LEARNING
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
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.