Strictly Kosher Reading: Popular Literature and the Condition of Contemporary Orthodoxy (Jewish Identities in Post-Modern Society)

For centuries, fervently observant Jewish communities have produced thousands of works of Jewish law, thought, and spirituality. But in recent decades, the literature of America’s Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] community has taken on brand-new forms: selfhelp books, cookbooks, monthly magazines, parenting guides, biographies, picture books, even adventure stories and spy novels― all produced by Haredi men and women, for the Haredi readership. What’s changed? Why did these works appear, and what do they mean to the community that produces and consumes them? How has the Haredi world, as it seeks fidelity to unchanging tradition, so radically changed what it writes and what it reads? In answering these questions, Strictly Kosher Reading points to a central paradox in contemporary Haredi life. Haredi Jewry sets itself apart, claiming to reject modern secular culture as dangerous and threatening to everything Torah stands for. But in practice, Haredi popular literature reveals a community thoroughly embedded in contemporary values. Popular literature plays a critical role in helping Haredi Jews to understand themselves as different, even as it shows them to be very much the same.

Literature & Fiction

Finkelman, Yoel

History & Criticism

Academic Studies Press

Published to celebrate the opening of the Library's new building in autumn 2023 in Jerusalem, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron The library holds more than 5 million volumes of books, manuscripts, and periodicals, as well as archives, maps, music, ephemera, and photographs, and is dedicated to building comprehensive collections of Judaica and Israeliana, and world-class research collections in Islam, the Middle East and the Humanities The Library's digital channels receive approximately 12 million visitors every year 
This fascinating and inspirational new volume provides a thematic journey through the rich and diverse collections of the National Library of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. Selected by the Library's curators and collections experts, this fine-art volume presents 101 of the most precious items in the Library's collections, from 5th century Babylonia to modern-day Tel Aviv, and shares illuminating stories and anecdotes about these significant works and the intriguing people behind them. Highlights include Maimonides' autograph copy of his Commentary on the Mishna; the Damascus Crowns including a vitally important 10th century Hebrew Bible codex; theological ruminations of Isaac Newton; love poetry by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent; manuscripts from leading Jewish and Israeli writers, such as Martin Buber, Stefan Zweig, Franz Kafka, Naomi Shemer, and Shai Agnon; and rare materials documenting Israeli history. High-quality photographs illustrate the stories, and the introduction sets these collections within their cultural and historical context.

101 Treasures from the National Library of Israel

Arts & Photography

Ukeles, Raquel

Amiur, Hezi

Litt, Stefan

Thrope, Samuel

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Scala Arts Publishers, Inc.

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Books by Finkelman, Yoel