Books
Her mother’s life in pre-state Israel
It was inevitable that Rina Neiman would be imprinted by the dramatic story of her mother, Shula, a sabra and aspiring concert pianist who lived through…
Books
Local author's new novel of the opioid crisis
“The Boatbuilder,” the first novel by Bay Area native Daniel Gumbiner, has been long-listed for the 2018 National Book Award in fiction, the National Book…
Books
Iran is more complex than you think
Tensions are ratcheting ever higher between Iran and the United States. Only a week ago, President Donald Trump gave a Sept. 25 speech at the United…
Author! Author!
Children's book about Jewish and Muslim boys
Rabbi Sheldon Lewis, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto, has long been engaged in interfaith reconciliation efforts in the Middle East.…
History
He lived across the street from Hitler
Edgar Feuchtwanger was born in Munich, Germany, in 1924 to parents who, like many of the Weimar Republic’s approximately 600,000 Jews at that time, were…
Author! Author!
From utopian commune to imaginative novelist
There are people whose lives seem so innately fictional that you wonder if they had any other choice but to become a writer. Micah Perks, who grew up on a…
Off the Shelf
Three books to put you through (Jewish) law school
The books section is supported by a generous donation from Anne Germanacos. Many Bay Area Jews engage in spiritual exploration and Torah study, but my…
Books
‘Without Jenny’: Debut novel is the fruit of a father’s grief
Joy and Danny Rosenberg lived the good life in San Francisco. Their children, 10-year-old Jenny and her younger brother Jake, were healthy and happy.…
Books
'Plot Against America' across the Bay
The surprising success of Donald Trump’s candidacy in 2016 brought a number of literary works out of the woodwork, but none so much as Philip Roth’s “The…