So often, day books are vaguely fancy calendars that seem afraid to commit to any one particular year, the sort of well-meaning gift one never really cracks open. Of course, Abrams' 365 Days series has redefined the day book, but The Jewish World, released in the Jewish calendar year of 5765, is perhaps the most stunning example yet. With hundreds of thousands of artifacts to choose from, the chief curators at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem have assembled a vision of Jewish culture that celebrates the diversity, history and beauty of the Jewish experience back into time and across so many cultures that it feels like time stops altogether. Every page has a beautiful image with concise text that will be of interest to scholars and laypeople alike. Illustrated manuscripts, ceremonial stands, children's drawings, marriage contracts, photographs of early life on kibbutzim, alms boxes, prayer books, temple artifacts, dowry chests, tombstones, modernist paintings, and Hanukkah lamps: this book is both an aesthetic and a spiritual treasure trove. --Mike McGonigal
About the Author
Daisy Raccah-Djivre is chief curator of Judaica and Jewish ethnography at the Israel Museum; Silvia Rozenberg is Tamar and Teddy Kollek Chief Curator of Archaeology; and Yigal Zalmona is chief curator-at-large.