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.

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

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.

1. 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.
2. 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!
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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

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

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:

1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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?
4. 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

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

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:

1. 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 12^th 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

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 3^rd, 2010. The interview with Ellen Frankel will be posted on the Deo Writer on February 5^th, 2010.

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

-Emily

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:

1. 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.
2. Celebrating the Jewish Year, the Spring and Summer Holidays – recipient of the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Jewish Family Literature.
3. Subversive Sequels in the Bible – recipient of the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Scholarship.
4. Meneket Rivkah: A Manual of Wisdom and Piety for Jewish Women  – a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist in the category of Women’s Studies.
5. Naomi’s Song – named a Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor for Books for Teen Readers.
6. 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

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!