Association of Jewish Libraries Publishing

Abramowicz, Dina

English

Leksikon fun Yidish Shraybers (Lexicon of Yiddish Writers) by Berl Kagan

Hass Weinberg, Bella

Cutter J4: Tampering with the Library of Congress Classification for Judaica

Snyder, Carol

AJL Book Award Acceptance Speeches

Greenbaum, Avraham

APPROBATIONS
. רלזיירפ .ה יבצ תכירעב ,תוחתפמו ארקמהמ םירוכזיא ,לק קוסיפ םע ,ןומימ ןב השמ וניברל הקזחה דיה אוה ,הרות הנשמ רפס
.ו״משת ,םיבותכ :םילשורי
Safer Mishneh Torah, hu ha-yad ha-hazakah le-Rabenu Mosheh ben Maimon.
‘Im pisuk kal, ’izkurim me-hamikra u-maftehot, ba־‘arikhat Tsevi H. Praizler. Added t. p. in English: 
The Mishneh Torah, written by Moses Maimonides, in the original Hebrew, 
including punctuation, Biblical references and indices. Ed. by Zvi H. Preisler.
Jerusalem: Ketuvim Publishers, 1985.
Reviewed by: ,
Avraham Greenbaum
Institute for Advanced Studies
Hebrew University
Maimonides’ encyclopedia of the Halakhah, 
Mishneh Torah (“The Repetition of the Law”), 
is what we call today a reference work. As 
many readers know, as a practical guide to 
Jewish observance, Mishneh Torah has long 
been superseded by Joseph Caro’s Shulhan 
Arukh׳, only the Yemenite community has 
remained loyal to the Maimonidean Code. 
But the attempt by Maimonides to arrange 
the whole Halakhah in logical order using 
simple Mishnaic Hebrew has never been 
duplicated. This is not the place to survey 
the voluminous literature on the work. We 
shall content ourselves with pointing to the 
scholarly English translation which has 
been in progress for many years in the Yale 
Judaica series, and to Isaac Twersky’s im­
portant introduction to the translation.1 
Twersky provides evidence that Mai­
monides intended the Mishneh Torah to be, 
inter alia, a reference work for himself.2
While the work in 14 “books,” normally 
printed in five physical volumes, is very use­
ful for students of Jewish law even today, 
it presents problems of its own. Some sub­
jects are by their nature hard to find, e.g., 
the “Noahide laws” which the Jew considers 
a universal code of conduct. The laws of 
damages are not all in one place. The sec­
tion on the Sabbath requires much work by 
the searcher unfamiliar with the order in 
which the author grouped the thirty chap­
ters which he devoted to the subject. In 
short, what was Maimonides’ index to the 
Talmud is today in need of an index of its 
own. Zvi Preisler, a Jerusalem attorney who 
has made a name for himself in legal index­
ing, has now provided such an index. He 
was assisted by a staff of scholars and 
lawyers.
The edition of the text is useful in its own
right, even though no scholarly work on the 
text is claimed. We refer to the fact that, in 
place of the facsimile reprints of the 5- 
volume Vilna (1900) edition found on the Is­
rael market, we have a relatively handy one- 
volume edition, minus the standard com­
mentaries, but with some punctuation 
(largely commas), plus Biblical references
. . .  Maimonides’ index 
to the Talmud is today 
in need of an index 
of its own.
and an index of Biblical citations which the 
earlier editions did not provide. A disadvan­
tage is the thin paper, which makes for a 
handier volume, but means that the book 
had better be used for reference rather than 
constant study. The fact that the Talmudic 
references contained in the commentaries 
by Caro and others are not provided in this 
edition is another indicator that this edition 
is not designed for study.
Alas, the major problem is with the subject 
index itself. In order to cut down its bulk—it 
takes up about one tenth of the 870 folio 
pages—the policy was obviously to give no 
more than one reference to each item in­
dexed. In practice, this meant making 
numerous cross-references from specific 
entry words to the larger headings and sub­
headings under which they are grouped.
Some of these headings, such as “Nezikin” 
(damages, encompassing much of the civil 
law) become very unwieldy because of the 
proliferation of subdivisions which are 
crowded in such a way as to be difficult to 
follow down the page. Another illustration 
of the problems with the index is the entry 
Kohen Gadol (High Priest), a subdivision 
among numerous others under Kohen, with 
no reference from the expected separate 
compound entry after Kohen.
The index, while undoubtedly very useful 
and much better than none, thus leaves 
much to be desired. On occasion, it has 
frustrated this particular user to the point 
where he has gone back to his old habit of 
leafing through the likely-looking chapters 
of the work itself. The more’s the pity.
Notes
1Isaac Twersky, Introduction to the Code of 
Maimonides (Mishneh Toreh), New Haven: 
Yale Judaica Press, 1980. For a brief sur­
vey of Maimonides’ life and work see 
Twersky’s introduction to his anthology A 
Maimonides Reader, New York: Behrman 
House, 1972.
2“In the first instance I composed i t . . .  for 
my own sake, in order to free myself from 
the burden of investigating and searching 
for the halakot which are needed constantly 
. . .” (Letter to his disciple Joseph ben Judah, 
quoted by Twersky, Introduction, p. 42).
Avraham Greenbaum, Reference Librarian 
and Senior Lecturer in Jewish History, 
University of Haifa, is currently in residence 
at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the 
Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
24 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987


The Mishnah Torah, Written by Moses Maimonides, in the original Hebrew, including punctuation, biblical references and indicies. Ed. by Zvi H. Preisler

Psalm 104 (BarkhiNafshi). The prices range 
from $45.00-$85.00.
JWB Jewish Media Round-up
Jewish Media Service
15 East 26th Street
New York, NY 10010-1579
The Jewish Media Round-up, which had 
suspended publication for a while, has 
returned to the scene in a new attractive, 
readable format. It provides information 
about Jewish films and TV, including Israeli 
films and media. Each entry in the “New & 
Noteworthy” section provides full informa­
tion, including purchase or rental price as 
well as address of the producer or supplier. 
In some cases, there are descriptive anno­
tations.
This publication also provides additional in­
formation concerning media, such as news 
items and articles.
Kabbalah Cassettes
Box 677, Astor Station
Boston, Mass. 02123
A small number of cassettes on the subject 
of Kabbalah are available from this 
company.
Tape Library Catalog
Rabbinic Alumni Office
Yeshiva University
500 West 185th Street
New York, NY 10033
Yeshiva University’s Rabbinic Alumni Office 
has produced a list of its extensive audio­
tape library of shiurim, lectures, and homi­
letic presentations dealing with the broad 
spectrum of Torah learning. The subjects 
include Talmud, Holidays, Halakhah, Por­
tion of the Week, Philosophy, Ethics, and 
Issues of Contemporary Concern. Titles 
and speakers are listed in the catalog. Each 
tape costs $7.00.
Publisher
Women’s Institute for
Continuing Education
4079 54th Street
San Diego, California 92105
This is a small publisher specializing in pub­
lications for and about the Jewish woman.
Edith Lubetski is Assistant Professor of Li­
brary Administration and Head Librarian, 
Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University. 
She is the co-author (with her husband, Prof. 
Meir Lubetski) ofBuild ing a Judaica Library 
Collection (Libraries Unlimited, 1983). Edith 
Lubetski is also President of the Association 
of Jewish Libraries.
EPISTLE FROM ISRAEL
Avraham Greenbaum 
Institute for Advanced Studies 
Hebrew University
Jewish National and University 
Library, Jerusalem
The building on the Givat Ram Campus is 
being remodeled in order to obtain addi­
tional storage space. The Graduate Library 
School has moved to the Levy building, and 
its former quarters in the basement will be 
occupied by the Dept, of Manuscripts. The 
reading rooms on the second floor are at 
present not affected, but closing time is now 
7 p.m., in what seems to this reader to be 
a continuous downward spiral. The previ­
ous closing time was 7:45, and a closing 
time of 9:45 p.m. is in recent memory.
The Library has passed through a financial 
crisis, and was unable to purchase new 
books from the spring to the fall of 1986. 
While formally, the previous level of acqui­
sitions is being maintained, concern has 
been expressed at the 60% of budget which 
Judaica acquisitions has reached. It must 
be remembered that the Library is not only 
a depository library for Israeli imprints, but 
makes every effort to acquire all Judaica, 
broadly defined, published abroad in any 
language—a policy which automatically 
limits purchase of non-Judaic materials 
abroad.
Among new donations is what is described 
as the only Hebrew incunabulum contain­
ing woodcuts (Meshal ha-kadmoni, Brescia 
1491).
Bar-Han University Library
Some very rare imprints, mostly from Rus­
sia and Poland, were included in a collec­
tion of over th irty thousand religious books 
from Rumania, found in unused syna­
gogues and study halls and sent to Bar-llan 
through the good offices of Rumania’s Chief 
Rabbi in 1983.
Bar-llan Library has prepared the first He­
brew subject headings list in actual use by 
an Israeli academic library. The list is largely 
based on LC, and has been used in the 
computer-produced subject catalog of re­
cent Hebraica acquisitions. Formerly Bar- 
Ilan had not cataloged Hebrew books by 
subject; LC subjects were and continue to 
be used for Latin-alphabet imprints (“loazite” 
as I used to call them in my days at the Bran­
deis Library).
Dr. Avraham Greenbaum, Reference Librarian and Senior Lecturer in Jewish History 
at the University of Haifa, is currently in residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies 
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Susan Lazinger, the former editor of this 
column, is spending the year at Stanford University.
Haifa University Library
The library spent much of 1986 in a pur­
chase freeze similar to the one at the Na­
tional Library and could not order books for 
half a year. Librarians are also making an 
effort to reduce the number of journal sub­
scriptions.
Meir (Manfred) Wasserman, a new im­
migrant from the U.S. who also teaches at 
the library school, has been appointed on 
a half-time basis to tackle the much 
neglected area of book preservation.
Tel-Aviv University Library
In a move similar to the one by the National 
Library at Givat Ram, the Central Library 
has closed its card catalog as of March 1985 
and is continuing by computer. Computer­
ization of other services is planned.
New Publication
A bibliography on anti-Semitism, planned 
as an annual and sponsored by the Vidal 
Sassoon International Center for the Study 
of Anti-Semitism, is nearing completion. 
The first volume, which will be published by 
Garland, will cover books and articles pub­
lished in 1984/85. The editor, Susan 
Cohen—who is also co-editor of Index of Ar- 
tides in Jewish Studies (“RaM Bl”) —reports 
that her biggest problem is deciding when 
anti-Zionism becomes anti-Sem itism . 
“Denial of the Holocaust,” says she in an­
swer to my question, is included automati­
cally. The bibliography covers only “works 
about,” not anti-Semitic literature.
Obituary
On Sept. 9,1986, the bibliographer and liter­
ary historian Getzel Kressel passed away 
at the age of 75. Kressel, who lived in Ho- 
Ion, was an institution; possibly the last of 
the self-employed bibliographers, he sup­
ported himself through his writing. Among 
the innumerable books, articles, reviews 
and bibliographies he published since the 
late th irties—nearly all in Hebrew—his out­
standing work is the first bio-bibliographical 
lexicon of Hebrew literature (Leksikon ha- 
sifrut ha-‘ivrit, Merhavya 1965-1967). His last 
book before his death was a bibliography 
of his own writings.
Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987 73


Epistle from Israel

Gold, Doris B.

Posner, Marcia

Notes of a Jewish Women's Studies Publisher

Avrin, Leila

PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
Yedidei HaSefer, the Israel Bibliophiles
Yedidei HaSefer, the Israel Bibliophiles, was 
formed in 1980 by a group of book-lovers, 
all of whom were in some way involved in 
the Book Arts—by way of bookbinding, cal­
ligraphy, collecting, illustration, papermak­
ing, printing, publishing, librarianship, con­
servation, or the history of the book. Several 
U.S. book-related groups served as models; 
foremost among them was The Typophiles, 
a 50-year old organization devoted to fine 
printing. The Society of Scribes and the 
Book Workers’ Guild were also in the minds 
of Yedidei HaSefeYs founders. But because 
Israel is a small country, where the art of 
the book has barely surfaced in the con­
sciousness of its citizens, one organization 
serves the needs of the book-maker, collec­
tor and preserver. The purpose of the group 
is to exchange ideas about the making of 
fine books and to raise the standards of 
hand-made books in Israel. Yedidei HaSefer 
is as interested in making Israelis aware of 
developments in the book arts abroad as 
it is in bringing to their attention the men 
and women who have contributed to the art 
of the modern Hebrew book.
The initial public meeting of the Israel Bib­
liophiles took place in the Spring of 1981, 
at the time of the 10th Jerusalem Interna­
tional Book Fair. The guest lecturer, from 
England, was the late Hans Schmoller, one­
time diractor of Penguin Books, who spoke 
on “The History of the Paperback” at the 
Schocken Library in Jerusalem. Mr. 
Schmoller returned to Jerusalem for the 
12th Fair in 1985 to lecture to the group on 
“Two Twentieth Century Book Designers, 
Giovanni Mardersteig and Jan Tschichold.” 
After his retirement in 1976, Schmoller ex­
panded his scholarly efforts in the history 
of typography, printing and papermaking, 
particularly in the area of decorated papers. 
Hans and his wife Tanya assembled a splen­
did collection of book papers acquired dur­
ing their travels. Schmoller lectured the 
world over, and wrote several books and ar- 
tides on these subjects. His friendships with 
the book personages about whom he wrote 
and lectured added a dimension to his pre­
sentation of their lives and works. Yedidei 
HaSefer was honored to have him as a 
member, and mourns his loss.
Leila Avrin
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hans Schmoller’s presence in Israel on two 
occasions was due to the sponsorship of 
the man who has been the single greatest 
inspiration to the Israel Bibliophiles, Dr. 
Robert L. Leslie. Dr. Leslie, who celebrated 
his 101st birthday in December 1986, is the 
president of the lypophiles. For many years, 
as director of The Composing Room, a sue- 
cessful typesetting firm in New York, Dr. Les­
lie was devoted to promoting the artistic as­
pect of books by sponsoring exhibitions in 
The Composing Room’s “Gallery 303” and 
by establishing his lecture series, “Heritage 
of the Graphic Arts.” His personal friends 
were and are an international all-star cast 
of contributors to the art of the book. From 
among these thousands of friends, Dr. Les­
lie brought with him to the 12th Book Fair 
some forty outstanding designers, cal­
ligraphers, collectors, dealers and profes­
sors to participate in his centenary celebra­
tions. Dr. Leslie passed away on April 2, 
1987.
The activities of Yedidei HaSefer are as var­
ied as its membership. There have been ex­
hibitions, lectures, workshops, films, tours, 
and special offerings of fine printings avail­
able to members. Activities take place “ in 
season,” from after the High Holy Days 
in the Fall, until June. The first exhibition, 
in honor of the 80th birthday of Dr. Moshe 
Spitzer, was held in the Spring of 1981, at 
the Jewish National and University Library. 
Dr. Moshe Spitzer (d. 1982) was Israel’s out­
standing publisher, one of the few who 
cared not only about the literary quality of 
the books that appeared under his Tarshish 
imprint, but about the form which these 
works took. He issued classical works in He­
brew translation, and Jewish and native Is­
raeli literature, printing them on the finest 
paper available (not always upto U.S. stan­
dards). He also commissioned the best es­
tablished artists as well as unknown but 
talented illustrators to decorate his books 
with woodcuts and lithographs. Everything 
he designed and produced was in fine taste. 
Typesetters and pressmen groaned when 
Dr. Spitzer forced them to print a page over 
and over again until it met with his approval.
In the end, printers were grateful for his ef­
forts and proud of the resulting book. The 
retrospective exhibition was long overdue. 
Dr. Spitzer supervised the design of the ex­
hibition catalogue: Dr. Moshe Spitzer: 
Books, Typography, Design, written by Dr. 
J. Katzenstein, librarian of the Schocken Li­
brary. A page from the bilingual catalogue 
is reproduced in Figure 1. (A few of the cata­
logues are still available for $8.)
Other exhibitions sponsored by Yedidei 
HaSefer have been calligraphic ones. At the 
11th Jerusalem Book Fair in 1983, the Is­
rael Bibliophiles and the “Uncle Bob Leslie 
Paper Mill” of Beer Sheva mounted the “In­
ternational Calligraphy Today” show, brought 
to Israel by Dr. Leslie. Renamed “Pen and 
Paper,” it proved to be as popular with the 
public here as it had been earlier in New 
York, where it was sponsored by the Inter­
national Typeface Corporation. Israel Bib­
liophile members who worked on the exhi­
bition decided to hold a competition for the 
1985 exhibition at the 12th Jerusalem Book 
Fair. Only eleven works deemed worthy of 
inclusion were hung in the limited space 
made available at the exhibitors’ entrance 
at the Binyane Ha’umah convention center, 
May 5-10. In 1986, the Calligraphers ex­
hibited their works at the Jerusalem 
Theatre.
Tours of private book collections, the Jew­
ish National and University Library manu­
script collection, the Jerusalem Print Work­
shop, Keter Press and the Wiener Bindery 
take place regularly. But the most popular 
tours have been the annual trips to the 
parchment factories. Members of Yedidei 
HaSefer have visited the Asher Jacob and 
Gallandauer workshops, both in Jerusa­
lem’s Givat Shaul industrial district. The pro­
cess of making goatskin parchment (more 
rarely, deerskin) and uterine vellum (shiil, 
from unborn calves) is fascinating. With 
each visit, we see the progressive mechani­
zation of Israel’s low-tech but flourishing in­
dustry. If anyone tells you that everything 
is made in the U.S., tell them that parchment 
is the one item that must be imported from 
Israel. There are only about 20 parchment 
factories in the world today, some seven in
98 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987
Israel (England and Italy are the other ma­
jor producers). Jewish scribes of course pre­
fer the Israeli product, and calligraphers in 
the U.S. are beginning to use its parchment 
as well.
The films that have been shown to mem­
bers range from printing as it was done in 
the age of Plantin (late 16th-17th century) 
to contemporary papermaking at Barchan­
Green in England. The four-part videotape 
of Donald Jackson’s “The Story of Writing” 
brought a capacity audience when it was 
loaned by the British Council to be shown 
by the Bibliophiles at the Israel Museum in 
1984.
In 1984, the Calligrapher’s Branch—now 
called the Israel Calligraphy Society—was 
initiated by artist/calligrapher Edna Miron 
Wapner, and the Branch has been an ac­
tive partner of Yedidei HaSefer ever since. 
In its first year, it took over the administra­
tion of the introductory course in calligra­
phy given by Hella Hartman, which had 
been offered by the Bibliophiles from 1981 
to 1983. An advanced course was added for 
experienced calligraphers, and all-day 
workshops were introduced. The Israeli six- 
day work week prevents the sponsorship of 
many workshops which would be of use to 
calligraphers. The one Hella Hartman gave 
on micrography during Hanukah in 1985 
brought students and practitioners of cal­
ligraphy from all over the country. Mrs. Hart- 
man—a student of typographer, designer, 
and teacher Henri Friedlaender—has been 
a first-rate disciplinarian of script, and has 
already given a good foundation to many 
of Israel’s practicing calligraphers. Samples 
of her work are in Figure 2. Curators and 
librarians have also taken the course just 
for the purpose of improving the quality of 
the ordinary signs they must write routinely. 
Once a month the Calligraphy Society 
meets to hear lectures on subjects such as 
Hebrew manuscript illumination, papercuts, 
and Arabic calligraphy and design. In 1987, 
workshops will be given for advanced cal­
ligraphers by well-known calligraphers, 
such as Lili Wronker. David Moss, a cal­
ligrapher who established his reputation in 
the U.S. and now lives in Jerusalem, showed 
slides of his recently completed Haggadah. 
Scholar Dr. Meir Benayahu has twice 
opened his home to members to show his 
Hebrew book and manuscript collection. 
The current chairman is Sharon Binder, who 
also teaches calligraphy in Jerusalem.
In January 1985, Yedidei HaSefer held a din­
ner for its members at the Ticho House, one 
of Jerusalem’s “musts” for visitors. The home 
of the late artist Anna Ticho and her 
ophthalmologist husband, located in the 
center of town, was transformed into a 
charming museum under the auspices of
ץעמיחא תליגמ
 יבריב ץעמיחא יברל ןיסחוי תליגמ/איהו
 סוחי הב רפסי ד״יתת םיפלא ׳ד תנשמ/לאיטלפ
ת שרפו םתרובגו םפוקת/ישעמ לכו ויתובא
תומישר טקל/הילא הולנו .םתלודג
י נסייפל רשא/םיטױפ טוקלי/םגו. ...םירופיסו
 יבריב היטפש ׳רו ונאליס יבר/. ...הילאטיא
 ורבוח הלא לכ/היטפש יבריב יתימא ׳רו יתימא
; ד״שת םילשורי .ראלק ןימינב/ידיב והגוהו וידחי
ת ואב ןקתנו רדסנ .קוק ברה דסומ עויסב
 תאצוה לש הכאלמה תיבב תדקונמ ןילוגורד
ל ש תמצמוצמ הרודהמב ספדנו שישרת ירפס
; םילשוריב םהינש ,םילשורי סופדב םיספט ק״ת
י עיבש רפס .מ״מ 112x188 ,םידומע (3) ג״יר
.94 ׳סמ ׳ב הרודהמ םג ןייע .״שישרת יסופד״ תרדסב
ץ״כ בקעי ר״ד
םימעהו לארשי תודלות
ם ילשורי .ינשה תיבה ןברח דע :ןושאר רפס
ת ואב שישרת ירפס תאצוהב רדסנ ;ה״שת
ן יול סופדב תוהמאמ ספדנו תדקונמ ןילוגורד
( 146 )2 .םילשוריב םהינש ,׳תושו ןייטשפא
ס פדנ הז דומיל רפס .מ״מ 102x190 ,םידומע
- (׳ה) ;ט״שת-(׳ב) :(תוהמאמ) תונוש תורודהמב
.(תפי סופדב) ,ו״טשת-(׳ו) ;ב״ישת
חמצ המלש
הסמ ימיב
ם ילשורי ,ץראבשו םלועבש םינינעב םירמאמ
 סייוו סופדב ליר־קנרפ תואב ספדנ ;ה״שת
.מ״מ 104x164 ,םידומע ו״עק ;םילשוריב
ריפסקש (םאיליו)
ףרחה תדגא
ר דסנ ;ה״שת םילשורי .ץיבודיוד צ״ש ידיב תירבע
ל ש הכאלמה תיבב תדקונמ ןילוגורד תואב ןקתנו
, םילשורי סופדב ספדנו שישרת ירפס תאצוה
.מ״מ 108x194 ,םידומע מ״ק ,םילשוריב םהינש
ןילרדלה (ךירדירפ)
םירחבנ םיריש
ם רוקמב םירישה םע דחיב) .סביל .ג םגרת
ת יבב ןקתנו רדסנ ;(ה״שת) םילשורי .(אובמו
 תואה ,שישרת ירפס תאצוה לש הכאלמה
: תינמרגה תואה ,תדקונמ ןילוגורד :תירבעה
ל ש תמצמוצמ הרודהמב ספדנו ,תינוניב הקמהא
ם הינש ,ונבו םייהנכיל סופדב ספוט 330
י די השעמ םירוטיעהו רעשה ;םילשוריב
3 .ךורב הקסיצנארפ 48x222 1 ,םידומע (117 )
."שישרת יסופד" תרדסב ינימש רפס .מ״מ
28
Figure 1. Page from the bilingual ex­
hibition catalogue Dr. Moshe Spitzer: 
Books, Typography, Design.
the Israel Museum (and has the best res­
taurant for crepes to be found). After din­
ner, Rachel Cohen, librarian of Ticho House, 
gave a talk about Anna Ticho and her book 
collection. It was difficult to tear the guests 
away from the library; each member found 
a long lost favorite on the shelves.
The Newsletter of the Israel Bibliophiles 
(‘Alon Yedi'ot Yedide Ha-Sefer), with articles 
in Hebrew and English, was begun shortly 
after the group was organized. The logo 
(see Figure 3) was designed by Fred Pauker, 
famous for his design of the micrographic 
“traveler’s prayer” doves in script, which for
24 Megilat Ahimaaz
The Chronicle of Ahimaaz, with a collection of 
poems from Byzantine Southern Italy and additions 
edited and annotated by Benjamin Klar. Composed 
in the workshop of Tarshish Books in Drugulin 
Pointed and printed in a limited edition of 500 
copies by Jerusalem Press, Jerusalem, 1944. 
Subsidized by Mossad HaRav Kook. 21 3 (3) pp. 
188X112 mm. Seventh book in the series “Tarshish 
Prints”, cf. no. 94
25 DR. JACOB KATZ
(The History of) Israel and the Nations
First Book: Until the Days of the Destruction of the 
Second Temple. Composed in the workshop of 
Tarshish Books in Drugulin Pointed and printed by 
Lewin-Epstein & Co., Jerusalem, 1945; 146 (2) pp, 
190X 102 mm. This book was reprinted in later 
editions: 2 (1948), 5 (1951), 6 (1955).
28
26 SHLOMO ZEMACH
In the Days of Trial (Critical Essays).
Printed in Frank-Ruhl by Weiss, Jerusalem, 1945; 
176 pp. 164X104 mm.
27 (WILLIAM) SHAKESPEARE
The Winter’s Tale
Hebrew translation by S.H. Davidowitz. Composed 
in the workshop of Tarshish Books in Drugulin 
Pointed and printed by Jerusalem Press, Jerusalem, 
1945; 140 pp. 194X 108 mm. '
FRIEDRICH HOLDERLIN
Ausgewahlte Gedichte
German and Hebrew texts. Hebrew translation by 
G. Liebes. Title page and initials by Franziska 
Baruch. Hebrew type: Drugulin Pointed; German 
type: Ehmke-Medieval; composed in the workshop 
of Tarshish Books and printed in 3 30 copies by 
Lychenheim & Son, Jerusalem, 1945; 117(3)pp. 
222X 148 mm. Eighth book in the series “Tarshish 
Prints”.
many years was distributed on all flights by 
El Al. Designer Ariel Vardi, head of Hadas- 
sah College’s printing department, de­
signed the Newsletter itself. The format has 
been retained for all issues. It has grown 
from four pages (the first two issues are long 
out-of-print) to thirty-two (no. 6). In addition 
to giving members a summary of the past 
year’s activities, the Newsletter has two 
regular features of permanent value: “Con­
servation Corner,” written by conservator 
Nellie Stavisky, who gives practical advice 
on the preservation and repair of works on 
paper and parchment, and “People of the 
Book,” sketches of the life and work of
Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987 99
ע פעסנמ^כיטחזװהדגבא \
25456759 1!»,.םץףןך תשרק
רק3ט>4׳קײנ^יסחזוהדג_כא.א
w ץ  ף■ ךי ׳ םתm_ gif■e  J 1 א והיעשי תליגמJw. ־וטjזנ)j
ק צפעסגמלכיטחזוהדגבא
0&34507!1א^ □וי ח ןך תשר 0
Figure 2. Sample sheet of Sfaradi 
lettering by Hella Hartman, used in 
her calligraphy course.
persons who have made major contributions 
to the Hebrew book in modern times, par­
ticularly in Israel. Thus far, book people who 
have been included are bookbinder Kate 
Wiener, calligrapher Franzisca Baruch, the 
late calligrapher and designer Fred Pauker, 
and designer and publisher Eliyahu Koren. 
The Newsletter’s book reviews of interna­
tional publications on the arts of the book 
and script are of interest to collectors, pub­
lishers, librarians and printers. It is hoped 
that the Newsletter will eventually expand 
into a journal of the modern Hebrew book 
and typography.
The “Uncle Bob Leslie Paper Mill” in Beer 
Sheva has been associated with Yedidei 
HaSefer since the beginning. Founded in 
1979, the Mill is located in a beautiful land­
mark building on Tuviahu Boulevard that 
was once the Turkish Railroad Station, form­
ing part of the Visual Arts Centre. The rest 
of the school has now moved to larger 
quarters, leaving an exhibition hall down­
stairs and the papermaking equipment up­
stairs. YedideiHaSefer members are invited 
to all of their exhibitions (a few of which have 
been at the U.S. Cultural Center in Tel Aviv), 
open house/demonstrations, seminars led 
by guest papermarkers and lecturers from 
abroad, and regular papermaking courses 
that run throughout the year. The Mill always 
needs old cotton and linen rags for pulp, as 
these make the best paper, so contributions 
of 1OO°/o cotton and linen are most welcome, 
no matter how old. The Mill, under the direc-
tion of Joyce Schmidt, also makes paper 
from mitnan, a desert plant. Stationery 
hand-made in Beer Sheva is available from 
the Mill, and artists’ papers made from cot­
ton, linen and Japanese fibers such as 
gampi, kozo and mitsumata can also be 
specially ordered.
Courtesy of Dr. Leslie, the Israel Bibliophiles 
has offered the Typophile Chapbooks for 
sale to its members for the benefit of the 
organization. The Bialik Institute (P.O.B. 92) 
in Jerusalem has also sold a limited num­
ber of its older special publications to mem­
bers, of which only a few copies remained.
Figure 3. Logo of Yedidei HaSefer, 
the Israel Bibliophiles.
Some of these books were designed by Dr. 
Spitzer. In 1983, the Bialik.lnstitute brought 
out a slim, handsome volume of Samuel 
Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, printed by Ben- 
Zvi Press on hand-made Beer Sheva paper. 
The edition was limited to 96 copies, and 
included an original etching of a portrait of 
Beckett drawn by Avigdor Arikha, printed 
at the Jerusalem Print Workshop. It was in­
tended as a tribute to Dr. Spitzer for his con­
tribution to fine printing in Israel; he was in­
volved in the planning stages of this special 
edition, but unfortunately did not live to see 
its completion.
One of the aims of the Israel B ibliophiles 
is to encourage fine printing in Israel, which 
is sorely needed on a commercial level. The 
group looks with favor upon the establish­
ment of a private press in Jerusalem in the 
very near future. Bibliophiles in the U.S. 
have been asking for such a press for some 
time.
There are 250 members of Yedidei HaSefer 
in Israel, and about the same number 
abroad. Foreign membership is $15 a year. 
The address of the organization is: P.O.B. 
4368, 91043 Jerusalem.
Dr. Leila Avrin is a Lecturer at the Graduate 
School o f Library and Archive Studies, The 
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an ex­
pert on Hebrew micrography.
100 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987
MORRISON AND KLINE BOOKS
— Used, out of print & rare books in the humanities.
—Always buying collections or single items in all fields.
—Extensive inventory of Judaica and Hebraica.
—Please send us your want lists in these and cognate fields.
Our new catalog: Judaica Volume II, A Compendium of Rare and out of Print Books— 
Coming this fall!
When in Los Angeles, please visit Morrison and Kline Books.
We have the largest selection of out-of-print Judaica in California.
309 Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90401 
(213) 395-4747
Open Monday-Friday 10-6 
Saturday & Sunday 11-6
Eric Chaim Kline David Morrison, Proprietors
Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987 101


Yedidei Hasefer, the Israel Bibliophiles

Lerman, Linda P.

REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
AJL Judaica Reference Book Award*
*Remarks made at the Banquet of the 21st 
Annual Convention of the Association of Jew­
ish Libraries held in Montreal, Canada, June 
17, 1986.
Linda P. Lerman
Jewish Theological Seminary
New York, NY
Introductory Remarks
I am very honored to be able to present this 
year’s outstanding reference book award. 
As the incoming President of the Research 
and Special Library Division, I first want to 
thank the Reference Book Award Commit­
tee headed by Sarah Levy and including 
Charles Cutter and Robert Singerman. 
They diligently examined dozens of Judaica 
reference books following the criteria estab­
lished last year, when the inaugural Associ­
ation of Jewish Libraries Reference Book 
Award was presented.
This year’s recipient was a unanimous 
choice of the committee. Irene Heskes’ The 
Resource Book of Jewish Music: a bib­
liographical and topical guide to the book 
and journal literature and program materials 
(Greenwood Press, 1985), is a compilation 
of published English textual resources for 
Jewish music that will serve the needs of 
musicians, scholars, and the general public.
I can affirm its value as a resource, for in 
the past three months I have continuously 
sought the Seminary’s copy in the reference 
stacks. The Reference Librarian assured 
me it was not lost, but it was never there 
when I looked. Apparently, each of the 
Seminary’s cantorial students was working 
on a term paper and, as they told me, there’s 
nothing else that offers such in-depth bib­
liographic coverage for their projects and 
musical performances. One of the Book 
Award review copies is being sold to the 
Seminary as its second copy.
The Resource Book is a selective, com­
puterized bibliography of over 1200 entries 
spanning all periods of literature and all 
sources, from general publications to spe­
cifically Judaica ones. The entries are 
divided into eight chapters by type of publi­
cation. Included are:
— Reference works such as encyclope­
dias, dictionaries, bibliographies and 
catalogs of Jewish music;
— Books and monographs on Jewish mu­
sic, including collections of essays;
— Articles on Jewish music topics ap­
pearing in music and general period­
icals;
— Jewish music periodicals, with full 
coverage of the issues and their con­
tents;
— Instruction and performance resources 
on Jewish music, including educational 
publications, program aids, guides, 
manuals, and catalogs of publishers of 
Jewish music;
—Anthologies and songsters of Jewish 
music collections, especially those with 
romanized texts; and
— Dance materials with Jewish music.
Each of these divisions is further subdivided 
by subject, and finally alphabetized by last 
names of authors, editors, and compilers. 
Each entry is numbered consecutively, and 
no duplication of entries occurs. The bib­
liographic description is accompanied by an 
annotation that assesses the value of the 
work, its content, and treatment. Access to 
the material is further enhanced through an 
author index and a topical index which lists 
instrument and vocal scores, recordings, 
and highlights of various special collections 
and archives.
The majority of entries in The Resource 
Book of Jewish Music post-date the two 
previous bibliographies on this topic, Alfred 
Sendrey’s 1951 work and Albert Weisser’s 
volume of 1969.
Only someone who has intimately worked 
with Jewish music and its literature could 
produce such a volume. Irene Heskes is a 
music historian, lecturer, and founder and 
currently director of the American Yiddish 
Theater Music Restoration and Revival Proj­
ect. From 1968-1980, she was Director of 
the National Jewish Music Council of the 
National Jewish Welfare Board. She has 
contributed to the Encyclopaedia Judaica 
and is the author of the following books: The 
Cantorial Art, Studies in Jewish Music, Jews 
in Music, and with Suzanne Bloch, Ernest 
Bloch: Creative Spirit. Currently, she is 
researching a book to be published by the 
Library of Congress about American Yid­
dish songs copyrighted during the period 
1895-1940. ~
Irene Heskes was educated at Washington 
Square College; the Juilliard School of Mu­
sic; the Eastman School of Music in Roch­
ester, New York; Harvard University Gradu­
ate School; the School of Sacred Music at 
Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of 
Religion in New York City; and the Cantors 
Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary 
of America.
Irene Heskes, it is with great pleasure that 
I present this Reference Book Award of the 
Association of Jewish Libraries to you.
Linda R Lerman, Administrative Librarian for 
Public Services at the Jewish Theological 
Seminary in New York, has recently been ap­
pointed to the position of Judaica Bib­
liographer at Yale University in New Haven, 
Connecticut.
106 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987


AJL Judaica Reference Book Award

Lerman, Linda

Yiddish Studies Pathfinder
Compiled by
Zachary M. Baker
Jewish Public Library
Montreal, Canada
Pathfinder Series
Linda Lerman
Yale University 
New Haven, CT
Where does one begin to search for a re­
sponse to a reference question in a field with 
which you are unfamiliar? Your access to 
guides, handbooks or bibliographies maybe 
limited by your own collection, your location, 
or not knowing whom to contact or where 
to begin.
In response to the needs of librarians, 
Judaica Librarianship initiates a Pathfinder 
Series, a guide to reference tools and 
sources. Each Pathfinder explores a differ­
ent subject area. It offers a guide to and 
through the literature in the field—from in­
troductory and survey articles, major texts, 
handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, bib­
liographies (published separately or as arti­
cles), indexes, and journals—to societies as­
sociated with the field, reports, non-print 
materials, and the names of major research 
collections. In short, it enables one to iden­
tify all the indispensable sources from ba­
sic to technical works in a given field.
After publication in Judaica Librarianship, 
each Pathfinder will be available as part of 
a series ofAJL publications. All readers are 
invited to prepare Pathfinders in subject 
areas in which they have expertise. Contact 
the Vice-President of theR & S  or SSC Divi­
sion of AJL for a set of guidelines.
As the first in this series, Judaica Librarian­
ship Contributing Editor for the Responsa 
column, Zachary Baker, presents a Path­
finder on Yiddish Studies.
Linda Lerman is Judaica Bibliographer at 
Yale University Library. She also serves as 
President of the Research & Special 
Libraries Division of the Association of Jew­
ish Libraries and as an Associate Editor of 
Judaica Librarianship.
Scope
Yiddish Studies encompasses the Yiddish 
language and its literature, along with such 
related areas as folklore, theater, and press. 
Yiddish is a fusion language composed of 
elements deriving from Middle High Ger­
man, Hebrew, Aramaic, and several Slavic 
languages. Spoken by 10,000,000 Ash­
kenazic Jews at the outbreak of World War 
II, its history can be traced back to the era 
of the Crusades. At present, between two 
and three million people speak or under­
stand Yiddish.
Yiddish literature, which had its origins dur­
ing the Italian Renaissance, flourished dur­
ing the half century leading up to the calami­
tous Holocaust period, producing such 
noted writers as Mendele Moykher Sforim 
(Sholem-YankevAbramovitsh), I. L. Peretz, 
Sholom Aleichem (S. Rabinovitsh), and the 
Nobel Prize-winning storyteller Isaac 
Bashevis Singer. In recent years, Yiddish 
courses have been offered on many univer­
sity campuses, and the stature of Yiddish 
Studies has grown apace with this rise in 
academic interest. Included in this Path­
finder are essential resources in both Yid­
dish and English, with the stress laid, how­
ever, on materials available in English.
Materials dealing with the various aspects 
of Yiddish Studies are listed in library cata­
logs under the following headings (arranged 
in logical order):
Yiddish language
Yiddish philology
Yiddish literature
Yiddish drama
Yiddish fiction
Yiddish letters
Yiddish orations
Yiddish poetry
Yiddish wit and humor
Authors, Yiddish
Yiddish imprints
Almanacs, Yiddish
Yiddish newspapers
Theater, Yiddish
Yiddish songs
Introductions to the various aspects of 
Yiddish Studies appear in the Encyclopae­
dia Judaica (Jerusalem: Keter Press, 1972). 
See the following articles:
“Yiddish language,” by Uriel Weinreich; 
“Yiddish literature,” by Chone Shmeruk; 
“Theater," subsection “Yiddish theater,”
by Alfred Abraham Greenbaum; 
“Press,” by various authors.
The EJ also includes biographies of many 
Yiddish writers and personalities. Always 
consult the index (vol. 1) before searching 
the other volumes for a topic. Articles in­
elude bibliographic references.
Major Works in Yiddish Studies include 
the following:
A. Yiddish language.
Weinreich, Max. History of the Yiddish Ian- 
guage: concepts, facts, methods. Trans­
lated by Shlomo Noble, with the as- 
sistanceof JoshuaA. Fishman. Chicago: 
University of Chicago Press, 1980.
An exhaustive study of the history of 
Yiddish, including the text, but excluding 
the footnotes and bibliography contained 
in the Yiddish original: (Geshikhte fun der 
yidisher shprakh. New York: YIVO Insti­
tute for Jewish Research, 1973. 4 vols.1) 
The 99-page index includes all Yiddish 
words mentioned in the text and consti­
tutes a guide to romanized Yiddish and 
a key to Yiddish etymological data.
Birnbaum, Solomon A. Yiddish: a survey 
and a grammar. Toronto: University of 
Toronto Press, 1979.
A concise and sophisticated overview 
of Yiddish.
The field of Yiddish: studies in Yiddish Ian- 
guage, folklore, and literature. New York: 
Linguistic Circle of New York, 1954-1980. 
4 vols.
Scholarly articles on Yiddish, in En­
glish. Vol. 1 includes bibliographies of 
works by Sholem Aleichem and I. L. 
Peretz in English translation. Vols. 2 and 
3 were published at The Hague: Mouton; 
vol. 4 was published in Philadelphia: In­
stitute for the Study of Human Issues 
(ISHI).
Judaica Librarianship Vol. 3 No. 1-2 1986-1987 125


Pathfinder Series

Kuperman, Aaron Wolfe

Hebrew Word Processing

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