Posts Tagged Biography

Teaching the Holocaust

Posted by admin in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge, JPS History on April 9, 2010

Prior to working for JPS, I taught Hebrew School throughout my 4 years in college. I switched grades a few times but stayed within the K-2nd age range. For me, one of the hardest topics to teach students that young was the Holocaust.

When I was younger, facts about the Holocaust were gradually exposed. I probably knew a little more than other kids because my parents told me when I was little that my grandmother was a survivor. She sailed to the US in 1940 from Wuppertal, Germany with her brothers and arrived just a couple weeks before her 6th birthday. I knew she had been adopted because her parents had to stay behind and never made it out. I can’t remember exactly what I learned at what age, but I remember certain books I read before I turned 10 such as A Picture Book of Anne Frank and Terrible Things (coincidently published by JPS), which both used age appropriate descriptions. While one book tells one recount of the Holocaust, the other teaches a lesson about standing up to discrimination. I took both approaches when teaching the Holocaust to my students. I revealed only as much as I thought was appropriate and turned the lesson into how we can deal with discrimination. I was always impressed by the advanced level of their responses. Some of my students knew a lot of specifics and would want to discuss them with the class, but I would have to cut them off and let them share their thoughts with me privately if I felt that the information was more than some of the other students to handle.

While we want to protect the innocence of our children, it’s not as easy as it used to be. Today, kids are exposed to a lot more information than I was as a kid now that the internet is so easily accessible.

In addition, more parents now want their children to be aware of their communities and global issues at a younger age. The situation begs the question: how do we teach our young students about the Holocaust and how much is too much? While this question has been asked so many times and schools have their own Holocaust curriculums, maybe the solution isn’t as rigid as it used to be. How can we as teachers and Jewish educators adapt to the changing trends?

-Jill Finkelstein

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There are many Holocaust Education Centers, museums, and teaching aids for educators, including this one: http://holocausteducationctr.org/ and the clearinghouse for all Holocaust organizations, the AHO: http://www.ahoinfo.org/
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A Literary “Whisper Down the Lane”?

Posted by Sarah in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge on October 1, 2009

You’ve probably heard so much about Anne Frank throughout your life that a post on it right now may seem redundant and typical – a Jewish blog writing about one of the most famous nonfiction Jewish books. I get it. And yet, I recently read about a book that analyzes Anne Frank’s diary and its adaptations over time.

How has this well-known account changed as people alter it into movies and stage plays?

According to Francine Prose, author of the new book Anne Frank: the Book, the Life, the Afterlife, the book’s fate following initial publication is just as interesting as the history it portrays. With different parts emphasized, universalized, or downplayed, the overall story of the girl hiding in the annex has changed. And, despite what people think, the book does not necessarily “teach itself.” So what are we supposed to take from it? How do we learn the lessons as the product morphs over time?

Anne Frank - Francine ProseProse’s critique made me think. I remember in eighth grade being assigned this book, and instead of writing papers about it or taking tests, each class was broken into groups and told to perform the book in skit form. We could adapt the book as necessary, with the goal being to maintain the major plot line while being unique (especially since there were probably 20 groups that had to perform the same story!) I have to admit, it wasn’t my favorite assignment. Like the good little nerd that I was, I preferred writing! Not to mention, I have pretty bad stage fright. So, the idea of getting up in front of my entire grade to perform a skit was terrifying. Still, the assignment had been made and I dutifully played my part, fully decked out in a hideously embarrassing flannel nightgown.The Diary of Anne Frank 1959 Movie

As we tried to meet the teachers’ expectations, my group decided to assign each character a stereotypical personality – scholarly, preppy, ditsy, snobby, sporty, and more. Let’s face it. It was middle school and these were the stereotypes each of us encountered everyday. With these personalities in mind, the play took on a comedic mood and earned first place for the assignment. Exciting, right? Of course!

But, that’s the problem.

Anne Frank BookOur skit became more about having fun and getting a good grade than learning the lessons intended. Not to mention, the performance stood out by adding humor to a story that, in reality, isn’t very funny. True, some pieces of Frank’s narrative may invoke humor, but few can argue that the story of a girl hiding from a group committing genocide is funny. So, I can’t help but think of my eighth grade skit and how it fits right into Prose’s look at how society has altered this story. In the end, it begs the question. How far is too far? And, at what point do we lose the essence of the original piece?

-Sarah

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“This Day… In JPS History”: Henrietta Szold

Posted by Naomi in JPS History on July 28, 2009

Szold-Henrietta-1

Source: http://jwa.org

I just discovered this really fun tidbit on This Day… In Jewish History:

July 28, 1893: The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent announced that Henrietta Szold would be moving to Philadelphia from her home in Baltimore to serve as the secretary and first paid employee of the Jewish Publication Society (JPS). Szold had been elected as the only female member of the JPS publication committee when the organization was founded in 1888 in order to provide a steady series of substantive works of Jewish culture to an American audience […] She had already served the organization as an author, translator, and editor, but now she would be a paid employee […] The Jewish Exponent article about her move to JPS suggests that, even before the formal commencement of this work, Szold was recognized as a woman who had and would continue to play an important role in the American Jewish community […]

Szold’s work for JPS was monumental. Although she worked under the title and salary of secretary, she served as translator, indexer, fact checker, proofreader, statistician, administrator, and editor, overseeing the publication of 87 books during her tenure. Szold’s clear mind, exhaustive dedication, and meticulous attention to detail enabled the Society to offer a remarkable literary and scholarly array. Many of the translations and original works published by JPS during this time still inform contemporary American Jewish culture and scholarship. A new Bible translation and the series of American Jewish Year Books that commenced publication in 1900 began to define the contours of a distinctive American Jewish intellectual world. After twenty-two years, Szold withdrew from JPS work in 1916 when a group of Zionists offered to provide her with an annuity in order to support her growing work for Hadassah.

Henrietta Szold was an incredible woman.  If you don’t know anything about her, you really should check out her biography on the Jewish Women’s Archive.

-Naomi

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Maggie Anton’s Top 10 Books About Jewish Women

Posted by Naomi in Jewish Books, JPS Books on July 8, 2009

As a bibliophile, one of the biggest problems I always face is deciding what book to read next.  There are thousands of possibilities – just walking into a bookstore, a library, or browsing Amazon.com can be overwhelming.  Sometimes, the only good way to select a new book is by getting a recommendation – that way, you don’t experience information overload, and you know that someone you trust has declared the book tried and true.

What if you were able to get book recommendations from authors whose books you’ve read and loved?  That’s a huge step up from just any old book recommendation – it’s an invitation to a guided tour of the author’s area of expertise!  That’s certainly a real treat.

If the thought of getting book recommendations from great authors excites you, well, today’s your lucky day.  I’ve invited a number of JPS authors to recommend a list of ten books, related to the subject matter they’ve written about themselves.

MagToday I’m going to start by featuring JPS author Maggie Anton.  When Anton began studying Talmud in 1992, she was introduced to the famous medieval Torah and Talmud commentator, Rashi.  She became fascinated with the idea that Rashi had no sons, but instead had three daughters who, contrary to the conventions of the time, studied Jewish texts.  So Anton embarked on a seven year intellectual journey, researching Rashi, his family, and the time in which they lived.  Out of this research emerged Anton’s first three novels – Joheved, Miriam, and Rachel – which explore the lives of Rashi’s three daughters.  Later, Anton penned a prequel about Rashi’s eldest daughter Jocheved.  Aimed at teen and preteen girls, this novel was published by the Jewish Publication Society as Rashi’s Daughter, Secret Scholar.  Anton’s many years of research on the lives of medieval Jewish women and deep interest in Jewish women’s issues make her the perfect person to kick off the JPS Blog Book Recommendation Series!

Maggie Anton’s Top 10 Books About Jewish Women

Fiction
1. The Rashi’s Daughters trilogy, by Maggie Anton [Joheved, Miriam, Rachel]
2. The Ghost of Hannah Mendes, by Naomi Ragen
3. He, She and It, by Marge Piercy [Anton’s “absolute favorite book”!]
4. The Triumph of Deborah, by Eva Etzioni-Halevy [Anton’s “choice for Biblical fiction”]

Nonfiction
5. The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, ed. by Tamara Eshkenazi
6. Rereading The Rabbis: A Woman’s Voice (Radical Traditions), by Judith Hauptman
7. Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe (Brandeis on Jewish Women), by Avraham Grossman
8. Mothers and Children: Jewish Family Life in Medieval Europe (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World), by Elisheva Baumgarten

Children’s
9. All-of-a-kind Family, by Sydney Taylor
10. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume

-Naomi

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