Book review by C. B. Gavant

Imagine six seminary girls in Gateshead of the 1950s. It is the night of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and they want to celebrate. Off they go to the recently opened kosher café in Newcastle for a cup of coffee, feeling very posh…only to discover, upon arriving, that they don’t have enough money for a piece of cake to accompany the coffee.

Modestly, humorously, Rebbetzin Esther Leah Avner regales us with tale after tale from her extraordinary life. Again and again, she surprises us with the strength of her personality and her unshakeable bitachon in Hashem, which shine through in the stories that fill her recently published book, Learn, Live, Teach: The Story of a Life (Brand Name Publishing, 2011).

But the story doesn’t start in England. Rebbetzin Avner was born in Belfast, Ireland, where her family was among the few Shabbos-observant Jews in town. She describes in vivid detail her personal introduction to anti-Semitism on the first day of public school as a lone 5-year-old Jewish girl in a class full of Irish Catholics, and the terrifying blitzkrieg period of World War II. She shares stories of her father’s earnest desire to bring Torah to the Jews in town, and of her gentle mother, the soul of honesty, who sought to protect her children from all harm, even at the expense of her own health.

Through a strange yet miraculous series of hashgachah pratis events that occurred when Esther Leah, at age 19, prepared to go to college, she found herself dispatched instead to the newly founded Gateshead Seminary, under the auspices of Mr. Avrohom Kohn.

Several years later, she married a Navardoker talmid learning in France. She didn’t discover, until after their wedding, that he spoke a fine English. Rabbi Gershon Liebman, their rosh yeshivah, had established the yeshivah immediately after the war, intent on educating young Jews in the Navardok style of minimal gashmiyus and complete bitachon. Esther Leah Avner immediately began to teach in the newly established seminary in Fublaines, putting her years in Gateshead to good use.

In one page-turning chapter after another, Esther Leah Avner faithfully records her adventures as the wife of a Navardoker traveling the world on behalf of the yeshivah. “Once I was accused of being a spy,” she announces with aplomb, and “I own only one precious photo of my chasan and myself, and it was a miracle that I procured even that one.”

Later in life, when Esther Leah meets Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l, she feels an immediate affinity for this dignified, American-born rav, and she becomes an integral part of his community—an entire story on its own.

Rather than simply chronicling the past for posterity, Esther Leah Avner brings to life the people she’s known and the places she’s visited in a delightful, upbeat fashion. She retains her sense of humor despite many a difficult challenge and reveals facets to her personality that will resonate with her readers.

Learn, Live, Teach is a work that promises to inspire and uplift, educate and illuminate, just like its gifted author. It is a treat not frequently encountered in the library of Torah literature.

Click here to purchase online.

What is it about novels that have such a pull on people and their emotions?  Perhaps it is the break from everyday life that novels afford their readers. Or maybe it’s the enjoyment of gaining insight into other peoples’ thoughts and feelings, regardless as to whether those “people” are fictional or not, from the comfort and safety of one’s own living room couch.  Sometimes, though, there are novels that have the ability to open up new worlds and share a completely different perspective on something. These novels are no less captivating or entertaining, yet they impart a very profound message on all who read them.

Circumstances, by Chana Pincus, is one such novel.  It’s the story of an ordinary young woman who finds herself in a heartrendingly out-of-the-ordinary situation.  Shoshana’s a seminary graduate who lives in Eretz Yisroel with her husband and works in special education.  Typical enough, right?  But what even her neighbors and closest friends and relatives don’t know about her is that she is suffering in her marriage.

Her husband Elya isn’t a villain, which is what makes this book hit home so much more.  It’s not a wild fiction story where you will find out that Elya has some deep dark secrets.  Instead, we meet a man who is learning in kollel, but whose heart is in fact far away from that ideal. Unfortunately, Elya is determined to follow his heart—and he is too self-centered to ever consider his wife’s opinions and feelings along the way.

Their lives would have continued along this way, with Shoshana swallowing her tears and struggling to accept her lot, if not for one of her husband’s adventures that went awry, forcing her to really look at her life and decide that she could take no more. When she decides to divorce, she has to face a society that is slow to understand and quick to condemn.

I think if we are honest, we will all find bits of ourselves in the world the author presents in this book.  It’s eye-opening to look at the situation from Shoshana’s perspective.  There is nothing “empty” or “waste-your-time-while-you-read-it” about this novel. Besides for Circumstances being an interesting read, there is a whole lot to gain from it.

Click here to purchase online.

Another baal teshuvah story?

If that’s what you thought when you read the back cover of The Reporter, you’re both right and wrong. True, Koby Levy’s life story—which comprises Part 1 of the book—is the story of how he discovered Yiddeshkeit and what he did with that discovery. But you’re wrong on two account, because, number one, Levy’s “baal teshuvah” story is anything but “another baal  teshuvah story”—it is as atypical as it can get; and number two, what about the rest of the book??

Attention all readers out there: this book is chock full with the most amazing stories you’ve ever heard! Take, for example, the story of the Israeli soldier who, as a victim of a terrorist attack, has to live with a piece of shrapnel in his head—until something (we’re not telling what; that’s why you have to read the book!) forces it out… Or the strangest story ever about how a tzaddik of a person treated an emotionally unwell man…

I guess we should stop there, before we ruin the book for you… But take our word for it—this is one book that will provide you with hours of pleasure reading, and you’ll find yourself relating the stories to other people, too—until they decide to buy the book for themselves, as well…!

Click here to purchase online.

Ask any parents what their most embarrassing moments were, and chances are, they’ll tell you about incidents involving their kids. The time that their child tried to “show off” in front of an important guest that they had… When their child called a friend but didn’t know quite what to say once the friend’s mother answered the phone…

It’s a known fact that many kids need help learning social skills. In fact, it’s quite normal. Kids are not born knowing the appropriate ways to behave around others, and oftentimes they have a hard time picking up the social cues as they grow older, too. As with any skill that we don’t expect our kids to automatically just “know,” social skills very often need to be taught to children. And what better way to do that than with Mrs. Simi Licht’s newest Super Social Skills book?

As with her first book, Mrs. Licht comes armed with four new, adorable, real-life characters, all of whom need help with specific social skills. By reading their stories to your kids, you can actively walk your kids through the process of learning appropriate social skills.

Whether your child needs to learn how to organize himself, or the proper way to express his feelings and opinions, Super Social Skills Vol. 2 has the ability to teach him these skills, and in such a fun way, too! So, go ahead and buy your child—and yourself—a gift you’ll both love: Super Social Skills Vol. 2.

Click here to order online.

Teens. You gotta love them. Sometimes you think they’re their own brand of creatures with their own lingo (“Whatever.”), their own set of etiquette rules (“You can’t wear the same outfit more than twice in one month.” “Why not?” “Because…because then you’ll be the biggest neb!” “Neb? What’s that?” “Whatever.”), and their own opinions, especially when it comes to what’s “in” and what’s “out.” But contrary to public opinion, teens are not “out to get you”; they’re simply at a stage where they’re trying to find themselves and you, as their parents, may just happen to “be in their way” at the moment, which is why you feel that you are getting the brunt of their teenage-itis symptoms.

In any case, for all those who are wondering when Israel Bookshop blog-writers became parenting experts, the point of all of this is simply to point out that being that teens are their own breed of people in so many ways, they deserve their own breed of literature. And that is where Bracha Goykadosh and her latest book, Go Bananas and other stories, come in.

As her many fans will readily attest, Bracha Goykadosh is the writer when it comes to teens. She has a unique way of writing that talks straight to a teenager’s heart. Is it the way she delves so skillfully into the minds of teenagers, exploring their thoughts and emotions in such an honest, realistic way? Is it perhaps the themes she chooses to write about—subjects that are close to the heart of every junior-high- and high-school-aged kid? Whatever it is, there is a good reason why Bracha Goykadosh is such a popular writer for teens in so many magazines and publications.

Go Bananas and other stories is a collection of more than twenty-five of Bracha Goykadosh’s best stories. You will relate to the characters in this book—kids and teens of all ages and stages—as well as to their personal struggles and challenges. You will share their hopes and fears, and cheer for them when they triumph.

Go Bananas and other stories is an excellent way to show your appreciation to those special teens in your life. If you are looking for a gift that they will go bananas over, this is the book you want to buy.

Click here to purchase online.

Refreshingly different. Those are the words that went through my mind after I finished reading Mirror Image.  With so many novels nowadays being about so many of the same topics, this novel has a unique, “refreshingly different” plot. For example, take the fact that Yonason Farber, the main character, who has been an ordinary yeshivah bachur for nearly his whole life, has a father who happens to be… a non-Jewish truck driver. Sounds intriguing from the start, doesn’t it? (Don’t worry—I won’t tell you any more; I wouldn’t want to ruin the book for you!)

Besides having a plot that’s so different than your typical Jewish novel, Mirror Image is, in plain English, a great book! It is well-written, and its characters are deep and three-dimensional. You will find yourself relating—in some way—to them and their struggles. The book also contains lots of good lessons. While an entertaining read, it is thought-provoking, too, leaving the reader off with some food for thought at its satisfying conclusion.

So for all of our dear overworked readers just chaloshing for a good way to unwind once Pesach begins (we’d never suggest that you so much as touch this book before then!), search no more! This book is all that you need.

Have a Chag Kasher V’sameach, and happy reading!

Click here to purchase online.

You’ve worked hard. If you are a man, you’ve been reviewing the relevant Pesach halachos, striving to enhance your Pesach Seder, and have been looking forward to this year’s Seder for months. If you are a woman, you’ve scrubbed your house from top to bottom, covered every conceivable inch in the kitchen with silver foil and the like, and cooked up a storm of delicious-but-painstakingly-hard-to-prepare, kosher l’Pesach food. Now you want to enjoy yourself at the Seder. And that is exactly what you deserve to do.

Buying a copy of The Torah Vodaas Haggadah is the perfect way to ensure a wonderful, inspirational, and uplifting Seder for you and your family. The Torah Vodaas Haggadah contains the original insights on the Pesach Haggadah of seven of the legendary Torah Vodaas roshei yeshivah: Rav Shlomo Heiman, Rav Gedaliah Schorr, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, Rav Reuven Fain, Rav Simcha Sheps, Rav Avrohom Pam, and Rav Elazar Kahanow, zichronam l’vrachah. Additionally, it provides beautifully-written biographical sketches of each gadol, as well as their unique Pesach minhagim.

This Haggadah is truly one of a kind. The divrei Torah it includes will fill you with emunah, while inspiring you with the depth contained in each one. For years, these great roshei yeshivah led their talmidim and Klal Yisrael. Now you can allow them to lead your Seder with this handsome Haggadah.

The Torah Vodaas Haggadah. It’s an investment in your family’s Seder; an investment in your Pesach experience.

Click here to purchase online.

Enjoy a look behind the scenes of how this Haggadah came to be: Keep Reading…