Authors on Tour (F – J)

Ed Feinstein

TOUGH QUESTIONS JEWS ASK
160 pages. Jewish Lights Publishing. $14.95.

Feinstein encourages young people to verbalize their doubts about God, faith and Jewish life, stating that he believes “God loves good questions.” Structured as questions posed by different students in a classroom, the 18 chapters include discussions about God; Shabbat; intermarriage; prayer; bar mitzvah; Israel; Christianity; anti-Semitism; Jewish denominations; the meaning of life; good and evil; the concept of an afterlife; and the Messiah.

Local appearances: Acton, MA; Austin, TX; Costa Mesa, CA; Covina, CA; Indianapolis, IN; San Antonio, TX

Tirzah Firestone

THE RECEIVING
Reclaiming Jewish Women's Wisdom
280 pages. HarperCollins. $24.95.

Interview

Deploring the fact that Jewish history books and encyclopedias largely ignore the role of women, Rabbi Firestone challenges this inequity. The word receiving is the literal translation of the Hebrew word kabbalah Firestone focuses on the universal and psychological teaching within Jewish mysticism.

 Local appearances: Austin, TX; Buffalo, NY; Columbus, OH; Costa Mesa, CA; Covina, CA; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Houston, TX; Kansas City, KS; Milwaukee, WI; New Orleans, LA; San Diego, CA; St. Louis, MO

Sue Fishkoff

THE REBBE’S ARMY
Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch
336 pages. Schocken Books. $26.

Review

This remarkable ethnographic profile goes behind the scenes of Lubavitcher Judaism to explore how the movement’s enthusiastic young emissaries, or schlihim, carry the Rebbe’s message throughout the world.

 Local appearances: Atlanta, GA; Berkeley, CA; Boynton Beach, FL; Dallas, TX; Detroit, MI; East Hills, NY; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Houston, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, FL; Miami, FL; Memphis, TN; New Haven, CT; Portland, OR; Rochester, NY; San Diego, CA; Tenafly, NJ; W. Hartford, CT

Stephen Fried

THE NEW RABBI
A Congregation Searches for Its Leader
352 pages. Bantam Books. $25.95.

Audio

This inside portrait of Conservative Judaism reads like a novel fueled by a simple yet dramatic plot: Who will become the next rabbi of Har Zion a powerful 1,400-family Philadelphia synagogue upon the retirement of Gerald Wolpe, its vibrant spiritual leader of 30 years?

 Local appearances: Ann Arbor, MI; Berkeley, CA; Cherry Hill, NJ; Jamaica Estates, NY; Miami, FL; Scotch Plains, NJ

Dore Gold

HATRED'S KINGDOM
309 pages. Regnery Publishing. $27.95.

In Hatred’s Kingdom, Dore Gold has the goods on Saudi Arabia, proving how it is actively supporting terrorism. Using previously unpublished documents, Gold, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. and internationally known Middle East strategy expert, pieces together the links between the current wave of global terrorism—from the World Trade Center to Bali, Indonesia— and the ideology of hatred taught in the schools and mosques of Saudi Arabia.

 Local appearance: Austin, TX; Houston, TX

Ari Goldman

LIVING A YEAR OF KADDISH
224 pages. Schocken. $22.

Review

Goldman lost his father the day after he turned 50. In this continuation of his spiritual search in The Search for God at Harvard, Goldman explores the emotional and spiritual aspects of spending a year in mourning, as he examines its effects on him as a husband, father and member of his community.

 Local appearances: Ann Arbor, MI; Buffalo, NY; Columbus, OH; Memphis, TN; Norfolk, VA; Richmond, VA; Rochester, NY: St. Paul, MN

Yitta Halberstam

SMALL MIRACLES FOR FAMILIES
256 pages. Adams Media. $9.95.

This latest addition to the beloved and best selling Small Miracles series contains sixty miraculous and mysterious stories that testify to the powerful family ties that bring us warmth and support in both ordinary and extraordinary times.

Local appearances: Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH; Costa Mesa, CA; Deal, NJ; Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA; Pleasantville, NY; Tucson, AZ

Gregg Hurwitz

THE KILL CLAUSE
400 pages. HarperCollins. $24.95.

A motley crew of ex-cops and fringe characters, who have all lost loved ones and seen the villains walk, are organized into a vigilante hit squad by a media personality who sees this as a good launchpad for his books in this first thriller in a projected series by Hurwitz (Do No Harm; Minutes to Burn).

 Local appearances: Ann Arbor, MI; Atlanta, GA; Costa Mesa, CA; Covina, CA; Deal, NJ; Houston, TX; Rochester, NY; San Antonio, TX; Tenafly, NJ

Rona Jaffe

THE ROOM-MATING SEASON
384 pages. Dutton. $24.95.

Sleeping and dreaming side by side in a one bedroom apartment in New York City, Leigh, Cady, Vanessa, and Susan could not know the decisions they made in 1963 would be challenged later, not only because they had been young when they made them, but because the world itself was going to change around them. And then, of course, there were the events in their young lives that no one could control...the events that changed everything.

 Local Appearances: Atlanta, GA; Boynton Beach, FL; Detroit, MI; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Miami, FL; St. Louis, MO