“The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook”. Great book, unfortunately they left the Yiddish out!
Beautifully translated for a new generation of devotees of delicious and healthy eating: a groundbreaking, mouthwatering vegetarian cookbook originally published in Yiddish in pre–World War II Vilna and miraculously rediscovered more than half a...
A Kibbutznik Who Did Everything Well
Chicken Man by Michelle Edwards; Montgomery, Alabama: NewSouth Books © 2008, ISBN 9781588-382375; 26 pages; $9.79 on Amazon.
SAN DIEGO – For its October selection for 4-year-old children, PJ Library has brought back an oldie but a...
Magdala Stone and other rare artifacts on view in Galilee
An oil lamp bearing the symbol of the seven-branched menorah; a stone from the Second Temple; inscriptions that incorporate the words “Shalom,” “Shabbat” and the names of the sages Shimon, Jacob and Hoshaya. These...
‘Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins’ Is the True Story of Hanukkah
Part of the way through the holiday-season classic Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, I pause and ask myself, What do goblins have to do with anything in the first place? And while we’re at it, what do...
Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson
How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson’s biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection...
Vegetarian and Kosher- from Vilna with love
What do Jewish foodies talk about when they talk about food? “Meatless mains” to judge by several recent kosher cookbooks. So when one reads in another new kosher cookbook that “It has long been...
‘I’ve always been seen by other people as Jewish’
My experience of comedians is that they’re rarely funny to meet. I’ve interviewed Ben Stiller, Bobcat Goldthwait, Ricky Gervais, Rob Schneider, Robin Williams and Woody Allen, and they were all interesting, intelligent individuals, but...
Jewish music for any soul
For the 8th season, clarinetist Paul Green will bring Jewish music to the Berkshires with an international mix of chamber works and song.
His "Summer Celebration of Jewish Music" brings together an ensemble that includes...
Historian chronicles Hitler’s friends and fellow travelers
Former California Gov. Gray Davis, a liberal Democrat, and the Koch Brothers, billionaire businessmen and Libertarians often associated with conservative causes, would seem to have little in common. However, that is why digging into...
Ellis Island and the name ‘Kaputnik’
Visiting my family in this Contra County town, I happened across a book from the PJ Library titled Mrs. Kaputnik’s Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium by Rona Arato. Now, I’m one of those fellows who...