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[A friend involved in kiruv asked me the following question which I thought I would post here for further reference and to get additional suggestions]

I am in contact with lots of Jews who want to get closer to their Judaism but are starting from scratch. What are good English books to recommend to these baalei tshuva in addition to classes, getting a rav, etc.

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    I now saw this related question: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/10739/11501
    – mbloch
    Sep 20, 2018 at 11:30
  • seems like a duplicate, no? Maybe we should merge all that here?
    – Double AA ♦
    Sep 20, 2018 at 12:53
  • @DoubleAA I keep struggling with the search system. I searched for books/beginners and variations thereof but didn't find anything. Afterwards I came across that other question (resources/learning/foundations ???) by searching for Donin as I remembered seeing that book mentioned somewhere. This being said, it is a duplicate. Are you suggesting closing? I would be OK with this of course
    – mbloch
    Sep 20, 2018 at 12:56
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    Possible duplicate of Good books for non-Jews who are interested in understanding Judaism, especially branches of Orthodox judaism
    – ezra
    Sep 20, 2018 at 14:48
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    @ezra but here they are Jews, so their interests are different, e.g., halacha is much more relevant
    – mbloch
    Sep 20, 2018 at 14:49

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Here are a few books I really like in this context

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  • I believe Yalkut Me'am Loez/The Torah Anthology is often recommended?
    – Derdeer
    Mar 23, 2021 at 19:07
  • It used to be at a time when it was one of the few anthologies translated into English. I believe it is much less popular these days, partly because of Artscroll and Koren's work, but this is a personal opinion. I know I found it more difficult to get hooked to it and gave up quite quickly. But everyone's mileage will vary
    – mbloch
    Mar 23, 2021 at 19:18
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I highly recommend The Non-Orthodox Jew's Guide to Orthodox Jews by David Baum. This book goes more into the philosophy behind traditional Judaism and gives (one) Jewish opinion on various modern topics, such as the superiority of Judaism versus other religions (like Christianity and Islam), science, politics, and social life.

I mention that it's "one Jewish opinion" because there's no way to reflect the view of every Orthodox Jew in one book. The author presents his view based on his understanding of Judaism. Just as a warning, the author is somewhat Zionist.

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    There is a haredi version of this book by a different author with the same intent: One above and seven below, also recommended
    – mbloch
    Mar 18, 2019 at 6:30

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