Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. As languages have lives of their own, with arcs that dwarf the lifespans of their speakers, it feels fitting for Rutgers professor Jeffrey Shandler to give Yiddish the biographer’s treatment. In truth, “Yiddish: Biography of a Language” does not trace…
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Books
Off the Shelf
Short stories deserve our attention — especially these
Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. While the short story is a classic literary form, it can also feel…
Bay Area
SF State historian splits with publisher over Jews and 'white supremacy'
Marc Dollinger’s book, “Black Power, Jewish Politics,” sold more than expected in this year of racial reckoning, and by September, there were only 150…
Art
No time to study Kabbalah? Try the coloring book
The complex teachings of Kabbalah can take years to learn, much less master. Why not start by coloring them in? Tzfat-based artist David Friedman has…
Books
A harrowing tale of survival wrapped around a love story
Fela Kuvent, born in 1919 in the Polish town of Gostynin, was a smart, vivacious, dark-eyed girl who loved to sing, dance and enjoy life in her Jewish…
Parenting
Since when are the Berenstain Bears evangelical Christians?
At our local library, they have stowed away all the toys in the children’s section and ended in-person story time. But they still let you in for half an…
Talking With ...
Q&A: A writer who helps kids calm racing minds
Whether giving presentations to students or workshops for teachers, Susan Katz, 49, strives to convey the transformational power and joy of reading. The…
Off the Shelf
‘The Lost Shtetl’ and ‘The Orchard’: 2 new novels of Jewish culture shock
Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. For those attuned to the Torah reading cycle, one of the striking…
Culture
East Bay Jewish arts lab seeks 2021 fellows — pandemic or not
LABA East Bay, an incubator and study program for Jewish artists run by the JCC East Bay, is in search of its second cohort of Bay Area artists. LABA…