TRADITION’s 2025 Book Endorsements – Part II
For the sixth year running, TRADITION continues its yearly tradition of turning to our esteemed editorial board for endorsements for summer reading—we bring you the second installment of 2025’s crop below—see the first installment here, and read the final round here where we also reveal the winner of our contest to predict our picks.
Ram Ben-Shalom, The Jews of Provence and Languedoc (Littman Library)
Jeffrey Saks
The Jews of Provence and Languedoc
A recent tour of Provence, in Southern France, allowed me to visit a time and place I had only “travelled” to 30+ years ago in seminar rooms at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. Ram Ben-Shalom’s sweeping and substantive volume on the region’s Medieval Jewish history is a major scholarly accomplishment. Its in-depth exploration of Provençal Jewry is organized into two main sections. The first, comprising six chapters, chronicles the early history of the Jews in Provence, detailing their communal institutions, the role of women, the fluctuating dynamics between Jews and the Church—including religious disputes—and ultimately the expulsion of the Jewish population in 1498. The second part, spread across ten chapters, focuses on the region’s intellectual history, or what Ben-Shalom refers to as “the cultural renaissance of the Jews in Provence.” Here, he dedicates a relatively brief chapter to traditional religious education in the yeshivot and various religious trends (I would have liked more), but primarily concentrates on intellectual activities beyond halakhic studies: poetry, translation endeavors, the introduction and reception of rationalist philosophy and its controversies, the emergence of Kabbalah, and ideas surrounding messianism and redemption. Notably, the book eschews a sweeping grand narrative of Jewish history, favoring instead an emphasis on Jewish-Christian intellectual exchanges. He illustrates these connections through numerous examples where Jews and Christians engaged with one another, whether through scholarly collaboration or economic dealings.
Excluding a massive, 35-page bibliography and comprehensive indices, its considerable length is well justified. It’s a big book: in size (544-pages), folio format, and weight (over 4 pounds). That’s needed to accommodate Ben-Shalom’s assembly of nearly everything ever written about Medieval Jewish life in Provence, resulting in a detailed portrait, particularly regarding the intellectual vibrancy and diversity (and, yes, occasional tumultuousness) of Provence Jewish life and learning.
In the volume’s second half, focusing on intellectual history, Ben-Shalom (professor of history at Hebrew University) brings to light a wealth of lesser-known sources and overlooked texts. For example, he suggests that the influx and study of Roman law might have stimulated certain trends in halakhic development (a topic also taken up by Haym Soloveitchik). However, he places greater emphasis on the role of custom, which he understands to be as binding and authoritative as codified law. Provençal halakhic tradition, influenced as it was in multiple directions—Spain from the southwest, northern France and Germany, and the Maimonidean influences from across the Mediterranean—struggled to maintain its own distinct tradition of religious practice. Ben-Shalom demonstrates that what took place was a dynamic convergence of multiple traditions—at times reinforcing, at times clashing violently, as seen in the Maimonidean controversies and the birth of Kabbalah, the topics of those very stimulating graduate seminars with Prof. David Berger, whose teachings accompanied me across the decades as I finally stood on Provençal soil with Ben-Shalom’s book in hand.
David Stav, Bein Ha-Zemanim (Yediot Sefarim)
Jacob J. Schacter
Bein Ha-Zemanim
From ancient times, Jews have devoted significant attention to determining the relationship between their non-negotiable commitment to living a Torah-observant life on the one hand and their interest in aspects of the cultures in which they lived. Does Judaism recognize the legitimacy or value of cultural expressions like art, sport, literature, music, and theater? Rabbi David Stav wrote an excellent book explaining the Jewish attitude to these subjects, and more. Written in 2012 it has lost none of its immediate relevance and, in fact, will shortly appear in an English translation.
Its title, Bein ha-Zemanim, does not fully convey the scope of the book, more accurately conveyed in its subtitle (which in English might be rendered as: Leisure Culture in Jewish Law and Thought). The book deals with the classical Jewish attitude to all the cultural disciplines I mentioned, plus the more general notions of physical pleasure and leisure. After outlining the centrality of Talmud Torah in the life of a committed Jew, for men and women, R. Stav proceeds to argue for the legitimacy and value of all these aspects of life, albeit within certain guidelines. Each topic is thoroughly explored, beginning with an introductory essay making reference to an extraordinarily wide range of Jewish sources. from Tanakh through contemporary poskim and concluding with practical halakhic guidance. The author shows his mastery of the texts on which he draws: From Tanakh through Hazal (Mishnah, Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Tosefta, Midrash) to Rishonim and Ahronim and arriving at modern rabbinical authorities and contemporary poskim and concluding with practical halakhic guidance. R. Stav is able to extract relevant material from all these sources in a masterful and creative way.
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the interrelationship between classical Judaism and general culture. It demonstrates how one can live with full fealty to the tradition while finding room for aspects of human culture and leisure even when those are not, strictly speaking, Torah elements in and of themselves. R. Stav demonstrates how these aspects of life not only enhance one’s humanity, they deepen one’s relationship to God and His Torah.
Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer, Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women (Toby Press)
Michal Haber, Editorial Assistant
Chutzpah Girls
My Facebook algorithm knows me better than I care to admit. Several months ago, I was targeted by the marketers of Chutzpah Girls, an eye-catching, new book. Considering that I have four “chutzpah girls” of my own, I was intrigued and bought a copy. The title may be a little off-putting, with a negative connotation, especially when a stigma is attached to women in powerful roles—they must be tough, cold, ruthless, pushy. But on the first page of the book, “Chutzpah” is defined as: “A Jewish superpower: the daring to speak when silenced, to take action when others won’t, to try when they say it’s impossible, to persevere in times of doubt, to be yourself when it’s easier to conform…”
This is a gem of a book. A Jewish take on Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, Chutzpah Girls is a compilation of 100 profiles of influential Jewish women throughout time. Each entry features one woman and her fascinating story, accompanied by a portrait illustration, created by Jewish women artists from around the world.
These figures from diverse backgrounds and religious affiliations allow the reader to experience the potential, far-reaching impact of any Jewish woman. The book covers Biblical women like the daughters of Zelophehad, the “first female Jewish equality activists,” the prophetess Abigail, and Talmudic scholar Bruriah, just to name a few who serve as the basis for the strong female identity of our ancient heritage. There are women most readers have likely never heard of. Did you know that in 1500s Kurdistan, Asenath Barzani served as a Rosh Yeshiva for men? Have you ever heard of Rudolphina Menzel, the Austrian-born cynologist who trained security dogs and helped create the canine unit for the Haganah? There are countless treasures like these throughout the book. The stories transport us to modern times, featuring women who continue to make waves today, like Barbara Streisand, who refused to change her “Jewish” nose despite the pressure to conform, and Rachel Edri, who fought off terrorists on October 7 using her wits, grit, and now famous cookies. We also meet Angela Buxton, a tennis champion who challenged antisemitism and discrimination in sports in the 1930s, and Anne Neuberger, an ultra-Orthodox Yiddish speaker from Boro Park who excelled as an intelligence and cybersecurity official for the US government. As I write this, it feels impossible to choose just a few women to highlight—each incredible story has a lesson to teach.
On Friday nights, my girls, ranging from toddler to teen, listen to me read another entry with rapture and excitement. In a generation where our youth’s Jewish identity is being challenged daily, Chutzpah Girls empowers and strengthens Jewish resolve, inspiring young girls (and maybe their brothers as well) to break barriers and shatter glass ceilings in all possible ways. Chutzpah Girls has now become my go-to bat mitzva gift.
Yehudah Mirsky, Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution (Yale University Press)
Rivkah T. Blau
Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution
If you have ever felt overwhelmed when trying to understand the writings of Rav Avraham Yitzhak Ha-Kohen Kook, turn to Yehudah Mirsky’s Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution. Rav Kook’s lifetime, 1865-1935, when the Jewish community and all the nations of the world were in turmoil, was a challenging setting for a brilliant mind. His profound knowledge of the Written and Oral Torah, combined with his awareness of modern culture and his study of Kabbalah, yielded a sense of humanity rising to God that he attempted to articulate. What did he want? “To shine the light of faith, of holiness, in the Land of Israel, the Hebrew Land of Israel, the Land of Israel steadily being redeemed … ridding itself of the dustiness of exile…. We must redeem the Shekhinah that is within us from its exile…. That is my goal, but oh how heavy is this burden on my soul…. ‘Please, God, save us. Please, God, make us flourish’ (Psalm 118:25).”
Not only did he mix theology, philosophy, recognized Torah sources, and Kabbalah, but he added universalism and appreciation for all humanity, Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and secular. Of course traditionalists were shocked by his ideas; at the same time he was steadfastly observant. The complexity of his radicalism and conservatism endeared him to some while antagonizing others. While giving an account of Rav Kook’s life and thought, Mirsky also clarifies what was happening in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Mitnagded, Hasid, Mussar, attention to Aggadah, the politics of Zionism and religious Zionism, Ha-Po’el Ha-Mizrachi, the Second Aliyah, heter mekhira, Revisionists, the murder of Chaim Arlosoroff, kitniyot … every issue had two or more sides. Add to that the fact that much of what has been published was culled from his notebooks and edited to emphasize nationalism. There are contradictions that might have been resolved if he had been able to arrange the outpourings of his soul, but that was left to his heirs and editors.
His compassion is evident in this account of what happened when he became the rabbi of Machzikei Hadath in London: “The congregation raised his modest salary when they learned of his habit of reimbursing housewives whenever he ruled that one of their chickens was unkosher.” Is it any wonder that this tzaddik remains influential?
Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man: 40th Anniversary Edition (JPS)
Yona Reiss
Halakhic Man
Halakhic Man, authored by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik as a Hebrew language essay in 1944, and published as an English language book in 1983 with the masterful translation of Lawrence J. Kaplan, is perhaps the most celebrated masterpiece of the Rav that many of his devotees have never read. The recently published 40th Anniversary edition, with a new introduction, glossary, useful index, and enlightening annotations by Kaplan that share some of the Rav’s later reflections, affords us the impetus to take a fresh look at this groundbreaking work.
The Rav’s philosophical prose, which refers to the thought of figures such as Kierkegaard, Scheler, and Nietzsche, among many others, can be intimidating and overwhelming. However, at its core, Halakhic Man is a deeply spiritual essay that addresses the strivings of an archetypal ben yeshiva.
Briefly, the Rav addresses the tension between cognitive man, who seeks to comprehend the mysteries of the universe in tangible terms, and homo religiosus (religious man), who wishes to transcend the bounds of the temporal, physical world and live in an unrestrained supernal realm. Cognitive man lacks spiritual depth, while homo religiosus lacks firm grounding in this world, paradoxically causing him to be oblivious to the cries of the needy. Halakhic man, by contrast, attains spiritual purpose through the Torah given by God to human beings in this world, and is thus able to find religious meaning in probing the scientific and mathematical realities of this universe through the prism of halakha, which is the life-affirming manifestation of Torah in this-worldly life. Nevertheless, the Rav emphasizes that the ultimate fascination of halakhic man is not with physical phenomena per se, but rather with the realization of the ideal construction of the halakha in this world. In this vein, halakhic man serves his Creator by uncovering the truth of halakha through his penetrating study of Torah.
According to the Rav, the kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum informs us that the Divine Presence rests in this world through the halakha. The Talmudic statement that God’s residence in this world is through the “four cubits” of halakha (Berakhot 8a) serves as a leitmotif for the worldview of halakhic man as well. As a master pedagogue, the Rav develops his thesis with a series of riveting anecdotes, such as the story of his grandfather explaining that the main role of a Rabbi is to save the oppressed from the hands of his oppressors, and the incident of his father telling a weeping Shofar blower, consumed with mystical thoughts, to stop crying and focus on the straightforward fulfillment of the mitzva.
The greatest revelation is that halakhic man is a rather cheerful character. He never sinks into melancholy but, like the new moon, seeks to constantly recreate himself, viewing past mistakes as a vehicle towards future mitzvot, thus constructively redefining his present. Accordingly, in presenting this aspirational portrait, this book is not only intellectually edifying, but also surprisingly therapeutic.
Hillel Goldberg, God Spoke Once, I Heard Twice: The Torah’s Lens on Fifty-Four Fields of Human Knowledge (Rowman & Littlefield)
Menachem Penner, Executive Vice-President, RCA & Publisher, TRADITION
God Spoke Once, I Heard Twice
In God Spoke Once, I Heard Twice, Rabbi Hillel Goldberg offers an expansive and often surprising reflection on the Torah’s capacity to speak to the full breadth of human experience. Structured around the weekly parashiyot, each chapter explores a specific area of knowledge—science, psychology, journalism, aesthetics, and more—framed through a Torah lens. The result is a work that is not easily categorized: it is part commentary, part personal essay, part cultural critique, and part spiritual reflection.
Goldberg’s voice is shaped by years of study of the Musar tradition, his career in Jewish journalism, and a deep knowledge of and reverence for Torah. His prose is elegant and accessible, with flashes of lyricism and moments of quiet depth. One especially meaningful chapter comes in Parashat Ki Tissa, where Goldberg reflects on the two seemingly opposite acts found in the portion: the creativity involved in building the Mishkan, and the command to cease from that same creativity on Shabbat. He suggests that refraining from work is not simply about stopping. Instead, it is its own type of creation. By renouncing the 39 melakhot used to build a sanctuary, we create sacred space within ourselves. At a time when productivity is so often confused with value, this essay reframes Shabbat as an act of affirmation rather than withdrawal.
Many chapters reflect Goldberg’s originality, his breadth of knowledge, and his eye for unexpected associations. In Parashat Tzav, he reads the portion of the terumat ha-deshen as an allegory for education, drawing out nine deeply considered principles of pedagogy. For Aharei Mot, he examines the theological implications of randomness and evolution. In Balak, he turns inward, using a humorous personal story to reflect on how Torah and life can collide in moments of irony and insight.
To be sure, some connections between themes and weekly portions can feel tenuous, as is inevitable when attempting to craft a unique perspective for each of the fifty-four parashiyot. Yet this apparent limitation becomes a strength: it serves as a treasure trove for rabbis and educators delivering weekly sermons or shiurim, offering a remarkably diverse array of entry points into Torah that can inspire meaningful discussion in the classroom, beit midrash, or from the pulpit.
Goldberg occasionally shifts tone between audiences—sometimes speaking to those deeply familiar with Jewish texts, at other times addressing readers from broader backgrounds. But the underlying vision is clear: Our Torah is a prism through which the entire world can be viewed, investigated, and uplifted. God Spoke Once, I Heard Twice is a testament to a lifetime of learning and thinking in dialogue with Torah. It is an invitation to encounter Torah not just as instruction, but as conversation—with God, with history, and with the world around us.
Dov S. Zackheim, Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage (Maggid Studies in Tanakh)
Joel B. Wolowelsky
Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage
I recently joined a wonderful shiur in Ezra-Nehemiah and, as I had very little previous familiarity with the book, supplemented it with reading Dov S. Zackheim’s Nehemiah: Statesman and Sage. As with all the volumes in the Maggid Tanakh series, it is well-written with a solid presentation of the historical period and traditional as well as contemporary commentators. However, this volume offers an additional dimension: Zackheim has held positions as Deputy Under-Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States, and is a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. He utilizes his own professional experience to craft a unique though traditional reading of the career of Nehemiah—a senior state official, governor, and statesman. He recognizes and describes the biblical character’s strategies and those of his opponents. For example, discussing how Sanballat and his allies suggested that Nehemiah’s intention to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls would enable him to rebel against the king, Zackheim comments: “This was precisely the allegation that opponents of Jewish immigration to Palestine hurled at the leaders of the Zionist Yishuv and their overseas supporter; the tactics were likewise similar. By applying pressure on the Foreign Office, the Arab leadership was able to reverse British immigration policy to Palestine.”
Zakheim places particular emphasis on what he refers to as Nehemiah’s “Jewish Constitution,” a document, that Nehemiah persuades residents of the newly rebuilt Jerusalem to endorse, is more than just another restatement of the biblical covenant. Instead, it represents a willing, voluntarily commitment to various religious and societal duties. These include avoiding intermarriage, observing the Sabbath day and the sabbatical (Shemitta) year—practices that had fallen into neglect. Drawing from rabbinic, medieval, and modern interpretations—supplemented by his own insights— Zackheim reveals the groundbreaking nature of Nehemiah’s leadership and spiritual initiative. Among his insights is the observation that individuals voluntarily limiting their own freedoms for the benefit of the community, Nehemiah prefigured principles that would later become central to modern Western constitutional thought.
He notices minor points too: “Nehemiah’s forty-shekel allowance represents $3,000 per diem or over a million dollars annually. Such an amount is far in excess of what American ambassadors receive in what are termed ‘representation funds’.” All in all, the volume is an enriching read, especially for those, like myself, who had little exposure to this interesting biblical text.
Ross Douthat, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious (Zondervan)
Mark Gottlieb
Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious
Conservative Times columnist Ross Douthat is a modern-day Daniel in the lion’s den, making traditional religion more sympathetic to his secular and liberal audience. While most of his treatments of culture, religion, and politics have been equal parts descriptive analysis and incisive cultural criticism, Douthat’s newest title is unabashedly prescriptive, a primer in why everyone should be religious.
Douthat’s skills as a prose stylist translate well to this apologetic medium, and we have a handy text that any contemporary man or woman of faith—or doubt—can benefit from. For Jews who are aware of Douthat’s adopted Roman Catholicism and may be afraid to venture into particularistic territory, the bulk of the book is decidedly non-denominational; only the final chapter becomes confessional in content. He distinguishes his argument from religious pragmatists who insist on practice and community as conduits to faith, and offers an important corrective: “This book, too, will urge fellowship and ritual and practice as essential aspects of the religious quest. But it will insist that you can also do some weighing up and reasoning in advance, that joining and practicing is fundamentally a rational decision, not just an eyes-closed, trust-your-friends-and-intuitions jump.”
He unfolds three basic arguments for the truth of theistic religion, two of which are familiar to veterans of the New Atheism wars of the early 2000s. Douthat’s deployment of cosmological arguments that hinge on the claim that the universe appears compellingly tailored to human life is nothing new. Scientists have been making this argument for many years, but Douthat’s skill as a stylist advances the intellectual arguments beyond mere theory. He then draws on the irreducible nature of human consciousness, the idea that “our minds in particular have a special relationship to the physical world and its originating Cause—all of these ideas have had their plausibility strengthened, not weakened, by centuries of scientific success.” His most original material appears in the chapter “The Myth of Disenchantment,” unpacking the claim of “the persistence and credibility of spiritual and supernatural experience even in a supposedly disenchanted age.” Douthat deftly weaves the data and experiences on exorcisms, near-death experiences, saints, hallucinogenic encounters with higher beings, and even UFOs, to demonstrate that the claims of a purely material world don’t explain the facts of these all-too-common and decisively documented realities. Litvaks among TRADITION readers may not find Douthat’s arguments here as convincing as the earlier, more scientific ones but this is the payoff for others, and certainly his most distinctive claim.
Douthat’s entire project may be greater than the sum of its parts, creating the conditions where secularism and atheism no longer hold sway over the modern mind. He confidently dismisses once powerful currents of thought: “As [secularism’s] promises of liberation dissolve, as unhappiness and angst and regret take over, atheism defends itself by pretending to be hardheaded, extremely serious, the price you pay for intellectual adulthood. It is none of those things.” The world needs more Ross Douthats to make the case for brazen holiness.
Gil Student, Articles of Faith: Traditional Jewish Belief in the Internet Era (Kodesh Press)
David Berger
Articles of Faith
Articles of Faith is a collection of essays written in various venues over the course of many years addressing disputed issues of significance, sometimes central significance, in Jewish thought. Gil Student, who developed his reputation through a blog now called Torah Musings, has written what he calls studies rather than polemics, but notwithstanding the fair treatment of opposing views as well as the irenic tone, he makes vigorous and learned arguments for his positions.
This is an English book, but the Hebrew title (Nekudot Mahloket) describes the contents more accurately than the English, which leads one to expect the entire work to deal with the fundamentals of Judaism. Only half of the sixteen essays fulfill this expectation, but all address issues of importance to Orthodox Jews. Let me, with ruthless brevity, touch on aspects of three of the essays that clearly deal with articles of faith.
In “Fundamentals of Faith: Debating the Boundaries,” Student sets forth his approach to this critically important subject in a discussion of Marc Shapiro’s work on Maimonides’ principles of faith (The Limits of Orthodox Theology) and to a lesser degree Menachem Kellner’s Must a Jew Believe Anything?. He argues, to my mind convincingly, that there are required beliefs, that these have halakhic ramifications, and that Kellner’s view that the absence of dogma in the Shulhan Arukh indicates its author did not believe that there is such a category is mistaken.
“A Response to Biblical Criticism” discusses with clarity and insight the views regarding revelation in traditional texts and in the works of Louis Jacobs, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Menachem Kasher. It does not, however, engage the key questions in a manner that the title might lead one to expect.
In “Judaism and Other Religions,” Student provides interesting evidence of what to my mind is an important point—that one can regard Christianity as avoda zara and yet consider it preferable to atheism. I once noted that R. Hershel Schachter testified that R. Soloveitchik did not accept the view that shittuf is permissible for non-Jews, while R. Walter Wurzburger reported that the Rav persuaded a Christian doctor who was questioning religion entirely to adhere to his ancestral faith. Since both reports come from unimpeachable sources, it appears to follow that the Rav regarded ethical avoda zara in a monotheistic mode as superior to atheism.
Other chapters address “The Mechitzah Controversy,” “The Talmud-Science Controversy,” “The Controversy over Women’s Rabbinic Ordination,” and “The Religious Zionism Debate.” The scope and variety of this work will inevitably engender reservations about specific arguments, but the essays are almost invariably stimulating and marked by impressive learning and thoughtful judgment.
Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer (FSG)
Chaim Strauchler
My Bright Abyss
Poetic meditations on contemporary faith, responsive not only to modern thought and science but also to religious tradition, are rare. With vivid hues and poetic flare, Christian Wiman’s My Bright Abyss paints the author’s struggles with a complicated faith. While his personal journey, rooted in Christianity, may be of limited use to readers of TRADITION, his formulations communicate emotional depth and beauty that may benefit those of diverse religious commitments.
In December 2008, Wiman, a well-known poet and former editor of Poetry magazine, wrote an essay about having faith in the face of death. The book that grew out of that essay expands upon its themes, giving context from within the author’s life story, including his struggles with cancer treatment as well as his journey from the Texas church community of his childhood.
The book opens with an unfinished poem:
My God my bright abyss
Into which all my longing will not go
Once more I come to the edge of all I know
And believing nothing believe in this:
The book is his attempt to complete this sentence. What does a person believe when he is conditioned to believe in nothing? With what can such a person quench the longing for something transcendent?
In attempting to answer these questions, Wiman draws parallels between an artist’s inspiration and that of the believer. He writes, “Inspiration is to thought what grace is to faith: intrusive, transcendent, transformative, but also evanescent and, all too often, anomalous.” He speaks about maturing faith in the brine of life’s victories and defeats: “Faith is not some remote, remembered country into which you come like a long-exiled king, dispensing the old wisdom, casting out the radical, insurrectionist aspects of yourself by which you’d been betrayed.… [I]f you believe at 50 what you believed at 15, then you have not lived—or have denied the reality of your life.” He expresses the push and pulls of a relationship with the Ultimate: “I can’t tell which is worse, standing numb and apart from the world wanting Being to burn me awake, or feeling that fire too acutely to crave anything other than escape.”
In the end, Wiman does not complete the poem with which he begins his book. He does not discover that clear formulation for what exactly he believes. Yet, in the struggle itself he conveys something valuable about modern life—the “drifting through the days on a tide of tiny vanities.” In his honest flailing for something more, he produces a work of faithful meaning.
This is the second of three installments in this feature. Click here for the finale, and discover the winner of our contest to predict our picks. Peruse our previous lists of TRADITION’s Summer Book Endorsements.