Welcome to Our Table Rabbi Ari Wasserman Distributed by Feldheim / 465 pp. Ari Wasserman has done it again! This time with a parsha sefer, a book on the weekly Torah portion. As the subtitle says, it is full of "Words of Torah, Insightful Questions and Inspiring Stories." There are two entries on every parsha. Every entry contains a short Dvar Torah. Following the opening Dvar Torah, there is another short essay, often a story, thought, and/or practical application of the opening Dvar Torah. Finally, a question is posed that is intended to trigger the mind and the mouth. The book is made especially personable as it includes responses that the author received from guests and family when he first posed the question at his table! Being familiar with virtually every other "Family" parsha book that is available today, I can assure readers that "Welcome to Our Table" has upped the bar and set a new standard. I conclude with a sample from this week'
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Reason To Believe
Reason To Believe Rational Explanations of Orthodox Jewish Faith By Rabbi Chaim Jachter Menorah / 250 pages While I generally only write on works of halacha, and furthermore, I generally run away from works of philosophy, I was very intrigued by Reason to Believe. That's because it's not too often that you find a "Rambam" - a master of halacha and also a master of philosophy. But Rabbi Jachter, a noted New Jersey halachic authority and author of numerous halachic works, has struck a grand slam with his recent book. Although there are a number of books out there on defending Torah Judaism, Reason to Believe is very unique in that it presents arguments in support of Torah Judaism whose primary target audience is orthodox Jews! Some of the topics include Emuna, proof for the Divine origin of the Torah, lesser-known interpretations of Biblical stories (especially interesting in this category is a rationalist explanation of the ten plagues), comparing science with T