The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That Shaped Them

One Thanksgiving, when Jordan Salama was home from school, he noticed a thick binder in his grandfather's basement labeled “Historia Antigua”, 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.

In this episode, we discuss Jordan’s process of ‘climbing out of a linguistic hole’ by learning his family’s 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.

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 Colombia’s Río 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 Salama’s 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 Magazine

Jordan Salama’s articles in the New Yorker

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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 author’s 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.

⁠⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on at ⁠www.fivebookspod.org, on Instagram ⁠@fivebookspod ⁠or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at ⁠team@fivebookspod.org⁠

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! ⁠https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate⁠

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.

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

Charming and wry, nonagenarian Francine Klagsbrun reflects on her unlikely Jewish education as a girl in the 1930s and 40s, on the seeds of her feminist activism, and on why she is grateful to have reinvigorated Henrietta Szold’s legacy.

Francine Klagsbrun has had a tremendous impact on the story of American Jewish women. Born in 1931, she has been a passionate advocate for women in Jewish religious life. Francine is the author of more than a dozen books, including Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel, which won the National Jewish Book Award in 2017.

She has been a columnist for New York Jewish Week and Moment, is a contributing editor to Lilith, and is on the editorial board of Hadassah Magazine. Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Newsweek, Ms.magazine, and other national publications.

Her latest book, Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream, reveals the complex life and work of Henrietta Szold, renowned as the founder of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America. She later moved to Mandate Palestine to help shape education, health, and social services there. The pinnacle of her career came in her seventies, when she took on the task of directing the Youth Aliyah program, which rescued thousands of young people from the Nazis and resettled them in Palestine.Using Szold’s copious letters, diaries, and essays, along with other archival documents, Francine Klagsbrun reveals Szold as a multi-faceted human being whose impact on women’s lives as well as on education and health systems still resonates. This book is part of the Jewish Lives Series, from Yale University Press. This episode was one of our very first episodes, broadcast initially in December 2024.

Francine Klagsbrun’s Five Books:

The Bible

Marjorie Morningstar, by Herman Wouk

The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth

The Propagandist, by Cécile Desprairies

Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream, by Francine Klagsbrun

Thank you to Francine Klagsbrun and Dr. Sarah Klagsbrun for sharing personal photos which are on our social media pages: @fivebookspod on Instagram and The Five Books on Facebook.

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 author’s 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.

⁠⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at ⁠team@fivebookspod.org⁠

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! ⁠https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate⁠

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.

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

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 she’s learned from Natan Sharansky, and how we should teach about Judaism as an anti-tyrannical movement.

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.

Regular listeners might notice that this is Dara’s second time on the show! We were delighted to talk to Dara about her book One Little Goat last April. If you haven’t yet heard it, you can go back to Dara’s first episode on the show and hear her talk about Tevye the Dairyman by Sholom Aleichem and Mr. Mani by A B Yehoshua.

Dara Horn’s 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 – one you once loved, misunderstood, or now see differently:

See Under: Love by David Grossman

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

Gentleman’s Agreement (film)

Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American by Rachel Gordan

“The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending” 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 Institute

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 author’s 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.

⁠⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on at ⁠www.fivebookspod.org, on Instagram ⁠@fivebookspod ⁠or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at ⁠team@fivebookspod.org⁠

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! ⁠https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate⁠

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.

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

With the Jewish holiday season fast approaching, many of us are thinking about holiday hosting. Rebekah Lowin has you covered: a challah recipe, an apple themed tablescape, an etrog mold dupe, and a Yom Kippur break-fast recovery packet for your guests. In this episode, Rebekah tells us about she became the Jewish Martha Stewart, reflecting on both her time working at Martha Stewart Living, and growing up in an artistic Jewish home, where her grandfather built a wooden sukkah that her family still uses and her Broadway actress mother sewed its draperies. She also talks about what it was like growing up without a Jewish community, and the unexpected impact of reading the children’s book Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.

Rebekah hopes her new book of recipes, rituals, and traditions, A Year of Jewish Joy, will help those living without tight-knit communities feel welcomed back into Judaism.

Rebekah Lowin is a writer and content creator known for her whimsical, design-forward approach to Jewish holiday cooking, décor, craft projects, and storytelling. Since launching her blog in 2019, she's partnered with dozens of national brands including Crate & Barrel, HGTV.com, and Food Network Magazine, bringing Jewish holiday ideas into mainstream media. Combining creative inspiration and cultural depth with a playful editorial sensibility, her work aims to make traditions feel fresh, accessible, and joyful for a new generation of Jewish readers.

Rebekah Lowin’s Five Books:

1. ⁠Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel and Trina Schart Hyman⁠

2. ⁠The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel ⁠

3. ⁠The Wisdom of Anxiety by Sheryl Paul⁠

4. ⁠A Time to Gather by Bruce Feiler⁠

5. ⁠A Year of Jewish Joy by Rebekah Lowin⁠

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy:

⁠Bruce Feiler on Making Meaning, One Ritual at a Time⁠

⁠Adeena Sussman on Flavor as a Jewish Language⁠

⁠Samantha Ellis on Becoming a Keeper of Her Ancestral Language⁠

⁠Bonny Reichert on Food, Fear, and Finding Beauty⁠

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 author’s 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.

⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on at ⁠ ⁠www.fivebookspod.org⁠, on Instagram⁠ ⁠@fivebookspod ⁠⁠or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at ⁠team@fivebookspod.org⁠

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!⁠ ⁠https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate⁠⁠

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.

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 — 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 (“lifequakes” as Bruce calls them), his journey walking the Bible and how it stems from his “rootedness” 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, America’s 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 Feiler’s Five Books:

1. Lech L’cha, 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.org

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 author’s 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.

⁠⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on at ⁠www.fivebookspod.org, on Instagram ⁠@fivebookspod ⁠or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at ⁠team@fivebookspod.org⁠

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! ⁠https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate⁠

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.

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