Literature
Sami Rohr Prize 2026 shortlist highlights family survival and Jewish history
The annual award — which alternates each year between works of fiction and nonfiction and which honors emerging Jewish writers — is considered one of the most prominent awards in Jewish literature.
'The Sacrificial Service': Leviticus has been mistranslated for centuries - review
'Agents of Change': American Jews and the transformation of Israeli Judaism - review
'The Wisdom of Truth': Reaching the attic with a ladder to the Zohar - review
The most prolific couples from history, mythology, and fiction - explainer
In many spheres of endeavor, people pair up to maximize their efforts to achieve their goals. So let’s take a look at some dynamic duos.
'Articles of Faith': Faithful to tradition, open to complexity - book review
A recurring theme in Articles of Faith is the delicate balance between upholding rabbinic authority while acknowledging the realities of a post-modern, digitally saturated world.
'Yoko: A Biography': Have we underestimated Yoko Ono all along? - review
As more of her albums have been released and the number of art exhibitions has mounted, however, Ono has increasingly been recognized for what one critic called “the breadth, charm, and brilliance."
Terms of enrichment: Wandering into the wonderful world of words
When it comes to cleverly crafted fine lines in prose or poetry, a palindrome is a word, phrase, or sequence of words that reads the same backward as forward, such as 'Madam, I’m Adam.'
'Letters from Home': Exploring tension among Jews in in the Second Temple era - review
The relationship between the Jewish communities of Egypt and Israel created an underlying tension, not unlike the modern-day relationship between world Jewry and the Jews of the State of Israel.
Rescued from the archives and wrestled into print: Behind Chaim Grade's last Yiddish novel
Finished or not, “Sons and Daughters” is a vivid, Tolstoyan examination of what Kirsch calls “a family struggling with the meaning of Jewishness in the twentieth century.”
Canarit Audiobooks: An Israeli firm making books more accessible for busy consumers
A new Israeli venture makes literature more accessible and alluring for busy consumers.
Yossi Avni-Levy wins Sapir Prize for Literature
Avni-Levy will receive NIS 180,000 ($50,000) and his novel will be translated into Arabic and another language of his choosing, broadening its reach and fostering cross-cultural dialogue.
'Dictionary of Fine Distinctions': A book on subtle differences in the English language - review
Dictionary of Fine Distinctions merits study at your leisure. Burnstein describes his little volume as “Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning.
Rebecca Makkai, whose grandfather drafted a Nazi-era antisemitic law, is writing a novel on fascism
Bestselling author Rebecca Makkai, whose grandfather wrote WWII-era laws that Jews from public spaces, will be writing a book on fascism.