Other Writing

Beth Kissileff has contributed pieces to many publications, including The Atlantic, The Tower, Tablet, the Forward, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Haaretz, Religion News Service and Hadassah. Her complete resume (PDF) is available for download, with selected publications below.

Fiction

What’s not there: Soul Searching in Israel. First chapter of Questioning Return excerpted in Tablet magazine (http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/217749/whats-not-there-soul-searching-in-israel) November 11. 2016
Willing Donor (Jewish Fiction.net)
The Rov’s Legacy (Zeek Magazine)
Counterfeit (Michigan Quarterly Review 53:3)
I’m Not Here for Myself (Michigan Quarterly Review 57:5 Winter 2019)

Reviews and author interviews

A Summer Reading List… from Whimsy to Weighty. July 13, 2021. The Wisdom Daily.
Review of Cynthia Ozick’s Antiquities for Sources Journal, forthcoming summer, 2021.
A psychological thriller about four Israeli women and their Biblical role models. The Christian Century, June 30, 2021.
Moshe Rosenberg on his new Superhero Haggadah. The Wisdom Daily, March 16, 2021.
An Interview with the editor of Can Robots be Jewish? The Wisdom Daily. March 11, 2021. Amy Schwartz speaks about her anthology drawn from the Moment Magazine column Ask the Rabbi.
Ilan Stavans Reflects on His New Anthology. The Wisdom Daily. November 12, 2020.
Nathan Englander’s New Book Hearkens back to its religious roots. The Wisdom Daily May 14, 2019.
Essential Reading: Fiction. https://www.christiancentury.org/article/books/essential-reading-fiction The Christian Century. May 9, 2018.
Dr Elisha Waldman on End of Life Care for his Jewish and Arab Patients. http://thewisdomdaily.com/dr-elisha-waldman-on-end-of-life-care-for-his-arab-and-jewish-patients/. The Wisdom Daily May 3, 2018.
ZUckerman Unbound in our Town. Review of Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 22, 2018.
A Reading list to Transport you to Israel in Honor of its 70th Birthday. The Wisdom Daily. April 11, 2018.
The Collection of Haggada Masterpieces that lets us learn by looking. Wisdom Daily. March 29, 2018.
Bringing Daf Yomi to Life and Vice Versa. Review of Ilana Kurshan memoir If All the Seas Were Ink. Tablet, September 5, 2017
What we eat connects us. Lilith blog, April 7, 2017.
The Haggadah that uses magic to make the seder accessible. The Wisdom Daily. Posted March 28, 2017.
Conversation in Dialogue between Shimon Adaf and Lavie Tidhar about Art and War (+972 Magazine, 5/7/2016)
The Mysteries of Moses, a review interview of Chanan Tigay’s Lost Book of Moses (Tablet, 4/22/2016, and a Mosaic editor’s pick)
“Painting the Town,” a review of The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothchild (Jerusalem Post, 4/7/2016)
Review and interview with Geraldine Brooks on The Secret Chord, a book on King David (Jerusalem Post, 12/11/2015)
“Giving Words Body and Soul,” a review and interview with author Aviya Kushner of The Grammar of God (Jerusalem Post, 9/18/2015)
The Many Songs of David, an interview with Rabbi David Wolpe on David: A Divided Heart (University of Pennsylvania Gazette, September-October 2015)
Review and interview with Aviya Kushner’s The Grammar of God (Tablet, 9/9/2015)
Review of Patrick Modiano’s Pedigree (Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 12/13/2015)
Review and interview with Avivah Zornberg on her new book on Numbers, Bewilderments (Tablet, 3/9/2015)
Interview with Mark Polizzotti, translator of Nobel Laureate Patrick Modiano (Jewish Book Council, 3/6/2015)
Review of Honeydew by Edith Pearlman (Jerusalem Post, 2/20/2015)
Easing the Pain with Literature: Interview with Shimon Adaf, (Forward, 2/20/2015, p. 2)
Eight New Israeli Writers You Need to Read Right Now, (Forward, 5/22/2014)
Fridays with Zalman: The Spiritual Wisdom of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a review of The December Project (Tablet, March 2014)
Review of Netanya by Dror Burstein (Jewish Book World, Spring 2014)
Two Books Explore New Perspectives on the Talmud, With a Focus on Women, a review of Tova Hartman’s and Ruth Calderon’s books (Tablet, 2/26/2014)
The Afterworldly Imagination of Ofir Touché Gafla (The Tower, 2/5/2014)
Interview with Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings (Jerusalem Post, August 2013)
Paris When it Fizzles, a review of Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick (New York Jewish Week, 11/19/2010)
Review of Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick and interview with author (Jewish Book World, November-December 2010)
No Scripts for Miscarriage: Review of Anthology About What was Lost. Lilith, June 24, 2007

Jewish texts

The Biblical Heroine who can Teach us the Secret of Redemption. The Wisdom Daily, February 1, 2021.
Jewish law should guide us on Election day. The Forward, October 18, 2020.
The Wisdom of an Ancient Text. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Next Page. March 15, 2020.
People are interested in what I have to say. JOFA blog. March 9, 2020
The Women who Made Talmud Study less intimidating. JOFA Blog January 15, 2020
Sometimes All you can do is Scream. http://thewisdomdaily.com/biblical-wisdom-for-current-days-when-words-fail-its-time-to-scream/The Wisdom Daily July 19, 2018.
What the Passover Story can teach us about inclusion riders. Lilith blog. March 23, 2018.
The makings of a biblical heroine. http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/the-makings-of-a-biblical-heroine/ The JOFA Blog. Posted December 8, 2017
Still Holy? Does Judaism believe in exonerating holy men for their crimes? JOFA blog at New York Jewish Week/Times of Israel. Posted November 6, 2017.
How to Read Ecclesiastes what we read on Sukkot and the Inspiration for the Title of many classic novels. Tablet. October 4, 2017.
Rabbi Akiva taught of the transcendence of Ideas (The Wisdom Daily May 9, 2017)
Reading the Megillah for Purim Tikkun(March 9, 2017)
Megillah 101: Purim Lessons for the Trump era Lilith (March 9, 2017)
Sometimes, All it Takes is a Miracle. http://thewisdomdaily.com/sometimes-miracle/ (The Wisdom Daily, October 31, 2016)
It’s no Accident the final commandment is to Write http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/_blog/The_ProsenPeople/post/its-no-accident-the-final-commandment-is-to-write/(The Prosen People blog of the Jewish Book Council, 10/23/2016)
Can We Learn from Jonah’s Happiness? http://www.thelehrhaus.com/timely-thoughts/2016/10/20/can-we-learn-from-jonahs-happiness (The Lehrhaus October 20, 2016)
Root yourself in the Text. A piece on what 614th commandment might be. (Hadassah-Brandeis Institute eZine, 11/2013)
Shabbat: Our Tool for attention literacy (The Jewish Writing Project, 11/23/2012)
Snakeskin and Veils: Garments in Genesis (HBI eZine, 7/2012)
“Commentary on Talmud Sotah 5a” (Sh’ma Journal, 4/2012)
“Six Word Memoir.” Six words about being Jewish, included in print and online anthology. (Smith Magazine, 3/2012)
“How to Make Miracles”(Hadassah Magazine, 12/2011)

Commentary on Torah portion of the week – entire year’s worth of comments at 929, others below

Joseph and the Amazing Turmoil that can Haunt a Family. New York Jewish Week. December 9, 2021.
Change is slow – but its coming. Parshat Shmot. Religion News Service, January 11, 2021
Vayeshev: Finding Light, Making Change. December 10, 2020. My Jewish Learning.
Vezot Habracha, What we Need from a Leader When it is time to let go. Jewish Week, October 7, 2020.
Beha’alotekha – No Milk, No Trust – June 12, 2020. Lehrhaus.
Beha’alotekha What do we learn about the value of female leadership from Moses? JOFA blog, June 11, 2020
Author page at 929 with weekly commentary , updated each Thursday, from October 29 2018 to November 16, 2019
Swallowed up by Bad Leaders. Korach. New York Jewish Week, July 2, 2019.
Genesis 25 Striving to see and be seen. 929.org https://www.929.org.il/lang/en/author/36663/post/37913
Genesis 21 Sarah’s Entering the Covenant https://www.929.org.il/lang/en/author/36663/post/37426
Genesis 16 Hagar: The Bible’s First Theologian 929 website. https://www.929.org.il/lang/en/page/16/post/36714
VAyigash: Joseph Educates his Brothers. Portion of Vayigash(Genesis 44:18-47:27) New York Jewish Week Posted Dec 19, 2017.
Deuteronomy: When Moses has Nothing to Lose (New York Jewish Week 7/ 28/17)
Emor The Omer: Time can Create (New York Jewish Week 5/ 12/17)
Miketz Joseph’s Dizzying Descent and Ascent (New York Jewish Week 12/30/16)
Hayei Sara: Accepting a Reality we did not Anticipate (My Jewish Learning 11.23/2016)
Shoftim: From Rehem to Rahamim (My Jewish Learning, 9/9/2016)
Beha’alotekha: Growing Pains and Rebellion (New York Jewish Week, 6/24/2016)
Vayehi: Joseph’s Power: Reading Backwards and Forwards (New York Jewish Week, 12/22/2015)
Noach: Who is a Hero? (Jerusalem Report, 10/29/2015)
D’varim: Making Sense of History (New York Jewish Week, 7/21/2015)
Tazria-Metzora: The Feedback Loop (New York Jewish Week, 4/24/2015)
Vayera: Ways of Seeing and Asking (New York Jewish Week, 11/4/2014)
Re’eh: Rav Kook’s Different Dimensions (New York Jewish Week, 8/29/2014)
Naso: The Blessings of Love and Jealous (New York Jewish Week, 5/30/2014)
Hayei Sara: Rebecca and Veiled Understandings (New York Jewish Week, 10/23/2013)
Ki Tetzei: “Accept Responsibility” (Jerusalem Report, August 2013)
Shoftim: Sorry future King George Alexander Louis: Jewish Kings are leaders beyond the accident of Birth (New York Jewish Week, 8/10/2013)
Vayigash: Joseph’s Emotional Rescue (New York Jewish Week, 12/20/2012)
Ki Tavo: The Farmer and the First Fruits (New York Jewish Week, 9/5/2012)
Bamidbar: The Time to Pay Attention (New York Jewish Week, 5/25/2012)
Toldot: Whose Child is this? (New York Jewish Week, 11/28/2011)
Noach: Noah’s Art of Aftermath (Jewish News Service, 10/24/2011)
Ha’azinu: “Behind the Song” (Jewish News Service, 9/28/2011)
Emor: “The optimism of the Omer” (New York Jewish Week, 5/9/2009)
Ki Tetzei: “How a Jewish teacher became a heretic” (Jewish News Service, 9/13/2008)