Tucson Jewish Community Library
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Welcome to Our Community Library!
We hope you enjoy this wonderful resource.
Thank you for visiting our website.
We are proud to provide our Community with the first public Jewish lending library of Southern Arizona.
 (photo courtesy Arizona Daily Star) This library has been made possible by the generous donations of private individuals and the support of the Tucson Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. If you are interested in making a contribution, please contact librarian@tucsonjewishlibrary.org. JEWISH LITERACY YEAR AND JEWISH BOOKS YOU HAVE LOVED
On the first of Tishrei, the beginning of 5770, the library began a
year devoted to Jewish literacy. In connection with that, we are asking our
reading public to submit a few sentences about Jewish books you have loved.
What did you like about it, why it is your favorite and why do you recommend
it? The best review submitted each month will be published on our website.
At the end of the year we will put out the list of Tucson’s Jewish citizens’
favorite books of fiction and non-fiction. This is open to everyone 5 to
105. The list will become a guide for our community to good Jewish books and
we will add to it each year with more insights into first-rate reading.
We are encouraging our community to spend time reading about our heritage. The library holds a great storehouse of sacred literature, history, archeology and fiction just waiting to be checked out. |
Upcoming EventsSunday November 21, 2010Storytelling - In celebration of Jewish Literacy. Did you ever want to tell your children about your family history - Bible stories that they can understand - fables you made up? Here is your opportunity to listen and work with professional storytellers to get out the word. Hours of Operation
Register for the LibraryIn order to take full advantage of the books available in the library,please register here. Volunteer Opportunities If you are interested in volunteering at the library,
please contact Marilyn Marcus at the JCC (299-3000) or by email at
librarian@tucsonjewishlibrary.org.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY - CONTEMPORARY JEWISH CULTURES The Gifts of the Jews, Thomas Cahill. Cahill describes the volume as “how a tribe of desert nomads changed the way everyone thinks and feels.” A great “feel good” book easily read. The implied answer to the question Are the Jews a blessing to the world? is –of course! The world DOES need the Jews. In Search of American Jewish Culture, Stephen J. WhitfieldI This is a fascinating tour of the history of the immigrant Jew in America and the contributions to American culture. The author’s challenge relating to Jewish identity is not who is a Jew and what our American Jewish ancestors feared, remembered but what they (the Jews) and their descendants might want to live for. The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America, Steven M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen. The story of the detailed study into the patterns and meanings of the activity of sixty American Jews. The authors sought to understand how Jewish identity is formed and how it is transmitted, to shed light on how the Jewish people are faring in the face of societal forces which indicate there should be great concern with the future of Jewry in America. Why Be Jewish? David J. Wolpe Rabbi Wolpe answers the question from a deeply spiritual point of view. He probes the soul and ritual and prayer to help Jews understand the power and the beauty of Judaism. A note of authenticity: Rabbi Wolpe at his Friday night services in Los Angeles normally attracts 800 to a 1000 young Jews! Finding Each Other in Judaism: Meditations on the Rites of Passage from Birth to Immortality, Harold M. Schulweis The book grew out of the discussions the rabbi had with his confirmation classes through the years. The discussions about the the brit, bar/bat mitzvah help parents understand what their children are thinking and where they are coming from. The following three books are strongly recommended
to those who are interested in what Judaism offers to the Jew who lives in
America in the 21st century. A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World’s Oldest Religion, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Rabbi Sacks writes to his son about God, faith, Purim and so much more. Very readable and most excellent. Does the World Need the Jews? Rabbi Daniel Gordis Rabbi Gordis makes the case that the world needs Judaism but in the present crisis of Jewish identity most Jews are no longer certain why it matters to be a Jew. He examines Jewish life to illustrate where and how the contemporary Jew can regain the passion that tradition, ritual, community and religion matters. A book that you must put down and pick up, even to read sections a second time. Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry, Scott A. Shay If Judaism is to regain its stature and luster, then the Jewish community must re-educate and rebuild its institutions and its schools. A hard headed look at what it will take to get back in the groove. HISTORY The Jewish Mind by Raphael Patai Written over a quarter century ago, Patai takes us on a journey in search of the Jewish mind. His investigation takes us through the course of Jewish history seeking the connection and relationships between Jewish cultures and the Jewish mind. Cultures of the Jews: A New History, David Biale A rich and textured history of the different cultures of the Jews as they lived in many nations from ancient Israel, to Rome, Islam, Christian Europe and America. As several authors examine each of the cultures in which the Jews have lived the layers of identity of the Jews is revealed. Exclusiveness and Tolerance: Studies in Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval and Modern Times, Jacob Katz A wonderful, small volume which details how the Jews lived in medieval Europe creating their own separate civilization but closely intertwined with their Christian neighbors. And what the transition to “modern times” wrought. Origins of the Modern Jew: Jewish identity and Europe, Michael A. Meyer A small, easily read volume which tells the story of the transformation of the identity of the Jew as we emerged into the modern world. |
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Get book recommendations every week, along with the latest news and features!
Jewish Book Council | |
List of Needed Books
We are a small library with just 3000 volumes but we have
a remarkably diverse collection of Jewish books with depth in a
number of areas. As we look through our collection we find there are
a number of books we would be pleased to add to our collection. Can
you help?
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Sponsored in part by the
Tucson
Jewish Community Center and by the
Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. Copyright 2009 |