Posts Tagged Jewish Publication Society

What I Talk About When I Talk About Holidays and Love*

Posted by Rachel Broder in JPS Books on December 11, 2011

Last week I was editing my students’ first ever five paragraph essays. They were charged with the task of writing a persuasive essay using a topic of their choice. One essay stood out to me for two reasons. First of all, it was by far the best-written essay of the bunch. Secondly, his topic was why Christmas is the best holiday of the year. He was not the only student to choose Christmas as a topic; the students talk about the nearness of Christmas often. What was unique about his essay was one of his subtopics: gift giving. He claimed in his final, and therefore most critical, body paragraph that the act of gift giving shows love between family members.

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This talented student/author is not the only one who sees the act of exchanging gifts as one synonymous with expressing love. The belief is not unique to those celebrating Christmas, nor is it unique to young people. I do, however, know that in my house Hannukah’s modern gift exchange has never been conflated with an expression of love. Rather, making latkahs, going to the synagogue’s menorah lighting, and scraping wax off of the menorahs each evening are the moments teeming with love. I also know that JPS’ selection of Hannukah books is rightfully small compared to that of Torah commentary and novels about family and ethics. The selection also shares traditions, not of gift exchange, but of story telling, game playing, and food consuming.

A large part of me felt guilty not commenting on my student’s essay, but I also recognize that he’s not to blame. We’ve all grown up in a society hypnotized by material objects. My hope is that more parents will raise their kids the way my parents did me, and that more publishers produce books like JPS’ Hannukah selection, which reinforce the importance of tradition and family. (I also hope that the rest of my students are writing as well as this particular one by the end of the school year.)

*A reference to the 1981 collection of short stories, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver.

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Jewish Nebraska

Posted by Rachel Broder in Link Roundup on September 20, 2011

To celebrate JPS’ newly announced collaboration with the University of Nebraska Press, I want to provide readers with a round-up of Jewish places and resources in Nebraska. Though the Press is in Lincoln, there’s a thriving Jewish community in Omaha, so I’m going to include those guys too. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Nebraska is home to about 7,200 Jews (2005), most of which live in Omaha. Omaha has 4 shuls and Lincoln has 2.

-       Wikipedia has a handy history of the Jews in Omaha

-       The Nebraska Jewish Historical Society provides great factual and resourceful information

-       Federation has branches in Omaha and Lincoln

-       Both Omaha and Lincoln have great community centers

-       Lincoln has two beautiful synagogues: South Street Temple and Congregation Tifereth Israel

-       Kosher Delight is an online magazine about Jewish and kosher Nebraska

-       Check out the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Hillel

-       UNP has a really wonderful blog so start following for updates!

JPS’ partnership with UNP has opened my eyes to the Jewish community of Nebraska, and I hope you will take advantage of the above links to do a little research yourself. If you’re familiar with Jewish Nebraska and have any suggestions as to where readers can find more information, please leave a comment for us!

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What Are Your Favorite JPS Books?

Posted by Rachel Broder in JPS Books on August 3, 2011

I’m always intrigued by top 100 lists. You know the sort- top novels, films, soundtracks, etc. Sure, I read them for the lists themselves, but I enjoy reading the comments even more. Everyone wants to share an anecdote, provide their own version of the list, or (my favorite) contest and scream about one thing or another that is wrong with the list. Readers or viewers of top 100 lists are really a special sort because rarely do they remain readers and viewers- they always want to interact with the list.

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I’ve been reading the blog http://onehundredonebooks.wordpress.com/ for a few months now. The blog follows one man’s (Robert’s) journey to read “all 100 of Time Magazine’s greatest English-speaking novels since 1923 (plus Ulysses).” What’s neat about the blog is that Robert is not only reading the novels, but also writing reviews and ranking them. Is this not the ultimate form of interaction with a top 100 list? As I explained, I love the play between reader and list, so this blog is fun for me to read. I also, of course, judge it and mentally declare my own love or distaste for a novel.

Likewise, I recently watched AFI’s first top 100 movies list. This list was compiled in 1997 and consists of movies made between 1896 and 1996. The 2007 list is an updated 10th year anniversary version of the 1997 list. The guy who lent the recording of the 1997 list to me already told me he wants to discuss his top 10 versus AFI’s, and then my top 10.

In the spirit of interactive lists, I want to ask you to share your favorite JPS books. What are your favorite Bible-related books? What about family or law? Do your kids have a list of favorite JPS children’s books?

Let the listing of favorite JPS books begin!

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JPS E-News Promo!

Posted by admin in JPS Books on August 12, 2010

Did you know there’s an easy way to find out about what’s going on at JPS? With JPS e-news, you’ll be the first to hear about all of our cost-saving discounts and special promotions as well as news about new titles and new projects that we’re working on. And if that’s not enough, for a limited time only, when you sign up for JPS e-news, you will  automatically be entered into a drawing to receive a $100 coupon, good for your purchase of JPS books, eBooks, or audio downloads! We will also draw four random winners of $25 coupons. Be sure to add your name and email address to our mailing list between August 11, 2010 and September 15, 2010 for your chance to win.

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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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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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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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Our Name in Lights

Posted by admin in JPS History on June 21, 2010

JPS topped off the PECO Crown Lights on Father’s Day weekend in the City of Brotherly Love to celebrate our 122nd anniversary. Thanks, Philadelphia! Here’s to many more years together.

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June is Audiobook Month! Who Knew?

Posted by Rachel Feltman in Publishing on June 17, 2010

Audiobooks have been around in the US since 1930. Their original purpose was to provide the blind with access to books that weren’t printed in Braille. In fact, we recently collaborated with the Jewish Braille Institute to produce an audio version of the JPS Tanakh.

Over time, audiobooks have become an important media of their own. Many audio books enlist actors and add soundtracks to make the listening experience as engaging as possible. Now, audiobooks represent an industry worth almost 900 million dollars. From long car trips to preschool classrooms, audiobooks have become an entertainment staple. They even have their own award!

The Audies are awarded every spring by the Audio Publishers Association to recognize distinction in spoken-word entertainment. A frequent winner (and now a Hall of Fame member) is the Harry Potter series, narrated by the iconic Jim Dale. His brilliant narration and voice acting has brought the books to life for children all over the world. His work is an excellent example of how the audiobook has evolved: far from simply reading the text, Dale has created 146 unique character voices for his recordings. This year’s Audiobook of the Year went to Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales, which featured the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Helen Mirren, Don Cheadle, and Alan Rickman.

To learn more about audiobooks and the Audio Publishers Association, check out http://www.audiopub.org.

Also, check out Associated Content’s article on the positive impact audiobooks have made around the country.

Happy listening!

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