hiddur mitzvah

This is my very long archive of Jewish titles, collected according to what I find personally interesting, and so the authors here span many denominations/viewpoints. If you come across this as a reblog, check in on the original post to see if I have made any updates or corrections. As a general disclaimer, Judaism is a closed religion (yes, including Lilith) and so the books I have recommended on Kabbalah and mysticism are not for goyische readers, thank you for understanding.

TEXTS (Torah/Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, etc.)

"After the Apple: Women in the Bible" — Naomi Rosenblatt

"Begin­nings: Reflec­tions on the Bible’s Intrigu­ing 'Firsts'" — Meir Shalev

"Bib­li­cal Seduc­tions: Six Sto­ries Retold Based on Tal­mud and Midrash" — Sandra Rapoport

"But Where Is the Lamb?: Imag­in­ing the Sto­ry of Abra­ham and Isaac" — James Good­man

"Covenant & Conversation: Genesis" — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"Covenant & Conversation: Exodus" — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"Covenant & Conversation: Leviticus" — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"Covenant & Conversation: Numbers" — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"Covenant & Conversation: Deuteronomy" — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"Eli­jah and the Rab­bis: Sto­ry and Theology" — Kris­ten Lindbeck

"Essays on Ethics: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible" — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"Eter­nal­ly Eve: Images of Eve in the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, and Mod­ern Jew­ish Poetry" — Anne Lerner

"From Gods to G-d: How the Bible Debunked, Sup­pressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends" — Avig­dor Shi­nan & Yair Zakovitch

"Glean­ings: Reflec­tions on Ruth" — Stu­art Halpern

"In Scrip­ture: The First Sto­ries of Jew­ish Sex­u­al Identities" — Lori Lefkovitz

"It Takes Two to Torah: An Ortho­dox Rab­bi and Reform Jour­nal­ist Dis­cuss and Debate Their Way Through the Five Books of Moses" — Abi­gail Pogrebin & Dov Linz­er

"Jew­ish Bib­li­cal Inter­pre­ta­tion and Cul­tur­al Exchange: Com­par­a­tive Exe­ge­sis in Context" — Natal­ie Dohrmann & David Stern

"Jus­tice for All: How the Jew­ish Bible Rev­o­lu­tion­ized Ethics" — Jere­mi­ah Unterman

"Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible" — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

"Moses’ Women" — Shera Tuch­man & San­dra Rapoport

"Nar­rat­ing the Law: A Poet­ics of Tal­mu­dic Legal Stories" — Bar­ry Wimpfheimer

"Out­side the Bible: Ancient Jew­ish Writ­ings Relat­ed to Scripture" — Louis Feld­man, James Kugel & Lawrence Schiff­man

"Rab­bis, Sor­cer­ers, Kings, and Priests: The Cul­ture of the Tal­mud in Ancient Iran" — Jason Mokhtarian

"Rashi’s Com­men­tary on the Torah: Can­on­iza­tion and Resis­tance in the Recep­tion of a Jew­ish Classic" — Eric Lawee

"Read­ing Gen­e­sis: Beginnings" — Beth Kissileff

"Right­eous Gen­tiles in the Hebrew Bible: Ancient Role Mod­els for Sacred Relationships" — Rab­bi Jef­frey Salkin

"Sin­ning in the Hebrew Bible: How The Worst Sto­ries Speak for Its Truth" — Alan Segal

"The Art of Biblical Narrative" — Robert Alter

"The Art of Biblical Poetry" — Robert Alter

"The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis" — Avivah Zornberg

"The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel" — Halbertal & Holmes

"The Book of Exodus: A Biography" — Joel Baden

"The Book of Genesis: A Biography" — Ronald Hendel

"The Book of Job: A Biography" — Mark Larrimore

"The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography" — John Collins

"The Essen­tial Talmud" — Adin Steinsaltz

"The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary" — Robert Alter

"The Jewish Study Bible" — Adele Berlin & Marc Zvi Brettler

"The Lad­der of Jacob: Ancient Inter­pre­ta­tions of the Bib­li­cal Sto­ry of Jacob and His Children" — James Kugel

"The Lost Matri­arch: Find­ing Leah in the Bible and the Midrash" — Jerry Rabow

"The Mad­woman in the Rabbi’s Attic: Reread­ing the Women of the Talmud" — Gila Fine

"The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls" — Hershel Shanks

"The Passover Haggadah: A Biography" — Vanessa Ochs

"The Song of Songs: A Biography" — Ilana Pardes

"The Talmud: A Biography" — Barry Wimpfheimer

"The Talmud for Beginners" — Judith Abrams

"With All Thine Heart: Love and the Bible" — Ilan Sta­vans & Morde­cai Drache

"Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne" — Wilda Gafney

"Wrestling Jacob: Decep­tion, Iden­ti­ty and Freudi­an Slips in Genesis" — Shmuel Klitsner

"Wrestling with Angels: What Genesis Teaches about our Spiritual Identity, Sexuality, and Personal Relationships" — Naomi Rosenblatt

In Jewish folklore, a Dybbuk is the soul of a dead person that cannot move on.

The name itself comes from the Hebrew word for "to cling," as it latches onto the soul of a living person. A soul might become a Dybbuk for many reasons: grievous sins committed in life, a crucial task left undone, or even improper burial rites that left it unmoored. Trapped between worlds, it invades a host, who then might speak in languages they've never known or reveal secrets of the past. But is this a malicious takeover, or a desperate cry from a soul lost in its own pain? This duality is exactly what I wanted to explore.

My first illustration, the woman and the cracked mirror, captures this conflict. The cracked glass is her fractured self, but the reflection is the core of the horror. It’s the face of a stranger, the ultimate theft of identity. Yet, that stranger is revealing the Dybbuk’s own grief and turning a moment of terror into one of forced, tragic empathy.

This is the duality that fascinates me. The Dybbuk story is simultaneously a chilling tale of a spiritual invader and a heartbreaking story of a lost soul. The terror, perhaps, is that both are true at once. It’s a nightmare where two beings become victims, trapped together in a horrifying union.

What do you think? Is the Dybbuk a predator or a prisoner? A monster or a tragedy?

Jews gathered in the woods to observe Shabbat.

Jewish rabbi from Tangier, Morocco

I like soccer very very much and I like judaism and jewish philosophy as much as well, so I thought it would be a great idea to mix the two together. Above you can see the result, which is basically  an “all time national team” of jewish philosophers according to my preferences. Learning the lessons of jewish history, I choosed a clearly defensive team’s formation (3-5-2), but on the contrary with the 5 midfielders we got a flexible squad that can adjust to certain situations in a game.

goalkeeper: Nachman of Breslov

We need someone in the back who could stay calm all time and have the ingredient respect which is needed for this position, and nobody have these two attributes as much as Reb Nachman of Breslov.

centre-back: Nachmanides (Ramban)

Against muslim or christian theologians, Ramban always knew how to defence the truth of the Torah, and with that he earned this key position in the middle of the defense.

right back-left back: Philo and Joseph Caro

There is no place for tender feelings or poetry for side-backs, this positions require toughness and realism, which is exactly what we can expect from the great interpreter of greek philosopy and the author of Sulchan Aruch.

defending midfielders: Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig

Worked on the revolutionary german translation of the Tanach together, Buber and Rosenzweig could form an excellent couple, but probably would be the grey characters of the team, and also the hardest-workers.

wide midfielders: Simeon bar Yochai and Baruch Spinoza

Different characters, but both the creative bar Yochai with his mystical dribbles and Spinoza with his exact, rationalist passes and volleys could drive the opponents crazy.

attacking midfielder: Maimonides (Rambam)

No question, Rambam can understand and control the game like nobody else, and he also deserved the role of the skipper.

Strikers: Judah Halevi and Rasi

The pair of the clean mind and the creative freedom would compliment each other perfectly at the front of the goal. Though Halevi could make endless dribbles sometimes or forget about offside, if he got the right mood, he’s unstoppable.