The Joy of New

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new1September… the temperature has moderated a bit; the days are shorter; the new school year has begun and the Jewish New Year is on the horizon.

September is the time of beginnings for many of us which might seem odd as fall begins in September and that season, despite its bounty as the fields give their last hurrah, leads into winter. But our sages wisely see the fall and harvest as a precursor to rebirth and the endless cycle of growth.

As a kid, September always meant new school shoes and new holiday clothes. It meant newly covered books with not a mark on the brown-bag covers. There were new pencils and pens and a new case to keep them in.  School brought new textbooks, a new teacher and a new classroom. We all looked ahead to new activities and new skills.

So for this new season and new year here is an eclectic list of “new” books from the Lampert Library. They all have some connection to new but all will make fine reading.

new2The Women’s Haftarah Commentary: new insights from women rabbis on the 54 weekly haftara portions…

Diamant, The Jewish Wedding Now is a newly revised guide to planning a contemporary Jewish wedding

Foer, Here I Am, Foer’s latest novel, is the story of an individual and a family in crisis. At times hilarious and heart-breaking, it is memorable. More accessible than some of his other books.

Hoffman, All the World: universalism and particularism and the High Holy Days.

Lagnado, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: my family’s exodus…to the New World finds Lagnado’s Egyptian Jewish family facing a crisis with Nasser’s rise to power.

Manseau, One Nation, Under Gods: a new American history is a look at America’s diverse religious heritage.

new3Pomerantz, Rich Boy Robert Vishniak finds that his new life away from his old New York City Jewish life isn’t as satisfying as he thought.

Rabb, Among the Living takes place in 1947 when Holocaust survivor Yitzhak Goldah lands in Savannah, Georgia to start a new, complicated in the Jim Crow South.

Rochlin, Pioneer Jews: a new life in the Far West is a comprehensive history of the often unsung Jewish pioneers from the last 16th century to 1912 when the last western territories became states.

new4Ruttenberg, Nurture the Wow: finding spirituality in the frustration, boredom, tears…of parenting. BTW, did you ever notice that WOW turned upside down spells MOM?

Weinstein, All Set for Black, thanks: a new look at mourning combines a self-help book for mourners with a memoir of a mourning year.

Yoskowitz, The Gefilte Manifesto: new recipes for Old World Jewish foods features modern takes on Jewish classics and gorgeous photos.

For younger readers or those young at heart:

Kimmel, Even Higher: a Rosh Hashanah story. Where does the rabbi disappear to just before the new year?

new5McDonough, The Bicycle Spy’s new friend is not what he seems to be at first in this middle grade novel set in the France of WWII.

Ofanasky, New month, New Moon explains Rosh Hodesh, the beginning of a new month, via a family’s camping trip in the Negev Desert.

Podwal. Built by angels: the story of the old-new synagogue tells of the oldest synagogue in Europe in whose attic the Golem is said to reside.

Sasso, Adam and Eve’s First sunset: God’s new day expands on the midrash by tracking the first couple’s emotions as the sun disappears and then returns the next day.

Wayland, New Year at the Pier: a Rosh Hashanah story tells how one family marks tashlich.

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