Sentimental Journey

In the new collected stories of Nathan Englander, and in his revised Haggadah, Jews cling tenuously to the easily broken chains of tradition

Pilgrim’s Progress

Creating Jewishness in a post-religious age: Leon Uris’ Exodus and S.Y. Agnon’s Only Yesterday paint Israel’s history in broad and fine strokes

Paper Chase

Until the widow of Yiddish writer Chaim Grade died last year, his archive was kept locked away in their stuffed apartment. Now it’s up for grabs.

‘Commentary’ Archive Heads to Texas

Ransom Center in Austin is a hotbed of Jewish literary papers

Missing

An Ezra Jack Keats exhibit at the Jewish Museum underscores the children’s book author and illustrator’s striking ambivalence about his Jewishness

Singer’s Typewriter, Heschel’s Suits

The things we carry

Magic Keys

Promised a prized object, an aspiring writer and family friend helped Isaac Bashevis Singer’s widow sort through his possessions. But some things will always remain out of reach.

The Gimpel With a Song in His Heart

Huppah Dreams

Less Interesting Jewish Books

Thank God we have better stuff to read

The Socialist

Friends and Politics, Part 2: Irving Howe. The prominent critic and I worked on Yiddish translations together, but a dispute over Israel and its Arab neighbors ruptured our relationship—until we reconnected over literature.