GENERAL OVERVIEW

• Barry W. Holtz, ed., Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts
• Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy

BIBLE

Chumash and Tanakh

• Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, eds. (published by the Rabbinical Assembly and USCJ)
• The Chumash: The Stone Edition, Nosson Scherman, ed. (published by Artscroll)
• The Jewish Study Bible, Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, Michael Fishbane, eds.
• JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh

Commentaries and Midrashim on Torah

• The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary, The Sapirstein Edition (Artscroll 5 volumes)
• Louis Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews (Jewish Publication Society) (two volumes)
• Nechama Leibowitz, Studies (7 volumes)
• Torah Gems (3 volumes) (a collection of Hasidic commentaries)
• Arthur Green, The Language of Truth – The Torah Commentary of the Sefat Emet  (Hasidic)
• The JPS Torah Commentary (5 volumes)

 Commentaries on Particular Books or Portions of Torah

• Avivah Zornberg, Genesis:  Tthe Beginning of Desire
• Avivah Zornberg, Exodus:  The Particulars of Rapture – Reflections on Exodus
• S.Y. Agnon, Present at Sinai (a collection of commentaries in connection with the revelation of Torah at Sinai)
• Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms – A Translation with Commentary

Contemporary Books on the Nature of Torah

• Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative
• Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry
• Richard Elliot Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible?
• James Kugel, How to Read the Bible
• Joseph Telushkin, Biblical Literacy – The Most Important People, Events and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible

RABBINICS

Talmud Study

• Talmud Bavli, Schottenstein Edition (English translation of the Talmud) (published by Artscroll, 73 volumes)
• The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition (English or Hebrew translation of the Talmud) (not all volumes available)
• Adin Steinsaltz, The Talmud - Reference Guide
• Adin Steinsaltz, The Essential Talmud
• Strack & Stemberger, Introduction. to the Talmud and Midrash

 Rabbinic Thought and Aggadah

• Hayim Nahman Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky, eds., The Book of Legends: Sefer Ha-Aggadah: Legends from the Talmud and Midrash, (tr. William G. Braude)
• Jeffrey Rubenstein, Rabbinic Stories
• Jeffrey Rubenstein, Talmudic Stories:  Narrative Art, Composition and Culture
• Abraham Joshua Heschel, Heavenly Torah (tr. Gordon Tucker)
• Ari Elon, From Jerusalem to the Edge of Heaven

PRAYER

Prayer Books

• Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals (published by the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
• Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays (published by the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
• Complete ArtScroll Siddur
• Machzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (published by the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)

 Commentaries on the Prayer Book and Structure of Services

• Lawrence Hoffman, My People’s Prayerbook  (multiple volumes)
• Reuven Hammer, Or Hadash – A Commentary on Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals (published by the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
• Reuven Hammer, Entering Jewish Prayer: A Guide to Personal Devotion and the Worship Service

 The Nature of Prayer

• Arthur Green and Barry Holtz, Your Word is Fire – The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer
• Abraham Joshua Heschel, Quest for God
• Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Worship of the Heart

• Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
• Francine Klagsbrun, The Fourth Commandment – Remember the Sabbath Day

Overview of Holy Days

• Irving Greenberg, The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays
• Michael Strassfeld, The Jewish Holidays

High Holy Days

• S.Y. Agnon, Days of Awe
• Reuven Hammer, Entering the High Holy Days

Passover

• Passover Haggadah – The Feast of Freedom (published by the Rabbinical Assembly)
• Lawrence Hoffman and David Arnow, eds., My People’s Passover Haggadah (2 volumes)
• Philip Goodman, The Passover Anthology
• Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Festival of Freedom – Essays on Pesach and the Haggadah
• Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Tara Mohr, Catherine Spector, eds., The Women’s Seder Sourcebook

[Note:  There are a wealth of wonderful haggadot available, and new ones are published each year.  We recommend a visit to West Side Judaica before Pesah.]

THEOLOGY

• Arthur Green, Seek My Face – A Jewish Mystical Theology
• David Hartman, A Heart of Many Rooms
• David Hartman, A Living Covenant
• Abraham Joshua Heschel, Between God and Man
• Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man
• Abraham Joshua Heschel, I Asked for Wonder
• Mordecai Kaplan, Judaism as a Civilization
• Isidore Twersky, A Maimonides Reader
• Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Lonely Man of Faith
• Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Halakhkic Man
• Cohen/Mendes-Flohr, Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought
• Elliot Dorff, Knowing God

LIFE CYCLE

• Rela Geffen, Celebration and Renewal
• Debra Orenstein, Lifecycles (2 vols)
• Michael Strassfeld, The First Jewish Catalog
• Anita Diamont, The New Jewish Wedding
• Anita Diamont, The New Jewish Baby Book
• Wendy Mogel, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee – Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children
• Jeffrey Salkin, Putting God on the Guest List – How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah
• Ronnie Friedland and Edmund Case, The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life
• Simkha Weintraub, Healing of Soul, Healing of Body
• Kerry Olitzky, Grief in Our Seasons
• Jack Riemer, ed., Jewish Insights on Death and Mourning
• Maurice Lamm, The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning (guide to practice; Orthodox)

MYSTICISM AND KABBALAH

• Arthur Green, A Guide to the Zohar
• Tishby, The Wisdom of the Zohar
• Daniel Matt, Pritzker Zohar (several volumes)
• Daniel Matt, The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism
• Adin Steinsaltz, The Thirteen Petalled Rose
• Arthur Green, Seek My Face – A Jewish Mystical Theology
• Arthur Green, These Are the Words – A Vocabulary of Jewish Spiritual Life

HASIDISM

• Norman Lamm, ed., The Religious Thought of Hasidism: Text and Commentary
• Martin Buber, The Way of Man
• Martin Buber, Ten Rungs
• Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim

ETHICS

• Elliot Dorff and Louis E. Newman, eds., Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality: A Reader
• Ira Stone, A Responsible Life:  The Spiritual Path of Mussar
• Joseph Telushkin, A Code of Jewish Ethics
• Joseph Telushkin, Words that Hurt, Words that Heal
• Joseph Telushkin, The Book of Jewish Values:  The Day to Day Guide to Ethical Living

HALAKHAH AND JEWISH PRACTICE

• Isaac Klein, A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice
• Ronald Eisenberg, The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions

JEWISH HISTORY

Primary Documents

• Jacob Rader Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book: 315–1791
• Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History

Understanding Jewish History

• H.H. Ben Sasson, A History of the Jewish People
• Shaye Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah
• Jonathan Sarna, American Judaism: A History
• David Ellenson, After Emancipation

Israel & Zionism

• Reuven Hammer, The Jerusalem Anthology: A Literary Guide
• Arthur Hertzberg, Arthur, The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader
• Howard M. SacharA History of Israel (2 volumes)

BACK TO TOP