For the Love of Being Jewish {Review and Giveaway}

What can you say when your boss writes a book?

In this case? That it's great.

Yes, my boss, Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein, wrote a newly published book! It's called "For the Love of Being Jewish" and it's a coffee-table picture book.

From the book's website:

Using RHYMES AND COLORFUL ILLUSTRATIONS, "For the Love of Being Jewish" explores the key concepts of Judaism in a fun and humorous way. Definitions of key Jewish words, inspiring quotes, and clever caricatures of famous Jewish people make one of the world’s oldest religions accessible and understandable to all.

Packed with colorful illustration and whimsical verses, this lighthearted, factual, and entertaining exploration of Judaism is the perfect book for encouraging people of different faiths to learn from each other. Through the lens of history, culture, ethics, and values, important Jewish themes are uncovered in a way that makes us chuckle— and think. While it’s not possible to pack 5,770 years of history into 48 pages, For the Love of Being Jewish touches upon some of the key concepts of one of the world’s oldest religions and introduces us to Jewish people who have helped make the world a better place, from Moses to Albert Einstein to Bob Dylan.

And it really is a fun and wonderful book. For me, it's particularly fun, because I can see Steven's favorite quotes and ideas sprinkled throughout - his voice is clearly there, even though he doesn't usually speak in rhyming verse. It's an alphabet of Jewish life, done in a way that you might not expect.

One of my favorite rhymes?

"I" is for Israel,
A place like no other.
It also stands for Isaac and Ishmael,
who luckily didn't have another brother.


The illustrations are awesome. Mark Anderson created great caricatures and drawings that are creative and interesting and add a lot to the book. See....

I really recommend this book - a great gift, a fun addition to every Jewish shelf.

I have one to give away! Funny enough, even though we have many copies here at the synagogue (go figure), the publisher actually sent me a review copy (Dear Rabbi....) so I decided to give that one away to ONE lucky reader. I'll even have it signed just for you (since I do have an in with the author!) - how cool is that?

I'll do a random drawing next week to pick the winners.
You have until next Thursday night, October 21st. 
Tell your friends!


(don't forget that I'm also giving away the Shalom Sesame DVDs....it's Review Week here at the Ima's place.)