The 12th Annual Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival, presented by the Washington DC Jewish Community Center’s Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts, promises to “appeal to book-lovers with diverse interests including history, humor, fiction, politics, children’s stories and many more.”

I’ll say. The line-up runs the gamut from comedian Sarah Silverman with her autobiography The Bedwetter to Princeton University Press authors Jerry Muller, author of Capitalism and the Jews, and Samuel Heilman, author of the controversial biography The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

The Festival runs from October 17–27, 2010. A full list of events and descriptions can be found at washingtondcjcc.org/litfest.

The 12th Annual Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival, presented by the Washington DC Jewish Community Center’s Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts, promises to “appeal to book-lovers with diverse interests including history, humor, fiction, politics, children’s stories and many more.”

I’ll say. The line-up runs the gamut from comedian Sarah Silverman with her autobiography The Bedwetter to Princeton University Press authors Jerry Muller, author of Capitalism and the Jews, and Samuel Heilman, author of the controversial biography The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

The Festival runs from October 17–27, 2010. A full list of events and descriptions can be found at washingtondcjcc.org/litfest. Tickets will be available starting September 15th.

I confess I was attracted to this book by the title: Capitalism and the Jews (Princeton, 2010). Capitalism is a touchy subject; Jews are a touchy subject. But capitalism and the Jews, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t suggest you try this, but just imagine what would happen if you started a water-cooler chat with “Hey, what do you think of capitalism and the Jews?” Not pretty. So, being a bit curious, I wanted to know who would write a book with said title and what they could possibly say that wouldn’t get people calling for their head. Well, here’s what I found out.

Read more over at New Books in History and listen to their interview with Jerry Muller.

Patricia Cohen interviewed Samuel Heilman, co-author with Menachem Friedman of THE REBBE, in today’s New York Times. Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the death of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and his life and legacy are still the source of much inspiration and conversation. Gary Rosenblatt wrote an article in New York Jewish Week about the life and work of the Rebbe, and discusses the book, as well. Finally, Tablet Magazine posted a brief review of the book as part of their “On the Bookshelf” feature.

Check out the authors’ website here.

The Rebbe:
The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson
By Samuel Heilman & Menachem Friedman
Chapter one now online: http://bit.ly/aILcs7

The Rebbe tracks Schneerson’s remarkable life from his birth in Russia, to his student days in Berlin and Paris, to his rise to global renown in New York, where he developed and preached his powerful spiritual message from the group’s gothic mansion in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This compelling book demonstrates how Schneerson’s embrace of traditionalism and American-style modernity made him uniquely suited to his messianic mission.

Allan Nadler, professor at Drew University and regular contributor to The Forward, has written an engaging review of THE REBBE: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson by Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman. Read the entire review here.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has some strong opinions on the new biography of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, one of the most compelling religious figures of the twentieth century. Also known as the Rebbe, Schneerson was the charismatic leader of the Lubavitcher movement, once a relatively small sect within the Hasidic Judaism, and now a powerful force in Jewish life.  Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman have penned a new biography titled THE REBBE: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, which Rabbi Boteach reviewed first in New York Jewish Week, and then recently in The Jerusalem Post. Today, Rabbi Boteach pens another article, an opinion piece, which further discussed his thoughts on the Rebbe and the new biography on the Jerusalem Post site and on Beliefnet. Check out the new book and join the conversation!

And if you are in the New York area, don’t miss Samuel Heilman discussing THE REBBE tomorrow, June 2, at the Manhattan JCC, 334 Amsterdam Ave. at 76th St., at 7:30 pm.

Early Modern Jewry: A New Cultural History
By David B. Ruderman
Read the introduction online at:  http://bit.ly/cRYvvT

Early Modern Jewry boldly offers a new history of the early modern Jewish experience. From Krakow and Venice to Amsterdam and Smyrna, David Ruderman examines the historical and cultural factors unique to Jewish communities throughout Europe, and how these distinctions played out amidst the rest of society. Looking at how Jewish settlements in the early modern period were linked to one another in fascinating ways, he shows how Jews were communicating with each other and were more aware of their economic, social, and religious connections than ever before.

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9160.html

Join Jerry Muller, author of Capitalism and the Jews, for a discussion of a heretofore taboo subject at the Kansas City Public Library tonight. Muller will present a serious historical discussion of the complex relationship between Jews and money from the medieval history of usury to the 21st century.

Kansas City Public Library on May 4th. For more details, visit the library site.

Event details:

Date/Time:   May 4, 2010, 6:30pm

Location: Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

About the event:
Muller will explain why the Jewish experience with capitalism has been so important and complex, as well as ambivalent.

Drawing on economic, social, political, and intellectual history from medieval Europe through contemporary America and Israel, Capitalism and the Jews examines the ways in which thinking about capitalism and thinking about the Jews have gone hand in hand and why anti-capitalism and anti-Semitism have frequently been linked.

Copies of Capitalism and the Jews will be available for sale, and Muller will sign copies purchased during the event.

Admission is free. A 6 p.m. reception precedes the events. Click here or call 816.701.3407 to RSVP.

Jerry Muller, author of Capitalism and the Jews, will make a presentation on his book at the Kansas City Public Library on May 4th. For more details, visit the library site.

Event details:

Date/Time:   May 4, 2010, 6:30pm

Location: Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

About the event:
Muller will explain why the Jewish experience with capitalism has been so important and complex, as well as ambivalent.

Drawing on economic, social, political, and intellectual history from medieval Europe through contemporary America and Israel, Capitalism and the Jews examines the ways in which thinking about capitalism and thinking about the Jews have gone hand in hand and why anti-capitalism and anti-Semitism have frequently been linked.

Copies of Capitalism and the Jews will be available for sale, and Muller will sign copies purchased during the event.

Admission is free. A 6 p.m. reception precedes the events. Click here or call 816.701.3407 to RSVP.

The official publication date is February 17th, but we just saw a nice review for Capitalism and the Jews by Jerry Z. Muller in Publishers Weekly that noted, “In four fascinating essays, Muller (The Mind and the Market) sensitively examines how centuries of nomadism and diaspora have shaped Jewish financial life. …Muller backs up his bold assertion—that capitalism has been the most important force in shaping the fate of the Jews in the modern world—with elegance and care.”