Posts Tagged Jewish Authors

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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Revisiting “The New Colossus”

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Innovation on November 3, 2011

digitalhistory.uh.edu

Nextbook Press just introduced a wonderful interactive version of Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus.” The tool provides background on allusions and does an excellent job of marrying technology to a sonnet written in 1883. When I clicked on “huddled masses,” a blip about Lazarus’ work with Russian immigrants appeared. It talked about Lazarus’ work at “the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society at 105 East Broadway, where she helped train refugees and she also taught English.”

Reading about Lazarus’ devotion to Russian immigrants made me think about my day in school today. One of my students was asking about my background, particularly wondering from where in Europe my family came. He assumed England or Scotland (kind of amusing because I have no Anglo features), so when I told him Russia and the Ukraine, he was mildly shocked. He didn’t connect Russian ancestry to Jewish ancestry, but for me (and many others), the two go hand-in-hand.

My Bubie’s family hales from Kiev. Sometimes my Bubie shares stories her mother would tell her of the Old Country. During Passover last year, she shared a bunch of stories about continued practices in America. She focused a lot on her parents’ attempt to re-create daily life in Kiev here in Philadelphia. We talked for a long time, mostly her sharing and me commenting. Her stories and my rereading of  “The New Colossus” remind me a lot of JPS’ book 36 Letters. 36 Letters tells the story of one couple as they experience courtship and immigration. The book is amazingly detailed, yet familiar for readers with similar family histories.

As the country celebrates the Statue of Liberty’s 125th anniversary, spend time with not only “The New Colossus” and Joan Sohn’s 36 Letters, but also stories of your own family’s immigration to America.

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The Phantom Tollbooth Celebrates 50 Years

Posted by Rachel Broder in Jewish Knowledge on October 19, 2011

To my extreme delight, last week’s New Yorker published an article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Phantom Tollbooth, written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, both Jews. The Phantom Tollbooth was easily one of my favorite books growing up, and though I see it on my bookshelf every time I go to my parent’s house, it’s been quite a few years since I took the time to think about Milo.

Milo is a remarkable character in fiction because he is simply mild. Unlike other protagonists, Milo is not particularly passionate or brave. He’s marked as a character unaccustomed to strong feeling, and as Michael Chabon points out in a June New York Times article, Milo’s mild curiosity in the appearance of the tollbooth is unusual. Chabon writes that he himself was a mild-tempered kid, but that as he matured and grew out of his serene stage, he began making choices that were less and less Miloeqsue.

In a lot of ways I think that Milo’s curiosity is something I latched onto early in the novel as a kid. Chalk it up to my Jewish upbringing if you want to, but I was full of questions about the world, and still am. This spirit of inquiry is part of what I also think allowed Milo and Tock to survive generations of readers, and eventually reach “children’s literary classic” status, if you will.

In reading Juster and Feiffer’s comments in The New Yorker, I was again amazed by The Phantom Tollbooth when I learned that it was the child of an idea, a $5,000 grant, and a weekend vacation to Fire Island. As you celebrate the beginning of the new Torah cycle, consider also honoring the anniversary of The Phantom Tollbooth with a re-read!

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It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year…To Be Online!

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Link Roundup on December 15, 2010

Unfortunately, this is not what Boston looks like right now.

It’s officially winter, and I’ve got the numb toes to prove it. Given the nature of the internet, I understand that not everyone reading is in such a place that they understand my pain…but I digress. The temperatures are plummeting, the days are about as short as they’re going to get. Can I interest you in the internet?

Well, that’s all I’ve got. Time for me to stand outside waiting for the forecasted flurries. By that, I mean it’s time for me to study for finals. Stay warm, entertained, and well fed!

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So Many Books, So Little Time!

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Jewish Books on August 30, 2010

If you’re like me, you started your summer with an overly ambitious reading list that’s been (mostly) neglected. Now that the time for beach reading is nearly done, you may find yourself staring woefully at a pile of almost-finished novels. Just be grateful that you didn’t try to start the season off with some Dostoyevsky. Trust me. Vowing to finish The Idiot in June is a great way to guarantee that you won’t finish anything by August.

So here’s your quest, should you choose to accept it: Knuckle down and finish something meaty before it’s fall. We’re talking a hardcore literature binge. No more teen vampire romances for us. If you need ideas, take a look at these:

  • Let’s start with a list of underrated authors compiled by Publishers Weekly. I’m   pretty sure I haven’t read the work of anyone on here, so I’ll definitely be looking them up! Don’t you love being the one to introduce an awesome book to your friends and coworkers?
  • I’m really, really far behind if I want to read all the books suggested by JPS author Josh Lambert’s weekly column, On The Bookshelf, featured by Tablet Magazine. I do, though. Each of the books he highlights sound like they should be at the top of my list.
  • Super Sad True Love Story has been all over the internet this summer. I can’t believe that I haven’t read it yet…dystopian literature has been my favorite since I stole The Giver from my sister in fourth grade! Clearly I’m a terrible, lazy person. I swear I just bought a copy.  Shteyngart’s new novel, according to some, indicates that books by Russian-Jewish immigrants are now quite the thing. Here he is in a podcast with Joshua Cohen, author of Witz, discussing their individual takes on dystopian America as a book setting.
  • Rachel Shukert is just a never ending source of hilarity. Her first memoir, in case you missed it, was Have You No Shame?, a witty and genuine look into her childhood as a Jewish girl in Nebraska and her attempts to break into acting in New York. She also wrote Everything’s Coming Up Moses: A Gypsy Seder, and juxtapositions of campy musicals and biblical tales are a genre I will support to the bitter end. Her second memoir, Everything Is Going To Be Great, chronicles her tour through Europe as a recent college graduate. To get an idea of what she’s all about, take a listen to this excerpt from Everything Is Going To Be Great.

What are you waiting for? Get off the internet and read! Well, first you should use the internet to procure reading material, and I suppose you might as well keep surfing while you wait for said book to arrive, but then you should hole up and read for as long as possible.

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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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A Literary Treasure Trove

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Jewish Books, Jewish Knowledge on July 26, 2010

Try not to freak out, but we might have some previously unreleased Kafka on our hands very soon. If you’re not excited, I’m guessing that you’ve never read any Kafka. I forgive you, but just take my word for it: this is a big deal.

Photo Credit: AP Photo

After his death in 1924, Franz Kafka’s personal papers and documents were left to his friend and fellow writer, Max Brod. When Brod died in 1968, ten safety deposit boxes full of papers (some his, some Kafka’s) were left to his secretary and friend, Esther Hoffe. The disputed ownership of these documents is what’s kept them hidden from the public for so long. Hoffe’s daughters seem to have legal ownership, but if the papers are deemed to be “literary treasures” by the judge who is currently examining them, then they could be released into the public domain.

Even if the judge rules in favor of the Hoffe family, chances are good that the papers will soon be published in some form. Some speculate that the boxes contain unpublished manuscripts by Kafka, considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, while others hope that personal documents will shed light on his mysterious life.

You can read more in Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper that filed the lawsuit to make these documents public. The New York Times also has an article on the subject, where they suggest that an unpublished short story was found in the first box.

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Introducing our new CEO, Barry Schwartz!

Posted by admin in Publishing on July 14, 2010

The Jewish Publication Society has named Rabbi Barry Schwartz as our new Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining JPS, Rabbi Schwartz spent 11 years serving as the senior rabbi at Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. In addition to his rabbinical work, he served on the board of several nonprofit social justice organizations, where he was active in Jewish environmental work, and authored four books, a prize-winning short story, and scholarly articles that have appeared in the Journal of Reform Judaism, American Jewish History, and the Hebrew Union College Annual.

Q: What made you want to enter the publishing world and to work for The Jewish Publication Society?

A: I’ve loved JPS books since I was a kid. In my 1500 volume Judaica library, place of pride belongs to many wonderful JPS books. I strongly believe in our mission, and hope to help guide the transition to our future.

How will you translate your skills and experiences as a Rabbi to being the CEO of JPS?

It’s all about building and sustaining relationships. As a congregational rabbi for the past 25 years, I know my way around the Jewish community. We need to reach out to the community far and wide. Educators, rabbis, donors, and of course, book lovers all have a crucial role in our future success.  I hope to share my passion for life long Jewish learning in a way that will help enhance Jewish literacy in general and JPS in particular.

What do you hope to accomplish at JPS and what are your long term goals?

The three words I think express my hope are: affirmation, imagination, and collaboration. We need to affirm JPS’ mission of publishing books of enduring worth that will stand the test of time. Yet in the digital era, we need imagination in order to innovate in ways that will excite a new generation. And I know that our future is linked to partnerships. Few of us in Jewish publishing will be able to go it alone in the years to come.

I am devoting this year to a non-stop series of conversations about our future, and I welcome anyone to join the conversation. Who are we, where are we going…and what is “the next big thing” for JPS?

What do you think is the greatest challenge in the publishing industry right now?

The short answer: how to make money from e-books. The bigger challenge: how to harness emerging technology for quality learning. The biggest challenge: how to combat the culture wide decline in “deep” reading.

Where do you see JPS in 5 years?

Five years is an eternity in publishing right now. At the same time, as I told an interviewer recently, the monuments of Judaism that endure are not buildings, but books. Great books will continue to convey the wisdom and beauty of our heritage, and one way or another I hope JPS will be part of that!

Related Interest:

The Jewish Exponent: Pulpit to Publishing: A New Leader for JPS

Jewish Community Voice: Rabbi Barry Schwartz to head The Jewish Publication Society

-Jill Finkelstein

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Making the Cut

Posted by admin in JPS Books on June 30, 2010

This month has been an exciting one for JPS! When Jewcy’s Big Jewcy list and New York Jewish Week’s 36 Under 36 list were announced, we were excited to find that three JPS authors had been recognized. Congratulations to JT Waldman, Danya Ruttenberg, and Josh Lambert. Here’s a little background on each of them:

JT Waldman- Jewish Week, “36 Under 36”:

JT Waldman is a comic book illustrator and interaction designer. His first graphic novel, Megillat Esther, drew from archeological, rabbinic and pop cultural sources to create a bold retelling of the biblical story of Esther. Illustrations from the book are currently being featured as part of the Reinventing Ritual exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and the Drawing on Tradition: The Book of Esther exhibit at the Yeshiva University Museum. He also contributed to From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books. JT later went on to design the Tagged Tanakh, an interactive site that allows users to add their own commentary to the JPS Tanakh. He is currently working on his next graphic novel with Harvey Pekar.

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg- Jewish Week, “36 Under 36”:

Danya Ruttenberg is the co-editor of three volumes in the Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices series published by JPS: Sex and Intimacy; War and National Security; Social Justice (2010). Her other works include Surprised By God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion (Beacon Press, 2008), nominated for the 2010 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism (NYU Press, 2009) and Yentl’s Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism (Seal Press, 2001). She is also a contributing editor to Lilith and to the academic journal Women and Judaism and is on the editorial board of Jewschool.com.

Josh Lambert- Jewcy, Big Jewcy:

Josh Lambert is Dorot Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow in the Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, and the author of American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide. He led the redesign and re-launch of JBooks.com, an online book review magazine, in 2003 and served as its editor until 2004. He now contributes book reviews and essays to The Forward, the San Francisco Chronicle, the two national daily newspapers in Canada (the National Post and Globe and Mail), and The Jerusalem Post, and serves as a Contributing Editor to Tablet Magazine.

In other exciting news, on Sunday July 4th, Debra Band, author/illustrator of I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms and Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden, will have illuminations from I Will Wake the Dawn featured on the PBS television program Religion and Ethics Weekly. To find local broadcast listings, visit http://www.pbs.org/religion and check back at the PBS site after the weekend for more information on Debra and for downloads of the program itself.

Addendum: Seven JPS authors were named to Newsweek’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America! The list includes:

-Jill Finkelstein

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Happy 122nd Birthday, JPS!

Posted by admin in Jewish Books, JPS Books, JPS History, Publishing on June 4, 2010

June 3, 1888, was “a great day in Philadelphia Judaism,” when 100 of the leading Jewish intellectuals in America met in Philadelphia to found the Jewish Publication Society. Fast forward 122 years and JPS is still going strong!

The amazing thing about working for the Jewish Publication Society is learning about how much historical significance the organization has within American Jewish history. In response to a large wave of Jewish immigration in the United States, the society was founded to educate the American-born children of Jewish immigrants about their heritage and unite American Jews. Still to this day, JPS’s mission is to provide literary content to those interested in many aspects of Jewish life.

Every day when I enter the office, I walk past a bookshelf filled with JPS books dating back to the late 1800s and I’m always awestruck. I feel honored to work for an organization that has had important Jewish figures like Henrietta Szold and Chaim Potok serve as Editor-in-Chief and has published works from noted scholars and literary greats like Isaac Bashevis Singer, S.Y. Agnon, Yehuda Amichai, Saul Bellow, Martin Buber, Hillel Halkin, and Abraham Joshuah Heschel. Despite all these great factors, the Jewish Publication Society would never have been as successful throughout the years without the help of you, our readers. Thank you for your continued support of JPS and here’s to many more years of providing new and exciting Jewish content.

-Jill Finkelstein

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