Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Fall Holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot

I work in a Protestant Church Library, and am always looking to improve our religious book collection. This includes finding appropriate books of other faiths. I found the one on the Jewish holidays to be very good in explanation and description of them. Very interesting and informative.

Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Fall Holidays tells the story behind three fall holidays celebrated in the Jewish tradition: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Written in plain terms and accessible to readers of all backgrounds, chapters cover the origins of these holidays, modern perspectives upon their significance, interpretations of sacred texts, alternative meditations, and much more. Endnotes, a glossary, and an index round out this superb introduction especially recommended for anyone seeking to enrich their personal understanding before attending a Jewish holiday celebration.

I ordered this book before the Jewish high holidays and was very glad to have it with me during services and at home throughout the Jewish holiday season. Each of the holidays discussed in the book (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot) has a very interesting section explaining not only customs of celebrating the holiday, but the rationales behind the customs. There is a lot in these pages that would appeal to a well-educated Jew, but I think it would also provide a great introduction to someone who is not Jewish or less familiar with the holidays. To me, though, what is distinctly best about this book is the excellent anthology of readings. The readings are divided into categories that include the sources of the holidays and customs (with introductions and/or commentaries to help clarify the source), interpretations of Jewish holiday texts (with a very thoughtful "make it personal" reflection after each text), plus a hugely meaningful and unique section of modern-day "meditations" of essays, poems, and other writings by the author and a wide selection of well-known, contemporary Jewish thinkers. I think this was an excellent addition to my library, and I know that anyone else who might pick it up from my bookshelf will also find many spiritually elevating and intellectually stimulating thoughts pouring out of it. There is a lot of wonderful material packed into this volume, and I'm looking forward to reading the other volumes when their holidays come around this year--not to mention exploring more of the readings from this book next year.