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It’s Summertime – Any Good BT Related Books to Recommend?

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This was first published Jan 15, 2008
Any other books to recommends since this was post was last republished?

Dear Moderators,

I have so enjoyed and learned from your blog over the past few months. It seemed to appear to me at just the right time in my progress as a BT. Thanks for providing this invaluable resource for all of us.

An acquaintance of mine with a Reform background has expressed interest in my process of becoming observant and might be considering becoming a BT as well. I have been asked for book recommendations and, while I’ve read several helpful and interesting books, I know that not everyone is affected in the same way by the same type of book. I don’t believe there’s been a post on Beyond BT asking for readers to comment about their favorite BT-related books, but I think this would be a great idea. It could be a type of “question of the week” and let readers comment with the title, author, and a few words about the book.

42 comments on “It’s Summertime – Any Good BT Related Books to Recommend?”

  1. The new issue of Jewish Action, which is not yet online, has a fascinating review by R Jack Abramowitz of what appears to be an important book by a CJ mom of two BTs and her adjustments to their lives.Such books would IMO, aid and ameliorate some of the intergenerational stress that takes place among BTs with their parents.

  2. For Elul, as evidence of how a person’s views change-I just finished “When General Grant Expelled the Jews”, by Professor Jonathan Sarna. It is an easy but profound read how a great general issued an order with very anti Semitic implications, but after it was rescinded, became a great Ohev Yisrael in his role as President of the US.

  3. Someone mentioned Rabbi Pliskin’s Guard Your Tongue. I would second that, and also recommend his book on chesed, which I think is called Love Your Neighbor. In fact, I would recommend all of Rabbi Pliskin’s works.

    For Halacha, not for the seeker but for someone already committed trying to figure out what to do, I would recommend the works by Rabbi Shimon Eider, zatzal, regrettably taken from us too early. Rabbi Eider’s books on practical halacha are incredibly helpful to everyone, whether the topic is Pesach, Niddah, Shabbos, Tefillin, Four Minim, or the Three Weeks. I don’t know if his works are out of print – track them down if you don’t have them, the best “how to” guides I can think of. (I dug out my old copy of his “Halachos of the Three Weeks” for guidance on the Nine Days and the “pushed-off” Tisha B’Av and 11 Av).

  4. In 2008 I recommended THE ROAD BACK by Rabbi Meyer Schiller and also JEWTHINK by Rabbi Avi Shafran (available online, just google it).

    I strongly suggest these, as well:
    THE UNIVERSAL JEW by Yosef Hakohen (available on Amazon.com)
    Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh vol 1 (you can read it online/print-out or buy it at bilvavi.net)

  5. I think inspiration books of short thoughts or stories to be a quick and non-threatening way to inspire secular Jews. I like Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski’s books for that especially:
    Let Us Make Man
    I am I
    Waking up Just in Time (comments on life through “Peanuts” cartoons)
    When Do the Good Things Start (also “Peanuts”)
    & many others

    & Rabbi Yaakov Salomon
    Something to Think About (stories which look at life through Torah lens)
    & several others

    I think the “Magid” series by Rabbi Peysach Krohn & Rabbi Hanoch Teller’s story books also to be a good springboard that can lead to learning more about Torah

  6. While many excellent books are listed, I must agree with Mr. Coleman. I was delighted to see him list Adin Steinsaltz’s
    book, “Teshuvah: A Guide for the Newly Observant.” I found this to be the single most helpful book I read while becoming frum. Rabbi Steinsaltz gets to the core of the issues, and with so much clarity and honesty. It was a relief to read this book, which I did many times over!! Some 25+ years after my first read, it still has a profound impact on me. . Rabbi Steinsaltz writes about the real issues facing the b.t. and more, he warmly extends a hand to accompany the reader on their journey. I hope it is still in print!

  7. Guard Your Tongue by Rabbi Pliskin. If this is how a Jew is meant to act, then Torah must be divinely given. (At least that’s what I said when I read it.)

  8. I’m glad that people already mentioned the books This Is My God by Herman Wouk and To Be A Jew by Haim Halevy Donin. I read both more than thirty-five years ago, when I was first “coming back,” and they are true classics. I would also second the recommendations for the books by Mayer Schiller and Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis.

    I’d also like to recommend the famous books of Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zatzal, starting with Rejoice O Youth and Sing Ye Righteous. Rabbi Miller’s command of the English language is awesome and his knowledge of secular history and science, as well as limudei kodesh, is just amazing.

    Someone recommended Chaim Potok’s coffee-table popular-appeal Jewish history book. I think the name was Journeys, although I could be mistaken, it came out approximately 1983 or something like that. I would not recommend it. One gets the idea that Potok was rushed by his publisher to get it finished in time for Chanukah gift-giving and so whole chapters on modern Jewish history are missing. There are far better works on Jewish history.

  9. Several that I got a lot out of a number of years ago (which have already been mentioned) are: This is My God and To Be a Jew. What I remember liking about these (I could be wrong since I read them about 20 years ago) was that they were very positive and non-threatening. Even before that, I recall becoming interested in books such as these by reading about Jewish history, which gave me the feeling that there was something guiding the history of the Jewish people and that there was a lot to my religion than I had learned in hebrew school. These history books weren’t written from a religious perspective, but they had that effect on me. The ones I remember were The Indestructible Jews and Chaim Potok’s pop (meaning for non-historians) history of the Jewish People, the name of which escapes me at the moment.

    I happen to think today that Rav Chaim Sabbato’s books (at least the ones I have read) are great and inspiring for both religious and non-religious people alike, and they are not hortatory and thus are non-threatening, but they are in Hebrew so probably best recommended for an Israeli potential BT.

  13. The Miraculous Journey by Rabbi Yosef Eisen.

    A book of Jewish history from creation all the way up to the present.

  14. Let me add a brand new book of RYBS’s thought entitled “Abraham’s Journey.” There are many discussions therein that are helpful to any BT.

  15. Great list. I’d vote for TO BE A JEW as a great option. Again, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis’ books are excellent, as is THE ROAD BACK by R Schiller.
    While it’s not in print anymore (if I had the money, I’d republish it myself)a little book called JEWTHINK by R Avi Shafran is amazing. It’s available online here:
    http://tinyurl.com/yqjlgg
    and well worth the printer paper to print, read, and enjoy, IMHO.

  16. I would like to add my endorsement of three books previously mentioned which were a great influence when I became a Ba’al T’shuva in the late 70s:

    1. THIS IS MY G-D, Herman Wouk
    2. THINK JEWISH, by Zalman Posner (Posner, a
    non-Meshichist Chabad Rabbi writes a number
    of short, penetrating essays that challenge
    the intellect)
    3. TO BE A JEW, by Chaim HaLevy Donin (my first
    “Shulchan Aruch” before I knew what the
    Shulchan Aruch was; a great practical guide
    for the beginning observer, gentle and not
    at all overwhelming or intimidating)

    I would add a fourth:

    NINE QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK ABOUT JUDAISM, by
    Telushkin & Praeger

  17. I happened to be in Israel and picked up a paperback copy of Pirke Avos in a used book store. I read part of it, and the commentary, ( I think by a right wing conservative org or left wing ortho) and was hooked! The style – not prose, not poetry — intrigued me, it didn’t seem like other Western books I had seen before. And the content blew me away.

  21. I would also go with This is My God for the reasons that Mark stated as well as R Donin’s To Be a Jew. R Maurice Lamm has a book for potential Gerim that deserves more publicity that it has received. There is an excellent English translation of RYBS’s “AL HaTeshuvah” as well for someone interested in delving into the halachic process behind teshuvah and the various modes of teshuvah that the halacha encompasses-Ahavah, Yirah, etc.

  22. Funny, I didn’t think (like Ron) about the books that first impacted *me*.

    Early on, at a USY regional kinnus, Danny Siegel (of tzedakah project fame) recommended that I get a good English Tanach and read it all the way through. Not to stop a lot for questions the first time, but rather be sure that at least I was familiar with it. Great advice. Great book! :-)

    Rabbi Donin’s books were essential a few years later. BTW, he was fine, kind gentleman whom I met briefly a few times since his son David was in the dorms at Bar-Ilan. I still recommend these books highly.

    Challenge    , published by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, let me know that there were college educated people-serious scientists!-who were committed to Torah. The second volume, Encounter, is also very good that way.

    I’m sure I’ll think of something else…

  24. If one is at all science oriented I highly recommend Gerald Schroeder’s “The Hidden Face of God”. In this book Dr. Schroeder delves into the world of molecular biology to illustrate the wisdom with which we were created.

    I find it hard to believe that anyone could read this book and walk away not believing in a creator. I think it should be required reading for all Yeshiva science teachers.

  25. Recently I’ve been reading Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, and intend to send it as a HS graduation gift to a young man with many doubts. Mark, I 100%+ agree with you about This is My G-d, with an additional reason for why. While it won’t, in and of itself “turn anyone on”, it’s a great introduction to Judaism, covers lots of bases. And it’s very readable, which makes sense since it’s author, Herman Wouk, is a novelist. Fern, good point about Rebbetzin Jungreis’s books – they’re all excellent and inspiring.

    For dating couples there’s Areyeh Kaplan z’tl Made in Heaven.

  28. I have a different perspective than the majority of commenters. I think the ideal first book to give someone who has shown interest in becoming more observant should be more inspiring than substantive. I’m not suggesting that the book should be total fluff, but I think that a lot of people want to get swept up first and then get down to the nitty gritty. To that end, I suggest Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis’s The Committed Life. It is a nice mix of information and inspiration. I know that whenever I read that book (and I’ve read it multiple times) I am inspired work on my personal growth as a Jew.

    Another book that I read early on that was really helpful was Blu Greenberg’s How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household. I tend to be a worrier about the “what, where, when, and how” sort of things. That book helped explain some of the nuts and bolts of living an observant life.

  29. I read a few things that were helpful at a certain point, but that I couldn’t read in the same way now.

    One was Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent. It gave a voice to Torah in a way that I had never seen/heard before. I never thought Torah was real growing up (nor was I taught that), and this gave it a way to seem real.

    Similarly, James Michener’s The Source provided a narrative through time that helped me to develop a potential historical framework.

    On a different note, there is a book by Rabbi Zalman Posner called, ‘Think Jewish’. There is a chapter about not viewing Judaism through the religious lens that was developed by the Christian religion. Drawing attention to those differences was very helpful for me.

  30. Artscroll Chumash with english translation and commentaries.

    Also, I was thinking about a retired relative who was a history teacher; that I might offer a gift of some of Rabbi Spiro’s or Rabbi Wein’s works on Jewish history. Sometimes it works to touch an area of the person’s life that they are already committed to.

  32. >>this was given out as a Bar/Bat Mitzvah present from my parents’ Traditional/Conservative synagogue to each child

    My Reform Temple gave me “The Unconquered – Jewish Folklore for Children,” by Joseph Gaer. I must have read it dozens of times, and I feel it greatly added to my Jewish pride. Anyone ever hear of it?

  34. Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin’s To Be a Jew
    Aha – this was given out as a Bar/Bat Mitzvah present from my parents’ Traditional/Conservative synagogue to each child.

    I wonder if there’s any connection there to the number of kids who became BTs (~15% my class year!) – or just the fact that it *was* traditional and the Rabbi had frum teachers teaching real stuff in the afternoon Hebrew school.

  36. I second Rabbi Mordechai Becher’s

    Gateway to Judaism: The What, How & Why of Jewish Life

    Also, this is perhaps non-conventional and of course by no means a “theological” book –

    Secret War Against the Jews by John Loftus.

    The reason that I included this example is because for me it serves as strong evidence that if everything was based on “natural law” we would’ve met our demise as a people long ago.

    Lofuts (who happens to be a non-Jew) is only quoting the historical record and makes no theological arguments in his work. However, after reading about all the nefarious plots (700+ pages worth) to do us in I couldn’t help but walk away with

    “Lo Yanum v’Lo Yishan Shomer Yisrael” – “The Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps”

  37. If you can’t think of a particular sefer to recommend, perhaps you can comment on the first Torah book you *did* read and why you would or wouldn’t think it would be a good first book for others.

    (Note: We’ll find a link for the book, so don’t worry about your HTML coding skills).

  38. This is fascinating, because presumably people are recommending the books they found most useful in their early steps. I’ll name the two that were the most profoundly influential to me, too, but with the caveat that perhaps I should have read one or two of the books recommended by someone else, first — and maybe I’d be a better person and a better Jew today!

    Really critical for me in Year One was Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin’s To Be a Jew. It’s old fashioned, not exactly “haredi,” and for those reasons I found it to be a gentle introduction to how to be an observant Jew while also starting my first year of law school.

    It wasn’t until the next year that I came upon Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s Teshuva, a Guide for the Newly Observant Jew. He is also not in the mainstream of yeshiva thinkers, and indeed publishers and publicists make rather outrageous claims for his impact and influence on book jackets and the like. But I devoured this book, absolutely ate it up, and Rabbi Steinsaltz is after all one of the outstanding BT’s out there, notwithstanding the controversy kicked up around him from time to time. This book absolutely got me to the “next level.”

  39. For someone who’s into ‘groovy’stuff, other belief systems, etc. (or was that only my generation?) Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s books on meditation are excellent and true to Torah. Jewish Meditation is meant to be a practical guide. Meditation and the Bible, and Meditation and Kabbalah are examinations of the roles meditation has played in the broader spiritual disciplines of Torah. I think Meditation and the Bible helps create a different sense of appreciation for the Tanach than some books can.

  42. Herman Wouk’s “This is My G-d” is a great first book because it relates all the basics about Torah Judaism and is very easy and pleasant to read.

    It was first recommended to me by Rabbi Yitzchak Kirzner zt”l and when I gave it to a non-religious friend, he said it was the first book he could actually read.

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