May 8 is considered Liberation Day in some European countries, as it was on this day in 1945 that World War II ended in Europe. On this occasion, we would like to recommend five current Jewish books.
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Along with the Torah, the Talmud is one of the most important scriptures in Judaism. The Hebrew word "Talmud" literally translates to "instruction" or "teaching." Unlike the Torah, the Talmud does not contain any legal texts, but serves as a commentary and interpretation of the biblical laws. At about two and a half million words, the Talmud is an extensive scripture that attempts to understand and reinterpret the various texts of the Jewish Bible in order to adapt them to the centuries in which they were written.
Richard C. Schneider "The Thing with Israel"
Book recommendation for current Jewish literature 2023. From everyday teachings to the difficult situation in Israel. (Symbolic image) © JONASROOSENS/Imago
Richard C. Schneider, who worked as a writer for SPIEGEL and long-time Israel correspondent for ARD, has lived in Tel Aviv for almost two decades. Due to his broad knowledge of the everyday life and history of the country as well as his knowledge of common prejudices in Germany, he would like to explain some basic aspects of Israel in his answers to the following five questions. These declarations come 75 years after the founding of the State of Israel and at a crucial moment for the country's democracy.
Is Israel a democracy? Is Israel an apartheid state? Is criticism of Israel anti-Semitic? Is Israel a fundamentalist state? Does Palestine belong to the Palestinians?
Blurb/Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt
Richard C. Schneider "The Thing with Israel"
2023, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, ISBN 13-978-3-421-07010-4
Price: hardcover 22 €, e-book 16.99 e, number of pages: 192 (different from format)
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Andrea von Treuenfeld: "Jewish now!"
The author conducted interviews with an impressive group of people, including Noam Brusilovsky, Sveta Kundish, Garry Fischmann, Lena Gorelik, Dr. Sergey Lagodinsky, Shelly Kupferberg, Daniel Grossmann, Anna Staroselski, Daniel Kahn, Helene Shani Braun, Prof. Michael Barenboim, Deborah Hartmann, Jonathan Kalmanovich (Ben Salomo), Anna Nero, Philipp Peyman Engel, Nelly Kranz, Dr. Roman Salyutov, Sharon Ryba-Kahn, Leon Kahane, Gila Baumöhl, Zsolt Balla, Dr. Anastassia Pletoukhina, Leonard Kaminski, Renée Röske, Monty Ott and Sharon Suliman (Sharon). These people provided insights into her biography. The resulting book is surprising and informative. It makes the diversity of Jewish identities and Jewish life in Germany visible and gives voice to the voices of a multicultural generation. This generation embodies a whole new self-evident attitude and wants to be seen in its diversity.
Most non-Jews in Germany have never – or at least not consciously – met a Jewish person. Accordingly, in the non-Jewish majority society, age-old clichés often persist or undifferentiated new attributions determine the picture. But what does Jewish life really look like in today's Germany? How do Jews feel in this country? And what does Jewish actually mean when you ask them about it themselves?
Blurb/Gütersloher Verlag
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Andrea von Treuenfeld: "Jewish now!"
2023, Gütersloher Verlag, ISBN 13-978-3-579-06283-9
Price: hardcover 22 €, e-book 18.99 €, number of pages: 256 (different from format)
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Takis Strangler "Noah – Of One Who Survived"
Noah Klieger survived the concentration camps thanks to the daily special ration of soup for members of the Auschwitz boxing squadron. He has survived three death marches and four concentration camps, at a time when a word, a raised hand or a step could mean death or life. Even in the darkest and freezing hours, he found hope through fighters in the resistance against the Germans, allies who stole potatoes with him, a doctor who saved his life, cunning and luck, and even a last loaf of bread.
In his book, Takis Würger tells the impressive life story of Noah Klieger, from his childhood in France in the 1920s to his experiences in the Nazi concentration camps and his commitment to the founding of the State of Israel. The narrative of this great life is breathtakingly well written and should not be forgotten. A story that absolutely must be told.
Noah Klieger was 13 when he joined a Jewish underground organization during the German occupation of Belgium and helped smuggle Jewish children into Switzerland. Noah Klieger was 16 when he arrived at Auschwitz as a prisoner at dawn, in sub-zero temperatures. Noah Klieger had never boxed before when, on the day of his arrival at the concentration camp, he was asked if there were any boxers among the prisoners and his hand went up.
Blurb/Penguin Verlag
Takis Strangler "Noah – Of One Who Survived"
2021, Penguin Verlag, ISBN 13-978-3-328-60167-8
Price: hardcover 20 e, e-book 9,99 €, number of pages: 188 (different from format)
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Louis Kaplan "From Jewish Joke to Jewish Joke"
The book referred to here deals with the history of Jewish wit in Germany and Europe. The author, Andreas Kaplan, examines the political-literary and intellectual-historical entanglements associated with this form of comedy. He describes a Jewish-German history of assimilation and exclusion, emancipation and adoption of cultural "codes" and, last but not least, of anti-Semitism, which grew and flourished on the indefinite boundary between "Jewish wit" and "Jewish joke".
Louis Kaplan cultivates a field that has been plowed up many times, which has become a veritable science at least since Sigmund Freud's treatment of the Jewish joke in his 1905 study The Joke and its Relationship to the Unconscious: At the beginning of the 20th century, a whole series of sometimes philosophical, sometimes psychoanalytic, sometimes sociological treatises appeared, all of which aimed to to explain the magic or content of what puzzled the writers: the "multifaceted nature of the Jewish joke."
Blurb/The Other Library
Louis Kaplan "From Jewish Joke to Jewish Joke"
2021, The Other Library, ISBN 13-978-3-847-70439-3
Price: hardcover: 44 €, Number of pages: 416
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Central Council of Jews in Germany "The Teachings of the Talmud"
Jewish wisdom is characterized by clear rules, but also by a plurality of opinions and a plural religious practice that responds individually to the needs and situations of each individual. This wisdom is summed up in the Talmud, a book in which the Jewish sages interpret the 613 commandments of God for everyday life in order to live a full and contented life. The texts of the Talmud show how to deal with alertness, depth and serene expectation in various areas of life such as food, drink, partnership, family, money, health and wisdom. You will also learn a lot about Jewish religion and culture.
Clear rules for life, but also a great diversity of opinions and a pluralistic religious practice that repeatedly refers undogmatically to individuals and their life situations – this is what makes Jewish wisdom so attractive.
Blurb/Gütersloher Verlag
Central Council of Jews in Germany "The Teachings of the Talmud"
2023, Gütersloher Verlag, ISBN 13-978-3-579-07195-4
Price: hardcover 22 €, e-book 19.99 €, number of pages: 224 (different from format)
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