Book Recommendations

Jewish Meditation Class Recommended Reading

• Be Still and Get Going: A Jewish Mediation Practice for Real Life, by Alan Lew
• God is a Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism, by David A. Cooper
• Meditation from the Heart of Judaism: Today's Teachers Share Their Practices, Techniques, and Faith, edited by Avram Davis
• The Way of Flame: A Guide to the Forgotten Mystical Tradition of Jewish Meditation, by Avram Davis
• Judaic Mysticism, by Avram Davis and Manuela Dunn Mascetti
• Discovering Jewish Meditation: Instruction & Guidance for Learning an Ancient Spiritual Practice, by Nan Gefen
• Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide, by Aryeh Kaplan (more difficult)
• Everyday Kabbalah: A Practical Guide to Jewish Meditation, Healing, and Personal Growth, by Melinda Ribner (all of her books are easy to understand)

Past Book Group Selections

• Joy Comes in the Morning, by Jonathan Rosen (March 2007)
• Outwitting History, by Aaron Lansky (January 2007)
• The First Desire, by Nancy Reisman (November 2006)
• The Holy Thief: A Con Man's Journey from Darkness to Light, by Mark Borovitz and Alan Eisenstock (June 2006)
• Mr. Sammler's Planet, by Saul Bellow (April 2006)
• Natasha and Other Stories, by David Bezmozgis (February 2006)
• Out of Egypt: A Memoir, by Andre Aciman (December 2005)
• The Liberated Bride, by A.B. Yehoshua (September 2005)
• The Missing Peace, by Dennis Ross (May 2005)
• That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist, by Sylvia Boorstein (March 2005)
• The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. (January 2005)
• The Israelis: An Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land, by Donna Rosenthal (December 2004)
• The Bone Weaver, by Victoria Zackheim (October 2004)
• Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, by Bruce Feiler (May 2004)
• The Golems of Gotham, by Thane Rosenbaum (March 2004)
• Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel, by Jonathan Safran Foer (January 2004)
• Jewish Power: Inside the American Jewish Establishment, by J.J. Goldberg (November 2003)
• The Rosendorf Quartet, by Israeli novelist Nathan Shaham (September 2003)
• The Genesis of Justice, by Alan Dershowitz (May 2003)
• The Inn at Lake Devine, by Elinor Lipman (March 2003)
• Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses, by Bruce S. Feiler (January 2003)
• The Red Heifer, by Leo Haber (November 2002)
• Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America, by Jenna Weissman Joselet (August 2002)
• The Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas, by Alberto Gerchunoff (June 2002)
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon (April 2002)
• Fax Me a Bagel - A Ruby the Rabbi's Wife Mystery, by Sharon Kahn (February 2002)
• A Conspiracy of Paper, by David Liss (December 2001)
• Bee Season, by Myla Goldberg (October 2001)
• Kaaterskill Falls, by Allegra Goodman (July 2000)
• Mystery Midrash, edited by Lawrence Raphael (May 2000)
• As A Driven Leaf, by Milton Steinberg
• Journey to the End of the Millennium, by A.B. Yehoshua
• Mona in the Promised Land, by Gish Jen
• The Book of Daniel, by E. L. Doctorow
• Don't Call It Night, by Amos Oz
• Stalking Elijah: Adventures with Today's Jewish Mystical Masters, by Rodger Kamenetz
• Thirst: The Desert Triology, by Shulamith Hareven

Alternate Selections from the Book Club

• Damascus Gate, by Robert Stone
• Persian Brides, by Dorit Rabinyan
• Tough Jews-Father, Sons, and Gangster Dreams, by Rich Cohen
• The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought, by Neil Gillman
• Barney's Version, by Mordecai Richler
• Rubber Bullets: Power and Conscience in Modern Israel, by Yaron Ezrahi
• The Lover, by Yehoshua
• The Zigzag Kid, by David Grossman
• And They Shall Be My People, by Paul Wilkes
• Portnoy's Complaint, by Philip Roth
• Goodbye Columbus, by Philip Roth
• Your Word is Fire: The Hassidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer edited, by Arthur Green and Barry Holtz
• Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy and Science Fiction, Jack Dann (Editor)
• Mercy of a Rude Stream, by Henry Roth
• The Mensch, by David Weiss
• Three Uses of the Knife, by David Mamet
• Shadows on the Hudson, by IB Singer
• Happiness is a Serious Problem, by Dennis Prager
• Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning, by Viktor Frankel

Introduction to Judaism Recommended Reading

• Jewish Literacy, by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
• Basic Judaism, by Milton Steinberg
• History of the Jews, by Solomon Grayzel
• I and Thou, by Martin Buber
• Finding God, by Sonsino / Syme
• Introduction to Judaism: A Course Outline
• What is a Jew? by Rabbi Kertzer
• Settings of Silver: An Introduction to Judaism

Books by Leonard Felder, 2002 Levine Lecturer

• Seven Prayers That Can Change Your Life
• The Ten Challenges

Other Recommended Books

• A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven: The Jewish Life-Spiral as a Spiritual Path, by Arthur Ocean Waskow and Phyllis Ocean Berman
• A Blessing on the Moon, Joseph Skibell
• The Five Books of Miriam, by Ellen Frankel, Ph.D.
• The Past Keeps Changing, by Chana Bloch
• A Dress of Fire, by Chana Bloch
• The Window, by Chana Bloch
• The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amicha, by Chana Bloch
• The Kuzari, by Judah HaLevi
• Philosopher and Prophet: Judah HaLevi, the Kuzari, and the Evolution of His Thought
• Memoirs of Glueckel of Hameln
• Jerusalem, by Moses Mendelssohn
• Elusive Prophet: Ahad Ha'Am and the Origins of Zionism
• The Journey of the Soul: Traditional Sources on Teshuvah
• The Tanakh
• On the Doorposts of your House
• Jewish Literacy: The Most Important things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History
• Living a Jewish Life
• The First Hebrew Primer, 3rd edition
• The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox
• The Torah, by Nosson Scherman
• Chumash and Rashi, by Silberman
• A Torah Commentary for our Times, by Fields/Carmi
• The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers, by Jacob Milgrom
• The Torah: A Modern Commentary, by Plaut/Bamberger
• Pentateuch & Haftorahs, by Hertz
• Biblical Women in the Midrash, Naomi Hyman (Editor)
• What Crucified Jesus? : Messianism, Pharisaism, and the Development of Christianity, by Ellis Rivkin, Eugene J. Fisher
• People of the Body, Howard Eilberg-Schwartz (Editor)

For more information, contact adulteducation@shirhadash.org or call the Temple office at (408) 358-1751 ext. 7.