Twelve Essential Jewish Books to Inspire Your Mind and Uplift Your Soul
The Jewish people have been called the people of the book. But how can we access that timeless knowledge?
One simple step in communing with the expanse of Jewish wisdom is build a Jewish library of your own.
Fill your home with books that make you a little higher. Not to stand on, or reach with a ladder, but to give yourself a little spiritual lift! We’re talking books that lift your whole home higher. Even if you never read them — they’re there and their presence has an effect on you and your home. Of course, we won’t protest if you peek inside one now and again…
By the time you’re done, your house may look like it’s still on planet earth, but really it’s flying. Life is getting higher by the minute.
What kind of a house do you have? Whatever it’s full of, that’s what your house will be. Our house is full of Jewish books. Four thousand years worth of Jewish books. So it’s a 4,000 year old house. A house that’s built to last forever.
To help you get started on your Jewish library, we’ve culled the vast archives of Jewish thought and wisdom and selected twelve books that will inspire, make your think, uplift your soul and captivate the mind.
Is there a Jewish book that you recommend? Let us know in the comments below!
The Jewish Library Starter Kit
Includes The Chumash, Psalms, Siddur and Tanya
Your desert island collection of Jewish books. These four timeless classics are a must for every Jewish home. (They can also be enjoyed individually)
This set includes the Chumash, the five books of the Torah, with a clear English translation and concise commentary, Tehilim, the epic poetry and timeless words of the Psalms, the Tanya, the foundational work of Chabad Chasidic philosophy and a personal guide to the soul, and the daily and weekly prayers found in the Siddur
Daily Wisdom
By Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky (446 pages)
Inspiring insights for each day of the week, based on the Torah portion. This book offers a quick collection of 378 pithy lessons. Perfect for a thought on the go or a morning meditation to start your day off right!
Pirkei Avot — Ethics of the Fathers
Commentary Complied by: Rabbi Yosef Marcus (248 pages)
The sages of the Talmud collected their ethical wisdom and distilled it in these six simple chapters
The Talmud states “One who wishes to be a chasid, should practice the words of Avot (Ethics of the Fathers).”
This handsome edition of Pirkei Avot features a new anthologized commentary from the works of the Classic Commentators and the Chasidic Masters.
Kitzur Shulchan Oruch (The Code of Jewish Law)
by Shlomo Ganzfried (Two Volumes 795 pages)
The classic guide to the everyday observance of Jewish law, compiled in a clear easy to follow abridged form. This edition features a crisp modern translation with notes and diagrams by Rabbi Eliyahu Touger.
Positivity Bias — Practical Wisdom for Positive Living
By Mendel Kalmenson (404 pages)
As news outlets and social networks give a constant stream of depressing news, it’s time for a little positivity in our lives. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the world or just looking to introduce more positivity into your life, this book is for you.
Positivity Bias shares vignettes and teachings from the Rebbe that speak deeply to the moment. An inspiring and life-enriching tapestry woven from hundreds of stories, letters, anecdotes, and vignettes — Positivity Bias highlights how the Rebbe taught us to see ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History
By Joseph Telushkin (640 pages)
The Rebbe’s influence and impact continue to grow in unprecedented measure. Over the span of over four decades, the Rebbe expansive weltanschauung encompassed practical daily guidance on positivity and confronting life’s difficulties.
While the Rebbe’s multifaceted vision transcends any single work, in recent years various books have attempted to distill and share his legacy. This book is the gold standard for biographies — both informative and deeply personal. Read it and you’ll see why Joseph Telushkin’s captivating portrait of the Rebbe is a New York Times Best Seller. Blending biography and personal histories, the Rebbe’s personality is revealed to the reader.
The Essential Talmud: An Introduction Hardcover
by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (327 pages)
The Essential Talmud is a masterful introduction by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz to the great repository of Jewish wisdom, the Talmud. A book of profound scholarship and concise pedagogy, The Essential Talmud succinctly describes the Talmud’s history, structure, and methodology. It summarizes the Talmud’s main principles, demonstrates its contemporary relevance, and captures the spirit of this unique and paradoxical sacred text as a human expression of divine law.
Wisdom to Heal the Earth
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (516 pages)
Can we really change the world? Does Judaism actually empower us to make a difference in everything around us?
Through fifteen profoundly engaging essays and almost 400 daily meditations, the Rebbe’s worldview of Tikun Olam to individuals and communities everywhere, preparing readers for the inner and outer-directed work that will permanently transform life on earth for the good.
Subbota — My Twenty Years in Soviet Prison
By Leizer Nannes (468 pages)
Leizer Nannes (writing as Avraham Netzach) survived twenty years of captivity in the prisons and slave-labor camps of the Soviet Union. Throughout two decades of tremendous human suffering, he remained faithful to his religious principles. In every prison in Russia, he was known as Subbota (Sabbath), for despite of all efforts by his oppressors to break him, he never worked on Shabbat. The cry of thousands who went through the same terrible experience, but did not have the good fortune to come out alive, is echoed in his work.
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