Vote for the Jewish Music Blogger Awards

This years Jewish Music Blogger Awards are being hosted by the team at the Jewish Music Report. The nominees are up so go and vote for your favorites in eight categories!

You can vote here

Is $10,000 still considered Hiddur Mitzvah?

You've got to give Eichlers credit for being one of the best Jewish bookstores out there, but every time I go to there website lately my eyes immediately go directly to the solid gold kiddush cup that they now have back up on their homepage. The availability of this item isn't new (DovBear had a post on this back in 2007) but I've started to ask myself some questions about who exactly is the intended customer for such a gift. The tag line for the item is "Have you ever wondered what to get the special person who has everything?" Sure, but $10,500 for a kiddush cup seems to be a bit extravagant for a gift, even if it is for the honorees at your school fund-raising dinner or for a big Chassidishe Rebbe (I can't imagine any Rav accepting such a gift). Particularly nowadays when many families can't afford the money to do many other mitzvos, like marrying off their children or buying teffillin for a Bar Mitzvah boy, we should first give money towards those areas before purchasing such an item. Although, I can't help but imagine that this beautiful cup would be perfect for the Melech HaMoshiach when he arrives.

The Week in Books

New Releases:

-The Neshama Should Have an Aliyah, by Rabbi Tzvi Hebel
-Rav Schwab on Yeshayahu, by Rabbi Shimon Schwab
-Duties of the Heart: The Gate of Trust, by Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Finkel
-Feminine Faith: L`Hovin Inyan Rosh Chodesh- Chassidic Heritage Series
-Channeling the Divine: Issa Bemidrash Tillim-Chassidic Heritage Series

Upcoming Releases:

-Copyright in Jewish Law, by Rabbi Nachum Menashe Weisfish
-Checkmate, by Ester Toker
-The Life and Times of Rabbi Yonason Steif: Living in the Illuminated Shadow, by Esther Shulamis (Stief) Bleier
-Aleinu L'Shabei'ach: Shemos, by Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein

SOY Seforim Sale Date Announced!

The date for the annual YU SOY Seforim sale has been announced:

January 24, 2010 - February 15, 2010

The S.O.Y. Seforim Sale, the largest Jewish book sale in North America, is operated by the students of Yeshiva University. The sale provides discounted prices on the widest selection of rabbinic and academic literature, cookbooks, children's books, music and lecture CDs, and educational software.

This is the best sale of the year! G-d willing we'll try to keep you up to date on further happenings regarding the seforim sale.

Their website is: www.soyseforim.org/

Kehot's 50% Off Hei Tevet Sale

Coffee Table Books Are Here

Coffee table books are often nice gifts and the Jewish book market has just seen an increase of four new books in that category, just in time for Chanukah. Check them out below:

Great Jewish Letters:

For millennia, the Jewish sages have shared their vast treasury of knowledge with us through their Torah works. Less well known, however, is the storehouse of wisdom available to us in letters that the great Torah scholars wrote to their families, disciples, and to the Jewish People.

In this unique collection Rabbi Moshe Bamberger, a respected scholar and educator, shares with us 120 great Jewish letters, translated into flowing English from their original Hebrew. Spanning the centuries from the Gaonic period to today, these letters contain fascinating historical insights and profound ethical truths. Some of the letters are classics, others not well-known, but all share a sense of both intimacy and eternity, a message from a father to a son, from a teacher to a student, from a leader to his people. The letters are arranged by topic, and each is prefaced by a brief biographical sketch of the author and is presented in its historical context.

From the Rambam, to the Alter of Slabodka; from the Gaon of Vilna to Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach; from Rashi to the Gerrer Rebbe and Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, here are the authentic voices of Torah greatness, in their own beautifully-phrased words.

Lavishly designed with both photos and illustrations, Great Jewish Letters is an elegant and important work of both Jewish history and Torah thought.

The Beit HaMikdash. The Holy Temple.

The center of Jewish longing and aspiration.

In this visually stunning, meticulously researched work, the Temple Mount and the Beit HaMikdash — the place where Heaven touches Earth, where mortals can feel eternity — comes to vivid life.

A breathtaking trip through history.

Here, deep beneath the sacred earth, stands the Foundation Stone, where Creation began. Here Abraham bound Isaac upon the altar, and King Solomon built the first Temple. From this mountaintop the magnificent Second Temple cast its light to the world, and it was here that the Roman legions burned and plundered the Temple's treasures.

Forgotten and neglected by the rest of the world, Jewish eyes and hearts have always turned to this holy mountain.
Now, the Temple Mount comes to life before our eyes.

An important work of scholarship and research.

Rabbi Zalman Menachem Koren brings to this groundbreaking work a profound knowledge of the Mishnah, Talmud, and the classic commentaries, and a deep familiarity with modern archaeological findings. A respected scholar, he has devoted decades to studying the Temple and the Temple Mount.

An heirloom edition, to be treasured by generations.

• Hundreds of magnificent photographs
• Pull out, panoramic diagrams of the Temple from many different perspectives
• Detailed descriptions of the various parts of the Beit HaMikdash: their dimensions, locations, and functions
• History and legends of the Western Wall
• A unique visual tour of the Temple

Book of Amazing Facts and Feats

The Creator's World and All That Fills It

The Only Word That Describes This Book Properly Is...WOW!

Step aside, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and make room for a book that really makes a Jewish jaw drop! How big is the world's largest tallis? Which letter appears most in Tanach? Which animals can fly without wings? What is the driest place on Earth? Faster than you can say, "Wow!", these facts and feats will dazzle and amaze you, with full-color pictures to enhance the experience. This book attests to the might and wonder of our Creator's world, giving a rich and colorful picture of the remarkable things that surround our everyday existence.





The Shmuz on the Parsha
Life Transforming Insights on the Weekly Torah Reading

Powerful Life-Changing Messages in a few, short minutes of reading!

The Shmuz is an engaging, motivating shiur that deals with real-life issues. Its unique style captivates listeners while inspiring growth and change - almost effortlessly!

The Shmuz on the Parsha packs the same powerful, life-changing message into a few short minutes of reading. It will allow you to motivate and inspire the people at your Shabbos table to greater levels of spiritual achievement and growth.

Review: "Rabbi Sherer"

Anybody who has happened to see the many recent advertisements for Artscroll's newest biography, "Rabbi Sherer" by Yonoson Rosenblum, would be right to be impressed. As someone who saw the ads mentioned to me, "ten years in the making? What kind of biography takes ten years?!" Now that I have read "Rabbi Sherer" I would have to answer, "an exceptionally good biography takes ten years and that is exactly what this is."

"Rabbi Sherer" is the comprehensive biography of the life and activism of Rabbi Moshe Sherer, the man of whom it can truthfully be said deserves much of the credit for making Agudath Israel the forefront Jewish organization that it is today. The term "askan," literally defined who he was and perhaps if if were to be found in Webster's dictionary would have to include Rabi Sherer as the ideal demonstration of the term. Rarely has such a necessary biography been published. Necessary because there are still too many people who are not aware of how much hakaras hatov we must accord to Rabbi Sherer. As I carried around this book for the past two weeks I encountered two types of reactions from people who asked to see what I was reading. Those who were familiar with Rabbi Sherer started to sing his praises, describing to me what a wonderful person he was. There were certain people, however, who just looked at me and said, "I've never heard of him before." If this monumental biography were to only familiarize the second group of people with all that Rabbi Sherer accomplished in his lifetime of work it would more than serve it's purpose, but I believe that this book has an additional potential, namely to give both groups of people an eye opening view of what it means to give your life to work for Klal Yisroel.

This book is filled with historical pictures and letters that attest to the closeness that both Gedolim and political leaders felt between themselves and Rabbi Sherer. From Rav Aharon Kotler to New York Senator Jacob Javitz, all trusted him with confidence and pride. Two words that came to mind when thinking how to describe the book were insightful and thrilling. Thrilling stood out the most for me because there aren't too many biographies that come to mind that fulfill that description. The thrill comes from watching Rabbi Sherer encounter challenge after challenge and then rectifying them all with an incredible grace and ease. I literally couldn't put down this book because the stories engrossed me entirely. Rabbi Sherer's eloquence and professionalism are often stressed in the book along with his additional positive characteristics that molded him into becoming a once in a lifetime leader. Perhaps two sentences alone, from a chapter describing how Rabbi Sherer was as a boss, could sum up his entire philosophy as well as that of Agudath Israel. When a new secretary started her first day at the Agudath Israel office, Rabbi Sherer asked her who she worked for. After she answered the name of one of the senior staff Rabbi Sherer corrected her and said, "No, you work for Klal Yisroel. All of us here work for Klal Yisroel." All I can say is, wow.

This book has ten years of work written all over it and if you are looking for something enjoyable and inspiring to read I would definitely recommend "Rabbi Sherer."

Judaica Press Chanukah Sale

To Kindle or Not to Kindle (and I don't mean Chanukah)

This is the era of all things electronic and anything that won't plug into a wall or take double-a batteries should keep a close eye on their future. Very few things are immune. An example of an area that has clearly been hard hit is the postal service. When people can simply send an e-mail that will arrive to the recipient in less than a minute why mail a letter that will take at least one day? But what has caught my attention the most is electronic reading. This can refer to books online in general, but more specifically my eye is on the Kindle.

For at least two years now I've been seeing ads on Amazon.com or the subway for the Kindle, which is, in the simplest terms, an I-pod for all things literary. You can purchase books at half the price and upload them directly to the Kindle device. Subscriptions to magazine and newspapers can also be transferred to your Kindle. It hasn't exactly swept over the nation like MP3s or those special texting phones with the qwerty keyboard, but I've been seeing it slowly creeping into the general population, and now it's come into my home.

You see, my younger sister received the Kindle as a belated birthday present and everybody has been very excited to hold it and see what it is like. It does give off an impressive appearance. The memory capacity is large enough to hold several hundred books and it comes with a built in dictionary so when you come across a word that you don't know all you need to do is click on it and the definition is literally right at your fingertips. There is even a function to have the book read out loud to you, sort of like an audio book except without the human voice. I can't give a completely thorough analysis of the Kindle since I haven't been back home long enough to sit down and read a book cover to cover (although that expression may have to go in this circumstance) but I'll admit that I am still not convinced to switch my reading from paper to computer, mainly for two reasons. The first is the most obvious which is that the main bulk of my reading material is Jewish books and until the frum book companies decide to also start offering their books on Kindle there really isn't anything for me to purchase. Amazon does have a button to click on that will let the book companies know that you are interested in getting their books made into the Kindle format but I'm not sure yet whether the interest is large enough in the Orthodox community for electronic books and seforim to make it worthwhile for the Jewish book companies to start offering their books electronically.

Second off is that I think I've just been brought up for too long on books that are thick, smell fresh, and are filled with paper that that particular method of reading has become a relaxing source of enjoyment for myself and I don't really feel any need to try a new way to read. It's hard to switch to something different when you are comfortable with the original. I feel so old saying that since most people who have trouble adapting to technology are 50 years my senior but maybe the electronic phenomon has bypassed me as well. Overall I see the praticallity of having so many books at your fingertips on a screen that is essentially the thickness of your finger and the benefits that such a device has to offer to those who have reached a level of comfort in electronic reading. My sister has already found the Kindle to be very useful and I know others who feel the same way, but for now I think I'll stick with the regular books.

Two New Shows At TheCoolJew.com

The Cool Jew has two new book themed shows. One is featuring Mordechai Schmutter with his latest book "A Clever Title Goes Here" and the second is with Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier with his new book "The Shmuz on the Parsha." To here the interviews click the links below:

The Cool Jew Show W/ Mordechai Schmutter
The Cool Jew Show W/ Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier

Touched By a Niggun

What do you get when you take a world renowned author and multi talented singer/composer? Touched by a Niggun. Baruch Levine teamed up with Rabbi Yechiel Spero author of Touched by a Story, Prayer etc. to create a very unique type of album. The album, which is entitled "Touched by a Niggun" will features the compositions and vocals of Baruch Levine to lyrics based on the stories from Rabbi Spero's. The album produced by Yochi Briskman features background vocals from Eli Schwebel and Gadi Fuchs of Lev Tahor.

I'm very curious to see how this album turns out. Both Rabbi Spero and Baruch Levine are favorites of mine in their respective fields. I've probably cried a good number of times from the power of certain Rabbi Spero stories. However, good Jewish English songs are hard to come by if your name isn't Abie Rotenberg. This album definitely has great potential just from seeing who is involved with this CD and I look forward to hearing it when it is released.

This album is available now for pre-order from Mostlymusic.com.