The Five Books celebrates the role of books in our lives. Each week weâll talk with a Jewish author about five books in five categories.Â
Weâll hear about: two Jewish books that have impacted the authorâs Jewish identity; one book (not necessarily Jewish) that they think everyone should read - a book that changed their worldview. Weâll get a peek into what book they're reading now, and weâll hear the inside scoop on the new book theyâve just published.
The Five Books creates a space for all listeners to explore what it means to live, write, and read as a Jewish American today.
In this conversation, weâll talk about how Helene transformed her familyâs history into myth, how her childhood as a Jewish, nerdy sci-fi fan and her experience of passing and hiding in plain sight made it into the character of Chava, the golem, and weâll discuss why writing historical fantasy gave her the opening to explore the big questions of what it means to be human.
Helene Wecker was in the midst of an MFA program, writing a realistic collection of short stories about the legacy of immigration and her relationship with her Arab-American husband, when a friend challenged her to use the fantastic and to tell a larger story. That was how Helene Weckerâs first novel, The Golem and the Jinni, was born. The novel was awarded the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature, the VCU Cabell Award for First Novel, and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize, and was nominated for a Nebula Award and a World Fantasy Award.Â
Helene Weckerâs work has appeared in literary journals such as Joyland and Catamaran, as well as the fantasy anthology The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and children.
Helene Weckerâs Five Books:
1. The Bible, Book of Exodus
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
3. Orbital by Samantha Harvey
4. That's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist by Sylvia Boorstein
5. The Gates of Midnight by Helene Wecker
Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:
Portia Elan on the Future We Choose
Toby Lloyd on Biblical Horror and being a Jewish Atheist
Jeremy Dauber on Jewish Literature, Pop Culture, and What The Horror Genre Reveals About America
Allison Epstein on Taking on One of Literatureâs Most Notoriously Antisemitic Characters
Also Mentioned:
Are You There God, itâs me Margaret by Judy Blume
"The Golem" by Naomi Kritzer (from the collection Comrade Grandmother and other stories)
Weâre thrilled to share that The Five Books has been nominated for a Signal Award in Religion and Spirituality!
This nomination is a testament to our teamâs hard work and our listenerâs support. Weâd be so grateful if youâd take a moment to vote for us! Thank you!
The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each authorâs favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Sam Sussman, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Allegra Goodman.
â â â Sign up for our newsletterâ â â to get new episode reminders, authorsâ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Find us on at  â www.fivebookspod.org, on Instagram â @fivebookspod â or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.
For feedback or author recommendations please email us at â team@fivebookspod.orgâ
The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! â https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrateâ
The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.Â
As an Amazon Associate, The Five Books earns from qualifying purchases. Any commissions we receive help support our nonprofit mission and are reinvested in producing the podcast and related programming.
Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Aimee Fogel
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson Studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions
Thank you to Emma Simon for her help with this episode.Â
Jordan Salama on Rescuing his Family's âHistoria Antiguaâ
One Thanksgiving, when Jordan Salama was home from school, he noticed a thick binder in his grandfather's basement labeled âHistoria Antiguaâ, which means ancient history in Spanish. Stuffed with photographs and documents, Jordan found that his grandfather had recorded hundreds of years of their family's history, covering movements and migrations between the Ottoman Empire and Argentina. This discovery sent Jordan on a quest to Argentina to discover the story of his great-grandfather, who had been a traveling salesman in the Andes in the early 20th century. The resulting book, Stranger in the Desert, was a finalist for the 2026 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.Â
In this episode, we discuss Jordanâs process of âclimbing out of a linguistic holeâ by learning his familyâs languages, the interconnected identities of Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ottoman Empire in Argentina, and how he teaches others to use the tools of journalism to discover their own family histories.Â
Jordan Salama is an author and a contributing writer at The New Yorker. He has written about migration, culture, and the environment in the Americas. His first book, Every Day the River Changes, about a journey down Colombiaâs RĂo Magdalena, and the people who live along its banks, was named one of the best books of 2021 by Kirkus Reviews, and a top new travel book by the New York Times.
Jordan Salamaâs Five Books:
1. Even This I Get To Experience by Norman Lear
2. In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
3. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Larga Distancia by Tali Goldman (Spanish Language)
5. Stranger in the Desert by Jordan Salama
Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:
Elizabeth Graver on Lost Worlds and New Doorways
Samantha Ellis on Becoming a Keeper of Her Ancestral Language
Rachel Cockerell on The Zionist Dream that Sailed to Galveston
Also Mentioned:
Out of Egypt by Andre Aciman
Tarantula by Eduardo Halfon
Verklempt MagazineÂ
Jordan Salamaâs articles in the New Yorker
Weâre thrilled to share that The Five Books has been named a finalist for a Signal Award in the category of Religion and Spirituality for our episode with Zeeva Bukai.
This recognition is a testament to our incredible teamâs hard work and to our listenersâ support.
Weâd be so grateful if you would take a moment to vote for us! Thank you!
Vote now
The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each authorâs favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Sam Sussman, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Allegra Goodman.
â â â Sign up for our newsletterâ â â to get new episode reminders, authorsâ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Find us on at  â www.fivebookspod.org, on Instagram â @fivebookspod â or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.
For feedback or author recommendations please email us at â team@fivebookspod.orgâ
The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! â https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrateâ
The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.Â
As an Amazon Associate, The Five Books earns from qualifying purchases. Any commissions we receive help support our nonprofit mission and are reinvested in producing the podcast and related programming.
Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Aimee Fogel
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson Studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions
Francine Klagsbrun on Embracing and Reshaping Tradition [REBROADCAST]
After publishing her essay collection People Love Dead Jews, Dara Horn found her inbox flooded with messages from readers about their own experiences of anti-semitism. She realized that her readers wanted her to come up with an answer to all the problems she had raised. Her response is in her latest book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living. In this conversation, Dara explains why reading Yiddish works are critical to understanding the Holocaust. We also discuss the internalized antisemitism that both she and Sarah Hurwitz explore in their latest works, what sheâs learned from Natan Sharansky, and how we should teach about Judaism as an anti-tyrannical movement.Â
Dara Horn is the award-winning author of seven books, including the novels The World to Come, All Other Nights, the graphic novel One Little Goat and the essay collection People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present. Dara Horn is also the recipient of three National Jewish Book Awards, among many other honors.Â
Regular listeners might notice that this is Daraâs second time on the show! We were delighted to talk to Dara about her book One Little Goat  last April. If you havenât yet heard it, you can go back to Daraâs first episode on the show and hear her talk about Tevye the Dairyman by Sholom Aleichem and Mr. Mani by A B Yehoshua.Â
Dara Hornâs Five Books:
1.A book that inspired, informed, or is in conversation with your latest work:
As a Jew by Sarah Hurwitz2. A book you changed your mind about â one you once loved, misunderstood, or now see differently:
See Under: Love by David GrossmanÂ
3. A line or passage from a book that you think about often or that changed your worldview:
From Natan Sharansky's memoir Fear No Evil, "No one else can humiliate me. I can only humiliate myself."
4. The book you're reading now:
Arrow in the Blue by Arthur Koestler
5. Your latest book:
The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living
Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:
Dara Horn on Being the Lorax at Her Seder Table
Sarah Hurwitz on Reclaiming Our Jewish Story
Matti Friedman on the Stories that Built a People
Sharon Brous on Working to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World
Also Mentioned:
Anti-Judaism by David Nirenberg
Gentlemanâs Agreement (film)
Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American by Rachel GordanÂ
âThe Golden Age of American Jews is Endingâ by Franklin Foer
The Last Consolation Vanished by Zalmen Gradowski
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
Thieves in the Night by Arthur Koestler
Blood Libel: On the Trail of an Antisemitic Myth by Magda Teter
The Tell InstituteÂ
The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each authorâs favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Sam Sussman, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Allegra Goodman.
â â â Sign up for our newsletterâ â â to get new episode reminders, authorsâ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Find us on at  â www.fivebookspod.org, on Instagram â @fivebookspod â or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.
For feedback or author recommendations please email us at â team@fivebookspod.orgâ
The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! â https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrateâ
The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.Â
 As an Amazon Associate, The Five Books earns from qualifying purchases. Any commissions we receive help support our nonprofit mission and are reinvested in producing the podcast and related programming.
Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Aimee Fogel
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson Studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions
Bruce Feiler speaks to us about the relationship between storytelling and ritual â and why both are essential tools for navigating change, creating meaning and building connection. We also discuss the moments when life takes a difficult turn (âlifequakesâ as Bruce calls them), his journey walking the Bible and how it stems from his ârootednessâ as a Southern Jew, and the ongoing tension between innovation and tradition at the heart of Jewish life.
Bruce is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers, including Life Is In The Transitions, The Secrets Of Happy Families, and Council Of Dads. He is also the author of several nonfiction books about the bible, including Abraham, Where God Was Born, Americaâs Prophet, and The First Love Story. His book Walking the Bible describes his 10,000 mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses, which spent a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into fifteen languages. His three TED Talks have been viewed more than five million times; and he teaches the Webby Award-winning TED Course How To Master Life Transitions.
In this episode, we discuss his latest book, A Time To Gather: How Ritual Created the World--and How It Can Save Us.
Bruce Feilerâs Five Books:
1. Lech Lâcha, Genesis
2. Understanding Genesis by Nahum Sarna
3. The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall
4. When We See You Again by Rachel Goldberg-Polin
5. A Time To Gather: How Ritual Created the World--and How It Can Save Us by Bruce Feiler
Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:
Nicholas Lemann on Being Jewish in the Shadow of the American South
Jeremy Dauber on Jewish Literature, Pop Culture, and What The Horror Genre Reveals About America
Toby Lloyd on Biblical Horror and being a Jewish Atheist
Ilana Kurshan on Books as Blueprints for Life
Also Mentioned:
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Mayyim Hayyim
OneTable
Ritualwell.orgÂ
Yiddish tkhines
The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each authorâs favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Sam Sussman, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Allegra Goodman.
â â â Sign up for our newsletterâ â â to get new episode reminders, authorsâ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Find us on at  â www.fivebookspod.org, on Instagram â @fivebookspod â or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.
For feedback or author recommendations please email us at â team@fivebookspod.orgâ
The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! â https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrateâ
The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.Â
Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Aimee Fogel
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson Studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions
As this episode is released in the days before Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, it feels especially fitting to sit with a conversation about grief, faith, and what it means to keep living after unimaginable loss. Tisha B'Av commemorates the destruction of both Temples in ancient Jerusalem, along with many other tragedies throughout Jewish history, and has become a day of collective mourning. Rachel Goldberg-Polin's story reminds us that Jewish grief is painfully present.
Rachel speaks to us about the books that shaped her faith, and the ones that offer reprieve and consolation. We also discuss reading Victor Franklâs Manâs Search for Meaning after her son Hershâs death, grief in the poetry of Robert Frost, and Rachelâs hope of finding Shabbat again.
On the morning of October 7th, 2023, Rachel Goldberg-Polinâs beloved twenty-three-year-old son, Hersh, was stolen from a music festival billed as a celebration of unity and loveâand, in that moment, her life was forever separated into The Before and The After. Over the next eleven months, she and her husband, Jon, would work tirelesslyâin public and behind the scenesâto secure the hostagesâ release, to breathe some humanity into the situation while they were experiencing relentless emotional and psychological torment. The power of her raw and fervent pleas soon made her the face of the hostage crisis. And when Hersh and five other captives were executed after surviving 328 days of violence and cruelty, she would also become the face of its ultimate cost.
Rachelâs memoir When We See You Again feels less like a book and more like a soul portal. It is a modern lamentation: it leads us deeper into the holiness of the universe, into its cruelty and its tenderness, into the unbearable weight of love and loss.
Rachel Goldberg-Polinâs Five Books:
â Bible Stories for Jewish Children by Ruth Samuels
â Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth
Table for Two by Amor Towles and The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
When We See You Again by Rachel Goldberg-PolinÂ
Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:
Sam Sussman on Bob Dylan and Being his Motherâs Son
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg on Re-envisioning the Jewish Future
Gila Pfeffer on Finding Meaning and Humor in the Darkest Times
Also Mentioned:
Kol Dodi Dofek by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Stopping by Woods by Robert Frost
A Servant to Servants by Robert Frost
The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each authorâs favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Sam Sussman, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Allegra Goodman.
â â â Sign up for our newsletterâ â â to get new episode reminders, authorsâ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Find us on Instagram â @fivebookspod â or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.
For feedback or author recommendations please email us at â team@fivebookspod.orgâ
For transcripts and more find us online at â www.fivebookspod.org â
The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! â https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrateâ
The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.Â
Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Amelia Merrill
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson Studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions
Portia Elan tells us about her journey to become a Jew by choice after attending Friday night services and feeling that she had âcome home.â We also discuss her fascination with the AIDS quilt as a child, and the beauty in finding queer elders in her synagogue. Portia also reflects on how she understands tikkun olam: rooted in how we care for others and in our responsibility to the balance of entire ecosystems.
Portia Elan studied history at Stanford University and earned an MFA from the University of Victoria before returning to California, where she has worked as a waitress, bookseller, teacher, and public librarian. She is a former Lambda Literary Fellow and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her wife and an abundance of cats. Homebound, Portiaâs debut novel, is a clear-eyed, hopeful work of speculative fiction about humanityâs future and capacity for love.Â
Homebound is a GMA Book Club pick and the latest selection for Nu Reads, the curated, bi-monthly book subscription service from Jewish Book Council.
Homebound Portia Elanâs Five Books:
Surprised by God by Danya Ruttenberg
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
The Encore by Juliet Izon
HOMEBOUND by Portia Elan
Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:
Alicia Jo Rabins on Composing a Life of Meaning
Yael van der Wouden on Rage, Desire, and Magic
Rabbi Sharon Brous on Finding Her Place in the Jewish Community
Other Books Mentioned:
The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua HeschelÂ
When the Emperor Was Divine and The Swimmers by Julie OtsukaÂ
The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each authorâs favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Sam Sussman, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Allegra Goodman.
â â â Sign up for our newsletterâ â â to get new episode reminders, authorsâ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Find us on Instagram â @fivebookspod â or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.
For feedback or author recommendations please email us at â team@fivebookspod.orgâ
For transcripts and more find us online at â www.fivebookspod.org â
The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! â https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrateâ
The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.Â
Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Amelia Merrill
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson Studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions
Dahlia Adler on Writing a Spicy Modern Orthodox Romance
In this conversation, Dahlia Adler discusses the emotional and cultural terrain of love, identity, and storytelling within and beyond the Modern Orthodox world. We explore the particular pressures and expectations around romance in a community where shared values, observance, and belief are foundational. Dahlia also reflects on her unexpected journey to understanding her own bisexual identity as a result of writing a sapphic romance. And we explore her deep love of flawed characters - from Biblical women, to her own protagonists and her commitment to rendering them with empathy, context and moral complexity.
Dahlia Adler is an award-winning author of romance novels for both teens and adults, a prolific YA anthologist, and the founder of the website LGBTQReads. Her novels include the Kids' Indie Next picks Cool for the Summer, Home Field Advantage, and Going Bicoastal, a Sydney Taylor Honor book. She lives in the New York City suburbs with her family. Â
Dahliaâs latest novel, Soon By You, is a rom-com set in the Modern Orthodox community on the Upper West Side.Â
Dahlia Adlerâs Five Books:
1. Alan and Naomi by Myron Levoy
2. Playing with Matches by Suri Rosen
3. Biblical Images: Men and Women of the Bible by Adin Steinsaltz
4. Sisters of Fortune by Esther Chehebar
5. Soon By You by Dahlia Adler
Other Media Mentioned:
- LGBTQReads
- Unorthodox Love by Heidi Shertok
Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:
Esther Chehebar on Marriage, Sisterhood, and the Weight of Tradition
Jean Meltzer on âJewitchesâ and Jewish Joy
Jessica Elisheva Emerson on Belief, Identity, and Womenâs Desire
Jennifer Weiner on âWomenâs Fictionâ
The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each authorâs favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Sam Sussman, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Allegra Goodman.
â â â Sign up for our newsletterâ â â to get new episode reminders, authorsâ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Find us on Instagram â @fivebookspod â or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.
For feedback or author recommendations please email us at â team@fivebookspod.orgâ
For transcripts and more find us online at â www.fivebookspod.org â
The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! â https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrateâ
The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.Â
Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen
Produced by Odelia Rubin
Editorial and website support by Amelia Merrill
Artwork by Elad Lifshitz of the Dov Abramson Studio
Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions