(Part 2) Best books about judaism according to redditors
We found 685 Reddit comments discussing the best books about judaism. We ranked the 302 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
22. Pesach Haggadah - Shirat Miriam
3 mentions
Made by Jewish EssentialsDimensions: 7W x 9.5H inPurple
Yes. Even as far back as Maimonides, we have statements like this: "the account of creation is not all to be taken literally,"
Edit: Also vaccines, GMOs, global warming and a whole host of other science. Also, it should be noted that a lot of times when science was rejected in favor of religion it was more about politics, ex: Galileo
http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2016/10/ten-questions-on-evolution-and-judaism.html
http://rabbisacks.org/great-partnership/
Also see the book, which is also my flair: Torah u'Maddah (Torah & Secular Knowledge)
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
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amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
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>...one man called the borchu while the rest of us were leaving. I get that he was probably davening at a different pace than the rest of us but I don't really know the how/why.)
It is a fairly common practice for someone who came late and missed borchu to do it at the end of davening.
>How do people decide to be Breslover? What would be the things that would be special/distinct about Breslover life, versus my experiences with MO and Chabad?
A lot of people find Breslov attractive for a variety of reasons. In particular, Breslov takes a very realistic attitude towards personal growth, emphasizing that failure - repeated failure - is an integral part of the growth process and the main thing that matters is never giving up.
I personally am not Breslov, so I'm obviously not the most qualified to tell you how to learn about their approach, but I can say that there are a number of good books on the subject available in English that can give you a decent introduction:
You probably saw the Pritzker edition of the Zohar. It’s a multi-volume text translated by Daniel C. Matt. Matt is a well respected scholar of Jewish mysticism. The text isn’t really for beginners. It’s a critical edition of the Zohar for more academic study.
However, Matt has published some small collections of passages from the Zohar which he thinks can be understood by beginners and are of interest. Here is Matt’s book The Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment. Matt has also published some selections from the Zohar along with some annotation, which can be found here. For a general introduction to Kabbalah, I’d recommend Matt’s text The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism which can be found here. The Essential Kabbalah is a collection of different passages from a variety of Kabbalistic texts which Matt has selected in order to explain some different concepts in Kabbalah. Thus by reading The Essential Kabbalah you are able to learn about Kabbalah from the primary sources themselves. All of these books are, of course, beautifully and engagingly translated by Matt himself. Feel free to start with those books.
Temurah 16a:
שלשת אלפים הלכות נשתכחו בימי אבלו של משה אמרו לו ליהושע שאל א"ל (דברים ל) לא בשמים היא אמרו לו לשמואל שאל אמר להם אלה המצות שאין הנביא רשאי לחדש דבר מעתה
Three thousand halakhoth were forgotten during the period of mourning for Moses’. They said to Joshua: ‘Ask’; he replied: It is not in heaven. They [the Israelites] said to Samuel: ‘Ask’; he replied: [Scripture says:] These are the commandments, implying [that since the promulgation of these commandments] no prophet has now the right to introduce anything new.
Whether we are to take this aggadata literally or not, the message is that while the Oral Torah does definitely communicate content, it more importantly communicates a system. Yes, the Talmud records debates over unsettled issues and eventually the law is decided in accordance with one side. This is all in accordance with the system of Oral Torah transmitted at Sinai. We don't look directly to heaven for a halakhic decision, we don't look to a Prophet who may not issue new law - rather we look to the system of Oral Torah. If you would like to have a firmer grasp of the different elements of the Oral Law, I suggest studying Maimonides introduction to his commentary on the Mishnah. You can find it available in Hebrew here, or purchase a translation.
I highly recommend From Sinai to Ethiopia, by R' Sharon Shalom to anyone interested in this. He was taught by the Kessim and received semiha in Israel:
https://www.amazon.com/Sinai-Ethiopia-Rabbi-Sharon-Shalom/dp/9652296376
Read some stuff from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov:
His writing is intended for someone in your position!
There's this book if you're interested
Rey Lead > BB8 Roll with the Punches >> Insight >>>>>>>> BB8 Heal/Rey Self Cleanse.
That’s for the first Zeta.
As for her first Seder, this Haggadah isn’t bad.
Also, I’m disappointed you edited that typo and made my wonderful joke look insane. :(
The Zohar dates to about 13th century Spain, so it's not "authentic" in the sense of being contemporaneous with the Hebrew Bible. To understand it you'll need a decent background in the Hebrew Bible. A basic understanding of Neo-Platonism is helpful , but not necessary. If you decide to read it, be prepared, it can be tough.
Here's link a good resource https://www.amazon.com/Zohar-Enlightenment-Classics-Spirituality-Paperback/dp/0809123878/ref=sr\_1\_fkmr0\_1?keywords=zohar+classic+if+western+spirituality&qid=1562598202&s=books&sr=1-1-fkmr0
This book (as the person linked before me) is incredibly good. It has pretty much all the information you need to start out. Cannot recommend it enough.
Well, if you're looking for controversial, you probably could get somewhere with The Open Orthodox Haggadah.
Possibly check out A Passover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn. There's A Night to Remember: The Haggadah of Contemporary Voices, The Holistic Haggadah, Carlebach Haggadah, and the Koren Ethiopian Haggadah as a few more suggestions.
https://www.artscroll.com/Categories/PBK.html
https://www.artscroll.com/Categories/BL1.html
You should know that we have an extensive Oral Torah that will not be covered by those two books. A good start might be "Jewish Literacy" and "Maimonides' introduction to the Talmud"
If you want a why, I'd recommend this book. The punishment is left intentionally vague. In temple times, the punishment on the books was death by stoning (although the death penalty was literally impossible to enforce given that it required the perpetrator to be clearly warned before the act, verbally acknowledge it to two witnesses and then perform the act in front of two witnesses).
Now, it's really a personal moral decision to follow God's law. The Talmud says various unclear things about reward and punishment in the afterlife, but there's no Christian-style fire and brimstone.
Based on your flair, I would definitely recommend The Nineteen Letters (online version).
>Modern Orthodoxy deliberately defined itself as a breakaway movement.
Modern Orthodoxy is a continuance of the ancient tradition of balancing Judaism with outside factors which is extant throughout Jewish history. See R' Lamm's Torah UMadda, but until you actually read it, the Rambam's own recommendations about the obligation to learn secular studies should suffice and in fact holds that learning secular studies even qualifies for Talmud Torah.
>Our sages forbid studying secular "Greek wisdom" in the Gemara.
Then it's a good thing no one learns Greek wisdom anymore. Except those who learn the multitude of instances where Chazal repeats all the Greek wisdom they were learning and all the praise they had for it.
>Our sages enacted countless laws specifically to encourage insularity
They made laws to prevent intermarriage, not to sever contact with the nations.
>Gender falls in to this category
The Torah has gender distinctions, but significantly fewer glass ceilings than modern Orthodoxy.
A lot of it is borrowed from surrounding ancient cultures and adapted to tell a Jewish story.
​
The mabul was a popular story. It shows up in the Epic of Gilgamesh and other places. But where in Gilgamesh, the gods bring the Flood because people are noisy and annoying them, in the Torah's version it's a morality tale.
​
Shimshon = Heracles, right down to the lion skin he wears.
​
The Gan Eden story is borrowed from a story about the god Enki and the Goddess Inanna, in which Enki becomes sick after eating forbidden plants in Inanna's garden, and Inanna created goddesses to help heal him, including Ninsurtu, the Lady of the Rib.
​
Yetzias Mitzrayim probably really did happen - sort of. Not millions of people leaving after ten plagues and all that, but there were Semetic slaves in Egypt, and small groups did occasionally escape. Many of them went to the Canaanite highlands and joined a group known as the Habiru. It's possible that one such group had some sort of religious experience in the desert, and that was the seed that grew into the story we have now.
​
I go into a lot of detail on Yetzias Mitzrayim in my book, if you're interested, though that's not the focus.
https://www.amazon.com/Reasonable-Doubts-Breaking-Second-Son/dp/1690831723/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia?keywords=kuzari&pd_rd_i=1690831723&pd_rd_r=9bf82796-c25c-4830-ac4a-5751bd71b17d&pd_rd_w=etflI&pd_rd_wg=YKhwe&pf_rd_p=1cb3f32a-ccfd-479b-8a13-b22f56c942c6&pf_rd_r=8Z3EGTQSGS3SR2Z1W1N3&psc=1&qid=1573922229
Wow, this seems like a case of IRL typosquatting: there is a much more famous New American Haggadah which OP's friend may have intended to buy instead.
I think you're getting ahead of yourself if you're diving into Gemara - especially if your Hebrew is poor. I would start with something more basic, Chumash with Rashi's commentary is considered pretty basic and essential, but not in a derogatory way. If you're looking to buy sefarim I would recommend Metsuach's Chumah with Rashi :http://www.amazon.com/Metsudah-Translation-Bereishis-Leviticus-Deuteronomy/dp/1931681856 <- this is a smaller size, there's a full size edition somewhere, try eichlers.com (not enough time for me to search for it now)
EDIT: Another thing that comes to mind, not text study, but even though I've been baal teshuva for 4 or 5 years I'm in the process of reading Teshuvah: A Guide for the Newly Observant Jew by Adin Steinsaltz, a lot of it I wish I had read earlier, I definitely recommend it!
Elaine Pagels is a great contemporary scholar of Christian religion, and particularly textual and historical explication. Her The Origin of Satan is fascinating, and The Gnostic Gospels is a solid survey of some of the lost branches of early Christian tradition.
Gershom Scholem is one of the last century's great explicators of Judaism and mysticism, particularly the Kabbalah. I doubt there's a book he's written that isn't worth reading, but the best place to start may be his book On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, particularly the chapter on the relation of mystical experience to community norms.
Speaking of Kabbalah, it's recent popularity speaks poorly of what is an otherwise venerable and serious tradition of symbolism and ethical concern. If you're interested in spiritual literature, it's probably not a bad idea to take a stab at the Zohar. There's an abridged translation by Scholem out in paperback, but you're probably better off with this edition.
That comes, incidentally, from a series of books issued by a Catholic publisher, Paulist Press, under the name Classics of Western Spirituality, which is generally excellent. So far as I know, it's the only press currently printing some truly classic historical texts, so their catalog is worth browsing. They're particularly good, as you might suspect, on early Christian texts -- I don't know where else you'd go for something like Carthusian Spirituality -- but they also have Sufist, Judaic and non-mainline texts. In particular, I'd say pick up the Pseudo Dionysus.
While we're on the subject of early Christian writers, there's The Desert Fathers, The Cloud of Unknowing, Revelations of Divine Love -- the last of which is a notable early example of feminine Christian spirituality.
On the more modern end, there's Simone Weil, the tragic Marxist-cum-Catholic. I'd recommend either Waiting for God or Letters to a Priest]. While we're talking about modern Christian theology, we should note three of the most important names of the 20th century: Paul Tillich, Rudolf Otto, and Tielhard de Chardin. The books to start with, respectively, are Dynamics of Faith, The Idea of the Holy, and The Divine Milieu.
Shifting away from Christianity, another major name in 20th century theology is Martin Buber, the Jewish German mystic. His I and Thou is the most generally applicable and was widely influential in existential circles, but he also wrote widely on issues of Jewish identity.
More in the mainstream of Jewish tradition, there's the Talmud, although the sheer size of the writings that full under that name are the sort of thing that scholars give their lives over to. For our purposes, something like Abraham Cohen's Everyman's Talmud will generally suffice.
And finally, I just recently bought The Three Pillars of Zen, which is widely held to be the best practical introduction to the topic available in English. There are a bewildering amount of books on the subject, but without some sort of framework for understanding their relation to the historical traditions, it can be nearly impossible to sort out which are worth while.
EDIT: Forgot linking by reference isn't working; fixed with inline links.
I went to two seforim stores and finally picked new haggadahs for this year - Shirat Miriam by Rav Rimon and Haggaddah for the Curious. They'll suit me and my in-laws' seder pretty well this year. And I want to get Gadi Pollack's Desert Diary to read with my kids between Pesach and Shavuos.
This is not a new book at all.
Check out Tomer Devorah (tree of Devorah). It is available in the original Hebrew and has been translated into many languages over the years.
"The Jewish Book of Why" explains the reason/s behind various Jewish traditions. As a fellow secular Russian Jew, I found it to be the perfect combo of informative and not preachy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0142196193/
https://www.amazon.com/Judaism-Discovered-Anti-Biblical-Self-Worship-Superstition/dp/0970378459
I think a lot of people contact their rabbis about many things; they're not just judges issuing rulings, but also counselors giving advice. Ideally, it's good advice. Groups more invested in kabbalah/mysticism, including Hasidic and some Sephardi groups, tend to put great stock in holy men of their generation. Joseph Gutnick, an incredibly rich dude who supports a lot of Jewish things, from the Chabad edition of the Chumash to this crazy center in Hebron, credits his fortune to the Lubavitcher Rebbe telling him to go to the Australian desert and search for gold and diamonds. There was recently a huge scandal with R. Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, a Sephardi rabbi in New York that a lot of business men went to see. I liked this article, I thought it explained some of the more secular appeal beyond the obvious spiritual appeal. There were a series of similar scandals not too long ago with R. Elazar Abuhatzeira, who had a similar reputation in Israel (these rumors and scandals ultimately culiminated in his murder). There are, for the record, many men with holy kabbalistic reputations who aren't so followed by scandal, and I don't want to paint them all with a broad brush.
R. Pinto said he didn't give specific business advice, just he offered blessings [apparently only to certain projects] and sometimes connected like minded followers. I asked one of my Sephardi friends who has a hedge fund if he ever met with Rabbi Pinto and he just laughed at me and said, "You know how big a donation it would take just to walk in the door?"
I'm just gonna leave the link here and you can do with it as you please.
https://www.amazon.com/Reasonable-Doubts-Breaking-Second-Son/dp/1690831723
Ok, here's an idea (I'm assuming you don't have a lot of Hebrew?):
Start with Genesis, and Rashi's commentary on. There is a nice interlinear translation (Metsudah: http://www.amazon.com/Metsudah-Translation-Bereishis-Leviticus-Deuteronomy/dp/1931681856).
See where that takes you. (You can get the volumes one at a time)
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Maimonides – Between Philosophy and Halakhah
and there is an English language version for those who need it too.
I really like James Micheners "The Source", which tries to tell the story of the origins of religions in the form of a novel.
For Islam you absolutely must read "Islam: The Religion and the People" by Bernard Lewis.
For Judaism I would suggest "The Jewish Book of Why" for traditions and "Our People" for history.
And for Atheism you can read "The Rubayat" by Omar Kayyan.
If you want to learn about Judaism from now backround go with ARtscrollhttps://www.amazon.com/Chumash-ArtScroll-Haftaros-Commentary-Anthologized/dp/0899060145/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 or Gutnick https://www.amazon.com/Chumash-Gutnick-All-one-Synagogue/dp/1934152013
Hello /u/Moonpo1n7, thanks for stepping by in /r/kabbalah . First we need to know what you are really looking for. There is Kabbalah with K., and then there is Cabala, Qaballah, Christian Qabbalah etc.
Kabbalah with K is the Jewish thing, a series of writings and commentaries and writings written by Jewish Rabbis through the ages.
And there is the other Kabbalah, called Qabbalah, Cabala, etc. which is a doctrine that took Kabbalistic notions (Jewish ones), and integrated them in a newer philosophy called Gnosticism. Now, about Gnosticism (I will use wikipedia):
> Modern research (Cohen 1988) identifies Judaism, rather than Persia, as a major origin of Gnosticism. Many of the Nag Hammadi texts make reference to Judaism, in some cases with a violent rejection of the Jewish God. Gershom Scholem once described Gnosticism as "the Greatest case of metaphysical anti-Semitism". Professor Steven Bayme said gnosticism would be better characterized as anti-Judaism. Recent research into the origins of Gnosticism shows a strong Jewish influence, particularly from Hekhalot literature.
The relationship between Gnosticism and Jewish Kabbalah:
> Gnostic ideas found a Jewish variation in the mystical study of Kabbalah. Many core Gnostic ideas reappear in Kabbalah, where they are used to dramatically reinterpret earlier Jewish sources according to this new system.
In our times, there are some Gnostic schools that are claiming to teach Kabbalah (take for example this guy: Samael Aun Weor, who started to teach Kabbalah togheter with other things Tarot, Sexual Magic. He had lots of followers... Of course, he wasn't teaching (Jewish) Kabbalah, but some New Age stuff).
I can understand that is pretty confusion what I am saying, but /u/ActualShipDate and /u/0_- are speaking from the point of view of Gnosticism, and not Jewish Kabbalah.
Now, about Jewish Kabbalah. Finding good reads is pretty difficult, as the Jewish people tend to become pretty insular. Some consider that there's no need for Kabbalah in our times for the masses, and some consider that Kabbalah shouldn't be teached to non-Jews. Only a little minority are translating Kabbalistic books.
Things I should recommend to a beginner:
I was the "Jewish Mom" of my college friends, so hosted seders every years for my Jewish friends, and we invited some non-Jewish friends who were interested in coming, too.
Here's what I did: Find a grocery store near you that has the Maxwell House Haggadah. It's pretty basic, all the prayers are transliterated, so everyone can read along, and it has all the fun things that your Jewish friends, practicing or not, will probably remember from when they were kids. I'm pretty sure they are free, but if not, you can get them online for $2 per book. Go through the Haggadah first, if you're leading the seder, and decide which portions you'll do and which portions you'll leave out, this will make things run more smoothly. If you're looking for something with a bit more depth, but still approachable, I'd also recommend The New American Haggadah. It's got commentary from 4 different authors who all approach Judaism from different angles, so there's something in it for (almost) everyone.
You can find seder plates pretty cheap, but if you don't have one/can't afford one/don't want to buy one, no problem. My first year hosting, I used a normal dinner plate with a bunch of ramekins arranged around it. You can also get a bone for the seder plate pretty cheap or free from the butcher section of your grocery store.
As far as food goes, I'm not much help, but I will say there's no shame in making the dinner part of things potluck-style. Assign people certain dishes to make or bring. Cooking for 10 people when you're not used to it can be expensive and difficult and there's no reason to carry all of that yourself.
Finally, enjoy yourself. It sounds like the group attending the seder will not be very familiar with anything that goes on. Follow the ritual of the seder, use the Haggadah, tell the story, but don't make it into a serious, formal affair. Actually choose your youngest friend to ask the 4 questions usually assigned to the youngest child. We used to have our non-Jewish friends search for the Affikomen, but you can hide it yourself and have everyone go search for it.
I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions you may have. Like I said, I hosted on a college budget, so you can do it, too!
http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Monsters-Natan-Slifkin/dp/9652295817
>It was you who split open the sea [Yam] by your power
A body of water is called a "yam." For instance, the Sea of Reeds, often mistranslated as the Red Sea, the body of water that split, is called the "yam soof". The Mediterranean sea is called "יָם הַתִיכוֹן" "yam hatikcon." To say point to the Canaanite God Yam as some sort of proof is just abusing language.
>There is the seven headed dragon referenced multiple times ......; The Book of Isaiah
First off, why are you giving me a line of tehillim if you Isaiah is your source?
However, Rashi clarifies this.
the heads of Leviathan: Pharaoh is called [by] this [name], as it is said (Isa. 27:1): “the Lord will visit with His hard… sword on leviathan, etc.”
You give it as food to the people in companies: You gave his money to the people of Israel to consume.
Additionally, without violating copyright too intensely, because I'd have to take pictures of a few pages of this book to show you everything it says, Sacred Monsters by Natan Slifkin sums up the Leviathan as such: "there is one school of thought which interprets the accounts of leviathan literally to refer to a fish of gigantic dimensions that is unknown to science. But according to the medieval rationalist school of thought, the leviathan of the Aggadah (stories from the Talmud) is a metaphor for a concept, which scriptural accounts of leviathan may sometimes be a reference to creatures such as whales, crocodiles, and possibly sea serpents, and at other times also serve as metaphors..."
Don't drive yourself too crazy about it. I went in full speed and spent many boring shabbos days by myself with nothing to do because I didn't live near a shul or other Jews. No reason to go in 100% at first, especially if you are a convert-to-be so there's no actual prohibition for you now. If you can go to a synagogue, do so! Don't stress about not knowing what is going on, just go and listen and absorb the atmosphere.
My recommendation is to focus on the spirit of Shabbat rather than the nitty-gritty, especially for the first time. Light your Shabbat candles at the right time, crack open a bottle of wine, have some bread, eat some dinner, and read read read. You are starting to observe Shabbat but aren't sure all of the details, so might I suggest a book about Shabbat observance? The Sabbath by Heschel is also a beautiful poetic book about Shabbat that may help you get into the spirit of it. To Be A Jew, To Pray as a Jew, and Becoming a Jew are all great beginner books, the last geared towards converts. They all explain various aspects and details of observance, including Shabbat observance. You say you've read all you can, but these books all include very detailed information on exactly the timeline of events.
Since I became observant with no synagogue nearby, I found my Shabbat mornings to be much more meaningful when I would go outside to pray (in whatever capacity I was able-- either in Hebrew or English or just from the heart). There is something lovely about the Californian sunshine in that regard, I guess! Shabbat days are really long and boring by yourself, and I'd have non-Jewish friends come visit me and we'd take walks or just hang out in the backyard. I wouldn't do anything I'm not allowed, and they would obviously do whatever. We just wouldn't pick our activities as anything electronic-based, money-based, etc.
I wouldn't worry too much about details like blessings unless you want to say them in English. I felt really awkward doing that at first, but maybe you won't. If you know something isn't allowed, try not to do it. If you know something isn't allowed but it's really a burden and taking away from the spirit of Shabbat this weekend (like you left your bedroom light on), deal with it, but acknowledge that when you are 100% shabbat observant you can't do that. No reason to be miserable your very first Shabbat, or maybe you'll get a bad impression :) It gets easier the more comfortable you are with it. Depending on how this week goes, next week, add one or two more observances.
To answer your question about specific dinners, well, my husband and I eat anything on Shabbat. We are not stringent to only eat meat or fish, so sometimes we eat dairy. To me, the food you have on Shabbat should be a delight, something you are excited to eat or something you don't eat often. We make very normal typical dinners, usually, and I never ever make cholent or most of the 'traditional' foods. This week (for just the 2 of us) I am making shredded chicken build-your-own tacos for dinner and a big pasta salad full of lots and lots of veggies and grilled chicken for lunch. When we have company, it would be more traditional a meat-starch-2 or 3 vegetable meal.
If you have any more specific questions, I'd be happy to answer as someone who has kind of been there and done that!
Rabbi Rimon's Shirat Miriam Haggadah.
I'd recommend R' Yosef Zvi Rimon's Haggadah and not just because I edited it.
He's a brilliant Rav, and undoubtedly will be in the talks for Chief Rabbi one day. Great insights, discussion points, games to play with the kids, etc.
Maimonides' Introduction to the Talmud
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1880582287/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1-kMAbSZ4RGZJ
This book outlines the rambam's legal method and definitions. It's basically why I consider myself a rambamist.
Find a rabbi you are comfortable with, and don't be shy to meet with a few before moving forward.
I had met with two rabbis before choosing the one who made me feel the most comfortable with my decision. The first two I met with were orthodox, quite conservative and I didn't click with either and the process seemed a bit too intense for what my fiance and I were looking for. Then we came across a reform synagogue and we fell in love with the rabbi there and we're completing our first round of classes in a couple of weeks.
It's been a beautiful process so far and it's exciting! There are several books I too found good, some of them were provided with our classes as well:
Best of luck in your research!
Allow me to suggest Gates of Shabbat, all of Joseph Telushkin's books, and The Sabbath.
I have not read rambams sons book, I will check it out. When I googled it one of the top posts was an old reddit post where you posted a link, thanks. From what I saw though some say the apple fell far from the tree.
A lot of why I see rambam as conceiving this way is from his introduction to commentary on
mishnahavos which I mentioned above, if you haven't read it I definitely recommend. I have searched for an English version online but have never found, had to order from amazon.And I think the Rav reads this conception into rambam and is the foundation for a lot of his ideas.
I'll also recommend this book if you're interested in the Rav on Rambam
Maimonides Between Philosophy and Halakhah: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchiks Lectures on the Guide of the Perplexed https://www.amazon.com/dp/965524203X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ZLE6BbHBZ9PEM
Here's another that just came out, and is free right now on Kindle:
Stoicism - Maya Bennet
I haven't read this one yet, so can't comment on the content.
Modern orthodoxy is mostly based on Tum
Torah U'madda- founded by R' Nochum Lamm read his book describing it.
You might also like Torah Im Derech Eretz- founded Rav Shampson Rafael Hirsch, I recommend his Nineteen letters.
Also free on the AU store (for a change hah): https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B079WVYPNH/ref=pe_1007802_166382312_TEM1DP
Judaism is far worse. It is a racial religion of self-worship and deceit. May I suggest either of these:
It turns out there is a reason why Jews have been expelled from more than 100 countries. Jews are far from blameless. Lets hope they can begin to change and become better neighbors.
Trying to force political correctness down your boyfriend's throat will not work. There are plenty of soothsayers who say positive things about all sorts of alien cultures and beliefs, but your boyfriend is unlikely to accept what he reads at face value.
A far more productive thing is to awaken your boyfriend to the true role of Jewish power and Jewish influence in the Western world. This helps lend some perspective on the question of how important (or unimportant) Islam is by comparison.
If your boyfriend can begin to grasp this, he will thank you for opening his eyes and probably come to realise that Muslims are a minor threat to Western civilisation - especially if your boyfriend lives in America.
Here are some good videos, books, and essays about Jewish influence in America:
Download the preface to Culture of Critique here or here(pdf).
Is your boyfriend opposed to the war in Iraq? If so you might want to show him these:
Is your boyfriend religious? If so I would recommend the following books:
Free E Michael Jones Podcasts here, here, and here.
If your boyfriend is NOT religious, I recommend any of the following:
Listen to what the Jews get from Yahweh if they keep their side of the bargain.”
>"And it shall be, when the Lord thy god shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not....”
There are various things the Jews are required to do in order to get possession of all this loot from the Gentiles. Just compare what the Jews wanted from their god with what our own pagan ancestors might have wanted in a similar situation. We might have asked for courage on the battlefield, perhaps even for victory over our enemies or for a plentiful harvest — but can you imagine us begging specifically to be given the fruit of other peoples’ labor, without having to work for it ourselves?”
Islam does not pose a military threat to America or the West. If Americans and NATO get out of Muslim lands and stop supporting Israel, this threat will disappear.
Islam does pose somewhat of a demographic threat to the Western world. Western peoples are being displaced by third worlders in all of the nations they founded. But this is primarily the result of Jewish political activism in the 1960's to reform the immigration laws in America and the rest of the Western world.
Here are few good sources to research the Jewish role on immigration policy:
TL/DR: The Islamic threat is hyped up Jewish propaganda. Jews pose a far greater threat.