It's clear from the first page that Hoff­man and Stein­berg-Egeth under­stand what is at stake in Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties.... Warm and Wel­com­ing is an invalu­able resource for any­one who seeks to make mean­ing­ful change with­in the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty. The book pays close atten­tion to the lat­est sta­tis­tics about Jew­ish engage­ment, espe­cial­ly the 2020 Pew Report. As many authors remind us, we are at an inflec­tion point. With so many Jews ques­tion­ing Jew­ish life, we can­not afford to cre­ate bar­ri­ers to engage­ment. Being ​"warm and wel­com­ing" isn't just a community's ide­al, it is its actu­al life­line. It is how it will sur­vive. If one reads the book's essays close­ly, dis­cuss­es the authors' rec­om­men­da­tions, and attempts to imple­ment them, one will find their com­mu­ni­ty can grow not only more approach­able but also more robust. Warm and Wel­com­ing is the best kind of book; it is high­ly rel­e­vant but seeks to become obso­lete if the rec­om­men­da­tions are tak­en seriously.

Warm and Welcoming: How the Jewish Community Can Become Truly Diverse and Inclusive in the 21st Century is the first book to tackle institutionalized biases and barriers to inclusion, offering not only stories and context about the issues facing Jews of all backgrounds, but more importantly offering practical and concrete advice that Jewish institutions can implement right away to change how they engage with diverse populations.