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Risen from the Ashes: Tales of a Musical Messenger
by Hans Cohn

Our Own Hazzan Hans Cohn's story: This is a vivid account of a life which begins in Berlin between World Wars I and II, and during Hitler's rise to power (Hans Cohn was born in May, 1926: "What a time to be born!"). The memoir describes a gifted young person's response to unexpected dangers and continuing challenges. In Berlin, we see and feel the events of Hitler's Germany from a child's point of view. In 1939, we escape with the thirteen year old boy and his parents (now all stateless persons) by train to Genoa, and finally by ship to Shanghai. Cohn describes his first, exciting encounter with Asia, and later with neighborhoods where "food was precious, but so was water," and where, only five months after getting the family, intact, out of Germany, his beloved mother would die from amoebic dysentery. From China, Cohn travelled to Australia, and finally, in 1947, to San Francisco and Los Angeles. And the journey continues. "Risen from the Ashes" is a remarkable story of survival, and much more.
Cohn was graced with a love of music and a celebrated voice (he would become a professional cantor), but from a young age he was also remarkably adaptable: at fourteen an "unanticipated culinary career" is launched when he works long hours (and then substitutes as cook) at his father's small restaurant in Shanghai; and after the war, at nineteen (still in Shanghai), he works for the Americans, selling radio parts for airplanes. Here, his enthusiasm earned him the supervising officer's remark: "Cohn," "you could sell rotten tomatoes." Cohn assures us that he never did sell rotten tomatoes, but that this "strange compliment" remained with him, and indeed became his "personal logo." Humility, wit, and the sheer pleasure of survival resonate through these pages of a life experienced over more than seven decades and on numerous continents: the book is a page turner and an inspiration.

Hazzan Hans Cohn

The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid from Chicago Fights Hezbollah--A Memoir
by Joel Chasnoff

The book "The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid from Chicago Fights Hezbollah--A Memoir" makes for excellent reading, not only because of its content, but because of its author. Joel Chasnoff, a stand-up comedian, manages to make the Israeli and the Israeli army experience riotously funny while at the same time appalling, frightening, and deadly serious. Chasnoff talks frankly about what Judaism means here and in Israel, about the hypocrisy and idiocy of orders, about the turmoil in Israeli society, and includes his hilarious material in all of it. I recommend this book to anyone who has had a bar or bat mitzvah!

And from David Lipp:

Written by what some might describe as the 'ideal' Conservative Jew Ð day school, strong Zionist, Torah reader, enthusiastic Ð Crybaby Brigade is alternately hilarious and poignant, inspiring and infuriating. It almost doesn't matter what your political/religious proclivities, there is something in here that will offend and surprise whether you support AIPAC, J-Street or the ASPCA.

Review by

Rafi Glantz (17 year old son of Hazzan Howard Glantz)
& Cantor David Lipp (picture)

Have a Little Faith: A True Story
by Mitch Albom

Here's what I am reading currently - "Have a Little Faith - A True Story" by Mitch Albom. It deals with the author's relationship with Rabbi Albert Lewis z"l of Cong. Beth Shalom, Cherry Hill, NJ (whom I knew) when Rabbi Lewis asks Mitch Albom "Will you do my eulogy?"

Hazzan Murray Simon

Crown Of Aleppo
by Hayim Tawil & Bernard Schneider

I read and recommend the recently published CROWN OF ALEPPO by Hayim Tawil and Bernard Schneider and published by JPS. It is a book that describes "the mystery of the oldest Hebrew Bible Codex" Truly a fascinating and detailed description of its contents and its vicissitudes over the last 11 centuries.

Review by

Hazzan Abe Lubin

BLOCH, SCHOENBERG, BERNSTEIN
by David M. Schiller

Another book I am in the midst of reading is: BLOCH, SCHOENBERG, BERNSTEIN by David M. Schiller and published by Oxford University Press. This book deals with these great and iconic composers, all of whom have written musical works that stem from their Jewish roots and reflect their connection to Jewish culture and to their experience as Jews. The author sets out the background and analysis of the three salient "Jewish" works of these composers, namely; the Avodat Hakodesh, A Survivor from Warsaw and the Kaddish Symphony.

Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw
by Norman Davies

Recommended by Professor Steve Berke during our mission to Poland, this is a far longer tome than you would expect to describe a battle which lasted less than a month. Most Jewish people, when think of a Warsaw uprising, think of that performed by the heroic stand made by those in the ghetto starting on Passover of 1943. Having received incontrovertible evidence of the extermination taking place at Treblinka, the small and minimally armed group decided to die with honor, taking as many Nazis as they could along with them. Less known is the uprising which took place by the remaining population of Warsaw just before liberation by the USSR in 1944. Davies' scholarship is excellent and if you have the same assumptions about Poles, Russians, Brits, and Americans before reading as you do after, you very likely have not read very carefully.

Reviews by

Cantor David Lipp

How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in Business (and in Life)
by Dov Seidman

Seidman is a consultant who works with businesses and other organizations and makes the following assessment: In a globalized environment where no matter how good the 'what' of your product (the quality, the speed with which you make it), someone, somewhere else will very quickly be able to produce the same product more quickly and more cheaply. What they will not necessarily be able to do is match the 'how' of the product, the customer relations and the character of the company which produces it. The lessons from this book are far more profound than can be gleaned by a CEO.

The Believers: A Novel
by Zoe Heller

Zoe Heller writes like a Brit, Jewish Ann Tyler with an edge or perhaps like a Brit Allegra Goodman with an knife. Her characterizations are spot on and her players never fail to surprise. The Believers is not for those uncomfortable reading or hearing VERY leftist views from Jewish characters. Although a novel, to her credit, she doesn't necessarily 'take sides' as the omniscient narrator, simply follows the lives of her intensely interesting and idiosyncratic creations.

The Widow's Son
by Bruce Steinberg

The true story of growing up in the home of author Bruce Steinberg in Chicago's north suburban Skokie in the 1960's, as he, his siblings and his mother deal with the untimely death of their father and husband. The book provides a child's view into how this pre-tragedy typical family coped with death as individuals and as a family, as they deal with new responsibilities, challenges, single parenthood and bar-mitzvah. The perspective of the narrator is a compelling one which will elicit both joy and sorrow, making the reader more appreciative of significant values. I was privileged to consult on the book, mostly for the accuracy of its Jewish content.

Reviews by

Hazzan Alan Smolen

Princess Shayna's Invisible Visible Gift
by Sheila N. Glazov

A "community parable" in which author Sheila N. Glazov strives to, in her own words teach children and adults how to enhance and strengthen their self-esteem, understand and respect themselves and others who are different than they are, develop their creative problem-solving skills and build positive and nurturing communities within their homes, schools, businesses and neighborhoods.

This book utilizes many elements of Sheila's life to present tools for successful living. Jewish elements in the story do not smack the reader over the head with being overtly Jewish. Yet there is no question Jewish tradition is crucial to the story. Jews and non-Jews alike have gravitated and embraced this tale, surpassing its projections. The proceeds go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

A follow-up work, based on concepts in Princess Shayna is Sheila's What Color Is Your Brain?

Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language (Paperback)
by Eva Hoffman

This is one of my favorite books ever ever ever. A beautifully written story of a young Jewish girl's immigration from post WWII Poland, where she leads a surprisingly rich and cosmopolitan life, to North America, where she feels stripped of her connection to the world through language and begins a search for a new language to bridge the cultures. Great preparation for the Poland-Israel mission, as well.

Reviews by

Hazzan Rebecca Carmi

A series of mysteries featuring Michael Ohayon, a complex Israeli detective, whose investigations taken him through many layers of Israeli society throughout the series. Thereader gets an inside glimpse in each book into a different part of Israel - the Freudian Institute in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Jerusalem Symphony, life on a kibbutz. Great for mystery lovers and those interested in seeing Israel through a different lens, as well as just plain good writing.

"Who Moved My Cheese?"
by Dr. Spencer Johnson.

Here is the intro from the inside cover (I couldn't put it better myself):

Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a "Maze" and look for "Cheese" to nourish them and make them happy.

Two are mice named Sniff and Scurry. And two are "Littlepeople" - beings the size of mice who look and act a lot like people. Their names are Hem and Haw.

"Cheese" is a metaphor for what you want to have in life - whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace of mind.

And the "Maze" is where you look for what you want - the organization you work in, or the family or community you live in.

In the story, the characters are faced with unexpected change. Eventually, one of them deals with it successfully, and writes what he has learned from his experience on the Maze walls.

When you come to see "The Handwriting on the Wall," you can discover for yourself how to deal with change, so that you can enjoy less stress and more success (however you define it) in your work and in your life.

Written for all ages, the story takes less than an hour to read, but its unique insights can last a lifetime.

Review by

Hazzan Stephen Stein

• Abbot Laboratories
• Circuit City
• Fannie Mae
• Gillette
• Kimberly-Clark
• Kroger
• Nucor
• Philip Morris
• Pitney Bowes
• Walgreens
• Wells Fargo

In reviewing trends within the American Jewish community over the past twenty-five years, nothing is more intriguing than the success of Chabad. How they have succeeded in touching the lives of so many unobservant Jews, with whom they have little in common, is the subject of Sue Fishkoff's book, "The Rebbe's Army." As we seek to turn around the Conservative movement, much can be learned from Chabad's success. In reading this book one quickly realizes that Chabad's remarkable achievements are the result of a very well thought out and executed strategy, accompanied by genuine effort to make outsiders feel welcome.

I never had to read it (or maybe any other Steinbeck) in school -- so I've enjoyed reading great books by great authors "on my own" in adult life (speaking of which, one of my all-time favorites is War and Peace! I picked it up a few summers ago and found it to be a real page-turner).

It shouldn't have surprised me that East of Eden had biblical implications, but it had never occurred to me.

As it turns out, the big is one huge midrash -- and even turns, in the end, on the use of a Hebrew verb from B'reishit.

Stuff like this helps you realize the huge effect that Jews have had far beyond our own people.

Review by

Hazzan Jack Chomsky

Review by

Deborah Katchko-Gray

I honestly think this book should be obligatory reading for every Jew. It's an "easy" read and very important!

Review by

Alberto Mizrahi

The author and subject of this book, Irv Brecher, started out in New York providing lines for Uncle Miltie in vaudeville, wrote screenplays for two Marx Brothers films, created The Life of Riley for radio and television, and wrote the screenplay for the film version of Bye Bye Birdie. The title is a nickname he got from Groucho, one of his best friends, after Irv provided some of the dialogue for The Wizard of Oz. His co-author, Hank Rosenfeld, followed him around with a tape recorder for several years to get his story. It is a chronicle of a bygone age in Hollywood where the vast majority of the players were Jewish. I literally could not stop laughing at many points, yet it ends with an all-too-familiar human tragedy in Mr. Brecher's own family. Mr. Rosenfeld was interviewed on Arts Alive on KUSC-FM, which is how I found out about the book, and he has since appeared at Valley Beth Shalom, where I teach; maybe he would be willing to travel to your shul as well.

Review by

Jay Harwitt

Prisoner 83571
by Samuel Don

This book, I could not put down. It is written in nice but not overly elegant plain English.

As with most of the holocaust literature, it describes in great detail matters that may not be suitable yet for certain age children. I would recommend that parents of teenagers read it first before determining whether it is right for their teen, but certainly by 16 or so, I see it as a valuable and real resource written in a matter-of-fact accessible manner.

Review by

Hazzan Howard K.Glantz

This wonderful new book is a must read for every cantor and lover of Jewish music. It would make a great basis for an adult education course. In each chapter Dr. Isaacson, noted composer and conductor, compares musicological and Talmudic values to different types of synagogue and a variety Jewish music. He carefully explains every Hebrew and musical term and urges the listeners to raise their level of understanding when they hear liturgical music. We learn how instruments may augment a text, modes or trop influenced the composers and how musical devices such as dynamics and variations can bring our prayers to higher levels.

If Amazon is out of stock you can purchase this directly from Michael Isaacson http://www.michaelisaacson.com/

Review by

Hazzan Sheldon Levin