Bibliography
Books for adults (and interested teens) who want to learn more about
Jewish ethnobotany
Ballen, Gloria Abella. Garden of Eden: Plants of the Hebrew Bible, Gaon Web, 2020.
Brown, Michael, and Laura C. Martin. The Jewish Gardening Cookbook Growing Plants & Cooking for Holidays & Festivals. Turner Publishing Company, 2011.
Cohen, Deatra, and Adam Siegel. Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews. North Atlantic Books, 2021.
Cohen, Deatra, and Adam Siegel. Woven Roots. North Atlantic Books, 3 June 2025.
Holy Dissent, Wayne State U. Press, 2010.
Lévy, Isaac Jack, and Rosemary Lévy Zumwalt. Ritual Medical Lore of Sephardic Women: Sweetening the Spirits, Healing the Sick. University of Illinois Press, 2002.
Matras, Hagit. “Wholeness and Holiness in Sifre Segulot” Koroth, Vol 9 (1988)/
Petrovsky-Shtern, Yohanan. “You will find it in the Pharmacy” Practical Kabbalah and Natural Medicine in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1690-1750. In Glenn Dyner, ed.
Preuss, Julius. Biblical and Talmudic Medicine, 1978 (reprint from ca. 1910).
Spector, Naomi. The Jewish Book of Flowers. BookBaby, 2023.
Trachtenberg, Joshua. Jewish Magic and Superstition. orig. 1939, JPS recent reprintings.
Tuszewicki, Marek. Frog under the Tongue: Jewish Folk Medicine in Eastern Europe. The Littman Library of JE, 2024.
Twitty, Michael W. Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew. Amistad, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2022.
Books for children featuring globally diverse Jewish communities, in stories whose themes involve plants used for food and ritual
Araujo, Frank P., and Xiaojun Li. The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia. Rayve Productions Inc, 2010.
Arnold, Sara C., and Roberta Malasomma. The Big Buna Bash. Brandyland Publishers, Inc, 2020.
Basseri, Etan, and Rashin Kheiriyeh. A Persian Passover. Kalaniot Books, 2022.
Ehrenberg, Pamela, and Anjan Sarkar. Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017.
Glaser, Linda, and Intuitive. Hannah’s Way. Lerner Publishing Group, 2017.
Harari, Yuval. Jewish Magic before Kabbalah. Wayne State U Press, 2017.
Kohuth, Jane, and Elissambura. Who’s Got the Etrog? Kar-Ben Publishing, 2018.
Lehman-Wilzig, Tami. Hanukkah around the World. Kar-Ben Publishing, 2014.
Lehman-Wilzig, Tami. Passover around the World. Kar-Ben Publishing, 2014.
MacLeod, Jennifer Tzivia, and Denise Damanti. Pumpkin Pie for Sigd: A Holiday Tale. Apples & Honey Press, 2021.
Moktarian, Jason Sion. Medicine in the Talmud. University of California Press, 2022.
Musleah, Rahel. Apples and Pomegranates: A Rosh Hashanah Seder. Kar-Ben Pub, 2014.
Pinkney, Andrea Davis, and Channie Waites. A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day. Recorded Books, 2017.
Polacco, Patricia. Mrs. Katz and Tush. Random House Children’s Books, 2014.
Sasso, Sandy Eisenberg, and Diana Bryer. Abuelita’s Secret Matzahs. Emmis Books, 2005.
Stein, Joel Edward. A Hanukkah with Mazel. Lerner Publishing Group, 2018.
Books for children featuring Ashkenazi communities (Ashkenazim are the largest group of Jews in the U.S.), in a variety of environmentally themed stories
Jewish Farmer’s Network (also hosts the Jewish Herbalist Network, contact Liel Green at JFN to get on the list, feel free to let them know I sent you)
https://www.jewishfarmernetwork.org/