Suggested reading:
By and About Halfies
Half/Life: Jewish Tales from Interfaith Homes, edited by Laurel Snyder. A beautiful collection of personal essays highlighting the navigational challenges of the Half-Jewish experience. You will see yourself in these mind-blowing pages.
Interfaith
Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi, and a Sheikh by Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon, and Sheikh Jamal Rahman. Known for their radio show “The Three Interfaith Amigos,” the authors share what their personal faith journeys, and reveal what they love and what they question in their own faith traditions. Reviewed elsewhere on this blog.
Multicultural
The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism, by Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz. The author begins with the question “Are white Jews white?” – from there, she discusses interracial dynamics in the U.S. and the many varieties of Judaism beyond the dominant American Eastern-European model.
JuBus (Jewish Buddhists)
The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet’s Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India, by Rodger Kamenetz. A born but unaffiliated Jew travels with a group of rabbis to meet the Dalai Lama. Yes, this really happened.
Jewish Dharma: A Guide to the Practice of Judaism and Zen, by Brenda Shoshanna. An Orthodox Jewish woman describes the development of her interest in Zen practice. Explains values common to Buddhism and Judaism, and how both practices are mutually enhancing.
Introduction to Judaism
To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking, by Harold S. Kushner. This book encapsulates the spirit behind the holidays and rituals, the “why” of Jewish living. Engaging and accessible.
What is a Jew? by Morris N. Kertzer. Full of information; a dense read.
Jewish Literacy, by Joseph Telushkin. The mother of encyclopedic tomes on all things Jewish. Begins with a biblical history to the present day. Includes holidays, life cycle events, a little who’s who in Jewish history, discussion of anti-Semitism and Israel. Written by an Orthodox rabbi.
The Way Into the Varieties of Jewishness, by Sylvia Barack Fishman. This is an excellent academic history. It covers the development of Judaism from the earliest known records to the present, and shows how the various American movements emerged.
Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Tradition, Wisdom, & Practice, by Wayne D. Dosick. The full nine yards of general information, presented with depth, nuance, and texture.
Living a Jewish Life, by Anita Diamant. An exploration of liberal Judaism.
Beyond the Basics
The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal, by Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal. An exploration of the ethical foundations of a Jewish life.
The Sabbath, by Abraham Joshua Heschel. One of the leading Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, author of God in Search of Man. This book encourages exploration of the sabbath as an adventure in the “sanctification of time.” Inspiring.
A Code of Jewish Ethics: Vol. 1 – You Shall Be Holy, by Joseph Telushkin. Explains what Jewish law has to say about how we should treat each other.
Great Jewish Thinkers: Their Lives and Work, by Naomi E. Pasachoff
Biographies and contributions of big-name Jewish philosophers from ancient times through the 20th century. Only one woman is mentioned in this book, but that’s Jewish history.
Seek My Face, Speak My Name: A Contemporary Jewish Theology, by Arthur Green. For those who believe in the oneness of everything, this is an amazingly beautiful book. Written by a Reconstructionist rabbi.
Whose Torah? A Concise Guide to Progressive Judaism, by Rebecca T. Alpert. Essays on women, race, and GLBTQ participation in liberal Judaism.
The Book of Letters: A Mystical Alef Bet, by Lawrence Kushner
Elaborate illustrations and descriptions of each of the Hebrew characters. Describes the mystical significance of each letter.
The Rituals & Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal, by Kerry Olitzky & Daniel Judson. An engaging “how-to” for home ritual. (The Complete Handbook for Jewish Living, co-authored by Rabbi Olitzsky, is also useful but covers many more topics in less detail – still, a useful reference manual.)
Learning Hebrew
Teach Yourself to Read Hebrew, from EKS Publishing. Explains the sounds made by the letters, provides reading and writing practice. If you really want to learn, I suggest supplementing this book with “Sounds of Hebrew Flashcards” also produced by EKS.
Poetry & Fiction
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon. A murder mystery set in Sitka, Alaska.
Meshugah, by Isaac Bashevis Singer. A powerful story about Holocaust survivors living in 1950s New York City.
Caucasia, by Danzy Senna. This is about the daughter of a European-American mother and an African-American father. She is light-skinned and usually assumed to be “white,” unlike her much darker complexioned sister.
Joy Comes in the Morning, by Jonathan Rosen. The story of a woman Reform rabbi and the family of a Holocaust survivor living in New York.
