HaSifriyah/Library

HaSifriyah
The Jewish Community Library

HaSifriyah is a warm and inviting place for members to meet and relax. Our collection of over three thousand titles contains books, music and videos covering all aspects of Jewish thought – religion, philosophy, fiction, biography, history and more – for children, teens and adults. Most materials are available for checkout by Temple members. If HaSifriyah is not staffed during your visit, please sign out your items on the check-out sheet located on the circulation desk.

Please contact Paula Breger at Library@TempleEmanu-El.org with any questions about HaSifriyah or its programs.

Browse or search our catalog,
ask questions, and place holds.

HaSifriyah is a Bookshop.org Affiliate!

HaSifriyah is now an affiliate of Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. HaSifriyah will earn a commission from all sales of books purchased after visiting our storefront—with matching commissions paid to independent bookstores. Check it out for links to author series and reading group titles, books for Chanukah, and more! (Please delete any saved Temple Amazon Associate links; we are no longer affiliated with that program.)

Temple Emanu-El Book Club

The library sponsors our Temple Book Club, which meets several times per year to discuss both fiction and nonfiction titles of Jewish interest. Please join us whether or not you have had a chance to read the book—or whether or not you like it

We'll meet next on Monday, April 12, at 7:00 pm to discuss Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor. Published in 1938 under the name Kressmann Taylor, this short epistolary novel centers on two business partners, one in Germany and the other in San Francisco, in the years immediately prior to World War II. Please register in advance.

AJL Discussion of Apeirogon by Colum Mccann
Tuesday, April 20, at 12:30 pm
Join librarian Paula Breger as she moderates a discussion of Apeirogon by Colum McCann for the Association of Jewish Libraries. The event is free and open to the public. Register at http://bit.ly/AJLApeirogon.

Previous book group discussions:

January/February 2021
December 2020
January 2020
November 2019
October 2019
March 2019
January 2019
December 2018
September 2018
April 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
April 2017
February 2017
December 2016
October 2016

What We Will Become, by Mimi Lemay
A Bend in the Stars, by Rachel Barenbaum
Waking Lions, by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
The Women in the Castle, by Jessica Shattuck
Judas, by Amos Oz.
Those Who Save Us, by Jenna Blum
Dinner at the Center of the Earth, by Nathan Englander
Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, by Yossi Klein Halevi
he Weight of Ink, by Rachel Kadish
Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan, by Ruth Gilligan
"Hayuta's Engagement Party," by Savyon Liebrecht, and "The Name," by Aharon Megged
Among the Reeds, by Dr. Tammy Bottner
Homesick, by Eshkol Nevo
Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels
The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson
Saving Sophie, by Ronald Balson
The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant
A Guide for the Perplexed, by Dara Horn

Online Literary Resources

Many of us have kept up with the literary and publishing world through virtual events while sheltering in place. Below is a list of upcoming Jewish-themed online events that may be of interest to the Temple community (all times are Eastern).

Many events require advance registration, so be sure to check!

Upcoming Highlights
Click the links below to register.
See also the list of streaming events here.

Jewish Women's Archive: Quarantine(ish) Book Talks (Thursdays at 8:00 pm)

Judy Battalion, author of The Light of Days (April 8)
Jessica Cohen, translator of And the Bride Closed the Door (April 15)
National Poetry Month with Joy Ladin, Shara McCallum, and Lesléa Newman (April 22)
Brandy Colbert, author of Little & Lion (April 29)

Yiddish Book Center Programs

Magical Thinking: Isaac Bashevis Singer’s novel The Magician of Lublin, with Anita Norich (Tuesday, April 13, 7:00 pm)
Radio Drama: The Dead Man by Sholem Asch, translated by Caraid O’Brien (Sunday, April 25, 7:00 pm)

The Ghetto Girls, with Judy Battalion, author of The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos (Streicker Center, Temple Emanu-El)
Monday, April 5, 6:30 pm

"A Tale of a Niggun" by Elie Wiesel, with Elisha Wiesel and Mark Podwal (Moment)
Tuesday, April 6, 4:30 pm

Shabtai Shavit: Israel's Spymaster (Striecker Center, Temple Emanu-El, NYC)
Monday, April 19, 11:00 am

Letty Cottin Poegrebin on Women's Rights—and Wrongs (Streicker Center, Temple Emanu-El, NYC)
Tuesday, May 4, 7:30 pm

Judaism & Civil Society (Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion)
Program description here; registration here.

Jews of Color (Tuesday, May 11, 6:00 pm)
Intersectional Jewish Identities (Thursday, May 13, 3:00 pm)
Not the Same as White: Latinx Students Talk about Jewish Schooling (Thursday, June 10, 7:00 pm)
Jews, Whiteness, Power, and Privilege (Tuesday, June 22, 1:30 pm)

Note: Some live events posted here are recorded and available after their scheduled time.
Recorded events can be found most often by checking the host organization's website.
See "Ongoing Book Talks and Events" list below.

Ongoing Book Talks & Events

Virtual Exhibit on "The Jewish Home" (University of Pennsylvania)
https://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/online-exhibits/jewish-home

Israel Story podcast
https://israelstory.org

Quarantin(ish) Book Club (Jewish Women's Archive/JewishLIVE)
   https://jwa.org/programs/bookclub/quarantine-book-club  (previously recorded)

Authors at the Table (Jewish Book Council)
   https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/jbc-authors-at-the-table

Jewish Lives podcast
  https://www.jewishlives.org/podcast

YIVO Institute events
https://yivo.org/Calendar

Great Jewish Books Book Club (Yiddish Book Center)
   https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/language-literature-culture/great-jewish-book-club

Virtual Events (Yiddish Book Center)
   https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/visit/calendar-events

JewishLIVE
https://www.jewishlive.org/jewishlive-1

What's Up with G-d? with Sarah Hurwitz
Wednesdays, 8:00 pm
https://www.jewishlive.org/whatsup

Containing Multitudes with Joy Ladin
Tuesdays (see schedule for topics/speakers), 2:00 pm
https://www.jewishlive.org/multitudes

MERCAZ Reads Israel
"online book club featuring contemporary Israeli literature"
  https://www.mercazusa.org/readsisraeljune2020/

Past Events & Miscellany
Love in the Time of Corona: Ayelet Gundar-Goshen on Jewish Mythology and Israeli Literature  (UCLA)
https://www.international.ucla.edu/israel/event/14383?fbclid=IwAR0zLLemVlPmxxWYcK-FA6Ky_XDL2qlgvuvcLf1gD6sy1-MOJbGnCImsDSA

Two-part discussion of Apeirogon, featuring author Colum McCann, Rami Elhanan, and Bassam Aramin (American Friends of the Parents Circle)
Part I (primarily Colum; Q&A with Rami and Bassam)
https://parentscirclefriends.org/apeirogonwebinar-april6/

Part II (Rami & Bassam; Colum reads later in the program)
https://parentscirclefriends.org/apeirogonwebinar/

Antiracism Resources

The killing of George Floyd and the protests it has sparked remind us of the importance of educating ourselves on issues of racism and white privilege in America. Here are several compilations of resources (websites, books, articles, television, film, organizations):

Talking About Race (National Museum of African American History & Culture)
Schomburg Center Black Liberation Reading List (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture)
An Anti-Racism Reading Guide for Bookish Allies (We Are Bookish)
Readings on Racism, White Supremacy, and Police Violence in America (LitHub)
Anti-racism resources
A Fiction Antiracism Reading List (Publishers Weekly)
KidLIt Rally 4 Black Lives: Antiracist Resources for Children, Families, and Educators (The Brown Bookshelf)

As we expand our reading, consider exploring these “20 Books by Black Jewish Authors,” compiled by the online publication Alma.

The Association of Jewish Libraries' Love Your Neighbor Booklist #7: The Black Jewish Experience includes books for young readers. The Sesame Street/CNN Town Hall Coming Together: Standing Up To Racism is available for children and families.

Support black-owned bookstores; Publishers Weekly has assembled a list here.

Grief Resources

HaSifriyah, working with the Chesed Committee, has created a grief resource area for families who have suffered a loss or are caring for a sick loved one. This area contains books, videos, and articles (for both adults and children) that might be useful in such difficult times. The resource area is located above the magazines in the main room of the library. If you need any assistance, or have any suggestions for additional resources, please contact Paula Breger at library@TempleEmanu-El.org.

Recent Acquisitions in HaSifriyah

Nonfiction
The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis, by David E. Fishman
The First Love Story: A Journey Through the Tangled Lives of Adam and Eve, by Bruce Feiler
In Jerusalem: Three Generations of an Israeli Family and a Palestinian Family, by Lis Harris
Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, by Stephen Greenblatt

Fiction
Heretics, by Leonardo Padura
Jewish Stories from the Old World to the New, KCRW FM (CD story collection)
The Women in the Castle, by Jessica Shattuck

Children’s Books
Apple Days: A Rosh Hashanah Story, by Allison Sarnoff Soffer
Sadie, Ori, and Nuggles Go to Camp, by Jamie Korngold
Sara Finds a Mitzva, by Rebeka Simhaee
The Shabbat Box, by Lesley Simpson
A Watermelon in the Sukkah, by Sylvia Rouss and Shannan Rouss

Book Sign Out

If the library desk is not staffed, please check out books by filling out the sheet on the circulation desk. If you are borrowing a title on Shabbat and prefer not to write, please contact the office on Monday or send an email to library@templeemanu-el.org so that we can keep our catalog up to date.

Interested in English translations of the Tanakh, Talmud, and other Jewish writings? Visit the Sefaria library at www.sefaria.org/texts. Sefaria is a nonprofit organization assembling a free library of Jewish texts, in Hebrew and in translation.

Check out www.JewishFiction.net, an online journal which publishes contemporary Jewish fiction either written in, or translated into, English. The current issue contains twenty-four works originally written in Italian, Hungarian, Russian, Spanish, Hebrew, and English, including three stories set during Rosh Hashanah. JewishFiction.net is a great resource for learning about new authors and the variety of Jewish world cultures.