Raiding the Shelves – 2013 Edition

Last night was my first experience at the Jewish Book Council’s “Raid the Shelves” event where a $5 donation entitles you to take whatever books you want. Some people came prepared with multiple bags and several even had the foresight to bring rolling suitcases. Since I’m at a loss for space as it is, I figured a backpack would be good enough and would force me to be more judicious with my selections. While I missed out on a few interesting books, here’s what I took home. Keep in mind, I almost entirely judged books by their cover, and selections do not constitute endorsements or recommendations.

Without further ado, this was my haul…


Mitchell Bard – The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance that Undermines America’s Interests in the Middle East
Naftali Cohn – The Memory of the Temple and the Making of the Rabbis
Yuval Elizur – The War Within: Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Threat to Democracy and the Nation
Abraham Foxman – Viral Hate: Containing its Spread on the Internet
Theodore Gabriel – …isms Understanding Religion
Daniel Greene – The Jewish Origins of Cultural Pluralism: The Menorah Association and American Diversity
Gertrude Himmelfarb – The People of the Book: Philosemetism in England, From Cromwell to Churchill
Laura Liebman – Messianism, Secrecy and Mysticism: A New Interpretation of Early American Jewish Life
David Novak – The Image of the Non-Jew in Judaism
John Riddle – Managing a Nonprofit (Streetwise)
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi – Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer
Daniel Schwartz – The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image
Uriel Simonshon – A Common Justice: The Legal Allegiances of Christians and Jews Under Early Islam
Elana Sztokman – The Men’s Section: Orthodox Jewish Men in an Egalitarian World
A. Yehuda Warburg – Rabbinic Authority: The Vision and the Reality (Bet Din Decisions in English)
Robert Wistrich – From Ambivalence to Betrayal: The Left, the Jews, and Israel

Not bad for $5 if I do say so myself. If only it was as easy to purchase the time to read everything…

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