Association of Jewish Libraries Publishing

Adler, Leah

Acquisition Tools, 39-40 
Acquisitions, Blanket Order, 41-48 
Adler, Elhanan 
"The Library Automation Scene in lsrael-1985" 7-8 
ALEF BIT, 7-8 
ALEPH, 7 
APPROBATIONS, 9-14 
Association of Jewish Libraries 
Book Awards for Children's Literature, 26-29 
Selected List of 1984 Contenders, 26-27 
Judaica Reference Book Award, 72-73, 76 
Books nominated for the Award, 72, 76 
Automation, of Libraries in Israel, 7-8 
Bacon, Gershon C. 
The Jews in Poland and Russia: 
Bibliographical Essays 
(Reviewed by Mark Friedman) 9, 14 
Baker, Zachary M. 
Letter, 6 
RESPONSA, 81-82 
Berger, Pearl 
"Romanization of Names" 15-16 
"Subject Headings" 16-20 
"Bibliographic Instruction in Judaic Studies" 65-67 
Bibliographies, Compilation of, 79-80 
Bibliography of Modern Hebrew Literature in 
Translation, 78-79 
Brandeis University, Bibliographic Instruction 
in Judaic Studies, 65-67 
Cairo Genizah, 55 
CATALOG DEPARTMENT, 15-25 
Chaikin, Miriam 
AJL Body-of-Work Award Acceptance 
Speech, 29-30 
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, 26-38 
THE CHOSEN BOOK, 39-48 
Classification, of Holocaust Materials, 49-52 
Cohen, Barbara 
Bibliography, 36-38 
"Where Have all the Children Gone?" 34-35 
COMMENTARIES, 4-6 
"Compiling the Book-length Bibliography: 
Concepts and Strategies" 79-80 
Cremona Genizah, 55 
Cutter, Charles 
"Bibliographic Instruction in Judaic Studies" 65-67 
"Recommended Judaica Reference Works, 
1984-1985" 74-76 
SERIALLY SPEAKING, 83 
DEWEINEAZAR, 49-54 
Eichenstein, Menachem Zvi, 55 
EPISTLE FROM ISRAEL, 55-56 
Erenyi, Zvi 
''A German Judaica Blanket Order: Description 
and Analysis" 41-48 
Feder, Galila Ron, 31-33 
Feldman, Louis H. 
AJL Judaica Reference Book Award 
Acceptance Speech, 73, 76 
Friedman, Mark 
Review of: Hundert, Gershon David and 
Gershon C. Bacon, The Jews in Poland 
and Russia: Bibliographical Essays, 9, 14 
Genazim (Tel-Aviv) 55 
''A German Judaica Blanket Order: Description 
and Analysis" 41-48 
Goldberg, Isaac 
"Tracking Translations: the Bibliography of 
Modern Hebrew Literature in Translatiori' 78-79 
Greenblatt, Judy 
''Association of Jewish Libraries Book Awards 
for Children's Literature" 26-29 
INDEX TO VOLUME 2 
Compiled by Leah Adler 
Harrassowitz (Wiesbaden, Germany) 41-48 
"The Hebraic Section of the Library of Congress: 
Collections, Catalogs, and Services" 60-62 
"Hebrew Incunabula: an Agenda for Research" 68-71 
Hebrew Literature in Translation 
Bibliography, 78-79 
Children's 31-33 
Heskes, Irene 
The Resource Book of Jewish Music 
(Reviewed by Chana Mlotek) 10-11 
Holocaust 
Classification Schemes, 49-50 
Research Centers, 64 
Subject Headings, 49-54 
Yad Vashem, Library, 63-64 
HOLOSHARE,52 , 
HOUSES OF THE BOOK, 57-64 
"How many Jewish families are there in 
Canada?" 81-82 
Hundert, Gershon David 
The Jews in Poland and Russia: Bibliographical 
Essays (Reviewed by Mark Friedman) 9, 14 
"IDC Jewish Studies on Microfiche: 
a Critique" 12-14 
IN THE BEGINNING, 3 
Incunabula, Hebrew, 68-71 
Institute for the Translation of Hebrew 
Literature (Tel-Aviv), 78-79 
Israeli Children's Authors, 31-33 
Jewish Children's Books Too Good to Miss, 26-27 
Jewish National and University Library 
(Jerusalem), 55-56 
\JEWS-DASH: Library of Congress Subject 
Headings for Judaica: A Methodology for 
Analysis" 20-25 
The Jews in Poland and Russia: 
Bibliographical Essays (Review) 9, 14 
Judaica Reference Books Nominated For the 
AJL Award, 72, 76 
Klein, Shmuel 
''A German Judaica Blanket Order: Description 
and Analysis" 41-48 
Lazinger, Susan S. 
EPISTLE FROM ISRAEL, 55-56 
"Leading Israeli Children's Authors" 31-33 
LEARNING, 65-67 
"The Leo Baeck Institute: Programs, Collections, 
and Organization of the Library" 57-59 
Levy, Sarah 
''AJL Judaica Reference Book Award" 72 
"The Library Automation Scene in lsrael-1985" 7-8 
Library of Congress 
Hebraic Section, 60-62 
Subject Headings, 4-5, 17-19, 20-25 
"The Library of Yad Vashem" 63-64 
Lubetski, Edith 
"Recently Published Acquisition Tools'' 39-40 
Mendel Gottesman Library of Hebraica-Judaica, 
Yeshiva University (New York, N.Y.), a German 
Judaica Blanket Order, 41-48 
Mlotek, Chana 
Review of: Heskes, Irene, The Resource Book 
of Jewish Music, 10-11 
Ofek, Uriel, 31 
Omer, Devorah, 31 
Oppenheim, Micha F. 
"Recommended Judaica Reference Works, 
1984-1985" 74-76 
Orlev, Uri, 33 
AJL Children's Book Award Acceptance 
Speech (Letter), 28 
Pearlstein, Peggy K. 
"The Hebraic Section of the Library of 
Congress: Collections, Catalogs, and 
Services" 60-62 
84 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No. 1-2 Spring 1985 
Photographs, Indexing of, 5 
Population Statistics, Jewish, 81-82 
Posner, Marcia W. 
Introduction to: Cohen, Barbara, Where Have 
All the Children Gone? 34 
"The Library of Yad Vashem" 63-64 
"Towards Improved Subject Analysis on the 
Holocaust in the Synagogue and School 
Library" 49-54 
Rabenstein, Bernard H. 
Letter, 4 
RARE BOOKS, 68-71 
"Recommended Judaica Reference Works, 
1984-1985" 74-76 
REFERENCE DEPARTMENT, 72-80 
The Resource Book of Jewish Music: A 
Bibliographical and Topical Guide to the Book and 
Journal Literature and Program Materials (Review) 
10-11 
RESPONSA, 81-82 
Romanization of Hebrew and Yiddish names, 15-16 
Schmelzer, Menahem 
"Hebrew Incunabula: an Agenda for Research" 
68-71 
Letter, 4 
Schwartz, Amy 
AJL Picture Book Award Acceptance Speech, 
27-28 
SERIALLY SPEAKING, 83 
Serials, 83 
Shelter Rock Jewish Center Library's 
Holocaust Resource Center, 50-52 
Singerman, Robert 
"Compiling the Book-length Bibliography: 
Concepts and Strategies" 79-80 
Stern, Stephanie M. 
"The Leo Baeck Institute: Programs, Collections, 
and Organization of the Library" 57-59 
Stusser, Isabel 
Letter, 5 
Subject Headings 
Hennepin County Library, 16-17 
Holocaust, 49-54 
Library of Congress, 4-5, 17-19, 20-25 
''Towards Improved Subject Analysis on the 
Holocaust in the Synagogue and School 
Library" 49-54 
"Tracking Translations: the Bibliography 
of Modern Hebrew Literature in Translation" 78-79 
Wachs, Sharona R. 
"Romanization of Names" 15-16 
"Subject Headings" 16-20 
Walfish, Barry 
"IDC Jewish Studies on Microfiche: 
a Critique" 12-14 
Weinberg, Bella Hass 
IN THE BEGINNING, 3 
•~EWS-DASH: Library of Congress Subject 
Headings for Judaica: A Methodology for 
Analysis" 20-25 
Letters, 5 
Weiss, Jaqueline Shachter 
"Leading Israeli Children's Authors" 31-.33 
"Where Have All the Children Gone?" 34-35 
Wiener Library (Tel-Aviv) 55 
Yad Menachem Zvi Torah Library (Jerusalem) 55 
Yad Vashem, Library, 63-64 
Yiddish Culture Club (Rehovot, Israel) 55 
Yiddish Talking Books program (Jewish 
Public Library, Montreal, Canada) 6 
Leah Adler is Senior Librarian of the Mendel Gottesman 
Library of Hebraica-Judaica, Yeshiva University. 


English

Index to Volume 2

Levy, Sarah

REFERENCE D PARTMENT 
AJL Judaica Reference Book Award* 
Sarah Levy 
I am very pleased to present AJl:s inaugural 
award for an outstanding Judaica reference 
book. I would like to begin by thanking the 
members of the Award Committee, Charles 
Cutter and Bob Singerman, for their tireless 
efforts. 
The committee began its work in October 
1984 with a definition of terms. Judaica was 
defined broadly as any work on or about 
Jewish Studies, in any language; a refer-
ence book was determined to be a work de-
signed by arrangement and treatment to be 
consulted for specific items of information, 
rather than to be read sequentially. We in-
cluded both primary sources-Le., original 
material, as well as secondary sources-
material in some way modified. Our empha-
sis was on bibliographies, encyclopedias, 
dictionaries, almanacs and atlases. 
In reviewing nominated books, our criteria 
included the following: 
• Authoritativeness of the work 
• Timeliness, in terms of both facts and 
interpretation 
• Clarity of purpose and scope 
• Arrangement of the work 
• Ease of use: searching aids, indices, 
footnotes, etc. 
• Comparison with similar works in the 
field 
We had a number of fine works to review. 
Louis Feldman's Josephus and Modern 
Scholarship, 1937-1980 (de Gruyter, 1984), 
however, more than satisfied our criteria. 
This comprehensive bibliography, which is 
an update and expansion of an earlier work 
by the author entitled Scholarship on Philo 
and Josephus (Yeshiva University Press, 
19.63), contains over 3500 entries dealing 
with Josephus' personality, his work, and its 
influence. Each entry is accompanied by a 
summary and a critical evaluation of its con-
tribution to Josephan scholarship. The book 
is further enhanced by three helpful indi-
* Remarks made at the Banquet of the 20th 
Annual Convention of the Association of Jew-
ish Libraries held in Cleveland, Ohio, June 
25, 1985. 
Yeshiva University 
New York, NY 
ces. Given the comprehensiveness of 
coverage, the inclusion of many related 
topics not found in other bibliographies on 
the subject, and the evaluation accompany-
ing each citation, Dr. Feldman's massive 
work represents a major contribution to Ju-
daic scholarship, especially in the fields of 
Josephan scholarship, Hellenistic Judaism, 
early Christianity, and the period of the Sec-
ond Jewish Commonwealth. 
Dr. Feldman earned both a B.A. and an M.A. 
from Trinity College, and received his Ph.D. 
in Classical Philology from Harvard Univer-
sity. He has held teaching positions at many 
institutions over the past thirty years, among 
them Trinity College, Bar-llan University and 
Dropsie College. It is an especially pleas-
ant task for me to present this award as I 
have had the privilege of knowing Dr. Feld-
man for the many years of our mutual affili-
ation with Yeshiva University. He has been 
Professor of Classics at Yeshiva from 1966 
to the present. In addition, he has been the 
recipient of many fellowships and grants 
from such prestigious organizations as the 
Guggenheim Foundation, the American 
Philosophical Society, the Littauer Founda-
tion, the National Endowment for the Hu-
manities, and the American Academy for 
Jewish Research. He has several dozen 
publications to his credit. 
Dr. Feldman is joined tonight by his wife, 
Miriam, to whom the book is dedicated. Dr. 
Feldman, it is with great pleasure that I pres-
ent to you the inaugural Judaica Reference 
Book Award of the Association of Jewish 
Libraries. 
(Dr. Feldman's acceptance speech on next page) 
Sarah Levy, formerly on the staff of Yeshiva 
University, chaired the AJL Judaica Refer-
ence Book Award Committee, on which Dr. 
Charles Cutter of Brandeis University and 
Robert Singerman of the University of Florida 
at Gainesville also served. 
72 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No. 1-2 Spring 1985 
Judaica Reference Books 
Nominated for the Award 
Attal, Robert. Les Juifs de Grece 
de L!Expulsion D'Espagne a nos 
Jours: Bibliographie. Jerusalem: 
lnstitut Ben-Zvi, 1984. 
Prepared in the Attal tradition of biblio-
graphic scholarship, this work, like his 
others, is comprehensive in its coverage of 
languages and sources. Over two thousand 
entries are presented for Greece and the 
islands, including Crete and Rhodes, thus 
filling a gap for an important center of Jew-
ish life in Europe. The entries are in Ladino, 
Hebrew, French, Greek and English. Much 
of the material cited is popular in nature, 
having appeared in newspapers and ob-
scure magazines, but nevertheless, of value 
to researchers. 
Helpful indexes are provided, with a sepa-
rate section devoted to Salonika. This work 
will prove of great value to Sephardic and 
Balkan studies in general, and to other fields 
such as Holocaust studies, for which several 
dozen citations are provided. 
Cohen, Gershon. Hebrew Incunab-
ula: Mendel Gottesman Library of 
Hebraica-Judaica, Yeshiva Univer-
sity. New York: Yeshiva University, 
1984. 
A catalog of the forty Hebrew incunabula 
that are housed in Yeshiva University's Got-
tesman Library, this attractive book is en-
hanced by photoreproductions of pages 
from these rare books. Each item is de-
scribed fully, and the unique features of the 
library's copy are highlighted. A number of 
helpful indexes complement the text. 
While most interested researchers will en-
counter little difficulty with the Hebrew text, 
the choice of language will limit its use by' 
the greater bibliographic world. We also 
note that references to Goffs Incunabula in 
(continued on page 76, column 1) • 
Sperber, David. A Dictionary of Greek and 
Latin Terms in Rabbinic Uterature. Ramat-
Gan: Bar-llan University Press, 1984. 230 
p. ISBN 9652260509. $32.50. 
A specialized dictionary consisting of al-
most 200 Greek and Latin legal terms in 
Rabbinic literature. The author provides 
the user with the following types of infor-
mation for each term: definition in En-
glish; illustrative texts in translation; 
parallels; related references; variant read-
ings; comparative material from Hellenis-
tic, Roman and juristic papyrological 
sources; and full bibliographic refer-
ences. The work includes a Greek and 
Latin index. Rabbinic scholars, philolo-
gists and students of ancient law will_ find 
this dictionary helpful. 
Wallach, Jehuda L. Israeli Military History: 
a Guide to Sources. New York: Garland, 
1984. 291 p. ISBN 0824090616. $40.50. 
A bibliography of books published largely 
in the 20th century, in Hebrew or West-
ern languages, pertaining to the military 
history of the Jewish people from antiq-
uity to the present. Each chapter includes 
an essay on the historical period under 
discussion, as well as a description of the 
major sources in the accompanying 
detailed bibliography. Relevant archives, 
libraries, and museums in Israel, as well 
as selected journals, are listed in an ap-
pendix. The work is indexed by author. 
Dr. Charles Cutter is Head, Judaic Depart-
ment, Brandeis University Libraries. Micha 
F. Oppenheim, is Senior Cataloger, Jewish 
Theological Seminary of America. They are 
co-authors of Jewish Reference Sources: A 
Selective, Annotated Bibliographic Guide. 
(New York: Garland Publishing, 1982). 
Judaica Reference Book Nominated 
(continued from p. 72, column 3) 
American Ubraries might have been accom-
panied by corresponding Freimann num-
bers and more usefully placed with each 
text as opposed to constituting a separate 
index. Nonetheless, Gershon Cohen has 
done. a commendable job in the prepara-
tion of this catalog, and Yeshiva University 
can be proud of its fine incunabula holdings. 
[See related cover story by Menahem 
Schmelzer in this issue:-Eds.J 
(continued in column 2) 
Books Nominated (continued) 
de Lange, Nicholas. Atlas of the Jew• 
ish World. New York: Facts on File, 
1984. 
This beautifully illustrated work, intended 
to chronicle the history of the Jewish peo-
ple, is divided into three sections. The first, 
dealing with the historical background of the 
Jewish people, is highlighted by maps 
depicting the distribution of Jewish popu-
lation. The second focuses on the cultural 
heritage of the Jews throughout the ages 
and around the world. The final section is 
devoted to the Jewish world today, provid-
ing a survey of world Jewry by regions and 
countries. 
Appended reference materials include a 
gazetteer, glossary, bibliography and index. 
While this lovely book will find its rightful 
place on most Judaica library shelves, its 
value is primarily pictorial. Textually, most 
of the information is cursory at best, and can 
be found in many other sources. 
Feldman (continued from p. 73) 
capital city to Moses out of her love for him; 
how Cleopatra attempted to seduce the in-
famous Herod; how a certain Mary 
devoured her own child during the siege of 
Jerusalem by the Romans; and, of course, 
how 960 religious fanatics committed 
mutual suicide rather than surrender to the 
Romans at Masada, the original Jonestown. 
Moreover, Josephus is by far our most im-
portant source for our knowledge of that 
strange, monastic-like sect, so reminiscent 
of the later Christians, known as the Es-
senes, who refused to marry to protect 
themselves against women's wantonness, 
as Josephus puts it, being persuaded that 
no woman ever keeps her pledge to one 
man. He is, in short, one of the most unlov-
able of men, except that at least three 
women did marry him. 
I shall close with the anecdote which I cite 
in my introduction from Cicero (Pro Archia 
10.25), about the worthless poet who had 
composed an epigram about the Roman 
dictator Sulla, and who was rewarded by 
him with a gift of property from proscribed 
.. persons, on the condition that he should not 
Zubatsky, David; Berent, Irwin. Jew- write anything thereafter. On the basis of my 
ish Genealogy: A Sourcebook of critical evaluation of the scholarship in the 
Family Histories and Genealogies. field, perhaps I shall be forgiven for express-
New York: Garland, 1984. ing the hope-or prayer-that one of the 
The authors attempt to provide a com pre- wealthier and more merciful foundations will 
hensive bibliography of "published and un- establish a fund to give grants on similar 
published Jewish genealogies, family his- conditions, or, at the very least, on the con-
tories and individual family names:• Similar dition that scholars will read what has been 
in format to Dan Rotten berg's Finding Our written in their field before they embark with 
Fathers (New York: Random, 1977), this pen in hand. 
book has been researched more extensively 
and refers readers to archives as well as ar-
ticles and monographs. 
The body of the work is arranged alphabet-
ically by family name. Entries in the bibli-
ography are cross-referenced. Annotations 
and/or biographical descriptions are 
provided to aid the user in identifying the 
cited family. Locations of cited materials are 
given, except for journal articles. Coverage 
is world-wide. The work is enhanced by the 
authors' use of the genealogical entries in 
the ·~udaica Americana'' section of the jour-
nal American Jewish History, with citations 
of family histories and their location in the 
American Jewish Historical Society. 
Only a limited number of foreign and 
domestic repositories were surveyed, and 
the authors do not provide a clear statement 
of scope, leaving doubt as to the compre-
hensiveness of the work. Inconsistent trans-
literations are an additional weakness of the 
book. 
Nevertheless, until something better re-
places it, this will prove a standard biblio-
graphic tool for the genealogic researcher. 
Reference Books in Jewish Studies 
from Garland 
* Jewish Genealogy: a Sourcebook of Fam-
ily Histories and Genealogies, by Davis S. 
Zubatsky and Irwin M. Berent. 452 pp. $33. 
* Jewish Mysticism: An Annotated Bibliog-
raphy, by Sheila A. Spector. 426 pp. $50. 
* Josephus: a Supplementary Bibliography, 
by Louis H. Feldman. 712 pp. $90. 
Watch for These: 
* Encyclopedia of Jewish American History 
and Culture, edited by Sanford Pinsker 
and Jack Fischel. 
* Bibliography of Antisemitism, 1984-85, 
edited by Sue Fox, for the Vidal Sassoon 
International Center for the Study of An-
tisemitism. 
Garland Publishing Inc. 
136 Madison Avenue 
New York, N.Y. 10016 
76 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No_. 1-2 Spring 1985 


AJL Judaica Reference Book Award

Cutter, Charles

Oppenheim, Micha F.

Recommended Judaica Reference Works, 1984-1985

Chaikin, Miriam

Miriam Chaikin: Body-of-Work Award Winner

Shachter Weiss, Jaqueline

Judging by the number of children eagerly 
leafing through attractive juvenile books for 
sale-from Beersheba in the south to Kiryat 
Shmonah in the north-one may conclude 
that Israel truly is the "Land of the Book." 
This is further underscored in the enthusias-
tic reception for new and old titles alike in 
the children's section of libraries. A good ex-
ample of active involvement with books is 
seen in the Tel Aviv public library's juvenile 
wing, Bet Ariela (Ariela's House), named for 
a patron's deceased daughter. Bet Ariela dis-
plays book illustrations drawn by boys and 
girls and puppets of story characters 
created by them for Israeli television con-
tests. 
Through media exposure, awards, and 
other forms of recognition, Israel en-
courages its capable authors. To motivate 
more reading by young people, the govern-
ment pays for leading children's writers to 
tour the land, going to schools, libraries, 
recreation or cultural centers-even to re-
mote meeting halls, as on a kibbutz or in 
a border settlement. The four Israeli chil-
dren's authors interviewed for this article are 
so prominent that they have all participated 
in such tours and have drawn inspiration 
from them. 
Uriel Ofek 
The first interview is a fireside chat in Her-
zlia, a Tel Aviv suburb,. in Uriel Ofek's com-
fortable home. Uriel Ofek, a long-term edi-
tor for Masada, a juvenile book publisher, 
was the first Israeli to get his doctorate in 
children's literature after being a scholarship 
student in Toronto, Canada. In 1976, he won 
international acclaim for his books, plays, 
literary encyclopedia, translation of classics, 
and anthologies-all for young people-by 
receiving the Hans Christian Andersen Cer-
tificate of Honor of the International-Board 
on Books for Young People. In 1978, the U.S.-
based Association for Library Service to 
Children also recognized him in Boston as 
its May Hill Arbuthnot lecturer. 
During Israel's 1948 War of Independence, 
Uriel Ofek was a Palmah soldier imprisoned 
Leading Israeli Children's Authors 
Jaqueline Shachter Weiss 
Norristown, Pennsylvania 
by Arabs. He learned to understand Arab 
soldiers, and projects some of this under-
standing in Smoke over Golan, a Novel of 
the 1973 Yom Kippur War in Israel, published 
in English by Harper and Row. This is an 
account narrated by ten-year-old Eitan Avivi 
about life in the Golan Heights on his fa-
mily's isolated farm and on the nearby war 
front with Syria. He attends "the world's ti-
niest school" with a female soldier as his 
tutor. Survival is the book's primary theme, 
as the story tells how Eitan manages alone 
on the farm during the war. Eitan's Syrian 
house guest, Saleem, stays until the boy's 
family returns, so peace and friendship are 
important in this war story. 
Devorah Omer 
Living not far from Ofek is author Devorah 
Omer, a third-generation Israeli whose hus-
band manages Habimah, the renowned He-
brew theater. Her best-known titles, mainly 
intended for adolescents who are good 
readers, include many award winners. As 
an example, she won the Yatziv Prize for The 
Diary of Tamar (in Hebrew), which deals with 
pupils she encountered in her nine years 
of teaching. 
Autobiographical aspects also figure in The 
Border in the House (in Hebrew), which re-
ceived third place in 1968 for the Twentieth 
Anniversary Prize given to mark two de-
cades since Israel's establishment. Born on 
a kibbutz near an Arab settlement, the au-
thor laments that she was not taught Arabic. 
Omer's most factual account of her child-
hood is Direct Hit (in Hebrew), an adult book 
which reports that she was eleven years old 
when her mother was accidentally killed by 
British soldiers in training. The British told 
Omer that her mother had committed sui-
cide, but through a private detective, the au-
thor learned who had actually shot her. 
Omer won the Lamdan Prize for The 
Gideonites: the Story of the Nili Spies in the 
Middle East, and she later received the 
Haifa Prize for her stage adaptation. The 
book, published in English by Funk and 
Wagnalls, is a biography of Sarah Aaron-
son, whose family lived in Palestine in 1905. 
She joined the Nili underground to over-
throw cruel Turkish rulers and help the Brit-
·ish, then based in nearby Egypt. She took 
her own life in 1917 after the Turks had tor-
tured her, not long after the disappearance 
of another martyr, Absalom Feinberg, whom 
she loved. 
Omer often writes tragedies about coura-
geous Israeli lovers, for heroism is revered 
in a land on constant alert. Omer's biogra-
phy, Love till Death (in Hebrew) is about Ze-
hara Leviatov, Israel's first aviatrix, killed in 
1948 at the age of twenty-one. Her 
boyfriend, Shmuel Kaufman, son of a fa-
mous professor, died two years earlier in 
military training. This book won the 1981 
Zeev Prize from the Ministry of Culture and 
Education, Israel's most pre~tigious chil-
dren's literature prize. 
Before the Ze'ev, Omer won the Prime 
Minister's Prize of 100,000 pounds (about 
$25,000) for her body of work, including 
such teenage biographies as Rebirth, is-
sued in English by the Jewish Publication 
Society. Also_ recipient of the London Prize, 
Rebirth is about Eliezer Ben-Yehudah, who 
revived the use of the Hebrew language in 
Israel. 
Galila Ron Feder 
Galila Ron Feder, a thirty-five-year-old bank 
manager's daughter, is as popular as 
Devorah Omer with Israeli young people. 
She has forty-four books to her credit (all 
in Hebrew to date). She writes quickly in the 
first person, peppering dialog with slang. 
For seven years, Feder and her husband, 
a policeman, cared for ten foster children, 
mainly Moroccan Jews-whom she calls 
"the second Israel:' Her foster children are 
models for her characters, though she no 
longer is a foster parent and has two young 
children of her own. She tells the inter-
viewer, "Other children's authors in my coun-
try are concerned with the first Israel. I'm 
the only one writing from the point of view 
of the second Israel:' 
Feder's narrator, in her initial series of nine 
books, is Zion Cohen, a Moroccan boy 
Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No. 1-2 Spring 1985 31 
Children's Book Display at the Jerusalem Book Fair. 
whose father is in jail and whose mother is 
a prostitute. Zion lives in the Bet Shean 
community with his grandmother until, at 
age eleven, a social worker places him in 
Haifa with the Sharonis who have a natural 
son named Nir. When Mrs. Sharoni has a 
32 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No. i-2 Spring 1985 
second son, she sends Zion to a kibbutz. 
He runs away, returns to his grandmother, 
and begins to associate with criminals. Af-
ter social workers place him in a home with 
nine other foster children in Jerusalem, he 
shows he can be a good student. By the 
ninth book, Zion is seventeen, has girl-
friends, and is about to enter the Israeli 
army. 
In sequels, Feder switches from Zion's view-
point to that of Nir, beginning with A Brother 
and a Half, a Diary of Nir Sharoni. (The title 
refers to Nir's natural brother and to Zion, 
his "half brother:') A pianist, Nir does not re-
late to Zion, who would rather play football 
than go to concerts. At times, Nir is even 
jealous of Zion's athletic prowess. 
Most of Fader's books are parts of series. 
One of her series consists of ten books,_ 
each an account by a different child par-
ticipating in the underground seeking inde-
pendence from Britain. An easy-to-read se-
ries is about the adventures of Fader's 
seven-year-old daughter and her friends, 
featuring a redheaded would-be detective 
named Gingi. 
Fader's most acclaimed book not in a se-
ries is the junior novel, Masada. (She hopes 
it will soon be published in English.) Two 
years after the destruction of the Second 
Temple in Jerusalem, Hebrew zealots gar-
risoned themselves in the Masada fortress 
built by King Herod. It took the Romans two 
years to conquer them. The author im-
agines that, in the year 72, three Hebrew 
children and two women escaped from 
Masada. The story is narrated by one of the 
children who eluded the Romans before his 
fellow zealots committed suicide. Knowing 
that the leaders had suggested suicide as 
the only way to avoid Roman slavery, the 
child explains why the courageous zealots 
took their own lives. 
Uri Orlev 
Writer Uri Orlev is a resident of Jerusalem, 
and, like Uriel Ofek, a recipient of the Hans 
Christian Andersen Certificate of Honor 
from the International Board on Books for 
Young People. He wrote his first book, The 
Beast of Darkness (in Hebrew) for Israeli ra-
dio stations. The narrator, a boy afraid of the 
dark, talks with a make-believe "Beast of 
Darkness:' The Beast takes messages from 
the lad to his father, who was killed in the 
Yorn Kippur War. Though the boy imagines 
replies from his father, he gets no clear an-
swer to the question: Should his mother 
marry one of his father's kind army buddies? 
When the man sits in his father's chair, the 
boy cries. Orlev finds most readers do not 
want remarriage, but orphans and teachers 
disagree. This is a timely book for a war-
scarred land. 
Uri Orlev's own war scars are revealed in 
his books. He is a Warsaw Ghetto Holocaust 
survivor whose father, a physician, raised 
him and his brother among Poles. His 
largely autobiographical young-adult book, 
The Lead Soldiers, is published in English 
by Taplinger. As the story begins, eight-year-
old Yurik (Uri's fictional name) and his 
brother, six-year-old Kazik, are not even 
aware they are Jewish, having attended 
Catholic schools until the German prohibi-
tion. Their father is recruited into the Pol-
ish army and their mother eventually dies, 
so the boys are raised by their father's sis-
ter. The boys pray, "Hail, Mary" as storm-
troopers approach. Though the aunt pur-
chases Palestinian passports for the 
brothers, stormtroopers send them to the 
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. For two 
years, the boys suffer acute hunger, getting 
relief in the camp by playing with lead sol-
diers. Yurik writes a diary called "Maybe:' 
because he tells Kazik "maybe'' they will sur-
vive. In 1945, fourteen-year-old Yurik and 
twelve-year-old Kazik are saved, sent from 
Belgium with Youth Aliyah to a Palestinian 
kibbutz. The aunt and uncle resettle in 
South Africa. 
Orlev's The Island on Bird Street is another 
Holocaust book, published in English by 
Houghton Mifflin. This survival story is 
about a boy, Alex, aged eleven and a half, 
whose father asks him to wait in a bombed-
out Bird Street building on the edge of the 
ghetto. He stays there during the harsh win-
ter of 1943-44 with a white mouse as his 
only friend. The boy scavenges for his 
needs in the abandoned ghetto and spends 
long hours observing Polish life across the 
street. 
The Island on Bird Street is receiving wide 
recognition. It is the winner of the Associa-
tion of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor 
Award for the best children's book of 1984 
and of the 1985 Mildred L. Batchelder Award 
of the American Library Association for the 
best children's book published in a foreign 
language and republished in the U.S. in En-
glish. 
A Holocaust theme of rejection enters into 
Orlev's rhyming picture storybook, Granny 
Knits (in Hebrew). The verses describe a 
lonely grandmother who knits a home and 
two grandchildren. When she tries to en-
roll the children in school, teachers will not 
accept wool beings. Rejected, the grand-
mother unravels everything, takes knitting 
needles in hand, and moves elsewhere to 
create grandchildren anew in a more ac-
cepting environment. 
Holocaust memories unite author Uri Orlev 
and his brother, now a New York business-
man. Distance separates them, however, for 
Uri Orlev, married to a dance therapist, is 
firmly planted in Israel. 
Summary and Conclusion 
Traces of Orlev's background and that of 
three other leading Israeli creators of chil-
dren's books are apparent in their original 
stories. Three interviewees were born in Is-
rael, though in different settings: Uriel Ofek 
in a village near Tel Aviv, Galila Ron Feder 
in middle-class Haifa, and Devorah Omer 
in a kibbutz near the Jordan River. Uri Orlev, 
a Polish immigrant, records the Holocaust: 
Galila Ron Feder often writes from the 
Moroccan Jewish viewpoint; and both Uriel 
Ofek and Devorah Omer promote friendship 
between Arabs and Jews. (As yet, there is 
no prominent Arab children's author in 
l~rael.) 
It is unfortunate that not all of these mar-
velous books which reflect contemporary Is-
raeli life are available in English. It is im-
portant to raise a generation of American 
Jews who will be sympathetic to Israel and 
will actively support that country in its strug-
gle to survive. There is no better way to en-
courage this attitude than through the read-
ing of translated Israeli children's literature. 
By identifying with the characters that these 
prize-winning authors have created, young 
people in America can better appreciate Is-
rael is and understand their problems. 
Bibliography of Works 
Translated into English 
Ofek, Uriel. Smoke over Golan, a Novel of the 1973 
Yom Kippur War in Israel. Translation of Ashan 
Kisa et ha-Golan, by Israel I. Taslitt. New York: 
Harper and Row, 1979. 
Omer, Devorah. The Gideonites, the Story of the 
Nili Spies in the Middle East. Translation of Ha-
Gideonim, by Ruth Reznik. New York: Funk and 
Wagnalls, 1968. 
Omer, Devorah. Rebirth. Translation of Tehiyah, 
by Ruth Rasnic. Philadelphia: Jewish Publica-
tion Society, 1972. 
Orlev, Uri. The Island on Bird Street. Translation 
of ha-I bi-Rehov ha-tsiporim, by Hillel Halkin. 
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984. 
Orlev, Uri. The Lead Soldiers. Translation of 
Haya/e-oferet, by Hillel Halkin. New York: 
Taplinger, 1979. 
Dr. Jaqueline Shachter Weiss was an Associ-
ate Professor, specializing in children's liter-
ature, before her early retirement from Tem-
ple University. Her interviews with Israeli 
authors are similar to the videotaped ones 
she conducts in the U.S. She is a moderator 
of the ongoing "Profiles in Literature" series 
which features fifty-eight outstanding crea-
tors of books, mainly for young people. The 
series is enjoyed internationally. She is the 
author of Prizewinning Books for Children 
(D.C. Heath, Lexington Books, 1983). 
Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2, No. 1 :-2 Spring l985 33 


Leading Israeli Children's Authors

Association of Jewish Libraries

Vol. 2:1–2 Cover

Orlev, Uri

No matter what was going on in the rest of 
her life, Beth told me, Shabbat was a day 
to relax and feel peaceful with herself. We 
talked about what Shabbat meant to her. I 
r_emember feeling deeply surprised, re-
lieved, and happy that I'd found this peace-
ful retreat in the middle of Manhattan. Here, 
every week, Janet and Beth reaffirmed for 
themselves what was important. I thought 
perhaps this is why this apartment feels like 
a home. 
Thinking about Janet and Beth and that first 
year in New York brought up more memo-
ries. I remembered one night when I couldn't 
sleep. I remembered getting out of bed and 
taking out my journal. I expected to write 
regretfully about friends I'd left in Califor-
nia, or of my worries about finding work. In-
stead, I found myself making a list similar 
to the list Mrs. Moskowitz makes when she 
is _first left alone in her new apartment. "I 
miss my blue chair;' I wrote, "I miss my sofa;' 
and so on. When I was done, I felt comfort-
ed, and could fall asleep. 
. I also remembered my frequent trips back 
to California. I remembered returning to 
New York each time with a suitcase full of 
favorite things from home. Just as Mrs. 
Moskowitz begins to feel happy when she 
unpacks her candlesticks, as I unpacked 
each item, I felt just a little bit more at home. 
The few words I'd typed out had brought up 
many feelings and memories, but they did 
not make up a picturebook. I was stuck. I 
talked to my agent. We decided that I was 
probably not the right person to write this 
book. I put the project aside. 
Around this time another friend of mine 
N~ncy, was getting married. I bought he~ 
a little handmade pillow as a wedding pres-
ent. It_ ~as _very pretty. Before wrapping it, 
and g1vmg 1t up to Nancy to put.on her sofa 
I decided to test it out on my sofa. It looked 
lovely sitting there. But, my sofa didn't mea-
sure up to the pillow. My sofa suddenly 
looked very shabby. And, somehow now 
the picture above my sofa didn't look right 
either. My rug looked worn, and the pottery 
on the coffee table didn't look right either. 
I felt very agitated. I rearranged the pottery. 
I adjusted the picture. I swept the rug and 
cleaned the living room. When I was done, 
I felt centered and calm. And, I had a struc-
ture for my Sabbath story. 
I wrote up a story proposal and sent it 
to David at JPS. He liked the proposal, 
and, with his help, I began writing Mrs. 
Moskowitz. 
That's the story behind my story. Mrs. 
Moskowitz is a book about some simple 
(continued in column 3) 
Uri Orlev: 
Children's Book Award Winner 
Introduction by 
Judy Greenblatt 
This year, among the candidates for the Chil-
dren's Book Award, was one whose author 
clearly shared our goals. Immediately after 
World War II, there was a great silence on 
the part of survivors as they attempted to 
come to terms with what they had experi-
enced. After a period of many years, they 
slowly began to find their tongues. Uri Orlev 
is one who has found an eloquent and 
powerful voice indeed. It was a Jong time be-
fore he could give expression to his ex-
periences. 
Uri Orlev was born in Warsaw in 1931. His 
father was captured by the Russians at the 
start of the war, and Uri spent the years 
1939-1941 hiding in the Warsaw ghetto, to-
gether with his mother and younger brother. 
His mother was killed, and he and his brother 
were sent to Bergen-Belson. 
The Island on Bird Street, winner of AJL:s 
Sydney Taylor Best Book Award for 1984 is 
the story of Alex, a boy left alone in a Polish 
ghetto, based on Mr. Or/ev's childhood ex-
perien~es. The horrors of war are clear, yet 
the pomt of view maintained is optimistic. 
Alex, age 11, survives the winter in a ruined 
house in the ghetto. Not blind hope, but faith 
based on the words of his parents and of his 
f~ther's friend, Boruch, guide him through 
his darkest days. The Island on Bird Street 
was published in Hebrew in 1981, and won 
the Mordechai Bernstein Award for Children's 
Literature, given by Haifa University. 
Mr. Orlev immigrated to Israel after the war. 
and at first worked on a kibbutz in the /owe~ 
Galilee. He is the author of an adult novel 
The Lead Soldiers, but for the past five year~ 
has concentrated on writing for children. 
Mr. Orlev lives with his wife and three chil-
dren in Jerusalem, so you will understand 
that he could not be with us tonight. He has, 
however, sent us a letter. 
Remarks by Uri Orlev 
I wish to express my deep gratitude to your 
Association for presenting The Island on 
Bird Street with your Best Book Award. 
I feel privileged to have been able in this 
book to share some of my experiences in 
the Holocaust with others. 
! fe_el privileged to have been able to speak 
m 1t for all those who perished. 
But perhaps, above all, I feel privileged to 
have demonstrated in it the total failure of· 
(continued in column 3) 
28 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No. t-2 Spring 1985 
Miriam Chaikin: 
Body-of-Work Award Winner 
Introduction by 
Judy Greenblatt 
The 1984 recipient of the Sydney Taylor 
Body-of-Work Award is Miriam Chaikin. Ms. 
Chaikin has won a place of deep affection 
and respect in all our hearts and minds as 
well as in those of our children. When' the 
books started to arrive at our door in great 
numbers last fall, my daughter Miriam -who 
was ~hen te~ - could be counted on to ap-
pear ImmedIately after the mailman, asking 
longingly if another Molly book had arrived. 
Mir~am Chaikin was born in Jerusalem, grew 
up m Brooklyn - home of the Molly books -
and now lives in Manhattan. She was 
br~ught up i~ a close-knit Orthodox family. 
This upbrmgmg has been a major influence 
on her writing. That she feels holidays renew 
family ties and spirit, and link us with a 
shared past, is clearly evident in her work. 
Earlier in her career, Ms. Chaikin worked for 
two U.S. Senators. She entered publishing 
via the subsidiary rights area, and was then 
a book editor and later editorial director for 
a major publishing house. Now a writer and 
a free-lance editorial consultant, Ms. Chai-
kin has authored the text of several picture 
books and has poems in various anthol-
ogies. 
'!Aolly, h_eroine of the series about a girl grow-
mg up m an Orthodox family in Brooklyn in 
the 1940s, initially appeared in I Should 
Worry, I Should Care, Miriam Chaikin's first 
novel. But the four Molly books have not 
(continued on next page) 
Amy Schwartz (continued from column 1) 
feelings, but, to me, important ones. I'm 
happy that what has touched me has 
touched others also. 
I'm grateful to the Jewish Publication Soci-
ety for publishing my story. I'd like to thank 
my editor David Adler for his editorial help 
his patience, and encouragement. ' 
Thank you for inviting me here and thank 
you for this award. 
Uri Orlev: (continued from column 2) 
the Nazis to destroy the human spirit in even 
a little boy. 
I am sorry to have been unable to attend 
this festive occasion and wish to thank you 
once more for the prize you have honored 
me with. 


Uri Orlev: Children's Book Award Winner

Posner, Marcia W.

Towards Improved Subject Analysis on the Holocaust in the Synagogue and School Library

Adler, Elhanan

The Library Science Automation Scene in Israel-1985

Greenblatt, Judy

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE 
Association of Jewish Libraries Book Awards for 
Children's Literature* 
AJL members, honored guests and friends, 
I would like to start tonight by welcoming 
our SSC (School, Synagogue, Center) 
award-winning authors, Miriam Chaikin, 
Amy Schwartz, and Uri Orlev- represented 
by Mary Ignasiak. 
Next, I would like to thank the members of 
my very hard-working committee: Leni Al-
baugh, Merrily Hart, Anne Kirschenbaum, 
Edie Salzman, and Frances Wolf. It has 
been a great pleasure and honor to work 
with these fine people as we read our books 
and each other's reviews, and consulted to 
reach our decisions. 
Our first job is finding the books to consider. 
Every time I see a book now, I find myself 
checking the date of publication and con-
sulting my list to make sure that, if appro-
priate, it has not been omitted. Should you 
happen on a good children's book whose 
Jewish content is not revealed by either ti-
tle or author, or whose publisher is little-
known, please notify me, so that we may 
consider it in future competitions. It's very 
exciting to work on the AJL Book Award 
Committee. The awards are so important 
because of their underlying purpose: to en-
courage the writing and publication of ex-
cellent books that will help Jewish children 
understand Judaism and enrich their knowl-
edge of and pride in their heritage. Impor-
tant, too, is increasing.knowledge of Juda-
ism in the non-Jewish community, changing 
perceptions and raising the level of infor-
mation. Our heritage is rich and complex; 
our values the bedrock of Western civiliza-
tion; our hope, that we can encourage 
others to share our commitment. 
* Remarks made at the Banquet of the 20th 
Annual Convention of the Association of Jew-
ish Libraries held in Cleveland, Ohio, June 
25, 1985. 
Judy Greenblatt 
Temple B'nai Israel Library 
Toledo, Ohio 
Jewish Children's Books 
Too Good To Miss: 
Selected List of 1984 Contenders 
ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES 
BOOK AWARD COMMITTEE 
I. For the Youngest-Early Elementary Grades 
Adler, David. A Picture Book of Israel. Holiday 
House. Many black and white pictures, brief 
text. 
Cohen, Barbara. Here Come the Purim Players. 
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. The Purim players of 
old Prague and their audience combine to tell 
the story of Purim. Lush Brodsky illustrations. 
Greene, Jacqueline Oembar. Butchers and 
Bakers, Rabbis and Kings. Kar-Ben. The Jews 
of Tudela, Spain come up with a way to insure 
that the new king will continue to grant them 
the rights they are used to. Hirsh illustrations 
provide much detail. 
Hirsh, Marilyn. I Love Hanukkah. Holiday House. 
A grandpa tells the story of Hanukkah to his 
small grandson. 
Hutton, Warwick. Jonah and the Great Fish. 
Atheneum. Outstanding watercolor illustra-
tions, minimal text in this retelling. 
*Schwartz, Amy. Mrs. Moskowitz and the Sab-
bath Candlesticks. JPS. A pair of Sabbath 
candlesticks leads to a dramatic change in Mrs. 
Moskowitz's outlook on life. 
Sherman, Eileen. The Odd Potato, A Chanukkah 
Story. Kar-Ben. When Rachel's father refuses 
to help her find the family menorah, Rachel 
uses her creativity to find other ways to cele-
brate Hanukkah. 
Zusman, Evelyn. The Passover Parrot. Kar-Ben. 
A very funny Passover story about a parrot who 
learns the Mah Nishtanah. 
II. For Middle Graders - Grades 3-6 
Adler, David. Our Golda: The Story of Golda Meir. 
Viking. Emphasis is on Golda's childhood. At-
tractively illustrated with line drawings. 
Burstein, Chana. Joseph and Anna's Time Cap-
sule: A Legacy from Old Jewish Prague. Sum-
mit. The Precious Legacy exhibit is the take-
off point for this discussion of 19th-century 
Prague. 
26 Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No. 1-2 Spring 1985 
*Chaikin, Miriam. Lower, Higher, You're a Liar! 
Harper & Row. In the fourth book of the Molly 
series, the heroine finds out that bullies have 
problems too. 
*Chaikin, Miriam. Shake a Palm Branch: The 
Story and Meaning of Sukkot. Clarion. The third 
in Chaikin's holiday series is comprehensive 
and attractive. 
Drucker, Malka. Celebrating Life: Jewish Rites of 
Passage. Holiday House. Drucker turns her at-
tention to life cycle events. There's much in-
formation, presented in a lucid, easy-to-read 
style. 
Levoy, Myron. The Hanukkah of Great-Uncle Otto. 
Jewish Publication Society (JP~). The relati?~-
ship between Joshua and his old, arthritic 
great-uncle Otto is at the heart of this story, 
which is also a Hanukkah story. 
Metter, Bert. Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah: How Jew-
ish Boys and Girls Come of Age. Clarion. Ex-
plains the history, ceremony and significance 
of bar and bat mitzvah. 
*Orlev, Uri. The Island on Bird Street. Houghton 
Mifflin. Eleven-year-old Alex survives a winter 
alone in an abandoned building in the ghetto, 
kept alive by his wits and his strong faith. 
Provost, Gary and Levine-Freidus, Gail. Good if 
it Goes. Bradbury. David's troubles come to a 
head when his parents ask him to change his 
bar mitzvah date because of his grandfather's 
illness. 
(continued on nextpage) 
The Sydney Taylor Awards for chil· 
dren's literature were established in 
1984 through an endowment fund to 
the Association of Jewish Libraries. 
This has enabled AJL to make cash 
awards in three categories: Best Pic-
ture Book, Best Children's Book, and 
Body-of-Work. The award-winning 
books will bear a seal embossed with 
the names of the Association and 
Sydney Taylor. The awards have been 
established to perpetuate the mem-
ory of Sydney Taylor by encouraging 
the publication of quality literature for 
Jewish children. 
AJL Book Award Acceptance Speeches 
Amy Schwartz: 
Picture Book Award Winner 
Introduction by 
Judy Greenblatt 
When I tallied the vote for the Picture Book 
Award, of the five books that formed a group 
at the top, three were published by Kar-Ben 
Copies, a small, relatively new publishing 
house. I believe that Judyth Groner and 
Madeline Wik/er deserve special commen-
dation for producing books of consistently 
high quality. I predict a Sydney Taylor Award 
for Best Picture Book will go to a book pub-
lished by Kar-Ben Copies very soon. The fifth 
book was published by the Jewish Publica-
tion Society, which also produced our win-
ner. JPS, under the guidance of David Adler, 
Editor of JPS Books for Young People, has 
been doing an outstanding job of publish-
ing excellent books for children. 
Jewish Children's Books (continued) 
Spero, Moshe Halevi. Zedyeh. Simcha. An ex-
cellent book about dealing with death, with a 
very traditional outlook. 
Wolitzer, Hilma. Wish You Were Here. Farrar, 
Straus, Giroux. Bernie Segal, desperately 
lonely after the death of his father, has a se-
cret plan to visit his grandfather in Florida. 
Ill. For Young Adults- Grades 7-10 
Bober, Natalie S. Breaking Tradition: The Story of 
Louise Neve/son. Atheneum. The remarkable 
story of one of America's foremost sculptors; 
includes much on the development of Nevel-
son's art. 
Cowan, Ida and Gunter, Irene. A Spy for Freedom: 
The Story of Sarah Aaronsohn. Lodestar. Sarah 
Aaronsohn grew up in Palestine and led a spy 
ring against the Turks during World War I. 
lsaacman, Clara. Clara's Story, as told to Joan 
Adess Grossman. JPS. Another dimension is 
added to our knowledge of the Holocaust as 
we read Clara's story of survival in Antwerp. 
Kresh, Pau I. Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Story of 
a Storyteller. Lodestar. Emphasis on Singer's 
childhood in Poland. 
Singer, Isaac Bashevis. Stories for Children. Far-
rar, Straus, Giroux. Its title notwithstanding, this 
is a wonderful book for teenagers, containing 
many of the elements present in Singer's writ-
ing for adults. 
Tamar, Erika. Good-Bye Glamour Girl. Lippincott. 
Star-struck Liesl, a refugee from Vienna, finds 
out that growing up means not running away. 
* Award winners 
Judy Greenblatt is Librarian of Temple B'nai 
Israel in Toledo, Ohio and Chairman of the 
AJL Book Award Committee for Children's 
Literature. 
Of the five at the top, one book stood way 
above the rest. Each of us found the criteria 
of excellence were best met by Mrs. 
Moskowitz and the Sabbath Candlesticks. 
Excellent writing, charming illustrations, and 
clear and positive Jewish values combine to 
produce a warm and delightful picture of the 
joys of Shabbat and of the value of observ-
ing mitzvot. Mrs. Moskowitz' problem is that 
she must give up the home in which she has 
spent the major portion of her adulthood. It 
is not a problem that is limited to Jewish 
grandmothers. Mrs. Moskowitz therefore has 
wide appeal beyond the Jewish community, 
which bespeaks the universality of the 
themes touched on. Thus many people out-
side the Jewish community will learn about 
our Shabbat and about Jewish values. 
The author of Mrs. Moskowitz and the Sab-
bath Candlesticks, Amy Schwartz, is a 
delightful Californian, who has taught art in 
her native state. Her home is now New York, 
where she has worked in the production 
department of a major publishing house. Ms. 
Schwartz has illustrated books, including 
one published this year written by Amy Hest, 
called The Crack of Dawn Walkers. She has 
also done illustrations for magazines and 
greeting cards. Her first book, Bea and Mrs. 
Jones, was widely acclaimed. It was a se-
lection of public TV's Reading Rainbow, and 
was listed in the New York Times and in 
School Library Journal as one of the best 
picture books of the year. Ms. Schwartz's 
next book will be titled Begin at the Be-
ginning. 
Mrs. Moskowitz was the first of Amy 
Schwartz's works to be published by the 
Jewish Publication Society; the next, a 
Chelm tale, is due out in the fall. I hope these 
two will be the first of many. It gives me great 
pleasure to present to you the winner of AJL:s 
Sydney Taylor Award for Best Picture Book, 
Amy Schwartz. 
Remarks by Amy Schwartz 
I'd like to thank the Association of Jewish 
Libraries for giving me this award. It is quite 
an honor. 
In Mrs. Moskowitz and the Sabbath Can-
dlesticks, I wanted to express some of my 
feelings about the importance of a sense 
of home, and the idea that the holiday of 
Shabbat celebrates these feelings. 
The book is about an older woman who 
moves into a new apartment. She desper-
ately misses her old home. Mrs. Moskowitz 
feels so unhappy in her new apartment that 
she cannot even bring herself to unpack. 
Then her son comes by with a box that was 
overlooked in the move. The box contains 
a pair of tarnished Sabbath candlesticks. 
These candlesticks bring up strong feelings 
and memories for Mrs. Moskowitz. They 
serve as catalysts that lead her into unpack-
ing, cleaning, and, most important, feeling 
again. Mrs. Moskowitz sets up her apart-
ment and prepares for Shabbat. She makes 
her apartment into a home. 
The book began with a meeting with the ju-
venile book editor at the Jewish Publication 
Society, David Adler. My agent had shown 
David my artwork. David phoned me and 
invited me to come in and talk. He told me 
that he was interested in doing a picture-
book about the Sabbath. I listened, and 
responded that, Oh yes, I was very in-
terested. I'd have something to show him 
soon. I never tell a potential employer that 
I don't know how to do something. 
It is an understatement to say that I was wor-
ried when I got home. I knew very little about 
Shabbat._ And I'd never written anything 
from someone's suggestion. ~evertheless, 
I bravely put a sheet of paper in my type-
writer. I typed out the word "Shabbat:' Then 
I sat there. Then I typed two names, •~anet;' 
and "Beth:' 
Janet Seckel and Beth Pearson were neigh-
bors of mine when I moved to New York six 
years ago. They lived upstairs from me in 
a huge, impersonal, apartment building on 
the Upper West Side. Janet was working, 
Beth was a student, and they both were ob-
servant Jews. 
I met them during what was a difficult time 
for me. I was new in New York. I had come 
looking for work illustrating children's books. 
Manhattan seemed to me to be a city of 
twenty-one-year-olds working in advertising, 
living in studio apartments, thinking only of 
window offices and how to dress for suc-
cess. I desperately missed California. I 
missed my way of life there. I missed my 
home. 
Then I met Janet and Beth. I loved visiting 
them. Their apartment felt different from any 
other apartment I'd been in in Manhattan. 
Something was usually cooking on the 
stove. We talked about feelings, friends, and 
family. Their apartment felt like a home. 
I clearly remember the first time I visited on 
Shabbat. I remember finding Beth, who was 
in the middle of a difficult college semes-
ter, lying on her sofa, reading a novel. She 
explained to me that she kept the Sabbath. 
Judaica Librarianship Vol. 2 No. 1-2 Spring 1985 27 


Association of Jewish Libraries Book Awards for Children's Literature

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