Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: J Journal Essay (and a Giveaway!)

JJournalSpring2013coverMy contributor copies of the spring 2013 issue of J Journal: New Writing on Justice arrived last week. (My contribution, “My Life as a Bully,” is an essay describing one of the more shameful episodes from my childhood.)

In case you’re not familiar with J Journal, here’s how it is described on its website (which is in the process of being redesigned): “J Journal: New Writing on Justice examines its subject through creative work, directly and tangentially. Housed at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, one of the nation’s premier criminal justice institutions, J Journal’s contributors have included established and new writers, professionals in the law enforcement field, lawyers, professors in the humanities and social sciences, and prison inmates. Unlike other CJ publications, J Journal, which comes out twice a year, is the country’s first to present its analyses of contemporary justice issues through creative, not scholarly work. The short stories, poems, and personal narratives in each volume expand reflection on the question: What is justice?”

Since I’m a J Journal subscriber (and advisory board member) as well as a contributor, I’m awash in spring 2013 issues! And so I’m offering to mail one of my copies to one of you. Please just leave a comment below, and the random number generator will do its job one week from today (please note that I can send only to mailing addresses in the U.S.).

Good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway! And for some other coverage of J Journal, please check out the following:

  • American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Spectrum on J Journal
  • NewPages on J Journal
  • The Review Review on J Journal
  • Utne Reader on J Journal
  • An article of mine on themed/niche literary journals, with comments from J Journal‘s editors.
  • UPDATE: The Random Number Generator chose our giveaway winner–Commenter #1, Michelle Tackabery! Congratulations, Michelle, and thanks to EVERYONE for the interest in playing along.

    Words of the Week: The Jewish Week on Sen. Lautenberg

    The death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg this week is a loss for his family, for the nation and for the Jewish community. A member of the Senate for nearly three decades, an unapologetic liberal, a gruff legislator who was nonetheless described by his colleagues as a gentleman in an era when civility among partisans is increasingly becoming an anachronism, Sen. Lautenberg — at 89 the oldest member of the Senate — represented a historical memory that is hard to replace.

    A product of a poor, immigrant household in Patterson, N.J., he was moved by his own experiences of deprivation to help improve the lot of America’s indigent citizens.

    The last member of the Senate who served in the U.S. military during World War II, his political and communal activism was fueled by the sacrifices of a generation that fought for America in the last war that enjoyed national support.

    A member of a disappearing generation that remembers a world without a State of Israel, he was inspired by the physical security that Israel offered within its borders to Jews after the Holocaust, and the emotional pride that Israel continues to offer to Jews everywhere.

    Although I haven’t commented here on the recent passing of Senator Lautenberg, I have followed the tributes and eulogies. Growing up in the 1980s in New Jersey, I was one of his constituents, and I still recall him visiting our congregation during those years.

    One of the tributes that impressed me most this week was one offered by The Jewish Week, which I’ve quoted above. You can find the full text here.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

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

  • “What really brings Ayelet Tsabari’s stories to life are her characters, people that you rarely meet in Israeli fiction.” The Times of Israel‘s Ellis Shuman’s verdict on Israeli-Canadian Tsabari’s The Best Place on Earth: “Highly recommended.” I agree!
  • “3G” writer and scholar Anthony Levin is among the panelists featured in this recording from Australia, “Keeping the Memory and the History of the Shoah Alive.”
  • New Yorkers: “LABA is a non-religious Jewish house of study and culture laboratory at the 14th Street Y. Every year LABA selects a group of around 10 fellows — a mix of artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors and others — to join us for a yearlong study of classical Jewish texts centered around a theme, and then interpret these texts in their work which is featured in LABAlive events and the quarterly online journal.” The theme for 2013-14 will be “Mother,” and fellowship applications are due by July 31, 2013.
  • The Yiddish Book Center has an interesting project under way, “a series of ongoing interviews with relatives of Yiddish authors,” with some examples already online.
  • Last, but by no means least: a blog post by one of the JCC Boston Diller Teen Fellows, “selected yearly based on their leadership aptitude, commitment to Jewish learning, interest in exploring their connection to Israel, and passion for serving their community.” I’ve known Hannah since before she was born–I’m kvelling!
  • Shabbat shalom.