ArtScroll Biography & Jewish History Guide: What to Read Next

Choose a Jewish biography when you want to spend time with one person's life. Choose a history overview when you want to move across places and periods. The subjects may overlap, but the reading experience is different, and that difference is a useful place to start a gift or your next Shabbos read.

Reb Moshe: a sustained biography

Reb Moshe, Expanded Edition, by Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, tells the life of Rav Moshe Feinstein. This edition expands the earlier biography with additional accounts, documents and photographs.

It is a candidate for a reader interested in following one Torah leader's life over time. If buying a gift, check whether the recipient owns the original or expanded edition. “A book about Rav Moshe” is not enough information to avoid a duplicate.

A useful reading question is how an account connects the public role of a gadol with the way he related to individuals. Let the narrative supply the detail; there is no need to read a biography as a list of quotations to collect.

Rav Nota: Torah and communal life beyond the major centers

Shmuel Botnick's Rav Nota focuses on Rav Nota Greenblatt and his work from Memphis, Tennessee. Its subject offers a different setting from the large Torah centers that dominate many readers' familiar biographies.

Consider it for someone interested in communal responsibility, teaching and chessed as well as an individual life story. If a reader enjoyed a biography because it showed how a community was built, that interest may be a better guide than buying another book solely because it has a prominent name on the cover.

Great Jewish History: an illustrated overview

Great Jewish History, by Rabbi Moshe Bamberger, uses illustrated entries, summaries and Torah perspectives to cover a broad historical span. It offers a different format from a single chronological biography.

That makes it worth considering for a reader who enjoys opening a book at an individual subject, viewing images and then following an interest further. It should not be confused with a comprehensive academic treatment of every era. Check the contents and sample pages for the scope you want.

For a child or family read-aloud

The Story of Rebbetzin Henny Machlis brings a particular family's hospitality and chessed into focus. If you are buying for a younger reader, inspect the text and decide whether it is an independent read or something to share with an adult.

Adult biographies can contain subjects and historical experiences that need context. A child's age does not settle that question. Our children's reading guide helps distinguish a shared biography from a story a child can comfortably pick up alone.

Three questions that improve the choice

• What did the reader enjoy last? Ask whether it was the person, the place, the writing style or the historical period.
• How do they read? A sustained narrative and short illustrated entries fit different habits.
• What do they already own? Check the exact title and edition, especially for an expanded biography.

Language needs checking too. An English title in a collection does not establish the language of every other volume in that aisle.

A gift with a personal reason

A short note can explain the choice: “You mentioned enjoying books about smaller Jewish communities, so I thought the Memphis setting would interest you.” That is more personal than presenting a book as something every serious reader must own.

Browse Jewish biography and history books, checking the actual book description for genre and language. For building a wider shelf, use our Jewish home-library plan.