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The Jewish Book Council (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to
Jewish literature Jewish literature includes works written by Jews on Jewish themes, literary works written in Jewish languages on various themes, and literary works in any language written by Jewish writers. Ancient Jewish literature includes Biblical literature ...
. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of quality English language books of Jewish content in North America". The council sponsors the National Jewish Book Awards, the JBC Network, JBC Book Clubs, the Visiting Scribe series, and Jewish Book Month. It previously sponsored the
Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is an annual prize awarded to an outstanding literary work of Jewish interest by an emerging writer. Previously administered by the Jewish Book Council, it is now given in association with the National Li ...
. It publishes an annual literary journal called '' Paper Brigade''.


History

The Jewish Book Council (JBC)'s origins date to 1925, when Fanny Goldstein, a librarian at the West End Branch of the
Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse''), meaning all adult re ...
, set up an exhibit of Judaic books as a focus of what she dubbed "Jewish Book Week". In 1927, with the assistance of Rabbi S. Felix Mendelssohn of Chicago, Jewish communities around the United States adopted the event. Jewish Book Week proved so successful that in 1940 the National Committee for Jewish Book Week was founded, with Goldstein as chairperson. Dr. Mordecai Soltes succeeded her one year later. Representatives of major American Jewish organizations served on this committee, as did groups interested in promulgating
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
literature. Jewish Book Week activities proliferated and were extended to one month in 1943. At the same time, the National Committee for Jewish Book Week became the Jewish Book Council, reflecting its broader scope. In March 1944, the
National Jewish Welfare Board The National Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) was formed on April 9, 1917, three days after the United States declared war on Germany, in order to support Jewish soldiers in the U.S. military during World War I. The impetus for creating the organization ...
, which would ultimately become the Jewish Community Centers Association (JCCA), entered into an agreement with the Book Council to become its official sponsor and coordinating organization, providing financial support and organizational assistance. This arrangement reflected the realization that local JCCs were the primary site of community book fairs. While under the auspices of the JCCA, the Jewish Book Council maintained an executive board, composed of representatives from major American Jewish organizations and leading figures in the literary world. On January 1, 1994, the Jewish Book Council became an independent non-profit organization, splitting off from the JCCA. The Council's executive board voted to create an independent entity. Under executive director Carolyn Starman Hessel, who had been called the "Jewish Oprah", JBC's activities and influence grew. On April 1, 2015, Naomi Firestone-Teeter, who had been with JBC since 2006, succeeded Hessel. In response to the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's ...
movement within the literary world during the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, the JBC began an initiative to encourage Jewish community authors and readers to support Jewish books and authors.


Publications


''Jewish Book World''

From 1942 through 1999, the council published an annual journal called the ''Jewish Book Annual'' that reflected on "the year’s events, figures, works, and community interests impacting Jewish literature and literacy." In 1999, the journal became the ''Jewish Book World'', a quarterly magazine published until 2015. ''Jewish Book World'' was a quarterly magazine published by the JBC from 1982 to 2015. It was devoted to the promotion of books of Jewish interest. ''Jewish Book World'' reached over 5,000 readers with a specific interest in Jewish books, including library professionals, book festival coordinators, book group members, academicians, and lay leaders. The magazine was a tool to help them learn about new books of Jewish interest and make informed reading choices. Often called "the ''Publishers Weekly'' of Jewish literature", ''Jewish Book World'' brought the world of Jewish books to interested readers. ''Jewish Book World'' began as a twelve-page pamphlet that was circulated to Jewish Community Centers, featuring short blurbs on approximately 50 new books of Jewish interest. In 1994, ''Jewish Book World'' expanded from a pamphlet to a full-length magazine that was published three times a year. ''Jewish Book World'' appeared quarterly and included reviews of over 120 books per issue, updates on literary events and industry news, author profiles, and articles on the world of Jewish books.


''Paper Brigade''

JBC's annual literary magazine ''Paper Brigade'' is named in honor of the group of writers and intellectuals in the Vilna Ghetto who rescued thousands of Jewish books and documents from Nazi destruction. Each issue provides a 200-page snapshot of the Jewish literary landscape in America and abroad, including essays, fiction, poetry, and visual arts.


National Jewish Book Awards

The National Jewish Book Awards is the longest-running North American awards program of its kind in the field of Jewish literature and is recognized as the most prestigious. The awards, presented by category, are designed to give recognition to outstanding books, to stimulate writers to further literary creativity and to encourage the reading of worthwhile titles. The National Jewish Book Awards program began in 1950 when the Jewish Book Council presented awards to authors of Jewish books at its annual meeting. The first book awarded the prize was ''Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity and Islam'' by Harry Austryn Wolfson. Among the past notable literary winners are
Deborah Lipstadt Deborah Esther Lipstadt (born March 18, 1947) is an American historian and diplomat, best known as author of the books ''Denying the Holocaust'' (1993), ''History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier'' (2005), ''The Eichmann Trial'' ...
,
Etgar Keret Etgar Keret (; born August 20, 1967) is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. Early life Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child to parents who survive ...
,
Bari Weiss Bari Weiss ( ; born March 25, 1984) is an American journalist. She was an op-ed and book review editor at ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 2013 to 2017 and an op-ed staff editor and writer on culture and politics at ''The New York Times'' fro ...
,
Sonia Levitin Sonia Wolff Levitin (born August 18, 1934) is a German-American novelist, artist, and producer. Levitin, a Holocaust survivor, has written over forty novels and picture books for young adults and children, as well as several theatrical plays and ...
,
Howard Fast Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Biography Early life Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...
,
Chaim Grade Chaim Grade (, GRAHD-uh) (April 4, 1910 – June 26, 1982) was one of the leading Yiddish writers of the twentieth century. Grade was born in Vilnius, Vilna, then within the Russian Empire, and died in The Bronx, New York (state), New York. He i ...
, Samuel Heilman,
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,
Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish ...
,
Cynthia Ozick Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist. Biography Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City. The second of two children, Ozick was raised in the Bronx by her parents, Celia (née Regelson) and ...
,
Chaim Potok Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 – July 23, 2002) was an American author, novelist, playwright, editor and rabbi. Of the more than a dozen novels he authored, his first book '' The Chosen'' (1967) was listed on ''The New York Times'' Best ...
,
Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (; March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophical ...
,
Arthur A. Cohen Arthur Allen Cohen (June 25, 1928 – September 30, 1986) was an American scholar, art critic, theology, theologian, publisher, and author. Scholar David Stern (academic), David M. Stern has written of Cohen: "Though he was best known as a novel ...
, I.B. Singer,
Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, ...
, Lauren Belfer,
Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...
,
Michael Oren Michael Bornstein Oren (; born Michael Scott Bornstein; May 20, 1955) is an American-Israeli diplomat, writer, and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset for the Kul ...
, and
Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels '' Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works '' Eat ...
.


Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award

In addition to the category awards, every year since 2002, one non-fiction book has been selected as the winner of the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award. Winners have included
Daniel Gordis Daniel Gordis (; born 1959) is an American-born Israeli author. He is Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem, where he previously was Senior Vice President and Chair of the Core Curriculum. Gordis is the author of a dozen books ...
,
Jeremy Eichler Jeremy Adam Eichler (born August 13, 1974) is an American music critic and cultural historian. From 2006 to 2024, he was the chief classical music critic of ''The Boston Globe'', with the "Third Ear" column. He is set to take on a newly creat ...
, Michael W. Twitty, Nomi M. Stolzenberg and David N. Myers, Dvora Hacohen, and
Jonathan Sacks Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks (8 March 19487 November 2020) was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As ...
. The 2024 award went to ''10/7: 100 Human Stories'' by Lee Yaron. The awards have a significant impact on American Jewish cultural life.


JBC Network

The JBC Network is a membership organization of over 120 participating sites, JCCs,
synagogues A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
, Hillels, Jewish Federations and other related organizations that host Jewish book programs. Through the Network, the Jewish Book Council is able to provide extensive resources to the program coordinators, including introduction to authors interested in touring Jewish book festivals, advice from experts on topics that affect a book program, and a chance to learn from the experiences of others in the field. Jewish books are an essential part of Jewish culture. Programming for Jewish book events is a vital component. In recent years, the Jewish book festivals have grown into a $3 million industry. The Jewish Book Network goes a long way towards assisting in the preparation of successful events and connecting authors of Jewish interest books with the coordinators of these programs. The Jewish Book Council formed the JBC Network in 1999 to serve as a central address for book programming. It functions on a year-round basis, although the primary focus remains on the Fall Jewish Book Month season. The Jewish Book Council assists with program suggestions and coordinates the speaking tours of more than 260 authors who travel country-wide during the Fall season and throughout the year. The Jewish Book Council annually prepares a book providing information about the authors on tour. Each year the Jewish Book Council sponsors a conference for all JBC Network members and their lay leaders in conjunction with the annual
BookExpo America BookExpo America (commonly referred to within the book publishing industry as BEA) was an annual book trade fair in the United States. BEA was almost always held in a major city over four days in late May and/or early June. Nearly all significa ...
. This conference begins the new season of book festival planning. In addition to workshops and networking among the Network members, the annual conference includes a program called Meet the Author. Through this event, authors are invited to speak to the members of the JBC Network in the hopes of touring and visiting with the Jewish book programs that are represented. Among the authors who were sponsored in the past are
Warren Bass Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...
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Rich Cohen Rich Cohen (born July 30, 1968) is an American non-fiction writer. He is a contributing editor at '' Vanity Fair'' and ''Rolling Stone''. He is co-creator, with Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter, of the HBO series ''Vinyl''. His w ...
, Nathan Englander, Samuel G. Freedman,
Jonathan Safran Foer Jonathan Safran Foer (; born February 21, 1977) is an American novelist. He is known for his novels '' Everything Is Illuminated'' (2002), '' Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'' (2005), '' Here I Am'' (2016), and for his non-fiction works '' Eat ...
, Myla Goldberg,
Ari L. Goldman Ari L. Goldman (born September 22, 1949) is an American professor and journalist. He is professor of journalism at Columbia University and a former reporter for ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Goldman attended the Rabbi Jacob ...
, Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Dara Horn,
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, Dr.
Eric Kandel Eric Richard Kandel (; born Erich Richard Kandel, November 7, 1929) is an Austrian-born American medical doctor who specialized in psychiatry, a neuroscientist and a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the College of Physicians and Surgeo ...
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Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss (born August 18, 1974) is an American author best known for her four novels '' Man Walks into a Room'' (2002), '' The History of Love'' (2005), '' Great House'' (2010) and '' Forest Dark'' (2017), which have been translated into ...
, Rabbi
Harold Kushner Harold Samuel Kushner (April 3, 1935 – April 28, 2023) was an American rabbi, author, and lecturer. He was a member of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism and served as the congregational rabbi of Temple Israel of Natick, in Nat ...
, Aaron Lansky,
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, Tova Mirvis, Dr.
Deborah Dash Moore Deborah Dash Moore (born 1946) is an American historian, the former director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, and a Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. E ...
,
Judea Pearl Judea Pearl (; born September 4, 1936) is an Israeli-American computer scientist and philosopher, best known for championing the probabilistic approach to artificial intelligence and the development of Bayesian networks (see the article on belie ...
, Naomi Ragen, Nessa Rapoport,
Shulamit Reinharz Shulamit Reinharz (born 1946) was the Jacob Potofsky Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University until 2017. During her tenure at Brandeis, she was director of the women's studies program from 1991 to 2001 and launched ''The Scholars Progra ...
, Steven V. Roberts, Jonathan Rosen, Ambassador
Dennis Ross Dennis B. Ross (born November 26, 1948) is an American diplomat and author. He served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush, the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton ...
, and Dr. Jonathan Sarna.


Sami Rohr Prize

From 2006 to 2020, JBC administered the Sami Rohr Prize, and annual $100,000 prize awarded to the finest works of Jewish interest. Established in 2006 by Sami Rohr's descendants on his 80th birthday, it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world. It alternates between fiction and non-fiction. The award was given in association with the Jewish Book Council until 2020 and is now administered by the
National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...
.


See also

*
List of winners of the National Jewish Book Award This is a list of the winners of the National Jewish Book Award by category. The awards were established in 1950 to recognize outstanding Jewish Literature. They are awarded by the Jewish Book Council, a New-York based non-profit organization dedi ...


References


External links


Home pageJewish Book Annual
The full run of the Annual has been fully digitized by the
Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five Jewish history, scholarship, and art organizations in New York City, namely the American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva Univ ...
and is text-searchable {{authority control Jewish educational organizations Jewish American literature Jewish organizations based in the United States Publishing-related professional associations Literary awards honoring minority groups Arts organizations established in 1944 1944 establishments in the United States