Local Bookshelf | Author, author: New books by Bay Area writers Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By J. Correspondent | February 1, 2013 Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area. Bay Area scholars Daniel C. Matt and Robert Alter have once again completed publications of significant proportion. This seventh volume of “The Zohar Pritzker Edition” is Matt’s latest translation and commentary on the seminal kabbalistic text. This volume focuses on the book of Leviticus: Among other things, readers will learn how the mystical Zohar deals with a biblical text devoted largely to animal sacrifices, cereal offerings and priestly ritual. Matt, a noted Kabbalah scholar, lives in Berkeley and was a professor for 20 years at the Graduate Theological Union there. He has also taught at Stanford and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Matt has devoted years to the study of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. “The Zohar Pritzker Edition,” translation and commentary by Daniel C. Matt (608 pages, Stanford University Press, $55). Likewise, Alter’s new book, “Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings,” is a translation with commentary. The book is due for publication on April 1. Biblical figures such as Samson, Elijah the prophet, King David and others are captured in this narrative of Israel’s ancient history. Alter, a Berkeley resident and professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, is scheduled to lecture on his new book April 18 at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life in Berkeley. “Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings,” a translation and commentary by Robert Alter (830 pages, W.W. Norten & Co., $35) Moving to more recent history, Marta Fuchs brings to life her family’s and others’ harrowing experience during the Holocaust in “Legacy of Rescue.” The voices of three generations narrate and illustrate the intergenerational impact of Zoltan Kubinyi, the hero who saved Fuchs’ father and more than 100 other Hungarian Jewish men. Fuchs was born in Hungary and came to America at age 6 with her family after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. She is director of library services at Drew School in San Francisco, and a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice in Albany. “Legacy of Rescue: A Daughter’s Tribute” by Marta Fuchs (208 pages, Csaladnak Press, $30) J. Correspondent Also On J. Bay Area Anti-Israel groups say S.F. schools canceled antisemitism training Bay Area Social media influencer Hen Mazzig to speak at S.F.'s Emanu-El Off the Shelf Mother and motherland are abandoned in Israeli novel Organic Epicure Check out this local caterer’s Sephardic dishes for Rosh Hashanah Subscribe to our Newsletter I would like to receive the following newsletters: Weekday J From Our Sponsors (helps fund our journalism) Your Sunday J Holiday Bytes