I happen to already have been a "fan" of Rabbi Wildes, rabbi of the Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE), as I have been listening to his weekly podcast for quite a while now, so I knew a little bit about this book and of Rabbi Wildes work.

This book, The 40 Day Challenge, by Rabbi Mark Wildes, is an interesting project. Building off the idea that from Rosh Chodesh Elul we have 40 days to prepare for the High Holidays, specifically Yom Kippur, Rabbi Wildes put together this project to prepare ourselves, to help us find ways we can improve ourselves. this project actually began during the Corona pandemic as a way to keep his people connected over Whatsapp and other methods of communication, and has now turned it into a book.

There is nothing about this book that is specific to the High Holidays, other than the 40 day time period. These essays can be used any time during the year, to help one focus and improve his attitudes and approaches to various issues and traits. 

The essays in The 40 Day Challenge are peppered with anecdotes and quotes from all sorts of places - from Rene Descartes to Abraham Lincoln to Eleanor Roosevelt to Rabbi Shniur Zalman of Liadi to Rabbi Aryeh Levin and much more. This keeps it modern and relevant and relatable. Rabbi Wildes talks about issues such as gossip, wholeness, smiling, silence (wisdom), consistency and more. At the end of each essay there is a place to do some self-reflection and work on the issue of the essay, with a question posed and a few lines on which to write the answer, making the book more personable. Obviously you don't have to write your answers in the book, but for full effect you might want to or at least write them on a piece of paper somewhere else or at least just reflect on the question and your answer internally.

I think this book is a valuable set of essays for self-improvement and can benefit most people. 

• buy The 40 Day Challenge on Amazon.com
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NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.