Posts Tagged Education

Have You Read About “The Jewish Annotated New Testament”?

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on November 28, 2011

JPS author and Brandeis professor, Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler has done the unexpected. Along with Vanderbilt professor, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, Brettler edited the newest biblical sensation The Jewish Annotated New Testament. Entirely edited and annotated by Jews, the book includes essays from 50 Jewish scholars.

Articles in The New York Times and Brandeis Now both discuss the absolute newness of a Jewish text on the New Testament. Jews have always read and discussed the Old Testament, but Brettler and Levine thought it was time for something different. Brandeis Now quotes Brettler as saying that, “’[He] wanted more Jews to read the New Testament and understand the majority religion in America…It also is important for Jews to know their history, and the New Testament is important to that, since the first Christians were Jews.’”

Response to the book has been wildly diverse, ranging from excitement to rejection. The Times speaks specifically about protectve Jewish mothers who may not wish for their children to read the anti-Semitism in the New Testament. Dr. Brettler mentions his recommending the book to a mother for her son. Her response was simply, “’If he wants it, he can buy it for himself.’”

I must admit that my mother informed me of The Jewish Annotated New Testament before I read it about it in The Times or even on Jewcy. From an academic perspective, I’m completely intrigued. Like Dr. Levine, I too grew up in a largely Catholic area and always wanted to know more of their New Testament. The words “New Testament” were almost dirty in my Jewish world growing up, associated with anti-Semitism and non-Jewish stories. Today, however, my parents more than encourage me to explore non-Jewish texts for educational or personal purposes, and I see no reason why The Jewish Annotated New Testament should be any differently approached.

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Shoah Foundation Institute Update

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on November 16, 2011

Steven Spielberg created The Shoah Foundation in 1994 after he made Schindler’s List. The Foundation gathers and preserves interviews with Holocaust survivors. At this point, they have over 50,000 video interviews, in 32 languages, with survivors from 56 countries. Spielberg handed over the reins to the University of Southern California, but still sits on the board and makes major decisions. And this week a major decision was made.

The New York Times reported that the Shoah Foundation is now expanding to include testimonials from survivors of other genocides/mass slaughters from around the world. They have only just begun interviewing survivors from the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides, but are also planning to record accounts from Armenian survivors from the slaughter in Turkey.

The Times was careful to reassure readers that this expansion will not take away from the original purpose of The Shoah Foundation. Rather, the inclusion of other survivors will bolster their goal: to spread the message of ‘Never again’. By integrating testimonials of other survivors, they will reach new peoples and communities around the world.

For more information, check out the Times article, the official website for The Shoah Foundation, or USC’S Shoah Foundation channel on YouTube.

 

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2nd Annual Global Jewish Day of Learning Happenings

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on November 11, 2011

Sunday the 13th marks the second annual Global Day of Jewish Learning. This year’s Day of Learning is focusing on the Sh’ma. Over on the day’s official website, there are tabs for basic “about” information, big questions, and of course, events around the globe. I want to take this space to point out a few particularly interesting events happening in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York.

hazon.org

-  Looking for a place to take your kids for the day? Check out the Mandell Education Campus in Elkins Park for a really great art project!

-  Jewish Federation of Philadelphia’s calendar has their event’s location listed as TBA, but it provides a contact number for those interested.

-  Jewish Federation of Central Jersey is sponsoring an event with PJ Library author and poet Jacqueline Jules that is also geared towards young readers.

-  New York City is hosting a bunch of classes at Mechon Hadar lead by rabbis and educators representing almost 30 different institutions from around the city.

Happy learning!

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A Penny for Your 140-Character Thoughts

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Innovation on March 24, 2011

bradfitzpatrick.com

March 21st, 2011 marked the fifth year anniversary of Twitter.  If you’re like me, a Twitter neophyte, you’re just learning that the art of writing only 140 characters is no game of jacks.  Rather, writing 140 characters of pithy but still interesting material is really rather intimidating.  For those who have mastered Twitter, 140 characters is all one really needs for breaking news alerts, serialized posts, and even poetry.

The Week in Review section of this past weekend’s New York Times celebrated five years of Twitter with “twaikus” written by readers.  The celebratory article was titled “How Do I Love Thee?  Count 140 Characters,” and highlighted other examples of brief but entertaining tweets, ranging from 140 character summaries of great literature to a serialized twitter story from author John Wray.  In reading the article, I couldn’t help thinking: is this what the current age is about- brevity?  If so, why am I about to begin my senior seminar paper that requires at least twenty sources?

For the Jewish world, being brief seems rather impossible.  I don’t want to generalize, but we tend to be a people with a knack for gabbing.  There are a few arenas in Judaism for which I cannot picture 140 characters would provide enough wiggle room.  Though I can’t say how many Jews tweet their experiences in synagogue, I suspect most would have much to say in reaction to a sermon or joyous occasion.  Examples of Jewish moments that need more than 140 characters to tweet about include my rabbi’s sermons, a Bar or Bat Mitzvah speech, and an adult education lesson.  Examples of Jewish moments that I sometimes wish would only be 140 characters include my family’s Passover Seder so that I can eat, the lecture I get every year at five minutes to sundown on Yom Kippur when I am dying for a bagel, and endless kvetching.

On the other hand, could Twitter be a way to get kids more engaged in Jewish learning?  Instead of a response paragraph, could an educator ask for a tweet response and possibly see greater participation?  If blog posts are the current form of discussion that educators are including in their curriculum, tweets could be next.  140 character summaries or responses are not only trying, but also require true knowledge of a text.  Next time you finish a book or an article, see if you can boil it down to 140 characters!

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A Treasured Museum Opens Its Lovely New Doors

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Jewish Innovation, Jewish Knowledge on November 17, 2010

The day after Thanksgiving is usually spent either shopping or lolling about the house in a food coma (or both, if you’re extremely industrious), but if you’re in the Philadelphia area, this year you can do something a lot more worthwhile.

The Majestic New Building

The National Museum of American Jewish History opens its new building to the public on Friday, November 26th. The museum, which first opened in 1976 under Congregation Mikveh Israel (which, FYI, has been around since 1740 and is known as the “Synagogue of the American Revolution”) has been moved to a spectacular new building down the block at Fifth and Market Street. I’ve only seen it in person from the outside, but it’s an amazing piece of architecture. Best of all, it sits proud and visible, adding to the excitement of Independence Mall instead of hiding just around the corner. Jonathan D. Sarna, chief historian at the museum, explains what the new facility hopes to convey:

Some have expressed surprise that Jews took to Independence Mall to educate visitors about the meaning of freedom rather than about more traditional subjects, like the distinctiveness of Judaism, the horrors of the Holocaust and the perils of prejudice. But that is entirely the point: The NMAJH represents a sharp break from decades of focus on Jews as victims and outsiders. It argues, instead, that Jews have arrived in America and feel confident enough to take pride in what they have accomplished under freedom, and to share those lessons with others. Gone are the days when Jews leave Main Street to the gentiles and hide themselves on hard-to-find side streets. Today, taking full advantage of the freedom that the museum itself celebrates, they can look down onto Independence Mall and America’s most hallowed ground.

The opening gala was, by all accounts, a huge success. Jerry Seinfeld hosted the event, Bette Midler performed a stunning concert, and Barbara Streisand attended to check out her section of the “Only In America” hall, which honors 18 Jewish Americans from different fields as chosen by online voters. That’s the most exciting thing about the museum: It’s modern, it’s fun, and it’s extremely interactive. I started my experience with the museum almost a year ago when I voted for my favorite American Jews (Babs was among my picks, of course, along with Henrietta Szold, a founding member of JPS), and I can’t wait to continue the fun when I visit in person.

Tickets are available starting this Friday. Order ahead if you want to visit on the opening weekend! Hope to see you there.

For more info, check out this collection of articles from The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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Mark Your Calendar For The Global Day Of Jewish Learning!

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge on October 27, 2010

Remember what I said about the lack of distracting holidays between September and the end of November? I’ve been proven wrong, and I’m not talking about Halloween (or the day after, though I do encourage you to grab that candy while it’s cheap).

November 7th is the Global Day of Jewish Learning. The day is intended to celebrate the culmination of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s translating of the Talmud, an undertaking that has taken five decades. Based on Rabbi Steinsaltz’s driving belief…that the texts belong to anyone who wishes to study them… the Global Day of Jewish Learning will encourage people around the world to come together and study.

If you want to know more about why and how the completion of a translation is supposed to be celebrated, Rabbi Steinsaltz explains the concept of a Siyyum beautifully. As he explains on the Global Day website, the idea of the siyyum is an acknowledgement of completion, but also a promise of eventual return to the texts that have been translated.
Because of the groundbreaking nature of this work on the Talmud, which was the first to make the text truly accessible to everyone, and not just master scholars, its celebration will be focused on community learning. My favorite thing about the Global Day concept is that it really is meant for everyone. Anyone interested is encouraged to go to one of the many events being held across the world, and there are ways to participate online, too! Answer some of the “Big Questions” being discussed, or ask your own on the Global Day website.

Check out the website if you’re interested in attending an event, hosting one, or just finding out more details. I’ll be joining in online…hope to see you there!

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We Received a Blogger Award!

Posted by admin in Jewish Knowledge, JPS History on July 28, 2010

The JPS blog just received a Beautiful Blogger Award from our friends and co-authors of JPS title Dictionary of Jewish Words: A JPS Guide, Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, who blog at Schmoozing with the Word Mavens.

To claim our reward, we have to share 7 little known facts about JPS and pass the award on to 7 other blogs.

Things you might not know about The Jewish Publication Society:

  1. On July 28, 1893 (exactly 117 years ago today), 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 JPS. 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. Prior to working for JPS, Szold was elected as the only female member of its publication committee when JPS was founded in 1888.
  2. The first Jewish Publication Society was initially founded in 1845 in Philadelphia, but was dissolved 6 years later after a fire destroyed the building and the entire JPS stock. The American Jewish Publication Society was then established in 1871, but folded only a few years later as a result of an economic downturn and organizational neglect.
  3. The organization was originally called The Jewish Publication Society of America, but later dropped “of America” in 1986.
  4. In the early years, JPS brand tag line was “Israel’s Mission is Peace,” which was written on the organization’s original seal (right). The seal depicted a scene from the book of Isaiah and was only used until 1906.
  5. The extensive index for the original edition of Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg was written on 70,000 index cards. Henrietta Szold fell in love with Ginzberg while working with him on the book. On a trip to Europe, he returned engaged to a younger woman, named Adele Katzenstein, which devastated Szold.
  6. In the beginning stages of World War II, JPS rushed into print Cold Pogrom (1939) to bring greater attention to the plight of European Jewry. In 1941, at the request of the U.S. government, the Society undertook a secret mission by printing in Greek, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, and Rumanian pamphlets that were dropped from planes behind the enemy lines.
  7. The very first JPS book was Outlines of Jewish History, by Lady Katie Magnus, though JPS’s best selling book of all time is the JPS Tanakh, which was first published in 1917 and later updated in 1985.

And here are our choices for blogs to receive the beautiful blogger award:

  1. The Book of Life: A podcast & blog about Jewish books, music, film & web
  2. Jewish Book Council Blog: A blog about trends in the Jewish literary scene, interesting new titles, etc. It also features a bi-weekly author blog series with guest posts by emerging authors.
  3. People of the Books: A blog by the Association of Jewish Libraries dedicated to Jewish book news and reviews as well as information about AJL’s projects
  4. Mixed Multitudes – My Jewish Learning: A blog by My Jewish Learning that explores current events and issues related to Judaism.
  5. The Scroll – Tablet Magazine: Tablet Magazine’s daily blog covering Jewish news around the world.
  6. Jewish Treats: The National Jewish Outreach Program’s blog that offers daily “Juicy Bits of Judaism” including bite-sized facts, actions and prayers that are easy to digest and are a great way to make a daily connection to Judaism in two minutes or less.
  7. Jewish Literary Review: A blog about Jewish books, Jewish novels, Jewish writing, news about books and the occasional author interview.

-Jill Finkelstein

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Illuminated Manuscripts Illuminate Culture

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Jewish Books on July 21, 2010

Looking for a fun, cheap, and educational summer outing? The Yeshiva University Museum is currently hosting A Journey Through Jewish Worlds- Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books, but only until August 1st! Here’s a little about the collection, from The New York Times:

“And as you examine these rare findings, which the curators bill as the most remarkable private collection of illuminated Hebrew manuscripts in the world, you are amazed first at the sensuous variety of the illumination, the examples extending over a millennium and across multiple continents. There are “micrographic” illustrations in which miniature lines of Hebrew text wind around images of Jerusalem or bend into a portrait of the biblical Samson. There are 18th-century documents from small Italian towns in which Renaissance putti find themselves the heralds of Jewish weddings. An illustrated scroll from early-20th-century India shows the Jewish story of Purim played out in Indian and Ottoman costume with macabre explicitness. Astrological signs and charts are found in a 14th-century scientific manuscript; they are also elements in marriage contracts or appear in centuries of Purim scrolls.”

Finding Moses, Charlotte van Rothschild Haggadah, 1842 Courtesy The Braginsky Collection

It’s extremely rare that such an extensive collection be made available to the public, especially in the US! The pieces provide fascinating insight into Jewish culture around the world, and throughout different time periods, by showing how art and religion were brought together.

The Yeshiva University Museum, located in the flatiron district of New York, has the manuscripts on view through August 1st. Admission for adults is only $8, and you can also take advantage of their free admission hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5-8 pm.

While you’re there, be sure to stop by another exhibit- Drawing on Tradition: The Book of Esther features illustrations from JPS author JT Waldman’s graphic novel Megillat Esther. Drawing on Tradition will be on display until August 15th.

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Tzedakah: Charity or Responsibility? Perhaps a Little Bit of Both

Posted by Elie in Jewish Knowledge on July 19, 2010

One of the most recognized words in the Jewish lexicon is tzedakah. Though usually translated as charity, the Hebrew-inclined will frequently remind us that the root of the word is tzedek, or justice. The message: that in Jewish tradition the act of supporting those in need is not something done gratuitously but rather compulsorily—one is required to perform tzedakah just as much as one is obligated to respect parents. While this alternate understanding of tzedakah conveys a sense of personal responsibility, I think that viewing acts of tzedakah as an enactment of justice, as well as a form of charity might help us more fully understand the meaning of this integral concept in Jewish tradition.

Maimonides, the famed 12th-century Jewish scholar, wrote an entire treatise on the laws of tzedakah, illustrating that it not only serves the recipient, but also benefits the donor, accentuating virtues of compassion and generosity and leading to personal growth. In other words, tzedakah provides an opportunity to cultivate self-awareness, to foster on an individual level values that are at the core of communal ethics. If only viewed as a mandated responsibility, tzedakah loses this appeal and can easily be overlooked as an element of human development. But if we choose to also highlight its charitable nature, we allow ourselves to tap into the compassion and sympathy that drive us to perform deeds of tzedakah.

Yet the idea of tzedek—think justice and personal responsibility—should still be part of the discussion (Hebrew grammar aside). Jewish tradition has always emphasized the individual mandate to support communal affairs. In biblical times, the Bible targeted the agrarian daily lifestyle, pressing all farmers to leave a corner of their fields untouched for the benefit of the poor. With the formation of Diaspora Jewish communities, every household reserved money for paupers as well as scholars who relied on community support.

Nowadays, the social action craze has taken hold of young and old alike. American teenagers are volunteering in Africa and neighborhood parks are being refurbished. This heightened awareness should also be a motivator for Jews to support organizations and institutions that encourage both continuity and innovation in the Jewish community—which brings me to JPS.

For a whopping 122 years, JPS has continually produced classic Jewish literary works of importance for a contemporary audience. With the ongoing support from the public, JPS has also published innovative works that add to the heritage of scholarly study. Take a look at our website to see what’s new at JPS and perhaps, with a new sense of the dual significance of tzedakah, you will find ways to support our important cause!

For more articles and information about tzedakah, check out these sites:

American Jewish World Service

Tzedakah, Inc.

My Jewish Learning: Tzedakah

Chesed and Tzedek: An interview with Ruth Messinger (American Jewish World Service), Yossi Prager (The AVI CHAI Foundation), Simon Greer (Jewish Fund for Justice) featured in Sh’ma.

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Three Weeks Round-Up

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Link Roundup on July 1, 2010

Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, by Francesco Hayez

Bein ha-Metzarim, also called The Three Weeks, began on Tuesday. This period, which is meant to be observed as one of mourning, begins with Shiv’ah Asar B’Tammuz, also known as the 17th of Tammuz, and culminateswith Tisha B’Av. Tisha B’Av is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. While it primarily commemorates the destruction of  both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem (which occurred 656 years apart on the same day of the Jewish calendar), it has become a day on which we reflect upon any and all calamities that have befallen the Jewish people throughout history.

Here are some resources for finding out more about Bein ha-Metzarim:

  1. Tablet Magazine has posted a thorough, easy to read FAQ on the Three Weeks.
  2. Wikipedia might not be a source you want to cite in your next research paper, but they do have a great article on the The Three Weeks (which of course links you to many related topics).
  3. Last but not least, last year we wrote a blog post on the JPS Blog with tons of information on Tisha B’Av.

Unlike some other holidays and fasts, The Three Weeks and Tisha B’Av aren’t often observed by more secular members of the Jewish community. Even if you don’t plan on making any changes to your routine in the next few weeks, you can still keep the spirit in mind. Take some time to learn about the events we’re meant to mourn this month. If nothing else, you’ll gain a new appreciation for the resilience and strength of spirit of the Jewish people.

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