Recent Additions to our Righter Library Collection:

The Jews in Poland and Russia, Vol. 1-3, by Antony Polonsky.

(Vol. 1, 1350 to 1881; Vol. 2, 1881-1914; Vol. 3, 1914-2008)

Many thanks to Erna and Henry Lasman for their gift of this acclaimed three-volume history, given to the FJC in memory of their parents.  Author Polonsky provides a comprehensive survey - socio-political, economic, and religious - of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, from1350 to the present. Until the Second World War, this was the heartland of the Jewish world: nearly three and a half million Jews lived in Poland alone, while nearly three million more lived in the Soviet Union.

Antony Polonsky is Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies, an appointment held jointly at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Brandeis University.

The new book cart includes two copies of David Grossman’s To The End of the Land, this year’s FJC Reads selection. This book is also available in local libraries and in bookstores, both in hardcover and paperback. The audio book is not available for purchase on CD, but it is available from the CLAMS system as an audio download.

Finding Words, by Merle Feld (2010). Merle Feld is an acclaimed poet and playwright. As a scholar-in-residence, she has helped clergy and communities across North America use poetry as a powerful means of spiritual expression. Her latest poetry collection explores the subtle beauty and stark challenges of family, the complexities of adult friendships, the struggle to center a life on what is meaningful and nourishing, and the holiness to be found in ordinary moments.

Entree to Judaism: A Culinary Exploration of the Jewish Diaspora , by Tina Wasserman (2009). Wherever Jews have settled, they have adapted local tastes and ingredients to meet the needs of Shabbat and kashrut, creating a rich and diverse menu of flavors and styles, all still Jewish. Tina Wasserman leads a culinary journey around the world and across the ages, from Spain to India, from Russia to Tunisia, sharing the histories and recipes of the great Diaspora communities and the many wonderful ways they have told their stories through food.

The Coffee Trader, by David Liss (2004). Winner of the 2000 Edgar Award for Best First Novel (A Conspiracy of Paper), Liss returned  with another tale of historical intrigue. In 1600s Amsterdam, Portuguese Jew Miguel Lienzo ignores the strictures of his community and joins forces with a Dutchwoman to capture the coffee market.