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.

  • Coming soon! Open: The Festival of New Jewish Theater at the 14th Street Y in New York will take place June 10-30. I attended last year, and I’m looking forward to dropping by again.
  • The Forward previews a slew of new Jewish books for summer.
  • As I think I’ve mentioned, one of the books I’m hoping to read this summer is Rutu Modan’s The Property (trans. Jessica Cohen), which appears to belong to the ever-growing corpus of “3G” literature. As noted in this week’s Publishers Weekly profile: “Inspired by her family origins and family secrets, [Modan] wanted to write a story about a Jewish grandmother who, with the help of her granddaughter, reclaims her property in Poland that was seized during the war.”
  • Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, which will be published in November, is the inaugural winner of the Natan Book Award. (I happen to be reading an electronic galley of this book at the moment.)
  • Win a bundle of Jewish-interest books from the Jewish Book Council.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    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.

  • “The Greatest Living Hebrew Writer Is Arab”–find out who this writer is, according to The Tower magazine.
  • “After three-and-a-half jam-packed years, Jewish Ideas Daily is embarked on another exciting adventure.” Learn more about the soon-to-be-launched Mosaic.
  • Can you sum up your Jewish dad in six words?
  • Jane Yolen explains how she came to write The Devil’s Arithmetic: “I had lunch with one of my editors, who happened to be a rabbi’s wife. She said, ‘I know you’re Jewish, but you don’t write about anything Jewish—it’s time you start.'”
  • An utterly moving essay by a son of an Auschwitz survivor.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

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

  • In a smart blog post (does she write anything that isn’t smart?) sparked by a current Kveller series, Rebecca Klempner asks readers to share book/magazine suggestions for enhancing the “G-d Talk” with kids. (She also offers a few suggestions of her own.)
  • A lovely poem by David Y.B. Kaufmann, “Walking to Shul.”
  • People are talking (well, blogging & tweeting, anyway) about Michael Wex’s new project: an indiegogo campaign to fund “a translation of Joseph Opatoshu’s unbelievably great Yiddish novel, In the Forests of Poland, into an English as compulsively readable as the original.”
  • “The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI) at Brandeis University is looking for a Communications Coordinator. The person supports the communications efforts of the HBI and 614 eZine websites; creating and executing the e-mail campaigns; improving social media visibility; event promotion and outreach; analyzing web traffic and trends; and developing online partnerships.”
  • And on a more personal note: I hope that you’ll take a few moments to read my sister’s first essay/post for The Jewish Week‘s New Normal blog.
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

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

  • Can you describe your Jewish mom in six words? The Forward would like you to try.
  • “This is a complicated story, but here goes.” So begins Joan Acocella’s (The New Yorker) tale of book-reviewing, Primo Levi, and Israel.
  • This month’s Jewish Book Carnival is hosted by the Jewish Book Council, and there are some real goodies included.
  • A fascinating glimpse into Albert Einstein’s last speech.
  • Finally, I wish I could attend the “Holocaust Lives” panel at this weekend’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Panelists include Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal Books Editor and author of a book I’m especially eager to read: The Short, Strange Life of Herschel Grynszpan. (See Michael Berenbaum’s review.)
  • Shabbat shalom.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Mazel tov to the inaugural class of the Posen Society of Fellows.
  • More background on The Tower, the new publication I mentioned here recently.
  • Dispatch from the Twin Cities: “Jewish Arts Lab, or Why I’m a Jewish Artist.”
  • Win a book bundle from the Jewish Book Council (U.S. entrants only, enter by 4:00 p.m. EST, April 10).
  • Perhaps my most exciting #JLit discovery of the week: the redesigned website of the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature!
  • Shabbat shalom!