Being good in a complicated world

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

Telushkin, named by Talk magazine as one of the 50 best speakers in the United States, has written a number of books about the Jewish experience.  His Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History is the most widely selling book on Judaism of the past two decades, and recently was published in a third edition (June, 2008).

In 2006, Bell Tower/Crown published the first volume of his monumental work, A Code of Jewish Ethics: You Shall Be Holy, a comprehensive presentation of Jewish teachings on the vital topic of personal character and integrity. Richard Joel, president of Yeshiva University, called the book "a gift to humankind," and Rabbi David Wolpe hailed it "as a remarkable guide to goodness." In early 2007, A Code of Jewish Ethics won the National Jewish Book Award as the Jewish book of the year. Volume 2 of the code, subtitled "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself" was published in February 2009.



Telushkin's 1997 book, Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible, was chosen as a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. The Book of Jewish Values: A Day by Day Guide to Ethical Living was the subject of a PBS special titled "Moral Imagination" that aired throughout the United States in 2000. Touchstone/Simon and Schuster reissued a revised and expanded version of Why the Jews: The Reason for Anti-Semitism, which Telushkin co-wrote with Dennis Prager. In 2004, Toby Press published Telushkin's novel, Heaven's Witness, co-written with Allen Estrin, a murder mystery that deals with the themes of reincarnation and life after death. Telushkin's earlier book, Words that Hurt, Words that Heal became the motivating force behind Senators Joseph Lieberman and Connie Mack's 1996 Senate Resolution No. 151 to establish a "National Speak No Evil Day" throughout the United States.

Telushkin has also written Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews. The late Larry Gelbart, author of the TV series M*A*S*H and the movie Tootsie said "I don't know if Jews are really the chosen people, but I think Joseph Telushkin's book makes a strong argument that we're the funniest." Telushkin is also co-author with Dennis Prager of one of the most influential Jewish books published in the last 35 years, The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism, hailed by Herman Wouk as "the intelligent skeptic's guide to Judaism."