The Anatomy of Israel’s Survival, by Hirsh Goodman, Public Affairs, 288 pages, $26.99.
Reviewed by NEAL GENDLER
Hirsh Goodman used to be infuriated by the question of whether Israel can survive; of what other country is such a question asked?
But now, he says, “there is much merit to the question, for both Israel and its [...]

Novelist Eshkol Nevo achieved international fame with his ‘polyphonic’ novel, Homesick
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR
The weather in Ra’anana, Israel, is in the upper 60s this week, as Minnesota thaws out from the weekend snowstorm and treacherous icy roads.
Eshkol Nevo was at home in Ra’anana on Sunday, and asked for advice about what to wear when [...]

German Autumn, by Stig Dagerman, University of Minnesota Press, 136 pages, $17.95
Reviewed by NEAL GENDLER
Although the Torah frowns on joy at other people’s suffering, perhaps Jews may be permitted, if not Schadenfreude, at least some lack of sympathy at the postwar hardship of millions of Germans.
In German Autumn, Stig Dagerman paints an unremittingly [...]

The St. Paul JCC continues to host the 2011 Twin Cities Jewish Book Fair, which “celebrates the significant contributions of today’s finest authors.”
Tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 16, Susan Orlean will speak at 7 p.m. at the JCC, 1375 St. Paul Ave. Orlean, a staff writer at the New Yorker, is the author of Rin Tin Tin: The Life [...]

Sharon: The Life of a Leader, by Gilad Sharon, Harper, 640 pages, $29.99.
Reviewed by NEAL GENDLER
An adoring biography by a famous and controversial man’s son hardly is a surprise, yet Gilad Sharon’s large book contains interesting insights into the life of one of Israel’s most famous military leaders turned politician.
The book may not [...]

The Frumkiss Family Business, by Michael Wex, Random House, 384 pages, paperback, $17.95.
Reviewed by ALEXANDER TOLCHINSKY
Yiddish, a language spoken by fewer and fewer people, in which almost no books or plays are written anymore, may seem like a relic from the last century.
It is hard to find relevance in a language [...]

Our Class, at the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, is based on the tragic events in 20th century Jedwabne, Poland

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By Doris Rubenstein
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Polish actor and playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek and I have something in common: he was raised in Bialystok, Poland, and so were my maternal grandparents. That’s where the commonality ends and where my questions [...]

Students in grades 1-8 are eligible to enter the 20th Annual AJW Hanuka Cover Contest.
There are prizes for the winner and runners-up, and the winner has her or his artwork displayed on the cover of our Hanuka special edition (Dec. 9, 2011).

You can download a file with contest details HERE.
Deadline for submitting entries is 5 [...]

Meir Shalev will discuss his new memoir and his novels on Nov. 9 at the Sabes JCC
By MORDECAI SPECKTOR

Celebrated Israeli author Meir Shalev is on the phone, speaking from his home in a small town in the Jezreel Valley — near Nahalal, the village where he was raised.
“I run away from Jerusalem from [...]

One Hundred Great Jewish Books: Three Millennia of Jewish Conversation, by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Blue Bridge, paperback, 352 pages, $16.95.
Reviewed by NEAL GENDLER
Long ago, I learned that you can’t judge a book by its title.
But when I picked up Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman’s One Hundred Great Jewish Books, my reaction was: Who’d want [...]