I am over the moon to finally get to share this news with you: I wrote a book!
A Year of Jewish Joy—part cookbook, part entertaining toolkit, part joyful Jewish field guide—is coming this fall from HarperCollins / Harvest Books. It’s officially available for preorder today, and it’ll be everywhere books are sold on September 8. (I’d love to meet you on tour this fall, too!)
What’s inside?
A Year of Jewish Joy lives somewhere between a cookbook, a hosting/entertaining guide, and a more general love letter to Jewish holidays and Jewish life. It has more than 75 show-stopping kosher recipes. How-tos and handmade details and sophisticated table ideas. Essays and blessings. More Fiddler references than my editor could successfully intervene on.
In a sentence: Depth and elegance and memory alongside joy and confetti, all wrapped in a gorgeous-if-I-do-say-so-myself cover you won’t want to put away.
I poured every creative instinct I have into this project—the colors, the linens, the dinnerware, the typefaces, every microscopic design decision. I knew that if it was going to have “Jewish” on the cover—especially right now, in this moment—it couldn’t just be “good enough.” It had to feel thoughtful in every possible way, filled with delicious, exquisitely photographed recipes and sparks of Torah and tiny hand-drawn kugels (!!) and bursts of Hebrew calligraphy.
Now, my part is (mostly) done. I’m stepping back and hydrating and napping. And I’m passing the torch to you!
A Year of Jewish Joy is now in your hands—your mysterious, mostly-anonymous-to-me hands. I am choosing to believe they are excellent hands. Because your preorders really matter! They signal to retailers that readers are, in fact, waiting for this thing, directly determining where and how widely it’s stocked. (In an extremely rude twist of publishing logistics, the “Put Book In Every Store Everywhere Immediately” lever does not actually exist.)
So:
If even these tiny glimpses resonate with you—
if you feel the same excitement that I do about seeing this book out in the world…
I would be so grateful if you’d consider ordering early.
All in all, this book has been five years in the making. But I really got serious about writing it in 2023, in the middle of an unbearably heavy, heartbreaking moment for all of us—a time when Jewish joy felt both more out of reach and more necessary than ever.
It would be my greatest honor if it succeeds in reminding you that joy is still ours, and beauty is still ours.
And there is still so much to celebrate, and protect, and hold onto. ♥️
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so, so much for your support of my work for all these years. I can’t wait to share more of this with you.
xo
Rebekah
Humor, yiddishkeit, and impossible joy.
Rebekah Lowin’s A Year of Jewish Joy is a radiant invitation to elevate your table with magical, enchanting, elegant style . . . She makes being a Jewish Martha Stewart feel less intimidating and a lot more fun—guiding you through the calendar with recipes, rituals, and beautiful celebrations that help us not only keep tradition, but make it shimmer.
Exactly the kind of book we need right now.
It’s warm, funny, honest . . .This book is about more than just food. It’s the kind of book you keep close and gift to friends who are figuring out their own Jewish journey. Joyful and deeply Jewish, Rebekah’s book radiates the Jewish joy so many of us are craving right now.
You don’t have to be Jewish to love Rebekah Lowin.
In her first cookbook, avowed Martha Stewart devotee Lowin zeroes in on 70- plus recipes, both traditional and less so, for ten Jewish holidays, from the Sabbath to the Valentine-ish Tu B’Av. She also features crafts and gifts to make and to-dos that might appeal to any guest or family member . . . Sandwiched throughout are activities and makes that’ll thrill . . . Running through it all is Lowin’s joyful narrative . . . L’Chaim!
It’s just what we need.
Rebekah Lowin packs more knowledge, more fun, more creativity, more JOY into this beautifully Jewish book than I ever thought possible. And that’s exactly the point. With humor and humility, she’s able to coax moments of inspired cooking and crafting out of every week of in the calendar year, all while adding tenderness, depth and meaning to holidays and every day celebrations alike. A Year of Jewish Joy gives us even more reason to gather, fress, and obsess over the dazzling details of Jewish life . . . it’s just what we need! Now, let’s eat!
The guide every Jewish mother has been waiting for.
Rebekah brings whimsy, imagination, and fun to every page, offering fresh and meaningful ways to celebrate Jewish life . . . It’s like having a brilliantly curated Pinterest board at your fingertips with all the best ideas on how to elevate tradition and make it more personal. I can’t wait to start crafting (and cooking) my way through it.
You’re in for a treat.
Whether you’ve been following Rebekah on Instagram for years like I have or this is your first introduction to her gorgeous work, you’re in for a treat. Her lovely aesthetic, fresh, family-focused take on Jewish ritual, and beautiful recipes and craft projects combine to create something that will nourish you in more ways than one.
