A deli­cious explo­ration of the Jew­ish hol­i­days, with illu­mi­nat­ing con­ver­sa­tions and meals shared by friends: a rab­bi and a cook.

For many belong­ing to the Jew­ish dias­po­ra, under­stand­ing the hol­i­days means light­ing a meno­rah for Chanukah, maybe host­ing a seder dur­ing Passover. But, if cel­e­brat­ed with an under­stand­ing of the sto­ried cus­toms behind the fes­tiv­i­ties, these occa­sions can be so much more than can­dles and matzah. Fol­low­ing the luniso­lar cal­en­dar, James Beard Award-win­ning author Susan Simon and Rab­bi Zoe Zak devote a chap­ter to each of the four­teen hol­i­days. From Seli­chot to Rosh Hashanah, Purim to Pesach, every hol­i­day has his­to­ry, inter­pre­ta­tion, and foods, with kosher recipes that reimag­ine tra­di­tion­al dish­es with flair.

More than a cook­book, The Cook and the Rab­bi is a tes­ta­ment to the resilient ver­sa­til­i­ty of the Jew­ish peo­ple and their tra­di­tions. With Rab­bi Zoe’s thought­ful insight and Susan’s inspired recipes, there’s no end to the ways you might cel­e­brate the hol­i­days and make your per­son­al rela­tion­ship with them uplift­ing, inspir­ing, and deeply ful­fill­ing. Chag Sameach!