Posts Tagged Children’s Books

The Tower of Babel and Crisis of Translation

Posted by Sarah in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge on October 27, 2009

Cross-posted from the Jewish Book Council Blog and MyJewishLearning.

In her last posts, Ellen Frankel looked at how to make the Bible PG and looked at “What is Jewish Literature?”. She has been guest-blogging all week for MyJewishLearning and JBC.copy-of-jewish-authors-blog2

In this week’s parshah, Noah, we read about the Tower of Babel, constructed at a time when “everyone on earth had the same language and the same words” (Gen. 11:1). But because the Tower’s builders thought that they could storm the gates of heaven, their speech was “confounded…[so that they could] not understand one another’s speech” (Gen 11:7). The Bible puns on the Hebrew words, bavel, referring to ancient Babylonia, and balal, to mix up. And so the people had to stop building the tower and were “scattered over the face of the earth” (Gen 11:9). And so we remain to this day—dispersed, speaking a babble of languages, not understanding one another.

As I prepare to step down at The Jewish Publication Society after eighteen years, I am struck by how much of my work has been devoted to translation, not only from foreign languages, ancient and modern, into English, but also from foreign contexts into an idiom accessible to contemporary Americans. Whether it’s the Mekhilta, a second century rabbinic Midrash on Exodus, or the teachings of the Sefat Emet, a late 19th century Hasidic master, most of today’s Jews need interpreters to guide them through the unfamiliar terrain of Jewish texts, written is so many exotic dialects: philosophy, ethics, halakha, theology, feminist criticism, folklore, history, poetry, and prayer. Without translation, these languages remain opaque.

To read the entire post, visit the Jewish Book Council Blog!

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Making the Bible PG: How Children’s Bibles Differ

Posted by Sarah in Jewish Books, JPS Books, Publishing on October 19, 2009

Cross-posted from the Jewish Book Council Blog and MyJewishLearning.

MJL JBC Author Blog
Ellen Frankel, author of JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible, is guest-blogging all week for MyJewishLearning and the Jewish Book Council.

For most of Jewish history, the Bible was “one size fits all.” There was simply no such thing as a children’s version.
The second-century rabbinic anthology Pirkei Avot counsels: “At five years old [one should begin the study of] Scripture” (5:24). For centuries, Jewish children were introduced to the Bible, unexpurgated and unabridged. In fact, Jewish children’s books did not emerge as a separate genre in America until the 1930s, with the publication of The Adventures of K’Ton Ton by Sadie Rose Weilerstein. Until then, Jewish children read the same texts that were meant for adults.

So, do Jewish kids really need a children’s Bible? Or are we just imitating our Christian neighbors, who have been publishing and teaching children’s Bibles since the 11th century?

To read the entire post, visit the Jewish Book Council Blog!

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Hillel – You’re the Next Contestant on the Price is Right!

Posted by Sarah in Jewish Books, JPS Books on October 8, 2009

Starting today, JPS is proud to offer a special discount to our Hillel friends nationwide! Members of the Hillel family can save 40% on almost all JPS books by simply visiting their personalized sale site and entering the code HILLEL at checkout.

HillelDon’t miss this opportunity to add to or start your JPS collection! Need ideas on how to choose? My personal recommendations include:

The JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible
The JPS Tanakh – in Hebrew-English, or English
American Jewish Fiction
Megillat Esther

But these are only a few of the great books you’ll find at JPS. Browse jewishpub.org and choose what interests you most!

Happy Shopping!

-Sarah

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Hurrah for Banned Books Week!

Posted by Naomi in Jewish Books, Publishing on September 29, 2009

bannedbooksThis week, in a stand against censorship and in support of intellectual freedom, the American Library Association is celebrating Banned Books Week.  This annual awareness campaign not only encourages the public to pick up and read books that have been the targets of attempted bannings, but also encourages readers everywhere to challenge attempted bannings in their local schools, libraries, bookstores, and religious institutions.

Now, I’m all for standing up against the censorship of ideas – and banning books means censoring both the production and consumption of ideas.  Not exactly something a free society should stand for, right?  We should keep in mind, though, that most books which have been challenged in the United States were children’s books that were considered age-inappropriate.  And while it can be argued that it should be that parent’s job to decide what his children can and cannot read, let’s just also keep in mind that many children don’t exactly have particularly good parental oversight – and that for these kids, the library is the place where they can get access to books.  So perhaps the issue isn’t so black-and-white: maybe it is in our society’s best interests to let our libraries use some discretion when deciding what books to make available to kids.  (That is, of course, as long as those decisions remain local.  I think we can all agree that we don’t want the government getting all Orwellian on us!)

Still, there’s nothing quite like intellectually “sticking it to The Man”.  I think that’s half of the appeal of banned books week – somewhere, a book gets banned, and bibliophiles everywhere rebel by reading that book.  So, because I like sticking it to The Man just as much as the next guy, I’ve decided to share with you a list of Jewish authors whose books have been banned (or have almost been banned).  I was originally planning to compile my own list, but after a bit of research, I discovered that Tablet Magazine beat me to it this morning:

bannedbooks[1] In 1972, a librarian in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, used tempera paint to diaper the naked baby in Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen. In 1993, the book was challenged in Minnesota’s Elk River elementary schools because “reading the book could lay the foundation for future use of pornography.”

[2] In The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Newbery Medalist Louis Sachar, a boy gives the middle finger to an old woman during an episode of peer pressure and bullying. The book was challenged at an elementary school in San Ramon, California, in 1993. for obscene gestures, profanity, and “inappropriate subject matter.”

[3] In William Steig’s Caldecott-Medal-winning Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, police officers are drawn as pigs. The Illinois Police Association therefore wrote to librarians in 1977 asking them to remove the book from libraries. (Even though the pigs in the book are perfectly nice pigs.)

[4] Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume is No. 60 on the American Library Association’s list of the 100 Most Frequently Banned or Challenged Books of the 1990s. (In the Night Kitchen is No. 10.) It’s been challenged for sexual and religious themes, as have many of Blume’s books, which may have something to do with her being so active in the National Coalition Against Censorship.

[5] Robie Harris’s four brilliant sex-education books, aimed at kids of different ages and illustrated in comic-book style by Michael Emberley, make censors crazy. Her book for teenagers, It’s Perfectly Normal, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this fall with updated sections on Internet safety, birth control, and the HPV vaccine. In 2008, a patron of the Lewiston, Maine, public library took out the book and refused to give it back because she deemed it disgusting. Other patrons then donated four copies of the book, which remain in circulation. Yay.

[6] According to the delightful website Bookslut, an elementary school in Decatur, Georgia, banned The Bad Beginning, the first volume in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket  because it was deemed to endorse incest. In the book, cartoonishly evil Uncle Olaf tries to steal the children’s inheritance by marrying his niece Violet. (She outwits him, of course.) “It’s difficult for me to imagine how I can construct a villain whose actions would be unobjectionable,” Snicket, aka Daniel Handler, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “That’s called a hero.”

Happy illicit reading!
- Naomi

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Guess Who’s Coming to Break the Fast?

Posted by Sarah in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge, Publishing on September 24, 2009

We’ve all been asked the tough question before: Name 5 people, dead or alive, with whom you would want to have dinner. Well, with all the options, why not narrow it down? Instead, let’s take a look at the top 5 Jewish authors with whom I would want to “break the fast” with this Yom Kippur:

The Fountainhead1. Ayn Rand – Since The Fountainhead ranks as one of my top ten favorite books, I couldn’t resist including its author in my dinner party. Her views on capitalism made her a fascinating writer for her time, and only she can get away with writing 30-page monologues and still have readers intrigued. Besides, how great is the name Ellsworth Toohey?? While she might get carried away and dominate the conversation, her opinionated personality means she’ll be able to hold her own as the only woman invited.

Where the Wild Things Are2. Maurice Sendak – Yes, this is the author of children’s books, most notably, Where The Wild Things Are. But, don’t be deceived by this fact. Children’s book can be just as powerful as adult genres, and Sendak knew that. No other children’s book tackles such complex issues about family so well. Also, let’s face it. The line, “…let the wild rumpus start!” is one of the greatest. The man who can make a word like “rumpus” popular is someone I want to meet!

3. Jonathan Safran Foer – Still a young writer, Foer has written a book that still leaves me wondering: Everything is Illuminated. Depicting the story of a man searching for the woman who saved his grandfather during the holocaust, the book provides a vivid history as it flashes back and forth through time. But, what really makes this story great is the character of, Alex, the Ukrainian guide. His garbled misuse of the Everything is IlluminatedEnglish language is amusing, but it’s his words that leave you guessing at the end of the book. So, I have some questions for this author!

4. Philip Roth – His famous novel, Portnoy’s Complaint, was one of the first books I read in college. I still remember being shocked by such explicit eroticism, and it’s thanks to Roth that I discovered the idea that books about sex aren’t always just about sex. Not to mention, people still wonder if the book is really a partial autobiography of Roth himself – wouldn’t you like to know if it’s true?

5. Shel Silverstein – As the writer of those crazy and memorable poems that so many children love, I couldn’t resist inviting Shel Silverstein to my dinner party. It’s probably because, when I was little, I was obsessed with one of his poems about a king whose mouth gets stuck shut after eating peanut butter sandwiches. I want to meet the man behind such a crazy and fun poem!

-Sarah

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What Does it Take to Be a Jew?

Posted by Sarah in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge on September 10, 2009

I stumbled across a Canadian Press article today that discussed a Massachusetts foundation’s efforts to donate Jewish children’s books to organizations and their religious school classrooms. Among the books supplied by the foundation, Lauren Seidman’s “What Makes Someone A Jew” acted as the centerfold for the article. Upon seeing this book and the difficult topic it so obviously discusses, I started thinking about my first encounter with this question.

I can still remember sitting in religious school on Sunday mornings in my shul and listening to the teacher (who also happened to be my mother – yes, I know, lucky me) raise this question. At the time, I was probably in 4th or 5th grade – no where near as young as the kindergarten students mentioned in the article – and even at the age of 10 or ll, this question seemed hard to answer. And it was! What defines someone as a Jew? Birth? Belief? Customs? Inevitably, someone in my class always said that a Jew was someone whose mother was Jewish. True, but is there more to it than that?

Source: http://www.jewishlights.com

Source: http://www.jewishlights.com

Even today, I find the question difficult to answer. Each person has such differing viewpoints, and part of me believes it’s whatever works for the individual. However, I also feel that being a Jew is more than following certain Jewish customs. Does someone who really enjoys matzah ball soup, and eats it often, automatically qualify as a Jew? Of course not. The situation is more complicated than that (as religion always is).

Given the complexity of the question and its potential answer, how do children in kindergarten cope? Seidman’s book makes clear that appearance doesn’t affect whether or not one is Jewish. In the end, she sums up her definition saying,

Now I understand what it means to be a Jew. It’s not how you look or what others think of you. Being Jewish is about my deeds, thoughts, and heart, so now I know I’m off to a very good start.

The rhyming summary makes clear what it “means” to be Jewish. Perfect for 5-year-old children, but I still have to wonder. Is it really that simple?

-Sarah

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The Book of Life Podcast: Why be Social?

Posted by Alx in Jewish Books, Jewish Innovation, Jewish Knowledge, JPS Books on August 20, 2009

Heidi Estrin who produces the Book of Life Podcast has outdone herself. She has put together a four-part series of podcasts called Why be Social? that pretty much sums up Social Media.  The concept was born from a session given at the AJL convention in Chicago by Mark Blevis.  Below is the series in its entirety.  Enjoy!

-Alx

Why Be Social? Part 1, Philosophy

SHOW NOTES:

Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape!

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people’s curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called “Why Be Social?”

Part 1 in the Why Be Social series considers the philosophical aspects of technology in our lives. The wide-ranging conversation was held during breakfast at the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention, the morning after the social media convention session.

AUDIO:

Click the play button on our traditional flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer’s media player.

EMBED:

If you’d like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!
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VIDEO:

This very funny video (in Norwegian! but with English subtitles) reminds us of how difficult an unfamiliar technology can seem at first, and how simple it can turn out to be. Thanks to Mark Blevis for the link – he showed this video as an ice-breaker during his social media session at the AJL convention.

CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children’s Library at Congregation B’nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Why Be Social? Part 2, Definitions

SHOW NOTES:

Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape!

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people’s curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called “Why Be Social?” Click here for Part 1.

This is Why Be Social, Part 2. The morning after the social media session at the convention, I conducted some quick “man on the street” interviews, asking people for their own definitions of blogging and podcasting. Every single person had a good answer!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on our traditional flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer’s media player.

EMBED:

If you’d like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!
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VIDEO:

Here are two videos from Common Craft that give additional definitions of blogging and podcasting: “Blogs in Plain English” and “Podcasting in Plain English.”


CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children’s Library at Congregation B’nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Why Be Social? Part 3, Suggestions

SHOW NOTES:

Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape!

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people’s curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called “Why Be Social?” Here’s Part 1 and Part 2.

This is Why Be Social, Part 3. I hope the earlier episodes in this series have gotten you interested checking out some real live blogs and podcasts. There are zillions of blog and podcast websites online, so where do you get started? Here with some suggestions of blogs and podcasts relating to Jewish literature is Alx Block, Online Sales and Marketing Manager for the Jewish Publication Society. Scroll down for links to those suggestions, and to a list of blogs and other social media sites that are read by, and sometimes created by, individual members of the Association of Jewish Libraries. Have fun checking them out!

AUDIO:

Click the play button on our traditional flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer’s media player.

EMBED:

If you’d like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!
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Here are links to the blogs and podcasts we talk about in this episode (in order discussed):



Social media recommendations by Association of Jewish Libraries members:

Barbara Bibel says: I like Karen Schneider’s blog, “Free Range Librarian.” I also like the blogs that Booklist Online has. I contribute to one of them, “Points of Reference.”

Ezra Chwat suggests: Giluy Milta B’’alma
In this blog, we present primary publications, or announcements of new and interesting findings, in Hebrew manuscripts. Often, significant discoveries are not on the scale of a full-size periodical article, but are nonetheless worthy of knowing about. This department is also a good place to announce preliminary findings, in order to arouse discussion and input of fellow scholars, before the final and complete publication. Your short article, or announcement (subject to the discretion of the editors) will be posted on our blog and will be stored in the blogs retrievable archive, as well as in a hardcopy archive. The archive which will be stored in the stacks of the National Library of Israel, and each accepted post will be allotted a serial number for bibliographic citation (this post is numbered GMB0001). Post your discoveries, findings, and previews in a short article (3 printed pages or less), at giluy.milta@gmail.com.

Marie Cloutier says: I blog about books (Jewish and non-) at www.bostonbibliophile.com. I also blog about crafts at crafthour.blogspot.com, for Temple Israel at tisraelbostonsummerinthecity.blogspot.com (say that 3x fast) and Hello Kitty collecting at hellokittyboston.blogspot.com. I’m active on Twitter (@bostonbibliophl), LibraryThing, Delicious and other applications. I used to listen to a lot of podcasts but have tapered that off substantially and now listen to Book of Life and Books on the Nightstand.

Heidi Estrin (me): I host The Book of Life podcast and blog, and I helped AJL establish its blog and podcast. I also blog for AJL’s South Florida chapter at www.sfajl.org, and occassionally for the Sydney Taylor Book Award at sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com.

I love to listen to these great podcasts:


And a few of the blogs that I read are:

Val Morehouse says: My personal blog called HoopDance [poetry, books, podcasts, etc.] is at www.valmorehouse.com.

Linda Silver is the force behind the Jewish Values Finder database at www.ajljewishvalues.org. She says: I read many political blogs, esp. those having to do with Israel. I read some book-related stuff, such as the (mostly trivial) newsletters from SLJ, Kirkus, and PW that appear among my email messages.

Karen Ulric gave us two whole lists:

Library Blogs
• AssortedStuff
• Gargoyles loose in the library
• Google Librarian Central
• Google Librarian Newsletter Google Group
• Killin’ time being lazy
• Librarians’ Internet Index: New This Week
• Library Garden
• Library of Congress Blog
• Library of Congress: News
• NPR Blogs: As A Matter Of Fact
• People of the Books
• The Shifted Librarian

Literature Blogs
• A Fuse #8 Production
• Brooklyn Arden
• educating alice
• Hennepin County Library – Bookspace Blog
• Judge a Book by its Cover
• Muller In the Middle
• NPR Topics: Books
• Saints and Spinners
• The Longstockings
• Ypulse: Media for the Next Generation

Jane Zande says: Besides The Book of Life and the AJL blog, I regularly read Marie Cloutier’s blog, The Boston Bibliophile. A part of her blog is just for Jewish books:
http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/search/label/jewish%20interest.

CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children’s Library at Congregation B’nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Why Be Social? Part 4, Create-Consume-Contribute

Why be social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape!

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people’s curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called “Why Be Social?” Here are the earlier segments: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

This is Why Be Social, Part 4. In this episode, blogger and podcaster Mark Blevis, the one who started this entire conversation, joins Heidi to talk about what it means to participate in life online. Scroll down for links to Mark’s many online projects and for links to some non-Jewish social media sources I want you to know about (you’ll hear why on the show).

AUDIO:

Click the play button on our traditional flash player to listen to the podcast now:

Or click MP3 File to start your computer’s media player.

EMBED:

If you’d like to place this audio on your own web site, please use this stand-alone player from Entertonement. Click the embed button and copy the code!
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RELATED LINKS:

Mark Blevis’s online projects:

Non-Jewish social media sites worth your participation:

CREDITS:

Produced by: Feldman Children’s Library at Congregation B’nai Israel
Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries
Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
Twitter: @bookoflifepod

Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com!

Why Be Social? The Whole Megillah

Our “Why Be Social?” series was posted in four parts. Here, for your convenience, are all four episodes together in a single player.


Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones!

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New and Exciting Titles from the Jewish Publication Society!

Posted by Alx in JPS Books on July 27, 2009

Like to take a look inside any of these books?  Just click on the image to see a Google preview!

bibleguide.thumbThe Jewish Bible: A JPS Guide. This new volume in the acclaimed JPS Guides series is an invaluable companion to the Jewish Bible, providing readers with ready access to important facts and Bible basics, including: summaries of all the Biblical books; a glossary of Biblical terms, places, and people; and colored maps, charts, tables, timelines and family trees. The Jewish Bible: A JPS Guide also includes articles about: how the Bible became “The Bible”: its origins, content, and organization; distinctions between the Jewish Bible and Christian Bibles; a short history of Bible translations and how the differ from one another; and popular methods of Bible study.

childrensbible.thumb The JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible, by Ellen Frankel. Acclaimed storyteller and Jewish scholar Ellen Frankel has masterfully tailored 53 Bible stories that will both delight and educate today’s young readers. Using the 1985 JPS translation (NJPS) of the Hebrew Bible as her foundation, Frankel retains much of the Bible’s original wording and simple narrative style as she incorporates her own exceptional storytelling technique, free of personal interpretation or commentary. With his enticing, full-page color illustrations of each Bible story, award-winning artist Avi Katz ignites readers’ imaginations. His brush captures the vivid personalities and many dramatic moments in this extraordinary collection.

americanjfiction.thumb American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide, by Josh Lambert. This new volume in the JPS Guides series is a fiction reader’s dream: a guide to 125 remarkable works of fiction. The selection includes a wide range of classic American Jewish novels and story collections, from 1867 to the present, selected by the author in consultation with a panel of literary scholars and book industry professionals. The introduction is a fascinating exploration of the history of and important themes in American Jewish Fiction, illustrating how Jewish writing in the U.S. has been in constant dialogue with popular entertainment and intellectual life. Included in this guide are suggestions for further reading; lists of book award winners; recommended anthologies; title, author, and subject indexes; and more.

krakow.thumb From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books, by Arie Kaplan. Jews created the first comic book, the first graphic novel, the first comic book convention, the first comic book specialty store, and they helped create the underground comics (or “Comix”) movement of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Many of the creators of the most famous comic books, such as Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, and Batman, as well as the founders of MAD Magazine, were Jewish. From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books tells their stories and demonstrates how they brought a uniquely Jewish perspective to their work and to the comics industry as a whole. Over-sized and in full color, From Krakow to Krypton is filled with sidebars, cartoon bubbles, comic book graphics, original design sketches, and photographs. It is a visually stunning and exhilarating history.

islam.thumb
An Introduction to Islam for Jews, by Reuven Firestone. Firestone explains the remarkable similarities and profound differences between Judaism and Islam, the complex history of Jihad, the legal and religious positions of Jews in the world of Islam, how various expressions of Islam (Sunni, Shi`a, Sufi, Salafi, etc.) regard Jews, the range of Muslim views about Israel, and much more. He addresses these issues and others with candor and integrity, and he writes with language, symbols, and ideas that make sense to Jews. Firestone provides many original sources in translation, as well as an appendix of additional key sources in context. Most importantly, this book is readable and reasoned, presenting to readers for the first time the complexity of Islam and its relationship toward Jews and Judaism.

Money.thumb Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: Power, Body, and Money, edited by Elliot N. Dorff and Louis E. Newman. This JPS ethics series deals with some of the most critical moral issues of our time. Each volume presents traditional and contemporary sources on specific topics, followed by hypothetical cases and study questions to provoke discussion. Supplementing these are brief essays, written by a diverse group of contributors of various ages, backgrounds, and viewpoints. These voices from the Jewish tradition and today’s Jewish community give us new questions and perspecitves to think about and encourage us to consider our moral choices in a new light.

celebratingjyear.thumb Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Fall Holidays, The Winter Holidays, and The Spring and Summer Holidays, by Paul Steinberg. JPS’s new holiday books take us through the joys, spirit, and meaning of the seasons. As we move from season to season, Paul Steinberg shares with us a rich collection of readings from many of the Jewish greats, and he guides us in discovering for ourselves the many treasures within each text. The readings teach us about the history of each holiday, as well as its theological, ethical, agricultural, and seasonal importance and interpretation; others give us inspiration and much food for thought. These stories, essays, poems, anecdotes, and rituals help us discover how deeply Jewish traditions are rooted in nature’s yearly cycle, and how beautifully season and spirit are woven together throughout the Jewish year.

20thcentury.thumb 20th Century Jewish Religious Thought, edited by Paul Mendes-Flohr and Arthur A. Cohen. This outstanding volume presents 140 concise yet authoritative essays by renowned Jewish figures Eugene Borowitz, Emil Fackenheim, Blu Greenberg, Susannah Heschel, Jacob Neusner, Gershom Scholem, Adin Steinsaltz, and many others. They define and reflect upon such central ideas as charity, chosen people, death, family, love, myth, suffering, Torah, tradition and more. With entries from Aesthetics to Zionism, this book provides striking insights into both the Jewish experience and the Judeo-Christian tradition.

rashisdaughter.thumb Rashi’s Daughter, Secret Scholar, by Maggie Anton. Set in 11th-century Troyes, France, Rashi’s Daughter, Secret Scholar tells the story of Joheved, eldest daughter of Salomon ben Isaac (known as Rashi), one of the great medieval Jewish Bible commentators. At a time when women traditionally were barred from studying Jewish texts, Rashi secretly teaches first Joheved, then her sister Miriam. As she nears marriageable age, Joheved finds her mind and spirit awakened by religious study, but she must keep her passion for learning and prayer hidden. When she becomes betrothed to Meir ben Samuel, she is forced to choose between marital happiness and being true to her love of the Talmud. Will she fulfill the expected role of a Jewish woman or pursue a path of Jewish learning? Ages 10 and up.

checkpoints.thumb Checkpoints, by Marilyn Levy. Noa, an Israeli Jew, and Maha, a Palestinian Muslim, are two very different teenage girls–who may not be so different after all. They’ve become good friends, but after a tragic incident that changes Noa and her family forever, Noa’s beliefs about Palestinian and Israeli relations are put to the test. Shocking secrets are revealed that affect both Noa’s and Maha’s lives and test their blossoming relationship. Checkpoints brings to life the realities teenagers in the Middle East face today, as politics and prejudice threaten to tear lives and relationships apart. At the same time, it serves as a testament to the power of love and friendship in an often chaotic world. Ages 12 and up.

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Ellis Island of the Wild West

Posted by Naomi in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge, JPS Books on July 1, 2009

271Happy July!

A quick pre-July 4th (and Canada Day!) fix for ya: according to This Day… In Jewish History, here’s what makes July 1st so special:

1907: The SS Cassel entered the port of Galveston, Texas with 87 Russian Jews aboard, heralding the start of the Galveston Movement – an organized attempt to bring Jews to less populated parts of the US.

Apparently, around the turn of the century, the Jewish Immigrants’ Information Bureau was worried that if the waves of Eastern European Jews fleeing persecution continued to crowd into American east coast cities (remember learning about the Lower East Side tenements in American history class?), an increase in American anti-Semitism and immigration restrictions might follow. They therefore attempted to divert Jewish immigrants to cities like Charleston, New Orleans, and, most of all, to Galveston, TX. In total, ten few thousand Jews came through Galveston between the years 1907 and 1914.

If you’re curious about this lesser-known piece of American Jewish history, check out the JPS book Zayda Was a Cowboy (I still think that title is hilarious).  There’s also the cleverly (though more seriously) titled Galveston: Ellis Island of the West.

-Naomi

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JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible!

Posted by Alx in Jewish Books, JPS Books on June 26, 2009

The New JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible is now available! This is seriously awesome.

We’re still offering 30% off if you place your order before the end of July!

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