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Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

by Erika Dreifus on
4

Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • The week brought the November Jewish Book Carnival. Check out the many outstanding offerings.
  • I’ve enjoyed reading 614, an e-zine from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, these past several years. I’m sorry that the new issue will be its last.
  • On my reading agenda this weekend: new fiction from Mitch Ginsburg, via Tablet.
  • I found a lot of valid points in Andrew Silow-Carroll’s column on Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song.”
  • And if you’re job-hunting, J Media Global (Los Angeles) is looking for a Website Editor.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

    • On the Forward site: Katherine Locke recommends “7 YA and Romance Novels for Jewish Book Month.” (The headline is a little misleading–for instance, the list includes Molly Antopol‘s The UnAmericans. And picture books. But. Still.)
    • Big week at the day job: Fig Tree Books officially published a new edition of Edward Lewis Wallant’s classic novel The Pawnbroker. And Literary Hub published the accompanying new foreword by Dara Horn.
    • If you follow me on Twitter you’ve probably already realized that I’m a devotee of Tablet‘s Unorthodox podcast. This week’s episode includes a “sneak preview” of Tablet‘s “about-to-drop” print magazine (which, of course, I’ve already subscribed to).
    • Quick notes for those of you interested in reading new Jewish poetry on a regular basis. I think I’ve already pointed you to the Haaretz Poem of the Week feature. Also worth checking out: poetry published in Jewish Journal.
    • And though I don’t plan to order a print for my own apartment’s walls, I did chuckle when I saw this cartoon in this week’s New Yorker.

    Shabbat Shalom.

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Thrilled to have had the chance to attend the Association of Jewish Libraries annual conference this week. Hope to have at least one or two more detailed posts for you sometime soon, possibly over on the Fig Tree Books blog.
  • Speaking of Fig Tree Books: Notice who has published three of the nine books on JTA’s summer reading list!
  • My weekend plans include catching up on Jerome Charyn’s posts for the Jewish Book Council “Visting Scribe” series.
  • The Forward seeks your help in finding “the best new voices in Jewish music.”
  • “An alarming number of poor souls among our brethren seem to feel that all they require for a genuine Jewishness is Woody Allen and Philip Roth and Jerry Seinfeld.” Just one of many eye-catching lines from Leon Wieseltier, via Tablet.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    My Niece’s Mitzvah Project

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    If you want to be technical about it, Alexis isn’t my niece–she’s the daughter of one of my three first cousins. But she calls me “Auntie Erika,” and I love her to pieces. Which is why I’m so proud to share the project she has undertaken prior to being called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah.

    In her own words:

    Please sign up for my ProjectSave18 group. This is my Mitzvah Project and starting April 1, I will be posting facts about organ and tissue donation daily. I will be doing this throughout the entire month of April, Donate Life month. My grandma Alexis was in need of a heart and kidney transplant and partly because of this she passed away. Please help me spread the word by this cause by joining my group and sharing with all of your Facebook friends.

    (Interestingly—or maybe it’s not so interesting, since it IS Donate Life month—an item from MyJewishLearning.com crossed one of my social-media accounts a few days ago on the subject of “misgivings and misconceptions” re: organ donation.) (more…)

    Pre-Shabbat Jewish Literary Links

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday My Machberet presents an array of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

    “But it’s Thursday,” you’re saying!

    That is correct. But since I will be in transit to Minneapolis tomorrow–and since many folks will be heading offline for the concluding weekend of Pesach fairly soon, I figured I’d post early this week.

  • I’m currently reading Michal Lemberger’s After Abel and Other Stories, an extraordinary collection that spotlights women’s experiences in the Bible. (If you liked The Red Tent, this book is for you.) Check out the author’s conversation with Deborah Kalb for some more info.
  • Check out the latest links on American Jewish Experience (AJE) over on the Fig Tree Books blog. (My own favorite is the five-year Jewish-holiday calendar from the URJ.)
  • Speaking of Fig Tree Books, this week I was a guest on The Next Best Book Club blog, touting three upcoming releases.
  • ICYMI: a Passover poem & its postscript.
  • Finally, you’ve got some time (but not much) if you’d like to submit poems for Poetry Super Highway’s 17th Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Issue. Deadline is Friday. (NB: This is not a paying opportunity. But when it comes to Holocaust-related writing, I’m personally a lot more flexible on my own “must-be-paid-for-my-work” rule.)

    • See you all next week.