Taste of Torah: A Little Nosh of D'rash
Celebrating the Institute of Southern Jewish Life’s 13th anniversary, this book is a scrumptious bite into our tradition! With a dash of knowledge from our sages and sprinkles of insight from pop-culture, you’ll eat up the commentaries from the ISJL’s circuit-riding Rabbis. You’ll also find Jewish recipes with Southern twists, like sweet-potato challah, pecan-pie hamantaschen, and hush puppy latkes. A great gift to satisfy intellectual and culinary appetites! Thanks to the Lewis Bear Family Foundation, all proceeds support the ISJL in our efforts to sustain and strengthen Jewish identity and Jewish values throughout the South. So order your copy today – and bon appétit!

Price: $18.00

God's To-Do List
All human beings are made in the image of God. But for what purpose were you made? The biblical answer is clear: you are to imitate God in order to bring God's presence into your life and the lives of others.

Price: $17.00

The Spirituality of Welcoming
So often we want our congregations to be more compelling, more member-focused, more spiritual and yet more useful for our daily lives. Through reflection, examples, tips and exercises--and incorporating the fruits of Synagogue 2000 (now Synagogue 3000), a groundbreaking decade-long program investigating the challenges facing modern synagogues--this inspiring handbook both establishes a sound foundation for why a deep hospitality is crucial for the survival of today's spiritual communities, and dives into the practical hands-on how of turning your congregation into a place of invitation and openness. Copies of The Spirituality of Welcoming will be signed by author Dr. Ron Wolfson.

Price: $20.00

Shabbat: The Family Guide to Preparing for and Celebrating the Sabbath
Enriched by real-life voices sharing practical suggestions and advice, this creative resource helps to reacquaint us with time-tested traditions and discover old and new ways to celebrate Shabbat, including biblically-inspired songs and games, Shabbat-related crafts, and more family-tested ideas. Copies of Shabbat will be signed by author Dr. Ron Wolfson.

Price: $20.00

Be Like God: God's To-Do List for Kids
An inspirational guide for kids ages eight to twelve to be God's partner on earth. Finally, a book for kids ages eight through twelve that inspires a personal relationship with God. With good humor and clear examples, Dr. Ron Wolfson explains the biblical idea that every human being is made "in the image of God," and that people of any age have the potential to imitate God in order to bring God's presence into the world. Jewish tradition calls this "repairing the world."

Price: $16.00

The Seven Questions You're Asked in Heaven
In this charming, inspiring and wise guide to a well-lived life, beloved teacher Ron Wolfson provides an advance copy of the Seven Questions you'll be asked in heaven—whether you're a believer or a non-believer. The answers to these questions will help you shape a life of purpose and meaning on earth today. Wolfson tells you about these transformative questions and explores the values that are at the heart of a life that matters. He offers funny, insightful and poignant stories of how people—ancient and contemporary—have answered the Seven Questions through their everyday actions. He encourages you to reflect on your own life goals and provides ideas both big and small for achieving them.

Price: $17.00

Ethnic Heritage in Mississippi: The Twentieth Century
ISJL historian Dr. Stuart Rockoff has published an essay in the new book Ethnic Heritage in Mississippi: The Twentieth Century. Entitled “Chai Cotton: Jewish Life in Mississippi,” the essay explores the fascinating history of Jews in the Magnolia State, including their early settlement in Mississippi, their important role in the state’s commercial economy, their assimilation to local culture, and the demographic trends that have reshaped the state’s Jewish community in recent decades. Copies of Ethnic Heritage in Mississippi will be signed by Dr. Rockoff.

Price: $40.00

Modern Jews Engage the New Testament
Despite the New Testament's impact on Jewish history, virtually all Jews avoid knowledge of its underlying dynamics. Jewish families and communities thus remain needlessly stymied when responding to a deeply Christian culture.

This long-awaited volume offers an unprecedented solution-oriented introduction to Jesus and Paul, the Gospels and Revelation, leading Jews out of anxieties that plague them, and clarifying for Christians why Jews draw back from Christians' sacred writings.

While written primarily with Jews in mind, this groundbreaking volume will also help Christians understand issues involved in the origin of the New Testament, the portrayal of Judaism in it, and why for centuries their "good news" has been a source of fear and mistrust among Jews.

Price: $30.00

Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels by Hella Winston
When Hella Winston began talking with Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn for her doctoral dissertation in sociology, she was surprised to be covertly introduced to Hasidim unhappy with their highly restrictive way of life and sometimes desperately struggling to escape it.Unchosen tells the stories of these "rebel" Hasidim, serious questioners who long for greater personal and intellectual freedom than their communities allow.

Featured in the book is ISJL Director of Community Engagement Malkie Schwartz who grew up in the Ultra-Orthodox community. She "left" that community in her teens and founded a nonprofit Footsteps that assisted people like her to make the transition from insular communities to the world.

Price: $15.00

The Jewish Pedaler: Southern Cycling Sabbatical, by RabbI Robert Levy
Let's be honest, not many of us could bike across one state, let alone four while stopping to support small Jewish congregations along the way. Yet, that is exactly what Rabbi Robert Levy did on the ISJL Southern Cycling Sabbatical last spring. And, now you can take this inspiring journey, captured in TheJewish Pedaler, with him. Join Rabbi Levy, as he guides the reader over amazing obstacles on his path of discovery: finding new friends and fresh perspectives of the American Jewish South along the way. In addition to donating his time and energy for this amazing journey, Rabbi Levy is also donating all proceeds from the sale of this book to the ISJL.

Price: $13.00

Landsman, by Peter Charles Melman
An unforgettable debut novel, Landsman is the Civil War story of Elias Abrams - orphan son of an indentured Jewish immigrant - who flees his sordid New Orleans gangland home to enlist in the Third Louisiana Infantry. Vividly detailed in exquisite prose, Landsman is at heart a morally complex look into a war that destroys most everything it touches, and yet, in this telling, ultimately changes one man for the better.

Paperback Price: $25.00

A House of David in the Land of Jesus, by Robert Lewis Berman
A compelling story about what was once a relatively large Jewish community in the rural town of Lexington, Mississippi, their remarkable achievements, and great relationships with the Christian community – both black and white – that has lasted for over 150 years. Filled with heart-warming stories, it includes a chapter about Henry S. Jacobs Camp, the Museum and the Institute, and their Lexington connection – all with a suspenseful ending. It is a “History of Goodness” that deserves to be emulated.

Paperback Price (autographed): $18.50

Hardcover Price (autographed): $26.50

You Never Call! You Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother, by Joyce Antler
"You Never Call! You Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother” is Antler’s latest scholarly investigation. Heralded as “the definitive study of Jewish motherhood in the popular imagination,” the book delves not only into the historical and intellectual underpinnings of “Jewish mothers,” but also provides insights into the broader trends of the American experience. As Antler points out within this book, even those who do not have a Jewish mother might well have an Italian mother, an Irish mother, or exposure to women whose overlapping roles of mother-and-member-of-an-ethnic-group merge into a new iconic paradigm. The Jewish mother here becomes a lens into the phenomenon of the developments of cultural lore, stereotype, and the influence of society on groups and groups on society. In this way, the topic readily establishes a rapport and common reference among participants and program leaders.

Price: $25.00                       

Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History, edited by Marcie Cohen and Mark I. Greenberg
For more than a century, historians have wrestled with the story of southern Jews.  What is the southern Jewish experience? Is southern Jewish culture distinctive from that of other regions of the country, and if so, why? Jewish Roots in Southern Soil addresses these questions through the voices of a new generation of scholars of the Jewish South, including ISJL Historian Dr. Stuart Rockoff.  Essays address historical issues from the colonial era to the present and in every region of the South. Topics include assimilation and American Jewish identity, southern Jewish women writers, the Jewish Confederacy, Jewish peddlers, southern Jewish racial identity, black/Jewish relations, demographic change, the rise of American Reform Judaism, and Jews in southern literature. Softcover.

Price: $30.00

Lone Stars of David: The Jews of Texas, edited by Hollace Ava Weiner and Kenneth D. Roseman
Lone Stars of David is an essay collection of lively written, lavishly illustrated, and well-documented narratives on the history and culture of Texas Jews written by historians, journalists, and rabbis who have experienced Texas firsthand, including ISJL Historian Dr. Stuart Rockoff. They tell the stories of Jews who ventured to Texas before the battle of the Alamo, who fought for the Confederacy, who herded cattle up the Chisholm Trail, who drilled for oil, and who forged Jewish communities far from New York’s Lower East Side. Jews make up only 0.6 percent of the state’s residents, yet their impact has been widespread. This anthology explores the resiliency, diversity, and adaptability of Jews in the Lone Star State, a place with its own powerful sense of identity.

Hardcover Price: $35.00

Marcie Cohen Ferris : Matzoh Ball Gumbo
Since early colonial times in America, Jewish southerners have been tempted by delectable regional foods, though some of these, such as pork and shellfish, have been traditionally forbidden to Jews by religious dietary laws. In a culinary journey through the Jewish South, Matzoh Ball Gumbo explores how southern Jews embraced, avoided, and adapted southern food and, in the process, have found themselves at home. Featuring a trove of photographs, Matzoh Ball Gumbo also includes anecdotes, oral histories, and more than thirty recipes to try at home.

Hardcover Price: $30.00

Cultural Corridors: Discovering Jewish Heritage Along Interstate 20

This self guided tour book written by David Sampliner and edited by Dr. Mark I. Greenberg explores the culture and history of Jewish communities between Dallas and Atlanta. Sampliner recounts the tales and sites in lively detail. But he also provides excellent routes and directions so you can experience the Jewish heritage in these towns as well.

From abandoned synagogues to peg-legged tight rope walkers, Cultural Corridors offers an enlightening peek into our past and the people you'll meet along the tour provide a glimpse into the future.

Price: $7.50

The Jewish Community of Shreveport
This is a pictorial history of one of Louisiana's oldest and most significant Jewish communities. Written by historian Eric J. Brock, archivist of Shreveport's B'nai Zion Temple, the book chronicles the progress of Shreveport Jewry from the first settlers in the 1820s to the present day. Illustrated with over 200 photographs.

Paperback Price: $20.00

The Jewish Confederates
Written by Robert N. Rosen, this is "an eye-opening, myth-shattering, stereotype-breaking work of originality, elegance, and wisdom. A must-read for Civil War buffs, Jewish history fans, and all Americans interested in learning."

Hardcover Price: $40.00Now $30 if you order by phone!

Jews in Early Mississippi, by Leo E. Turitz and Evelyn Turitz
This one-of-a-kind volume includes more than 400 photographs depicting the history of Mississippi Jewry between the 1840s and 1900. A must have if your family history includes Mississippi.

Paperback Price: $25.00

The Lonely Days Were Sundays
Eli Evans combines knowledge of his region and his Jewish heritage into a complex and subtle mixture of insights that intertwine autobiography with observation and information. He brings to his writing the unique perspective of one who has grown up Jewish in the Bible Belt.

Paperback Price: $16.00

Clara Lowenburg Moses: Memoir of a Southern Jewish Woman
In this first MSJE Historical Publications Series offering, author Wendy Machlovitz expertly portrays the life and times of Natchez native and free spirit Clara Lowenburg Moses. Chapters detail Natchez Jewish history, Clara's trials and tribulations through adolescence, married life, and widowhood. Her world includes a "wicked" stepmother, a deeply troubled husband, numerous brushes with death, and many happy days with family and friends.

Sale Paperback Price: $12.00

The Peddler's Grandson
Edward Cohen's story is a search through his past to find his identity in the present. He always wished to be a "M.O.T." (Member of the Tribe), but what tribe, and where? His quest for belonging and identity as a Jew and Southerner are two things that seem to him, and to the world, as discordant dualities. How Cohen comes to terms with his identities makes for fascinating reading.

Paperback Price: $13.00

Hardcover Price: $25.00

The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South, by Eli Evans
This classic portrait of Jews in the South takes readers inside southern and Jewish histories from the earliest immigrants to the present day. Fully updated with 100 new pages, it brilliantly evokes the rhythms and heartbeat of southern Jewish life. Evans intertwines his life growing up in Durham, North Carolina, with stories of communities, individuals, and events on this unfamiliar American landscape.

Paperback Price: $25.00

Shalom Y'all: Images of Jewish Life in the American South
This book tells the unique story of the Southern Jewish Experience through three distinct voices: Bill Aron's evocative photographs, a narrative woven into descriptive captions, and person stories, memories and anecdotes told by Southern Jews. The book covers all aspects of Southern Jewish life from chopped liver to bagels and grits, from synagogue to civil war cemeteries, from towns named for their Jewish forbearers to the vibrant communities which exist today. A fitting gift for anyone who has southern Jewish roots. Photos by Bill Aron. Special edition for the Institute of Southern Jewish Life.

Hardcover Price: $25.00

Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke’s Louisiana; by Lawrence N. Powell
This publication dramatically reveals how Holocaust survivor Anne Levy turned the horrors of her childhood into a passionate and ultimately successful mission to defeat David Duke’s 1991 bid for the Louisiana governorship.

Hardcover Price: $35.00