synagogue is intent on using temple...

Are you ready to hope again? Are you ready to let go of doubt and sorrow? Just listen carefully. God is whispering your name.Somewhere, between the pages of this book and the pages of your heart, God is speaking. And He is calling you by name.Maybe that's hard to believe. Maybe you just can't imagine that the One who made it all thinks of you that personally -- that He keeps your name on His heart and lips.But it's true. In the Bible and in the circumstances of your...

The rabbi looks into a professor's death in the New York Times –bestselling series that's "the American equivalent of the British cozy" ( Booklist ).Edgar Award–Winning AuthorRetired from his job at the synagogue in Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts, Rabbi Small now teaches Judaic studies at a Boston college. Finally able to enjoy theological contemplatio...

A father; a husband; a lover; a friend; a rabbi. This is the story about the making of a modern rabbi, his coming of age, and how he finds his place in in a confused and confusing world.Michael Kind is raised in the Jewish cauldron of 1920s New York, familiar with the stresses and materialism of metropolitan life. Turning to the ancient set of ethics of his Orthodox grandfather, with a modern twist, he becomes a Reform rabbi. As insecure and sexually needy...

Uncovered is the only memoir to tell of a gay woman leaving the hasidic fold. Told in understated, crystalline prose, Leah Lax begins her story as a young teen leaving her secular home to become a hasidic Jew, then plumbs the nuances of her arranged marriage, fundamentalist faith, and hasidic motherhood as, all the while, creative, sexual, and spiritual longings tremble beneath the surface.