An engaging, challenging, and relevant commentary on an ancient source of wisdom.
In this spiritual work, an influential rabbi analyzes the book of Proverbs through the lens of social justice.
Yanklowitz is the founder and head of Shamayim: Jewish Animal Advocacy and YATOM: The Jewish Foster and Adoption Network, and he frequently appears on lists of America’s most inspirational rabbis. With advanced degrees from Harvard and Columbia and as the author of almost two dozen books, he has an undisputed grasp of ancient Jewish thought and its contemporary applications. But he readily admits that this work, a commentary on the book of Proverbs, was “my most difficult one to write to date.” Moving chapter by chapter through Proverbs, the volume follows the predictable pattern of most Torah commentaries. It offers the original text in Hebrew side by side with an English translation and followed by editorial commentary by the author. Yanklowitz’s analysis comes in the form of 57 essays that center on themes related to social justice and personal application. While the book has a firm command of the ancient understandings of Proverbs and is accompanied by an impressive body of research reflected in the endnotes, it excels at disrupting the traditionalist impulses of religion. Readers are challenged to rebel against unjust systems of oppression, to always question authority, and to seek wisdom that transcends blind obedience to religious dogmas. And while the volume does not eschew traditional Jewish interpretations of Proverbs, it reads the texts “critically, with intellectual skepticism.” As such, the work grapples with occasional passages that deal with, for instance, archaic ideas related to gender. Given Proverbs’ lack of direct references to God, Yanklowitz convincingly argues that the biblical book “is accessible to a broad readership, believers and non-believers alike.” This commentary, despite its distinctly Jewish outlook, likewise has a broad appeal and should interest readers of varied religious backgrounds. Written in an accessible style and with a useful glossary for those unacquainted with Jewish terminology, the volume will also entice scholars, religious leaders, and lay readers. And while the essays can be a bit repetitive at times, this work nevertheless delivers another excellent commentary by a contemporary Jewish luminary.
An engaging, challenging, and relevant commentary on an ancient source of wisdom.Pub Date: June 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-88123-376-6
Page Count: 472
Publisher: Central Conference of American Rabbis Press
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.
Enduring the unthinkable.
This memoir—the first by an Israeli taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023—chronicles the 491 days the author was held in Gaza. Confined to tunnels beneath war-ravaged streets, Sharabi was beaten, humiliated, and underfed. When he was finally released in February, he learned that Hamas had murdered his wife and two daughters. In the face of scarcely imaginable loss, Sharabi has crafted a potent record of his will to survive. The author’s ordeal began when Hamas fighters dragged him from his home, in a kibbutz near Gaza. Alongside others, he was held for months at a time in filthy subterranean spaces. He catalogs sensory assaults with novelistic specificity. Iron shackles grip his ankles. Broken toilets produce an “unbearable stink,” and “tiny white worms” swarm his toothbrush. He gets one meal a day, his “belly caving inward.” Desperate for more food, he stages a fainting episode, using a shaving razor to “slice a deep gash into my eyebrow.” Captors share their sweets while celebrating an Iranian missile attack on Israel. He and other hostages sneak fleeting pleasures, finding and downing an orange soda before a guard can seize it. Several times, Sharabi—51 when he was kidnapped—gives bracing pep talks to younger compatriots. The captives learn to control what they can, trading family stories and “lift[ing] water bottles like dumbbells.” Remarkably, there’s some levity. He and fellow hostages nickname one Hamas guard “the Triangle” because he’s shaped like a SpongeBob SquarePants character. The book’s closing scenes, in which Sharabi tries to console other hostages’ families while learning the worst about his own, are heartbreaking. His captors “are still human beings,” writes Sharabi, bravely modeling the forbearance that our leaders often lack.
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063489790
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Harper Influence/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Another chapter in a long fight against inequality.
Building on his Fighting Oligarchy tour, which this year drew 280,000 people to rallies in red and blue states, Sanders amplifies his enduring campaign for economic fairness. The Vermont senator offers well-timed advice for combating corruption and issues a robust plea for national soul-searching. His argument rests on alarming data on the widening wealth gap’s impact on democracy. Bolstered by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed campaign finance limits, “100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion” on 2024 elections. Sanders focuses on the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, describing their enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with its $1 trillion in tax breaks for the richest Americans and big social safety net cuts, as the “largest transfer of wealth” in living memory. But as is his custom, he spreads the blame, dinging Democrats for courting wealthy donors while ignoring the “needs and suffering” of the working class. “Trump filled the political vacuum that the Democrats created,” he writes, a resonant diagnosis. Urging readers not to surrender to despair, Sanders offers numerous legislative proposals. These would empower labor unions, cut the workweek to 32 hours, regulate campaign spending, reduce gerrymandering, and automatically register 18-year-olds to vote. Grassroots supporters can help by running for local office, volunteering with a campaign, and asking educators how to help support public schools. Meanwhile, Sanders asks us “to question the fundamental moral values that underlie” a system that enables “the top 1 percent” to “own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.” Though his prose sometimes reads like a transcribed speech with built-in applause lines, Sanders’ ideas are specific, clear, and commonsensical. And because it echoes previous statements, his call for collective introspection lands as genuine.
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798217089161
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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