Erika Dreifus

Toward the end of each week, the My Machberet blog presents a collection of links, drawn primarily from the world of Jewish books and writing.

• In which Debra Spark profiles Alicia Jo Rabins (Girls in Trouble, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff) for the Barnard College alumnae magazine.
• As BroadwayWorld reports, Tom Stoppard’s Olivier Award-winning Best New Play, Leopoldstadt, “will open on Broadway in a limited engagement at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street) this fall. Performances will begin Wednesday, September 14, 2022 ahead of a Sunday, October 2, 2022 opening night.”
• “Each year ahead of Hebrew Book Week, the National Library of Israel announces statistics on the Israeli publishing industry based on entries to the library as a result of the Legal Deposit Law, which requires anyone in Israel who publishes more than 50 copies of a book to provide two copies to the library in Jerusalem.” Check out Madeline Fixler’s report for JTA (headline: “For the first time, female Israeli authors outpaced males in publishing in 2021”), which links to more information from the NLI itself. 
• From the Center for Jewish History: “Read any good Jewish books lately? Share your summer reading recommendations with the CJH community!” (U.S. participants can win CJH swag.) I’ve just sent in my own suggestion: Léa, Ariela Freedman’s biographical novel of Léa Roback (1903-2000), which I finished reading over the Shavuot holiday.
• And this week I’ve discovered something especially relevant for Pride Month: Ben Yehuda Press’s edition of Jonathan Branfman’s You Be You: The Kid’s Guide to Gender, Sexuality, and Family, with illustrations by Julie Benbassat, translated into “contemporary Hassidic Yiddish” for this edition by Lili Rosen.

Shabbat shalom.