Biography

New in the acclaimed Jewish Lives series: A biography of the rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who became a symbol of the marriage between religion and social justice

"Zelizer's book is absolutely riveting, both as a study of a truly important figure within Jewish thought and in providing insight into the politics of the 1960s."--Sandy Levinson, Balkinization

"When I marched in Selma, I felt my legs were praying." So said Polish-born American rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) of his involvement in the 1965 Selma civil rights march alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Heschel, who spoke with a fiery moralistic fervor, dedicated his career to the struggle to improve the human condition through faith. In this new biography, author Julian Zelizer tracks Heschel's early years and foundational influences--his childhood in Warsaw and early education in Hasidism, his studies in late 1920s and early 1930s Berlin, and the fortuitous opportunity, which brought him to the United States and saved him from the Holocaust, to teach at Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Theological Seminary. This deep and complex portrait places Heschel at the crucial intersection between religion and progressive politics in mid-twentieth-century America. To this day Heschel remains a symbol of the fight to make progressive Jewish values relevant in the secular world.

February 1997 was the date that changed the Tenenbaum family's lives forever.

Dr. David A. Tenenbaum is a civilian mechanical engineer who works for the Army at the TACOM base in Warren, Michigan. In 1997, he was falsely accused of being an Israeli spy--and having dual loyalty to the State of Israel simply because he is Jewish--by a known anti-Semite and several other anti-Semitic coworkers who referred to Tenenbaum as the "little Jewish spy." The FBI conducted a full-scale criminal investigation of Tenenbaum and his family. It resulted in an official report to FBI Director Louis Freeh, that there was no evidence Tenenbaum had ever done anything wrong. In fact, Tenenbaum was not even working on classified programs. Instead, he was concentrating on an approved and unclassified program known as the Light Armor Systems Survivability (LASS) to up-armor the Army's HMMWVs because, following Somalia, it was a known fact that the HMMWVs were death traps.

The Tenenbaums' federal lawsuit for religious discrimination was dismissed after the Army falsely claimed that they "would not be able to disclose the actual reasons or motivations for their actions without revealing state secrets." Senator Carl Levin ordered the IG-DOD to investigate the Tenenbaum case and determine if the Army was guilty of anti-Semitism. After over two years, the IG-DOD issued a report which confirmed that the US Army was guilty of anti-Semitism.

To this day, the Army refuses to make Tenenbaum whole and compensate him for the false accusations against him. Tenenbaum is one of the only persons for whom a favorable Inspector General report has been issued to not be compensated. The government has never been held accountable for their anti-Semitism.

Senators Gary Peters and Claire McCaskill of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have pushed the Army, but the Army refuses to acknowledge the Inspector General's findings of religious discrimination against Tenenbaum. The Army also refuses to accept that the price of prejudice against Tenenbaum was borne by the soldiers lost in Humvees who would have benefitted from the LASS program.

This book draws a comparison between two of the most prominent Jewish artists in the twentieth-century: Polish-born magician story-teller Isaac Bashevis-Singer (1904-1991) and Russian-born creator of visual magic Marc Chagall (1887-1985). In addition to their East European Jewish background both were exposed to Western culture. Chagall absorbed such turn-of-the-century avant-garde styles as Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Abstract Art, Surrealism; from these he created a unique blend, to which he brought the various Russian influences he had absorbed and his own special highly imaginative and inventive personal style. Bashevis-Singer brought to his works philosophical, psychological, scientific, medical and legal knowledge. While both artists were affected by these Western influences, they remained firmly entrenched within the Jewish culture - the Yiddish language and life in the "shtetl" - from which they drew their inspiration. Their world consisted of a special blend of reality and dream, realism and fantasy. Ruth Dorot demonstrates that they shared, albeit unwittingly, a common "meta-realistic" style combining the earthly with the supernatural and the transcendental. Their works allude to real place names, dates, facts and historical events; but at the same time contain occult forces, angels, demons, mysticism and mystery. Comparisons range over the Jewish "shtetl", Jewish artists, Love and Despair, the Holocaust and war, religion and mysticism. In the works of both artists, hope springs eternal; it is a hope emanating from the mystical realm of life as it relates to the magic of creation and the cosmic logic of the Creator. Artist and story-teller sail between hard-core reality and the yearning for redemption, between Judaism and universal values, between exile and revelation.

Jerry Izenberg has been a sports reporter and a columnist at the New Jersey Star-Ledger for over seventy years.

One of only two daily newspaper columnists to have covered the first 53 Super Bowls, Izenberg also covered 54 consecutive Kentucky Derbies and the last five Triple Crown-winning horses. And no one has covered more of Muhammad Ali's fights than he, dating back to the 1960 Olympics. A recipient of the Red Smith Award for sportswriting, he has been named the New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year five times. He is an inductee in 17 Halls of Fame, including the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame, the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

In his memoir, Baseball, Nazis & Nedick's Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark, the nonagenarian author looks back on his first two formative decades of life. Somehow, during a fraught period of antisemitism, Depression, and World War, Izenberg finds love, community, and purpose. Today, he lives Henderson, Nevada, with his wife Aileen. He continues to contribute columns to the Star Ledger and is working on several books.

Rav Yisroel Alter, the Beis Yisroel, became the Rebbe of Gur at a time of deep darkness. Just a few years earlier, tens of thousands of Gerrer chassidim had perished in the Holocaust, and the few who’d survived faced the daunting challenge of beginning new lives. Rav Yisroel became the Rebbe – and he rebuilt a world, miraculously leading Gerrer chassidus to almost unimaginable levels of greatness. At the same time he was a loving, empathetic, wise shepherd, gently and patiently giving people the time and space they needed to grow. Written with the flair and emotion that have made Yisroel Besser’s biographies so beloved, The Beis Yisroel tells both stories -- the story of the Rebbe’s immeasurable impact on a nation still reeling, and the individual stories of how he was able to heal, encourage and uplift. From a sign painter to his beloved talmidim, from survivors whose horrific experiences had sent them far from their chassidic routes to bachurim struggling with the lures of secular society – whatever the challenges, the Rebbe was there to help and guide and find the greatness of every Jew.

The stories about Moe Berg - his behavior, his intelligence, his charm - are legion, as are the unanswered questions posed by his life. A baseball player and a spy, he was one of the most colorful men to pursue either line of work. He played in the major leagues from 1923 through 1939 and then became a coach for the Boston Red Sox. It was not, however, as a player that Berg earned his highest accolades, but as a dugout savant (it was said that Berg, educated at Princeton, the Sorbonne, and Columbia, could speak a dozen languages but couldn't hit in any of them). A month after Pearl Harbor, the day after his father - who had never approved of Berg's choice of career - died, Berg announced his departure from baseball and entered the world of diplomacy and espionage. But only now has the extent of his work for the OSS in determining Germany's atomic bomb capability been revealed. The Catcher Was a Spy provides one of the few thoroughly documented accounts of a real spy's life. Equally compelling is Nicholas Dawidoff's account of Berg after the war. A secretive man who had a reputation for appearing and disappearing without warning, Berg has long been the subject of wonder and speculation. Behind the enigma of Moe Berg was a life of fantastic and fascinating complexity - a life that has never been pieced together so seamlessly and to such riveting effect as it is now in what David Remnick calls "a stunning biography."

The Fundamentals of Playing with the Ball

All ideas and endeavors continually evolve. The game of basketball is no exception. In the 1940s, players weaved and took set shots, in the 1960s they picked and took jump shots, and today they hoist step-back threes off crossover dribbles. Although these new skills continue to transform the game, they remain the product of the fundamentals of how to dribble, pass, and shoot.

Player development ultimately requires athleticism as defined by agility and quickness, but it is the fundamentals that enable the less gifted player to neutralize his more skilled opponent. More importantly, it is the fundamentals that give kids, regardless of their skill level, the opportunity to compete and experience moments of triumph in front of family and friends.

Every child needs something that fuels feelings of self-worth. That "something" can be academic awards, playing the piano, growing tomatoes, or even making a game-winning foul shot. How children feel about themselves is fundamental to their psychological well-being. Therefore, children must not only have the opportunity to hear cheers in their classrooms but also to receive high fives from friends in the schoolyard. The amount of time parents spend in their driveways teaching their children how to shoot foul shots and layups is evidence that parents recognize that sports can be that "something."

Through the use of illustration, Driveway Hoops attempts to help parents

and children learn the fundamentals of basketball, not to garner athletic scholarships, but to give all kids the opportunity to hear their friends and parents yell, "Good shot!"

In this magnificent volume, Rabbi Yishai Chasidah brings together biographical snippets from the length and breadth of Rabbinic literature, and organizes them by subject and chronology.

Forever a Talmid tells the story of mesorah reverently handed down generation to generation. The story of the timeless rebbi – talmid bond. The story of greatness in the yeshivah, the classroom, and the home -- and the story of the power of one man’s warmth, determination, and belief in every Jew. Charlie Herzberg was a regular American boy. Fantastic third baseman, popular with his classmates, not a top student. But there were Torah scholars and leaders who saw a spark of greatness in young Charlie. Who believed in him, and helped him believe in himself. And so he grew up to become Rabbi Chanina Herzberg, the master mechanech who always believed in his talmidim and who always, always, remained a talmid of his own rebbi, Rav Shlomo Freifeld. A talmid muvhak of Rav Freifeld, Rabbi Herzberg was the recipient of a glorious mesorah – from the Alter of Slabodka to Rav Yitzchok Hutner to Rav Freifeld, whom he consulted on a daily regular basis. He brought that mesorah of gadlus ha’adam, the greatness of man, into every aspect of his life. As menahel of Yeshiva Toras Chaim at South Shore for decades, Rabbi Herzberg had a vision of what a yeshivah should be: A place where every child “connects to the Ribono shel Olam, and learns to be a mentsch.” He took care of everyone – rebbeim, morahs, teachers, parents and, of course, talmidim -- bringing out the best in them, because he truly saw what was best in them. In Forever a Talmid we will read story after story about Rabbi Herzberg, Rav Freifeld, and the others who were so central to his life. We will learn how much work it takes to be a true talmid, and the enormous, uncountable benefits. And how a few words spoken at the right time can change a person’s life. And how if we believe in a child or talmid – indeed, in any person -- he will learn to believe in himself. And, yes, we will learn how to believe in ourselves as well.

Product Details

Catalog #FORTH ISBN-10: 1422632830 ISBN #: 9781422632833 Format: Hardcover Pages: 372 Dimensions:6 x 9 x 1.188 inches /  Weight:2.1 LBS Published By: ArtScroll Mesorah Publications Release Date: 01/25/2023 Size : Standard Color: Language: English

Great Stories, Well Told: Another winning collection by C.B. Weinfeld Enjoy your front row seats as you prepare to meet… …Nossi the plumber, who learns that pipes and prayers are unexpectedly interconnected ... Amit, stranded on a sailboat in the Caribbean for 7 long weeks, who discovers incredible chesed when he's run out of options … Michoel, whose mother wouldn’t give up on him even when everyone else did. Why do C.B. Weinfeld’s legions of fans await her new story collections so eagerly? It’s because they know that in these stories, reprinted from Yated Ne’eman and Ami Magazine, they will read about “ordinary” people facing -- and triumphing -- over extraordinary challenges. They will read about other people, and they will find their own lives. From a U.S military base to a Covid-19 ward to a support group with a surprising twist -- you’ve got the best seats in the house, as you join C.B. Weinfeld in this new collection of amazing true stories.

A balanced biography of Golda Meir, who was both adored and abhorred, from award-winning author Deborah E. Lipstadt

"Comprehensive. . . . Always thoughtful. . . . A nuanced account of a leader whose influence endures in the Middle East."--Kirkus Review

Golda Meir (1898-1978) was the first and only woman to serve as prime minister of Israel. She was born in Kiev into a childhood of poverty, hunger, and antisemitism. When she was five, her father left to find work in America, and a year later the family settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a teenager she became devoted to Labor Zionism, giving street-corner speeches, and her family's home became a destination for Zionist emissaries. Her love for Labor Zionism was so fervent that her boyfriend, Morris Meyerson (her future husband), was often in competition with her dedication to the cause.

Zionism prevailed. In 1921, Golda left America for Palestine with Morris and her sister Sheyna. Though the reality of living in Palestine was far from the dream of Zionism, Meir settled on the kibbutz Merhavia and was swiftly appointed to the Histadrut (the General Organization of Hebrew Workers in Palestine). As an ally of the Zionist David Ben-Gurion, Meir played an important role in the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine; proved an almost singular ability to connect and fundraise with diaspora Jewry, particularly Americans; and served in three pivotal positions following Israel's independence: labor secretary of the newly formed state, foreign minister, and Israel's fourth prime minister.

In tracing the life of Golda Meir, acclaimed author Deborah E. Lipstadt explores the history of the Yishuv and Jewish state from the 1920s through the 1973 Yom Kippur War, all while highlighting the contradictions and complexities of a person who was only the third woman to serve as a head of state in the twentieth century.