Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs by Sergey Kadinsky is a guide book, in a way, to New York City before it was one of the largest cities in the world. This is a book about the effacement of nature beneath the city, and how to find those traces that remain. As such, it is a book that examines mysteries buried beneath our feet.
The Emperor Far Away: Travels at the Edge of China by David Eimer, is an excellent account of China’s vast and confusing array of ethnic “minorities” to the west and south of the Middle Kingdom. Eimer is both well versed in both contemporary and historical Chinese that reading this is effortless and educational at the same time.
Scattered Among The Nations, by Bryan Schwartz, Jay Sand, and Sandy Carter is a gentle investigation of various groups around the world who are already Jews but isolated, or groups that are isolated and are rapidly becoming Jews. This book is about the little known process of "Judaization,” although the authors never use that word. It is interesting to think that these groups may be part of the future of Judaism.
The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious
Books) by John J. Collins is part of an excellent and readable series of how to
read, or what to expect from reading, great religious books. Another great biography in this series is on
the Talmud. For someone like me, who
paid close attention to the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1990s, when there was a
great deal of controversy concerning the dissemination and publication of the
scrolls, this volume is a great way to get caught up without diving too deeply
into details.
Sacred Treasure - The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Synagogue Attic by Rabbi Mark S. Glickman is a compelling history of the Cairo Genizah. The similarly titled Sacred Trash is also about the genizah and is a good companion to this book.
Odd that I did not know this (or forgot) this: the entire contents of the genizah were removed and put in the courtyard of the Ben Ezra Synagogue a few years before Schechter arrived, due to a badly needed renovation of the shul. The image of the genizah has always been as a place hidden from view for centuries. How did such delicate documents hold up on the transport to the courtyard?
