Jean Naggar writes her childhood spent in Cairo and England as we all remember our childhood – a magical time in an enchanted world. Surrounded by a large, protective family members of the Cairo elites

Article first published as Book Review: Queenmaker: A Novel of King David’s Queen by India Edghill on Blogcritics. About: Queenmaker: A Novel of King David’s Queen by India Edghill is considered to be biblical fiction. I have studied the bible (both Jewish and Christian) and do enjoy biblical fiction very much. 384 pages Publisher: Picador; First Edition edition (November 2002) Language: English ISBN-10: 0312289197 My rating for Queenmaker – 3 Buy this book in paper for­mat through the Man of la Book Affil­i­ate Account More books by India Edghill Thoughts: I enjoyed India Edghill’s (website) Delilah: A Novel (book review) very much so I figured I’ll pick up her novel Queenmaker as a follow-up. Queenmaker is a biblical fiction first person narrative of Michal, King David’s first wife (out of several) and the one to hold the title of Queen. The book follows the biblical books of Samuel and II Samuel from Michal’s perspective; from her humble beginning as a daughter of Saul, a humble farmer, through his ascension to king, wars and madness. After marrying her father’s harper / war hero David she helps him escapes her father and for her help gets sold to another man until David’s army goes back to reclaim /…

Three Days of Terror in November How Kristallnacht Continues to Haunt, and Instruct, Us Today ===================================================== Mr. Reisfeld has kindly made available the following books for giveaway (enter at the end of the post): Two (2) Signed paperback copies of The Last Way Station Two (2) eBook copies of The Last Way Station One (1) eCopy of Jerusalem Imperilled by Harry Freedman ===================================================== As night fell over the Third Reich on Wednesday, November 9th, 1938, Nazis at all levels of government launched a vicious, organized, national pogrom against the Jews. The attacks, unprecedented in their scope, brutality and brazenness, lasted for three days, during which time squads of sledge-hammer-wielding ‘brown shirts’ took the lead, savaging, looting and, in some cases, leveling Jewish businesses, homes and houses of worship. By the time the rioting stopped, organized mobs had ransacked and destroyed 267 Jewish synagogues, setting most of them afire. They had wrecked and plundered an estimated 7,500 Jewish storefronts and shops, desecrated Jewish cemeteries, and vandalized and looted countless Jewish homes. Many Germans welcomed the violence. Eyewitnesses described mothers lifting their children up over bystanders’ heads so that they, too, could see the destruction of Jewish property, while their parents cheered on the…

Melachim Gimmel by Yochi Brandes (מלכים ג- יוכי ברנדס) a fascinating book attempting to turn some of the Bible stories on their heads giving a new perspective.

While the story is also about the coming of age, it is also a touching testament to the early immigrant spirit and the hardships of life

A discovery of a new version of the biblical “Genesis”, with the proof of extraterrestrial life these discoveries threaten Judaism, Christianity and Islam

There is great insight on how Jews were persecuted and the struggles they faced. However, the author uses these adversities to highlight the Jewish spirit

On Tuesday my family and I went to New York City for a showing of the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular”. We had some time to kill before the show, being that it was also the lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center the streets were blocked and we simply walked around our favorite city. We passed the New York City Public Library on 5th Ave. and decided to take a break (it also seem to start raining). The main branch of the library is a magnificent building which is by itself worth a visit. A gallery of marble, carved wood and unbelievable paintings greet the patrons. I wanted to see the Gutenberg bible which is usually on display. I’ve had several reasons: 1) I never saw it 2) It’s an important book 3) I wanted my wife and kids to see it and talk about its importance …so I dragged them along. However, the bible was featured as part of an exhibit which was called “The Three Faiths” featuring 200 rare books created over the past 1,500 years of Judaism, Christianity and the Muslim faiths. Any book lover who is in NYC must go see this beautiful exhibit. The…

Pearl in the Sand is a fascinating book, the biblical characters of Rahab, Salmone, Joshua, Ezra and others are skillfully brought to life by Tessa Afshar

This attempt at biblical fiction not a re-telling of the story of Samson, but a complete overhaul of the familiar story – a re-imagining if you will.