Suggested Reading & Resources

To improve your candidacy for any of HUC-JIR’s graduate programs, we suggest you familiarize yourself with these books and other sources on Jewish life in America.

Bible and Jewish Texts

• Friedman, R.E. Who Wrote the Bible? (San Francisco, CA: Harper Publishing; 1997.)
• Holtz, Barry. Back to the Sources. (New York, NY; Simon and Schuster; 1986.)
• Steinsaltz, Adin. Essential Talmud. (New York: Basic Books, 1979.)
• The TaNaKh (The Hebrew Bible) (PA: The Jewish Publication Society)

Reform Judaism

• Borowitz, Eugene. Liberal Judaism (NY: URJ Press, 1984)
• Borowitz, Eugene B. Reform Judaism Today, 2nd Ed. (New York: Behrman House, 1995.)
• Goldstein, Niles E. and Knoble, Peter S., Duties of the Soul: The Role of Commandments in Liberal Judaism. (New York: UAHC Press: 1999)
• Levy, Richard N., A Vision of Holiness: The Future of Reform Judaism. (New York: URJ Press, 2005)
• Meyer, Michael A. and Plaut, W. Gunther. The Reform Judaism Reader. (New York, UAHC Press, 2001.)
• Washofsky, Mark. Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice. (New York: UAHC Press, 2000.)

Jewish Thought, Practice and History

• Cohen, Steven and Eisen Arnie. The Jew Within. (Bloomington, IN; Indiana University Press; 2000.)
• Hertzberg, Arthur. The Zionist Idea. (New York: JPS, 1959.)
• Heschel, Abraham Joshua. The Sabbath. (New York : Noonday Press, 1996, c1979.)
• Hoffman, Larry. The Art of Public Prayer, Rethinking Synagogues and the Journey Home. (VT: Long Hill Partners, 2nd ed., 2009)
• Jacobs, Jill Cohen. Where Justice Dwells (VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2011)
• Mendes-Flohr, Paul R. and Reinharz, Jehuda. The Jew in the Modern World. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.)
• Steinberg, Milton. As a Driven Leaf. (New Jersey: Behrman House, c1996.)
• Strassfeld, Michael. The Jewish Holidays. (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1985.)
• “Way Into” series, (Jewish Lights), especially as edited by Cohen, Norman; Kushner, Larry; Hoffman, Larry
• Wolfson, Ron. Relational Judaism (VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2013)

Jewish Education

• Berger, Ron. An Ethic of Excellence (NH: Heinemann, 2003)
• Bolman and Deal, Reframing Organizations, 4th ed., (CA:, Jossey-Bass, 2008)
• Palmer Parker J. The Courage to Teach (CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007)
• Ritchhart, Mark; Church, Mark; Morrison, Karin. Making Thinking Visible (CA: Jossey-Bass, 2011)