The JPS Books Blog | JPS Interactive

The 59th Annual Jewish Book Awards

Thu, 03/11/2010 - 19:00

My goodness, what a week: first, the Oscars on Sunday night, and then the Jewish Oscars on Tuesday! The Jewish book Oscars, that is: the 2009 National Jewish Book Awards.

Jewish Book Council

Dozens of Jewish literary notables were there: Joseph Telushkin, James Kugel, Lawrence Schiffman, Ari Goldman, Alana Newhouse, Yitz and Blu Greenberg, just for starters. Lots of other familiar faces, too, including two former JPS interns Naomi Firestone and Miri Pomerantz Dauber, now with the Jewish Book Council, which hosted the event.

It was quite a night for JPS, with more award winners than any other publisher: Editor Emerita Ellen Frankel and Avi Katz took a prize for the best Illustrated Children’s Book, for their JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible; Paul Steinberg and Janet Greenstein Potter’s Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Spring and Summer Holidays won for best Jewish Family Literature, Judy Klitsner’s Subversive Sequel in the Bible took the award for Scholarship. Frauke von Rohden’s Meneket Rivkah: A Manual of Wisdom and Piety for Jewish Women was a finalist for in the Scholarship category, and Frankel and Katz also were finalists in Jewish Family Literature. Below you can view a slideshow of our winners at the event!

I’m a big fiction fan, so I’ve added Joseph Kertes’ Gratitude: A Novel, the fiction award winner, to my (50+ book!) reading list. If you want to add winners to your reading list, check out wwww.jewishbookcouncil.org and add your comments and suggested book list titles below in response to this posting.

-Carol Hupping, Interim Director

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The Complete JPS Audio Bible is Finally Here!

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:58

The JPS Tanakh is considered the authoritative translation of the Jewish Bible and is certainly the most widely read English edition. That said, we’ve always known we wanted to make our Bible available to everyone, in any format that a person would want to use. Thus came the idea for an audio version and the Jewish Braille Institute (JBI) was the clear partner for collaboration. After 12 months of recording the 2,000 pages of the Tanakh into 60 hours of audio using 13 narrators, the Audio Bible is finally here! Last October we gave readers a sneak peek with our free weekly Torah portion (widget-version below), but now readers have the option to purchase the entire TANAKH, only the Torah, The Five Megilloth and Jonah, or any of the other 36 books of the Bible.

The JPS Tanakh: The Jewish Bible, audio version even makes it easy for you to bring the text wherever you go, and whenever you want. Offered in both MP3 and iTunes download formats you can listen on your iPod or MP3 Player on the road or anywhere on the go.

To celebrate the release of this landmark project, we are offering a special introductory offer – purchase the download of our audio version of the complete JPS Tanakh or Torah and we will send you our Torah eBook FREE of charge!

We could keep going on about how excited we are about this audio Bible, but our Interim Director, Carol Hupping, sums it up best in this recent Q & A session.

Q: How did the Jewish Braille Institute (JBI) and The Jewish Publication Society (JPS) come to partner on the JPS Tanakh: The Jewish Bible, audio version?

A: JPS had wanted an audio version of its Bible for years, but we knew that producing it would be very expensive. We’re talking about 2,000 book pages, about 60 hours of listening time. We had gotten a bid from a commercial audio book producer, but it was much more than we could afford. Then we recalled conversations we’d had with JBI a few years back about publishing a large-print Bible and remembered that they also produced audio books. We asked if they would be interested in collaborating on the project. Indeed they were.

Q: How does this project fit into the new direction JPS is taking?

A: For the last 120 years, JPS has been primarily a publisher of print books. But that’s changing now, because the Internet and handheld devices like smart phones and ebook readers have changed the way people access and use information, and the way many people read books. So, in addition to print, we’re now offering ebooks and also audio, starting with this audio version of the JPS Tanakh, directly through our website and via many other distributors. We want to reach as many people, in as many ways, as possible.

Click here to read the rest of the interview with Carol, as well as a Q & A with JBI President and CEO Ellen Isler and several of the Audio Bible narrators [73K PDF]. Feel free to link to the complete Q&A or to excerpt from it, if you wish.

Also, for more information about the JPS Audio Bible go to http://jewishpub.org/books/audiobible/about-bible.php.

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JPS: Producing Cultural Treasures for Over 120 Years

Thu, 03/04/2010 - 17:39

Chances are JPS books have touched your life in some way. Perhaps you grew up with the JPS Tanakh on your bookshelf. Or, maybe you read a title from the K’Tonton series to your son or daughter, or you use one of the acclaimed JPS Bible commentaries to enhance your own Jewish learning. Regardless of how or when it happened, JPS made it possible for you to connect with Judaism on your own terms and share in our rich cultural legacy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billhd/

You may think of JPS as just a Jewish book publisher, but it’s so much more. Foremost, JPS is a nonprofit organization committed to bringing quality Jewish books and educational resources to all individuals and institutions interested in past and contemporary Jewish life. But, what if JPS weren’t around to fulfill this priceless mission? Look at just a few of the many treasures we would have missed:

Eve Bunting’s New York Times’ bestselling Holocaust allegory, Terrible Things, with over 25,000 copies in print and recently added to Holocaust education curriculums around the country.
Louis Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews, a masterpiece of Jewish literature and an indispensable reference on Midrash.
The First Jewish Catalog, the quintessential do-it-yourself guide to Jewish ritual, customs, and making Judaism part of our day-to-day lives.
The revered JPS Tanakh, hailed by Time magazine as, “A landmark of Jewish religious scholarship.”

These are just a few examples of the thousands of titles JPS has published over the past 120 years that have helped to define Jewish culture in America. And, JPS hasn’t done it alone. Did you know that the vast majority of its publications would have never made it to the hundreds of thousands of readers around the world who enjoy them if it wasn’t for the generosity of its donors and members?

It’s clear that a gift to JPS is an investment in the future of Jewish education, community, and culture. It allows JPS to continue publishing top-quality Bible resources and fine works of Jewish scholarship and culture. And it gives you—customers, members, and patrons—the opportunity to contribute to the wealth of Jewish literature and learning and be part of history.

- Michael

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Purim Literary Roundup!

Fri, 02/26/2010 - 14:34

Julie Greenfield

It’s been awhile since we’ve brought you a literary roundup, so in honor of Purim we’re bringing you the best of the web devoted to this joyous holiday.

The editors at Tablet Magazine have put together a handy guide about the holiday filled with FAQs and fun things to do to enhance your holiday.
Looking for a new spin on the Hamentaschen? Ima on and off the Bima has posted some creative recipes. Also, good news for those with gluten allergies, she’s even included arecipe for gluten-free Hamentaschen!
If you don’t feel like baking, but are looking for the best Hamentaschen out there, Jewcy has assembled a list of the 5 best Hamentaschen Bakers in America, including Lipkins in the native home of JPS, Philadelphia.
Abby Wisse Schachter, associate editor of the New York Post, writes for Commentary Magazine about how feminism and progressive thinking have created a new meaning for the holiday.
The Jew & the Carrot has put together a list of healthy and sustainable ways to celebrate Purim. Just because Esther saved the Jews, doesn’t mean you can’t take this time to save the Earth.
Check out The Jewish Week’s interview with author Rabbi Yehuda Landy about his book Purim and the Persian Empire: A Historical, Archaeological & Geographical Perspective, which examines archaeological findings from where the Purim story takes place.
Though it was yesterday, learn about the Fast of Esther and some other lesser known fast days from our friends at My Jewish Learning.

If you know of any other great Purim blog posts and articles that we forgot to mention, let us know in the comment section. And we would be remiss not to mention JT Waldman’s stunning graphic novelization of the story of Esther: Megillat Esther.

We hope you all have a Purim Sameach (a happy Purim)!

-Jill

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Create Your Own Prayer Service

Mon, 02/22/2010 - 17:51

www.flickr.com/photos/rbarenblat

Back when I was a member of BBYO, I was frequently in charge of putting together and leading services. It wasn’t an easy task. When you get a bunch of Jewish teenagers together on the weekend, praying is usually the last thing they want to do. Not only that, but when you’re dealing with Jews from a variety of Jewish educational backgrounds, it can be hard to create a service that everyone is comfortable with. I would make photocopies of common prayers, their English translation, and their transliteration then paste them all together to make one comprehensive prayer packet. We were always trying to spice up services with themes and quotes to make them more fun, only that required more cutting and pasting for each new service.

Now thanks to BBYO International, there is now a website called Build a Prayer dedicated to creating your own prayer service. There, you can choose which service you would like to plan (Friday Evening, Saturday Morning, Saturday Evening, or Blessing After Meal), which type of service you would like (Traditional, Pluralistic, or Custom), which languages you would like to choose (English, Hebrew, and Transliteration), and which template you want. From there you can select which prayers you want to include and add your own commentary, images, audio, video, etc to personalize your service. With this site, you can now quickly make a custom prayer service for any occasion. It also allows you to browse through services created by other users and to learn more about the purpose for each prayer. For an online tutorial, BBYO has even included this online tutorial:

Don’t be fooled! Just because this site is sponsored by BBYO, doesn’t mean it is just for teens. I encourage you to check it out and play around to create your own personalized and meaningful service!

Let us know in the comments section what other online Jewish educational tools you’ve found helpful.

-Jill

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One Month's Worth of Ideas

Tue, 02/16/2010 - 19:49

Daniel Sieradski, a prominent blogger in the Jewish community, recently began a new blog called “31 Days, 31 Ideas.” The basic gist of this month-long blog was to present his innovative ideas of ways to improve upon the Jewish community at a time when our society is progressing forward at an unprecedented rate, and to ultimately generate support for these ideas in order for them to come into fruition.

For the most part, Daniel’s ideas are original and pretty novel in my opinion (although he does lend credit where credit is due); and most have something to do with the Internet. All of these ideas were fascinating and though-provoking, but several of them seemed worth creating conversation about.

I encourage you to check out Daniel’s blog for yourself, but in the meantime, here are a few of the ideas that I felt were worth sharing:

Open Source Beit Midrash – an online study hall that uses web conferencing and video chatting in order to have multiple people looking at the same page of text, with a teacher guiding a live, video-enabled lecture. This type of website could forever change the study of Jewish texts across the world.
Jew It Yourself: The Jewish Catalog 2.0 – This would provide online resources that facilitate self-directed Jewish learning and practice to those who do not affiliate Jewishly in traditional ways or who do not have access to a Jewish education
Jewish Book of the Month Club – as an avid reader with a love for learning about the Jewish community, I am obviously a fan of this idea, and am confused as to why this never existed?
Jewish Non-Profit Employees Union – a union for the tens of thousands of employees of all non-profit Jewish organizations, ranging from day schools, synagogues, JCC’s, to advocacy groups, with Jewish and non-Jewish employees alike.

These concepts definitely bring a new perspective to the Jewish community table. And with a new Jewish experience just at our fingertips, Daniel’s ideas could potentially be the change the community needs for revitalization.

-Emily

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The E-Book Face-Off

Thu, 02/04/2010 - 16:18

I’m sure most of you by now have read all about the Amazon-Macmillan face-off that happened over this past week. If not, I shall summarize.

On Friday afternoon, after months of debates over e-book pricing, Amazon drastically pulled all Macmillan (one of the top six American publishing companies) e-books and print books off of their virtual shelves.

Amazon e-books currently sell $9.99, and Macmillan wants to charge between $12.99 and $14.99. Macmillan and other publishers have criticized Amazon for this low price on best-selling e-books, saying the price could potentially hurt hardcover sales.

Just 3 days later, Amazon threw in the towel and agreed to sell Macmillan e-books at their demanded price. Amazon says it had no choice in the matter, having to cede pricing control to Macmillan even though that meant increasing its e-book prices, and therefore decreasing the attractiveness of the Kindle.

Now, let us not forget that up until Tuesday, a publisher like Macmillan had no real alternative if it was unhappy with Amazon’s e-book prices. But when Apple announced its iPad and an upcoming iBook store last week, the e-book landscape changed. Five publishers were announced to be working with Apple, and Macmillan is one of them.

The basic consensus of this weekend’s events is that Amazon was in the wrong, and in many ways. They (allegedly) toyed with antitrust federal laws, stealthily removed Macmillan books in a shady manner, acted not only against Macmillan but against its authors too, and failed to come out with a formal statement (as Macmillan’s CEO did).

Whichever side you’ve decided to take, we cannot deny the role the e-book will play in the future of the publishing industry. But is this faceoff a foreshadowing of what’s to come? And did Amazon mistakenly pave the way for the Apple iPad to take over?

Needless to say, the coming months will surely not be void of excitement in the world of e-books.

-Emily

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Reviving the classics!

Thu, 01/28/2010 - 16:56

We’re going back to basics! As a part of our spring 2010 collection, we have re-launched five of JPS’s classic books! These classic books are for readers of all ages, and we hope that by bringing them back to the shelves, readers will be reminded of some timeless ideas that are essential to Judaism.

Lessons learned in these classic books carry as much weight as ever, containing information that, believe it or not, may be directly applicable to our lives today.

Here is a list of JPS works revived in 2010:

Judaism as a Civilization by Mordecai Kaplan

This book introduced a new way of looking at Judaism, and is considered the origin of the Reconstructionist Movement. Kaplan felt that all Jews – traditional and liberal, religious and secular – could play a part in this “reconstruction.”

2. Book of Tradition by Abraham ibn Daud (author) and Gerson D. Cohen (translator)

This epic on Jewish history from ancient times to the 12th century eulogized Spanish Jewry and reminded readers of a once-thriving culture. No one before had ever attempted to write such a broad history of Jewish civilization, and this unique book is one of the first examples of Jewish historiography

3. Genesis: The Beginning of Desire by Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Ph.D.

This epic breathes new life into the stories of Adam and Even, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Essau, Rachel, and Joseph. Zornberg brings biblical, midrashic, and literary sources together, illuminating the tensions that grip human beings as they search for an encounter God

4. The Life of Gluckel of Hameln by Beth-Zion Abrahams

Gluckel of Hameln’s memoir is widely viewed as one of the earliest major works written by a Jewish woman and has become a classic. This JPS book is the only English translation of Gluckel’s story from the original Yiddish and is widely considered the most accurate and complete translation available

5. Modern Poems on the Bible by David Curzon

This is a collection of imaginative and engaging contemporary responses to the Bible. Guided by the classic rabbinic genre of midrash conceived 1,500 years ago, Curzon chooses poems from Jewish and non-Jewish writers alike and places them besides the biblical passages that were their inspiration.

After all, Albert Einstein once said: “Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best the books of contemporary authors’ looks to me like an extremely nearsighted person who scorns eyeglasses.” We’ve certainly learned a lesson or two from Albert, so perhaps we should take his advice!

-Emily

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Follow our authors on tour!

Tue, 01/26/2010 - 21:03

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2010 recipients with a blog tour February 1-5, 2010!

What is a blog tour, you ask? A blog tour is like a virtual book tour. So instead of going to a library or bookstore to see an author speak, you go to a website on or after the assigned date, and read the author’s interview in the comfort of your own home (or office!) Imagine that – being up close and personal with our winning authors without even leaving your chair!

JPS authors that will be a part of the blog tour are Judy Vida, author of Naomi’s Song (winner of the Sydney Taylor Honor Award in the teen readers category), and Ellen Frankel, author of the JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible (notable Sydney Taylor Book in the category of all ages). The interview with Juda Vida will be posted on The Book Nosher on February 3rd, 2010. The interview with Ellen Frankel will be posted on the Deo Writer on February 5th, 2010.

Make sure you tune in to see what our accomplished authors have to say!

-Emily

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JPS rakes in the awards!

Tue, 01/26/2010 - 21:02

JPS is proud to announce its National Jewish Book Award and Sydney Taylor Book Award recipients! As a 120-year old publisher with a rich history, a broad spectrum of books, and accomplished authors, JPS continues to thrive in the publishing industry by creating and reviving literary works that enhance Jewish culture around the globe.

We’re honored to have received major awards from two venerable organizations: the National Jewish Book Awards, sponsored by the Jewish Book Council (www.jewishbookcouncil.org), honor some of the best and brightest books and authors in the field of Jewish literature. The program is the longest running awards program of its kind in the field of Jewish literature. The Sydney Taylor Book Awards, presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries, are given each year to outstanding books for children and teens that portray the Jewish experience.

The conversation about books, both print and digital, has reached new heights as the technological revolution brings e-books to center stage. As writers and publishers adapt to this rapidly changing world, JPS remains at the forefront of Jewish literature and culture – in whatever mediums readers use to access text.

Here is a list of JPS works recognized in 2009:

The JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible – is a recipient of the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Illustrated Children’s Books and a Finalist in the category of Jewish Family Literature. It has also been named a Notable Book for Readers of All Ages by the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee.
Celebrating the Jewish Year, the Spring and Summer Holidays – recipient of the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Jewish Family Literature.
Subversive Sequels in the Bible – recipient of the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Scholarship.
Meneket Rivkah: A Manual of Wisdom and Piety for Jewish Women – a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist in the category of Women’s Studies.
Naomi’s Song – named a Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor for Books for Teen Readers.
Elvina’s Mirror – named a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable Book for Older Readers.

We congratulate our esteemed authors, and thank our readers for their support!

-Emily

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Think You Know Everything About Judaism? Think Again!

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 13:13

Mara W. Cohen Ioannides, author of the JPS book A Shout in the Sunshine, guest blogs for JPS about the many forgotten cultures within Judaism.

Jews often forget that we are a multi-cultural community. American Jews, I believe, are particularly guilty of this, which is quite amazing considering the quilt of cultures we wrap ourselves in. We view American Jewishness as Yiddishkeit, and forget about the other ethnic groups that make up the community of Jews, like Yemini, Sephardi, etc. Before you pooh-pooh this idea, list Jewish ethnic food. Did you list: matzah balls, bagels, pastrami, rye bread, mandel brot, challah, or honey cake? Then you are an Eastern European ethnic Jew. What ever happened to humus, lahana, or halvah?

I grew up at a time when Sephardic Jews were only mentioned in history books (and I lived an hour from Mikveh Israel in the historic district of Philadelphia) and the only books for children about American Jewish children were the All of a Kind Family series. I loved those books, mostly because I imagined my grandmothers and their sisters as those girls. However, as I grew up I really wondered about all those other Jews. I wanted to know what Jews all over the world were like and there weren’t really books about them.

When I became a mother of a daughter with a Greek father, I desperately wanted her to know all of her history. I could find nothing for children about Greek Jewry. This began my series of novels. We know that Jews lived throughout history in almost every part of the world, but we don’t really understand what their lives were like. Here’s my pick of books for young and old that should get you started on seeing another part of Jewish culture:

1. I Remember Rhodes by Rebecca Amato Levy is a wonderful book of the author’s reminiscences about her childhood in the pre-Holocaust Jewish quarter of Rhodes. It is filled with celebrations, sayings, and songs. You can read it in English or Ladino! This woman was a foundation of the Rhodalisi community in California and started me on my interest in Greek Jewry.

2. Zayda Was a Cowboy by June Levitt Nislick, who would have thought? No, I’m serious. One of my grandfathers was a factory worker and the other, a postal worker, both lived in Brooklyn. Who had Jewish grandfathers who were cowboys? Never underestimate a children’s book. They may be short, but the story is just as good.

3. The Book of Jewish Food: An odyssey from Samarkand to New York by Claudia Roden was another inspiration for me. Anyone who has read my book knows there is an incredible amount of food in it. Every Jewish holiday is about food, even the fast days. My rabbi says that every time she reads my book she gets hungry. If you want to try making the food in my novel, get this book! This cookbook is amazing! The stories about the recipes are just as yummy as the recipes themselves.

4. The Life of Glückel of Hameln is a classic in women’s and Jewish studies. I love reading this memoir begun in 1690 by Glückel, a widow and mother of 14. Yes, I know, it is about an Eastern European Jew, but how many memoirs by women of this period are there? And how often do you get to read about life in the early 18th century. This book is part of the canon and should be on everyone shelves, just like Sydney Taylor’s books.

5. Rashi’s Daughters: Rachel, the third in Maggie Anton’s series, is another powerful look at cultural diversity. In this finale, Rachel’s husband lives in both France and Spain and there are few books where the comparison between the golden ages of the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim are so dynamically paralleled. I was especially intrigued by the internal conflicts of husband and wife over the question of polygamy, which was practiced by the Sephardim and not the Ashkenazi.

Have I reached my five? There are so many good books out there. I could write for days about the books I have sitting on my shelves and those I wish I did. Whatever you do, don’t forget to get yourselves some excellent CDs of music. Sephardic music is much sought after by scholars of medieval Spanish. Did you know that the language still spoken which is closest to medieval Spanish is Ladino? No? All the more reason to take the opportunity to discover the hidden sides of Jewish culture!

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Jewish Rappers and Professional Basketball?

Thu, 01/07/2010 - 19:26

Is this one for the books?

Jewish Hasidic rapper Matisyahu is scheduled to give a free performance after the Philadelphia 76ers play the New York Knicks in NBA play on January 13th, 2010. The free concert is a part of “Jewish Heritage Night,” an event that includes kosher catering in the concourse of the arena from a local Jewish kosher restaurant.

www.pagesonline.it/groupieblog

Well, the event is apparently not history in the making.

In my search to see if this was an original idea, I found that Jewish Heritage nights and Jewish themed sporting events are actually far from a new and novel concept. Who knew?

These events have been held in cities across the country, and in all types of different venues and sports. The Oakland Raiders, for example, held a Sukkot tailgate before a game last year, and just last month, the Miami Heat held a similar Jewish Heritage event with a free concert from 8th Day, a Jewish rock band from California.

Are these types of Jewish-themed events becoming trend worthy in the world of professional sports? It seems as if they’re certainly on their way.

To all you sports fans out there, I hope you enjoy getting your Jewish entertainment fix for free!

-Emily

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Delayed E-Book Releases – Smart or Annoying?

Tue, 01/05/2010 - 20:29

No one can deny it. The e-book is here and it’s here to stay. Whether you’re for or against the e-reader doesn’t change the heart of the matter. The question now is how will the publishing industry adapt to the advent of such a new and exciting technology?

Many are concerned that as devices like Kindle, Nook, and the Sony Reader continue to take over the reading world, printed books will cease to exist. A very scary thought.

So, what is the publishing industry to do?

Well, if you’re Simon & Schuster, you’ve already thought of a solution. The question is, is it the right one? In an effort to address new technologies while continuing to sell printed materials, Simon & Schuster has decided to delay the sale of their publications’ e-books, only making them available four months after the initial hardcover release. And, they’re not the only ones, with companies like HarperCollins and Hachette Book Group following suit.

So, is this an ingenious plan or a childish antic?

Some believe that this makes sense. Wait a few months, let the printed version sell, and then release the e-book for those who desperately want it for their electronic devices. That way, everyone wins. As Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg states,

We understand that there is an urge with digital media to have it more, faster, now. We’re trying to hit upon a happy medium.

But, some don’t agree. They argue that waiting to release an e-book version doesn’t cater to what the public wants most. Instead, these people believe that publishers are sticking to an antiquated system of scheduled releases (hardcover first, paperback second, etc) that doesn’t fit with the public’s desire. And, after all, aren’t the customers’ needs supposed to be priority #1?

Whether you agree with the publishers’ plan or not, be prepared to wait a little while for the e-book version of some of 2010’s exciting new releases. And remember, it’s not so bad. Reading print books is still an experience all its own!

-Sarah

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The Wandering Jew

Tue, 12/29/2009 - 21:59

From here to there, from there to here, Jewish things are everywhere…

For ages, I’d been dying to have an adventure. To go off somewhere on my own, and just explore. Well, I’ve finally bitten the bullet – pretty soon I’ll be heading off to San Francisco for a few days, and boy, am I excited! The Golden Gate Bridge, the sea lions at Pier 39… just call me the Jewish traveler extraordinaire!

But this upcoming trip has got me thinking. Travel always presents many thrills and challenges, but traveling as a Jew often presents its own special joys and difficulties: If you keep kosher, where (and what) do you eat? If you’re Shabbat-observant, what sort of things are open for you to do on your travels? And even if these issues aren’t a problem for you, there are still the added joys of Jewish travel that you wouldn’t want to miss out on (going to Venice? Don’t you dare leave without checking out the old Jewish Ghetto in the Cannaregio sestiere!).

So what is a Jewish traveler to do? Well, I’ve complied a short list of great travel books, specifically designed to help you navigate the challenges and special surprises of Jewish travel:

No Jewish traveler should ever leave home without the Jewish Travel Guide. This baby lists the local synagogues, kosher restaurants, mikvahs, community organizations, Jewish museums, and Jewish tourist sites for every country and every US state.
Looking for a unique Jewish perspective on your destination of choice? Try The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine’s Guide to the World’s Jewish Communities and Sights, which lists a brief Jewish history, “synopsis of the current community scene including colorful local personalities”, and listings of Jewish sightseeing attractions, accomodations, and restaurants for 48 of the world’s cities.
Heading off to Eastern Europe? Be sure to take your copy of National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe.
Headed for warmer climates? Don’t forget to bring A Travel Guide to the Jewish Carribean and South America!
And, of course, a list of Jewish travel books wouldn’t be complete without a guide to Israel. There are tons of options out there, but my personal favorite is the classic Frommer’s Israel.

Happy trails!
Naomi

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Easy-to-Keep New Year’s Resolutions!

Tue, 12/29/2009 - 14:25

New Year’s – one of those really big flashy holidays where everything glitters. Literally. People sit around with bubbly champagne, crazy hats, and a list of things they plan to do differently in the coming year.

That’s right, the infamous list of New Year’s resolutions. The things each person wants to change, but rarely does. So, maybe it’s time to find some New Year’s resolutions that you can easily accomplish! Need some help? Here are some easy resolutions just for you, from JPS:

1. Read a book that you’d never think to read – Ever get too caught up in the things you know you like and forget about trying something new? The New Year is a perfect time to branch out and read a book that is totally out of your comfort zone. Whether it’s a New York Times bestseller, a used out-of-print novel, or a JPS title , I can guarantee you that the books you may be least likely to read are sometimes the ones that surprise you most. So, take a chance!

2. Comment on a blog – whether you’re a fan or not, blogs are here to stay (woohoo!), so you might as well take part in the action! Bloggers, myself included, love to hear what readers have to say. I mean, after all, it IS an interactive community, meaning we thrive off comments and discussion. Even if you disagree with what’s being said, tell us! It spices up the conversation.

3. Try an e-book – Yes, I know I’ve made it clear that I’m not entirely sold on e-readers and e-books, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see what they’re like! Got an iPod touch? Or a friend with a Kindle? If so, take some time to check out a device, and then let us know what you think! We’re always interested in hearing more about the print vs. e-book debate.

Try out these simple resolutions, and start out the New Year on a high. Good luck!

-Sarah

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A Jew’s Christmas To-Do List

Thu, 12/24/2009 - 17:53

It’s that time of year. Only one more day until Christmas – until radio stations go back to playing regular music and stores become less crazy. Most have spent weeks, if not months, getting hyped for the holidays. They’ve planned out their presents and meals, and now it’s here. Tomorrow is the big day!

So, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, what’s there to do?

As a Jew, there are tons of things you can do to fill your Christmas day. Some are typical and some are not, so pick and choose whichever fit for you!

1. Enjoy the famous Chinese food and a movie – Yes, I know. It’s the most stereotypical activity for Jews on Christmas, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one! Since most places are closed on Christmas, it’s hard finding good food…which leads us to Chinese restaurants. They’re one of the few places open, and with so many delicious options, they’re hard to resist! The same limited selection goes for non-restaurants, which is why so many Jews follow up or precede their meal with a trip to the movies. Careful though, in places like NYC and other highly populated Jewish areas, I’m betting theaters may be busy.

2. Celebrate Christmas – Sure, you may not practice Christianity, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to gain from participating in the Christmas holiday. Spend time with friends who celebrate and find out what makes the holiday so great for them. As someone who has experienced Christmas through loved ones for the past few years, I can tell you that it’s totally worth it. Why? Because happiness is happiness, and there’s something contagious about it no matter the reason.

3. Plan a game tournament – If you feel like there’s no where to go with every place closed, stay home! There’s nothing wrong with spending the day indoors and playing all the games you can get your hands on. Indulge your competitive side by inviting friends or family over and holding a day-long gaming tournament. The time will fly and the memories will be great!

4. Go outside – It’s true. December isn’t exactly the warmest time of the year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy being outside. Right now, with all the snow on the ground, it’s hard to resist playing in it. Build snowmen, create snow angels, have a snowball fight, and just let loose. When you’re finished, you can spend the rest of the day inside getting warm.

So, if you’re at a loss of what to do with your day tomorrow, try one of these suggestions and have fun!

-Sarah

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Jews and Christmas music – not such an unlikely mix!

Mon, 12/21/2009 - 03:19

It’s no secret – I love Christmas music. I adore it! Heck, I love it even more than some of my Christian friends do. You can bet your buttons that when December rolls around, I’m tuning my radio to a 24/7 Christmas music radio station. And of course, people are always asking me, “Naomi, why do you love Christmas music so much? Why don’t you find it irritating like the rest of us do? And… come on, seriously, you’re Jewish!” True, true. I suppose there’s something nostalgic about the music, the bells, the thought of chestnuts roasting on an open fire while the weather outside is frightful…

I think that the best answer is probably that there’s no accounting for taste.

That being said, you could argue (though it’s a stretch) that I love Christmas music because much of it was actually written by Jews. This fun fact is no secret, either. A recent article from InterFaithFamily.com points out that in this year’s American Society of Composers and Publisher’s 25 Most Popular Holiday Songs list, more than half were composed, co-written, or performed by Jews. We all knew that Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas”, but did you ever think that “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” would be a member of the tribe?

Well, doesn’t it seem a bit strange that so much of this music has been written by Jews? Perhaps it’s not so strange if you think about the phenomenon in its historical context – and this is what’s argued by David Lehman, author of A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs. In an October interview with Smithsonian magazine, Lehman explains how between WWI and the mid-1960s, in the wake of the hardships of life in Europe, Jewish songwriters “reinvented America itself as a projection of their ideals of what America could be,” essentially creating a religion of “American-ness”. Perhaps this is what the holiday songs were all about: the portrayal of a joyful, nostalgic America, centered around hearth and home. They saw America as a place of comfort, and sought to reflect that feeling in their music.

So there you go, that brings it back to the nostalgia argument. Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’d like to wish you all (in the wake of this recent brutal nor’easter), a wonderful, warm week – and if you’re celebrating it, a lovely, nostalgic Christmas.

Naomi

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Going Out With A Bang – A Tribute to Ellen Frankel

Fri, 12/18/2009 - 14:07

On October 22, 2009, friends, family, and colleagues raised a glassed to Ellen Frankel’s 18 years of service and commitment to JPS. We all wish her a rewarding and relaxing retirement.

Please take a moment to read her remarks from the event as well as those from honored guest, Rabbi Ira Stone.

Valedictory at Tribute Gala, October 22, 2009 – Ellen Frankel

Friends and colleagues, Trustees and benefactors, members, and authors, partners, family and honored guests, thank you for this glorious evening. For me, this will always be a night that is different from all other nights!

It seems fitting that my eighteen years at The Jewish Publication Society begin and end with a connection to my favorite Jewish book, Pirke Avot, a collection of ancient rabbinic teachings. Before I came to work for JPS at 1930 Chestnut Street on April Fool’s Day 1991, I commissioned a piece of calligraphy for my office wall, a teaching by the Palestinian sage Ben Zoma: “Eyze hu me-hubad? Ha-me-habayd et ha-bri’ot. ‘Who is honored? One who honors others’” (Avot 4:1). Throughout my tenure at JPS, I have tried to live by that teaching. Tonight, I truly appreciate the wisdom of Ben Zoma’s counsel. How honored I feel!

And now that I am about to leave JPS, I have encounter a teaching by Ben Zoma from the same passage in Pirke Avot. Four days ago I stood with family, including my one and four year old granddaughters, at the grave of my beloved father-in-law, Dr. Reevan Levine, as his headstone was unveiled in the pouring rain. When the cloth was lifted, I was not surprised to see the inscription below his name: “Eyze hu hakham? Ha-lomed mi-kol adam. ‘Who is wise? One who learns from every person’” (Avot 4:1). My father-in-law embodied this principle in his life; and everyone who knew him grew wiser as well. I, too, have learned from the many people I’ve met through my work at JPS, and I hope that they, too, are a bit wiser because of the Torah I’ve shared.

Publishing books is the work of many hands. It’s like baking hallah. Others raise and tend the raw ingredients; prepare and sell the golden loaves; and we enjoy the fruits of their labors. That is why the blessing we recite over the hallah thanks God for bringing forth “bread from the earth.” Not wheat, but bread, the work of many hands, which together with the gifts of divine providence–sun and rain and fertile soil—sustain us.

Like bread, books start from raw seeds, and end as miracles of craft and human industry—as well as a good deal of providence. JPS is blessed in having an extraordinary staff of professionals who turn raw ideas and manuscripts into wonderful books that nourish the Jewish people, and many others as well. Among my colleagues, I owe a special debt to Carol Hupping, who will be serving as interim director. For the past 10 years, Carol has been an invaluable partner, a consummate professional, and a dear friend, and I know that I’m leaving the Society in truly capable hands. JPS is also blessed with an extensive network of talented authors and editors, translators and illustrators, designers and compositors, printers and binders, marketing and sales professionals, consultants and vendors, askers and givers, blurbers and bloggers, and a host of others who collectively make Jewish content so tantalizing and rich. And of course, the Society owes so much to its dedicated Board of Trustees, who have given so generously of their time, energy, resources, counsel, and “kishkes.” So to all of you I say, “Thank you for helping bring forth knowledge and wisdom from the fields of human imagination.

People occasionally say to me: “You must have one of the most interesting jobs in the world!” It’s true. Despite the demands, the stress, the obstacles, and the disappointments, I have enjoyed my work at JPS. It has been endlessly fascinating. Some highlights from the past two decades: As JPS editor, I traveled to the White House, where I met Barbara Bush, her dog Millie, and Big Bird; to the Supreme Court, thanks to Judge Norma Shapiro, where I met Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who gave a breath-taking baton-twirling exhibition first mastered when she was a high school cheerleader; and to the Capitol to celebrate the 3000th anniversary of the founding of Jerusalem, where I met Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Ehud Olmert, and Yitzhak Rabin, just ten days before he was assassinated. While attending the Jerusalem Book Fair, I visited Gershom Scholem’s apartment and tasted his widow Fanya’s famous chocolate cake. I’ve chatted on the phone with Alma Singer about Isaac’s bevy of mistresses with whom she regularly lunched, and had a drink with Arthur Hertzberg in New York’s toney Century Club. I had breakfast with Yehuda Amichai in Jerusalem, lunch with Cynthia Ozick at Jerry and Marciarose Shestack’s lovely home, and dinner with 400 Chabad Hasidim in Washington on the fifth yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Fundraising for JPS, I met extraordinary philanthropists like Harold Feuerstein, who chose to go bankrupt rather than lay off his employees after his Malden Mills factory burned down; Lloyd Cotsen, founder and CEO of Neutrogena and a passionate folklore collector, who gave JPS over $100,000 to support the publication of Folktales of the Jews but who modestly described himself to me as “just a soap salesman”; and Philadelphia banker Betsy Cohen, who asked me in 1998 when I became CEO what would help JPS the most, and then unhesitatingly donated $50,000 and raised $50,000 more to underwrite the first edition of the Hebrew-English Tanakh. As JPS’s ambassador, I’ve dialogued with Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians, and last year attended an interfaith conference which concluded with a papal audience, flanked by Swiss Guards.

Best of all, however, have been my encounters with so many different authors—secular and Orthodox, scholarly and popular, long dead and in the bloom of youth. In many cases, the books I acquired and helped shape were the authors’ first. That was true of Rachel Adler, Jill Hammer, Avivah Zornberg, and 83 year old Ruby Daniel of Cochin, India, the first Jewish woman from that community ever to publish a book. In other cases, a JPS book has simply added another notch to an author’s bibliography. That’s certainly true of authors like Elliot Dorff, Larry Schiffman, and Norman Lamm. In Dr. Lamm’s case, I was tickled when I first read what he had to say about me in the acknowledgments to his JPS book, The Shema: “I shall not reveal to her my dark thoughts when I saw how extensively and meticulously she marked up my original typescript.” Luckily, he had brighter thoughts by the time the book came out.

In a few rare instances, I was privileged to help rescue memories from the ashes—such as the eye witness photographs that were snapped through a buttonhole by Raul Wallenberg’s Jewish chauffeur, Tom Veres, which are included in the JPS young biography of Wallenberg; and the English translation of Vedem, the weekly boys’ magazine from Terezin, which was hidden in the commandant’s stable and then suppressed for 45 years by the Czech Communists; and the record of abandoned synagogues in small towns and villages throughout Central and Southern Europe, discovered and painstakingly documented by two retired art researchers from Israel. One of my hardest tasks as editor has been to say “no” to many of these Holocaust memoirs and studies, for all of them unique, all of them compelling, and all of them deserving an audience. But JPS has had to make tough choices about how to spend its scant resources. For the most part, I think we’ve chosen wisely—although a few big ones, alas, have gotten away.

By way of valediction, I’d like to sum up briefly why I’ve devoted so much of my adult life to JPS, and why it is my hope that the Society will continue on in good health, which is the original meaning of the Latin word “vale” in valediction. I want to focus specifically on three of JPS’s core values which have remained constant and relevant over more than 120 years: diversity, unity, and community.

First, diversity. JPS is part of a long and precious tradition, devoted to preserving the essential vitality of Torah, understood in its broadest sense as “general Jewish learning.” You’ve heard the joke about “two Jews, three opinions”? Well, the Midrash declares that the Torah has not three, but seventy points of view or “faces” (Numbers Rabbah 13:15), each of which reveals a part of divine truth. The Talmud conveys the same message through the following story about the famous rabbinic rivals, Hillel and Shammai:
For three years there was a dispute between the followers of Hillel and the followers of Shammai, the former insisting that “the law agrees with our views,” and the latter, that “the law agrees with our views.” Then a bat kol, a voice from heaven, proclaimed: “Eilu v’eilu divrei Elohim hayim, ‘These and those are the words of the living God.’”

However, many people fail to quote the rest of that heavenly proclamation: “but the law agrees with the rulings of Beit Hillel.”

The Talmud goes on to explain why the School of Hillel prevailed over that of Shammai. It was not because the former had a monopoly on the truth, but because they were “kindly and modest” in their disputes with their opponents, and studied the rulings of Shammai’s followers as well as those of their champion Hillel’s, and were so humble that they cited the words of Beit Shammai before their own (Eruvin 13b). Jewish tradition has long regarded the many debates between Hillel and Shammai as a machloket l’shem shamayim—arguments for the sake of heaven, that is, disputes waged in the service of the common good.

From its founding, JPS has followed the path of Beit Hillel, committed to serving as a forum for all Jewish voices—traditional and liberal, male and female, religious and secular, American and Israeli, critical and pious. Today in our polarized community, this approach is becoming increasingly rare. That is why JPS remains so important to contemporary Jewish life, providing a safe place for Jews to engage in disputes l’shem shamayim, for the sake of heaven.

The second value is unity. The idea that a Jewish Publication Society could unify American Jews dates back more than 160 years, four decades before the current JPS began. In 1845, a Prussian Jewish immigrant named Isaac Leeser left his first American home in Richmond, Virginia, to take over the pulpit at Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia. Among his many achievements during his lifetime were translating the Jewish Bible single-handedly into English, starting the first Jewish magazine in America, The Occident, and founding the first American Jewish Publication Society, which operated in Philadelphia until 1851 when a fire put it out of business.

Writing about this first JPS in his magazine, Leeser declared that

“All we ever needed to become a great people was union; and whatever tends to produce it is a step towards national greatness…Should the publication society be firmly established, and progress prosperously,…a bond of kindliness may be in time engendered as may tend to develop yet farther the true brotherly love which ought to exist in Israel, and produce yet greater results for the common welfare, than the mere publication of books, though this in itself is an object of the highest importance.”

(Leeser could certainly have used a good editor.) Leeser’s goal is more urgent now as Jews disperse ever further into every corner of the English-speaking world, and into cyberspace.

The third value is community. As a non-profit, JPS solicits tax-free contributions to support its work. But as in the case with many non-profits, the philanthropic street runs both ways. JPS also gives back to the community—through its books and programs. Its contributions include two English translations of the Hebrew Bible, the more recent of which serves as the Torah text for both Reform and Conservative humashim; a series of critical Bible commentaries, which form the backbone of Etz Hayim, the new Conservative humash; and dozens of works on Jewish thought, practice, ethics, Bible interpretation, community history, fiction, poetry, and other subjects. In addition, JPS gives away free books. In its first decades, the Society distributed free of charge 10% of the print run of each new title. Throughout the twentieth century down to the present time, JPS has supplied free JPS Bibles to all Jews in the American armed services, totaling millions of volumes over several wars. Today, Jewish men and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and on US bases around the world carry a wallet-size JPS Tanakh in their uniform pockets. In addition, the Society provides free JPS books to schools in Israel, to remote Jewish communities in Africa, Asia, and South America, and to needy American congregations stretching from Nome, Alaska to Auburn, Maine.

For these reasons—because JPS promotes and preserves Jewish diversity, unity and community in addition to nourishing Jewish textual culture and literacy—the Society deserves ongoing support.

Today we stand poised at a critical juncture in the Jewish story. Throughout our history, there have been certain defining moments when Judaism rebooted the Torah, its foundational text, in response to catastrophe and opportunity. When the First Temple was destroyed, Jews invented the synagogue and the prayerbook to sustain themselves in exile; when the Second Temple was destroyed six centuries later, the Mishnah, Talmud and Midrash emerged to counteract the corrosive effects of Diaspora. In response to the calamitous expulsion from Spain and Portugal in the late 15th century, Jews elaborated the Kabbalah to reinterpret their fate; after the twin blows of the false messiah, Shabtai Zevi, and the brutal Chmielnicki pogroms in Poland, Hasidism developed to restore people’s hope and faith.

Now it is our turn to dispel the shadow of the Shoah, to engage new Jewish generations in the next iteration of Torah, this time online, collaborative, global, and trans-denominational. Through the collective efforts of JPS staff, Trustees, donors, and volunteers, JPS has created a prototype for this process, the Tagged Tanakh, a ground-breaking online platform, which offers a more inclusive forum for dialogue and dialectic l’shem shamayim, for the sake of heaven. This project, which needs two more years of development and a million dollars to launch into the world, will then reveal the seventy faces of Torah to a broader audience than ever before, making the Jewish conversation international and accessible across the Jewish spectrum. “These and those”–the tags, commentaries, annotations, and links added by scholars, authors, Jewish experts, and laypeople to the Tagged Tanakh and curated by JPS—will also be divrei Elohim hayim, the words of the living God.

I’d like to end on very a personal note. I leave my position as JPS executive with mixed feelings. During these last five months, I’ve been on a roller coaster of emotions—grief and loss, excitement and relief, anticipation and anxiety. I suppose we all experience such a mix of feelings when we stop doing something we know and love, and take a leap into the unknown. But as British Prime Minister Lloyd George once said, “You cannot cross a chasm in two small jumps.” I have much that I want to do in the coming months—write, teach, consult, take up guitar again, exercise, participate more actively in my synagogue, have tea with friends, become a student again. I also look forward to reading Jewish books for sheer pleasure.

But I also want to remain connected to JPS, which has been so important to me personally and professionally. I hope you’ll join me in strengthening your own connections to the Society, and helping JPS build its future, which in turn will build the future of Jewish learning and literacy in America.

I want to leave you with one last teaching from Pirke Avot. It comes at the end of the collection and is attributed to a sage named Ben Bag Bag, perhaps a fictional character but one who is given some of the best lines in Jewish tradition. Ben Bag Bag said about the Torah, referring to Jewish tradition in general: Turn it and turn it, for all is in it. Reflect on it, grow old and gray with it, and do not leave it; for you will have no better guide than it (Avot 5:25).

Although you can’t see the gray in my hair because it’s camouflaged, I can assure you that I have indeed grown older with Torah, and plan to continue to do so. Thank you all for giving me the privilege of spending so many years turning these precious words over and over. May JPS continue to turn them as well, and may the Society go from strength to strength!

Tribute to Ellen Frankel – Ira Stone

I am honored to pay tribute to my friend and colleague Ellen Frankel. My first thought was to read to you a paragraph from the original manuscript of either of the two books of mine that Ellen has worked on, and then to read to you that same paragraph after Ellen had done her magic, but I was too embarrassed. However, you should know that I come to praise Ellen, to begin with, in her role as a consummate editor, that is, for her sensitivity to language and sense that lies at the heart of what we might call the trade or the art upon which the larger edifice of the Jewish Publication Society, its place in the American Jewish community and if one might be so bold in the larger history of the Jewish people rests. For as important as the organizational skill of the Editor in Chief of JPS might be, or her public relations skills, or her business acumen or fund raising capabilities, it is the ability to sense the hidden wisdom that lurks in the minds of countless Jewish teachers and thinkers that addresses a particular need of the moment in the life of our people and then to turn that wisdom through the miracle of clear language into a relatively accessible source for others to mine that truly determines the viability of the entire project. Although in my case, making my ideas accessible challenged even Ellen’s skills almost to the breaking point, her ability to do so with extraordinary grace testifies to her abilities beyond a doubt.

Writers love their words, or come to love their words, above all else. The act of writing is so seductive that the words inevitably turn into a kind of idol that can easily obfuscate the meaning that those words were intended in the first place to express. In that sense think of Ellen in the role of Avraham Avinu who, according to the midrash, having determined the worthlessness of his father’s idols smashed them to begin his journey toward the discovery of the one God of Israel. A good editor is an idol smasher. I don’t know how Abraham’s father felt among the shards of idols at his feet, but I know very well that this author could not help but marvel at her ability to discover meaning, the very meaning I intended, by smashing the idols of my words while at the same time making me feel good. Making me feel as though I had finally said what it was I wanted to say, though my words had initially been in the way.

To do this takes more than the proverbial skills of the wordsmith. It requires a commitment to the subject of the book and the effort to enter into the universe of the book’s subject regardless of its distance from her own interests and background. It takes a commitment to do more than look at words on a page, but to grapple with and understand the ideas beneath the words. The effort required for this kind of editing is a severely endangered species in the world of publishing in general. I am eternally gratefully to have benefited from it. The books published by the Jewish Publications Society during the years of Ellen’s tenure have all benefited from this approach and that is something that should be celebrated this evening.

Once we have established the foundation upon which the JPS project stands and pay tribute to Ellen’s centrality in assuring its strength, we can turn to look at the project itself. JPS remains among the only sources for Judaic literature addressed at the educated Jewish and interested non-Jewish layperson on the American scene. The standards of excellence are not merely a matter of market niche. Those standards represent the concretization of a vision. A vision long held, I believe, at JPS, but I believe defended strenuously by Ellen Frankel. In an era when the general level of discourse in America and therefore equally among American Jews was assumed to have dropped; when it was common wisdom that one could not put before the general reading audience anything that might challenge their intellectual comfort zone, Ellen has defended the idea that important ideas, important subjects, deserved and required a level of discourse appropriate to their importance. For this many, many Jewish thinkers, teachers and writers are exceedingly grateful. In the long run, the abstraction we call the American Jewish community will be exceedingly grateful years from now when it looks back to locate the sources of strength that helped propel an otherwise perplexed period of Jewish history into the next phase of its ability to re-invent itself and carry the millennial promise of meaning forward.

For a Rabbi this is a crucial task that Ellen has performed. For a local Rabbi in the Philadelphia community it is a task with personal consequences. If Ellen’s vision of JPS has helped maintain the level of intellectual discourse more generally, having that source located close at hand has helped both shape our community and maintain its vibrancy.

I really did not want to speak about Ellen as though she herself was an abstraction. I am already conscious of how her red pen (we still call it that even though it is now days actually red-lining on a computer screen) would be coursing over these few pages. So let me speak about a scholar and a woman of deep heart, of warm humor, of gentle touch and true grace. Let me say how pleasant it has been to work with her and how supportive she has been to me in the course of developing difficult ideas. Most importantly let me speak about how genuinely interested and attached she has been to the idea of making those words available in the larger cacophony of Jewish conversation and how much she herself is interested in growing and changing and learning through the process. Which brings me to the real celebratory note, in my mind. I am thrilled that this deep and spiritually brimming woman who I have seen continually postpone the urge to share her own thoughts in favor of bringing the thoughts of others to life will now have the opportunity to give more of her inner life to our community. I doubt very much she will need an editor as much as some of us have, but I pray she will find one as astute and sensitive, caring and rigorous as she has been.

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The Super Cool, Mega-Awesome List of Jewish Comics

Wed, 12/16/2009 - 14:34

Arie Kaplan, JPS author and comic guru, guest blogs for JPS with his recommendations for the best Jewish comics.

Okay. JPS asked me to compile a list of Jewish comics. But what makes a comic “Jewish”? Is it the fact that it was created by a Jewish writer and/or artist? Well, that doesn’t seem fair, does it? Because if you limit it to Jewish comics creators, you leave out so many talented non-Jewish comics creators, like Carl Barks or Alan Moore (Google them). Hmm. But what about a comic that features Jewish characters? Well…I dunno. Does that make the comic book itself somehow “Jewish”? That’s a little odd. Marvel’s X-Men titles feature characters of nearly every race, religion, and sexual orientation. Hmm…Eventually though, I have to make a choice here. So my choice is to NOT make a choice. (That sound you heard is me blowing your mind.) What I’ve done is, I’ve put together a list of either comics that are created by Jews or comics that feature Jewish content. That way, everyone’s happy. Also, I’ve stuck to trade paperbacks in my list, rather than the decidedly slimmer single-issue comics, because TPBs make better stocking stuffers (or, y’know, whatever the Hanukkah equivalent of a stocking stuffer is). Because I have limited space, I’ve picked a mere five books, but don’t think for a minute that these are the only “Jewish Comics” worth mentioning. (And yes, I know I’ve left out a ton of other contenders.) This should suffice as a good “recommended reading” list for the comic book fan on your holiday shopping list:

1. X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga, by Chris Claremont (writer) and John Byrne (penciler): I was a skinny, neurotic Jewish kid who got headaches all the time. So was she. Trouble was, I was real and she was fictional. But somehow we could make it work. Anyway, the “Dark Phoenix Saga” is the X-Men story arc that made me fall in love with Katherine “Kitty” Pryde. And before you laugh at me for lusting after a fictional character, ask yourself how many times you drooled over Wilma Flintstone. What? None of you? Well, uh…neither did I. Moving on…

2. The Sandman: The Wake, by Neil Gaiman (writer), Michael Zulli (artist), Jon J. Muth (artist), Charles Vess (artist): You’d be hard-pressed to find a better meditation on death, dying, and the mourning process than this final story arc in Gaiman’s acclaimed Sandman series. Everything comes full circle in “The Wake,” as the various supporting characters react to the title character’s demise. Perhaps my favorite chapter: “Sunday Mourning,” featuring the immortal Hob Gadling.

3. The New American Splendor Anthology, by Harvey Pekar (writer), Drew Friedman (artist), Frank Stack (artist), Gerry Shamray (artist), Robert Crumb (artist), Alan Moore (artist), and more: Pekar is the king of the autobiographical comics movement, and has been for well over thirty years. Many of the stories in this volume will show you why. In the story “Pa-ayper Reggs!!”, about Jewish rag peddlers in the 1920s, Pekar and artist Robert Crumb conjure up a New York of chocolate phosphates and horse-drawn wagons, a city with one foot firmly planted in the new world and one foot still languishing in the old. Good stuff.

4. The Essential Howard the Duck Volume 1, by Steve Gerber (writer), Gene Colan (artist), Frank Brunner (artist), Sal Buscema (artist), Val Mayerik (artist), and more: Oh sure, laugh. Laugh because the only version of Howard the Duck you’ve seen is that terrible 1986 movie. But really, the comic book series it’s based on is SO GOOD. It satirized everything; sex, religion, politics. And Howard was an interesting character; sarcastic, grumpy, always chomping on a cigar. He reminded me of my grandpa…and, I suspect, he probably reminded a lot of other Jewish kids of their grandpas. He really seemed like an anthropomorphic waterfowl version of a Borscht Belt comic. Was that intentional? Who knows. But we do know that this was one of the best-written comics of the ‘70s.

5. MAD About the Fifties, by Harvey Kurtzman (writer), Will Elder (artist), Jack Davis (artist), Wally Wood (artist), and more: Want to know what MAD looked like in the 1950s? When it was the sharpest, most dead-on humor comic (and later magazine) of the Eisenhower Era? This book is a heady sampler of the first eight years of MAD, including such classic stories as Kurtzman and Wood’s “Superduperman,” a parody of DC Comics’s Superman. In the late ‘50s, various celebrity contributors published work in MAD, among them Ernie Kovacs and Danny Kaye, and their work is included here as well. Also worthy of note: original MAD editor Kurtzman sprinkled his stories with a good dose of Yiddish, often to heighten the comedic effect. One can see evidence of this in the first issue of MAD, which opens on a story about two criminals. The title of the story? “Ganefs” (Yiddish for “thieves”).

Arie Kaplan, a comedian and author, is the writer behind the JPS title From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books – a 2008 National Jewish Book Award Finalist, a 2009 Sophie Brody Honor Book, and a 2009 National “Best Books 2009” Awards Finalist. He has also written numerous comic book scripts. Most recently, Kaplan wrote the short story “Man of Snow,” in which Superman battles a Snow Golem (appropriate, given the theme of “Jewish comics”). That story appears in the DC Comics anthology DC Holiday Special 2009, on sale now. Kaplan is currently writing the story and dialogue for the upcoming House M.D. videogame (based on the popular TV show) for Legacy Interactive. For more information, visit www.ariekaplan.com.

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Gelt and Candles and Goblins, Oh My!

Thu, 12/10/2009 - 18:34

Celebrating Hanukkah can be rough. I know, I know. You’re probably wondering how 8 days of presents could possibly be a hardship. Well, maybe that part isn’t bad, but as Jews we walk around stores inundated with Christmas decorations hoping for just a little glimmer of some Hanukkah cheer too.

A few weeks ago, I walked into Barnes & Noble and was browsing in the children’s section (shocker, I know). Despite being one of my favorite stores, it was depressing to see all the classic Christmas stories displayed throughout the room with only one side of a book carousel devoted to Hanukkah stories.

It’s true, there aren’t many famous Hanukkah stories. But, if you’re looking for a classic this season and the bookstore isn’t giving you the options you need, look no further! I know the best Hanukkah story, one that blows all others out of the water – Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. My mom used to read this to me when I was little, and to this day, I still believe that it is by far the best Hanukkah story around. So, here are five reasons why Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins is the only book you need this Hanukkah season!

1. Goblins – What could be better than mixing Hanukkah and goblins? These fantasy creatures add spice to any story and are sure to draw in both kids and adults (the evidence being that I still love this story).

2. The Illustrations – While a little darker than your typical children’s story, the drawings in this book are amazing. Kids are drawn into an entirely different world and able to visualize the story’s crazy creatures and their actions.

3. Hershel – The main character is a really clever guy! Apparently based on a real person, he may not be your typical hero, but he fills the shoes quite nicely.

4. The Tools of Trickery – Hershel uses everything from a menorah to hardboiled eggs to a game of dreidel to a jar of pickles to outwit the goblins in this story. This strange arsenal is not only funny but effective, allowing Hershel to save Hanukkah for the villagers.

5. The Moral – The story is entertaining and readers will certainly be drawn into the alternate reality. But, even better, this tale has an amazing message: nothing should stop you from celebrating those things that are important to you. While a Jewish story, this great lesson makes Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins great for everyone!

-Sarah

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