Book review

'The Road to October 7': The long centuries of hatred that led to Hamas’s attack - review

This review of The Road to October 7 follows an interview with its author published in the Magazine earlier this month.

Germans read an antisemitic tabloid on a billboard: 'The Jews are our misfortune.' That was in 1935. The Palestinian Authority still teaches hate and violence toward Jews today, the author writes.
A GROUP of Hitler Youth, 1933.

'Stay Alive': A personal story of anti-Nazi Germans - review

THE EMPTY chair: Thomas Chippendale chair, c. 1772, mahogany, covered in modern red Moroccan leather, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

'Inspirational Reflections for the Seder Night': A Haggadah for empty chairs at the table - review

Entrance hall of the Supreme Court, decorated with a section of mosaic pavement recovered from the 5th-to-8th-century Hamat Gader synagogue, near the Golan Heights.

'Rogue Justice': Exploring how Israel’s top court turned into a political powerhouse - review


'The Gavriel Tirosh Affair': Unforgettable teacher, lingering memory - review

Yitzhak Shalev’s novel traces the lingering power of a teacher who vanished but never left his students’ minds.

The Irgun Museum in Tel Aviv.

A forgotten voice from 1391: 'Hasdai Crescas: Collected Writings' - book review

Hasdai Crescas became crown rabbi of Aragon under King John I and Queen Violant de Bar. He counted among his friends Rabbi Isaac ben Sheshet and Rabbi Simeon ben Tzemah Duran.

Inaugurating Hasdai Crescas Street in Jerusalem, 2011. Front row (from left): Esti Eisenman, specialist in Crescas and initiator of street naming; Prof. Warren Zeev Harvey, leading specialist in Crescas. Back row (from left): Regional council member Yael Anatbi, and Prof. Yomtov Asis.

'The Jewish Journey Through Loss': Combining halacha and psychology in order to heal - review

The wisdom of clinical psychologist Dr. Batya Ludman and Jewish educator Gina Junger combine to create a book that balances both psychology and Jewish law.

HELPING MOURNERS to heal.

'The Morning the Apples Began to Sing': A story of wonder and imagination - review

A story of wonder and self-expression, inspiring children to imagine, create, and embrace life’s hidden miracles.

Thee are no illustrations, except for an unexpected one on the last page.

'Emily Saw a Door': Learning to create spaces for each other with creativity, acceptance - review

A story that encourages and empowers children to find the right place for them, or even to create their own.

EMILY’S JOURNEY in the land of doors. Artwork by Orit Magia

A pro-Israel bookshelf: Top book recommendations by a veteran reviewer

Dedicated readers, I thought, might welcome the chance to learn about books and authors they could have overlooked.

Selection of best selling books in Hebrew language displayed at a bookstore in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 2, 2023

'Disasters of Biblical Proportions': From ancient Exodus to lessons in fear and faith - review

The book Disasters of Biblical Proportions: The Ten Plagues Then, Now, and at the End of the World provides a history of the interpretations of each of the 10 plagues in the Book of Exodus.

‘The seventh Plague of Egypt,’  hail and fire, by John Martin, 1823.

'The Traitors Circle': A spy thriller that asks - would you have defied the Nazis? - review

A spy-thriller true story of the Solf Circle – elite Germans who defied Hitler, rescued Jews, and paid dearly after betrayal – asking the question: what would you have done?

‘The Traitors Circle: The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany—and the Spy Who Betrayed Them’ By Jonathan Freedland

New book traces Christian pilgrims' ancient path through Jerusalem

Rodney Aist retraces Jerusalem’s pre-Crusades pilgrim circuit—Holy Sepulchre to Zion, Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives—blending ancient texts, archaeology, and reflection.

A delegation of more than a thousand Evangelical Christians attend a special prayer outside Jerusalem’s Old City, December 4, 2025

John Irving's new novel follows a Jewish heroine across decades

John Irving’s Queen Esther follows an orphaned Jewish girl who becomes a family’s anchor, fights Nazis, and shapes Israel’s birth –while her son comes of age amid Vietnam and identity, love, and loss

Queen Esther by John Irving