New books January 2017

By Vanessa Freedman, on 13 February 2017

Mor, Menahem. The Second Jewish Revolt : The Bar Kokhba War, 132-136 CE. Leiden : Brill, [2016]
HEBREW A 17 MOR

Jews and Christians in medieval Europe : the historiographical legacy of Bernhard Blumenkranz / edited by Philippe Buc, Martha Keil and John Tolan. Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols, [2016]
HEBREW A 6 BUC

In the Iberian Peninsula and beyond : a history of Jews and Muslims (15th-17th centuries) / edited by José Alberto R. Silva Tavim, Maria Filomena Lopes de Barros and Lúcia Liba Mucznik. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.
HEBREW A 6 TAV

Jabotinsky, Vladimir. Vladimir Jabotinsky’s Story of my life / edited by Brian Horowitz and Leonid Katsis. Detroit : Wayne State University Press, [2016]
HEBREW B 20 JAB

Luzzatto, Sergio. Primo Levi’s resistance : rebels and collaborators in occupied Italy / translated by Frederika Randall. New York : Metropolitan Books, 2016.
HEBREW B 20 LEV:LUZ

Leff, Lisa Moses. The archive thief : the man who salvaged French Jewish history in the wake of the Holocaust. New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2015]
HEBREW B 20 SZA:LEF

Levie Bernfeld, Tirtsah. Dowries and Dotar : an unbroken chain of 400 years. Amsterdam : Menasseh ben Israel Instituut : Joods Historisch Museum, 2015.
HEBREW CC 24 LEV

Stebnicka, Krystyna. Identity of the diaspora : Jews in Asia Minor in the Roman imperial period / English translation by Maria Kantor. Warsaw : University of Warsaw, Faculty of Law and Administration, Chair of Roman Law and the Law of and the Law of Antiquity Wydanie I. 2015.
HEBREW FB 5 STE

Ross, Dennis. Doomed to succeed : the U.S.-Israel relationship from Truman to Obama. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2016]
HEBREW FC 15 ROS

Wilfand, Yael. Poverty, charity and the image of the poor in Rabbinic texts from the land of Israel. Sheffield : Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2014.
HEBREW R 5 WIL

Sacks, Elias. Moses Mendelssohn’s living script : philosophy, practice, history, Judaism. Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2017]
HEBREW RT 210 SAC

Hever, Hannan. Suddenly, the sight of war : violence and nationalism in Hebrew poetry in the 1940s / ranslated by Lisa Katz. Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2016]
HEBREW SE 40 HEV

Ginsburg, Shai. Rhetoric and nation : the formation of Hebrew national culture, 1880-1990. Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, [2014]
HEBREW SE 5 GIN

Perrin, Andrew B.The dynamics of dream-vision revelation in the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls. Gottingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, [2015]
HEBREW W 142 PER

Paul within Judaism : restoring the first-century context to the apostle / Mark D. Nanos and Magnus Zetterholm, editors. Minneapolis : Fortress Press, [2015]
HEBREW W 60 NAN

Berkowitz, Michael. Jews and photography in Britain. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2015.
HEBREW X 10 BER

Kohn, Bernard. Ṿeha-ruaḥ oḳeret… : mikhtevo shel Berish Kohen le-aḥoto Ester, Yanuʼar 1922 = un der ṿinṭ raysṭ… Berish Kohens briṿ tsu zayn shṿesṭer Ester (Yanuar 1922) / targum mi-Yidish, Leʼah Garfinḳel ; arikhah, Yaʻel Zaidman; siyuaʻ be-ʻarikhah, Tehilah Z’okhovitsḳi ; ketivah aḥarit davar, Leʼah Garfinḳel ; iyurim, Ṭovah Kats. Yehud : yotse la-or bide Ibi Mekhmandarov, 774 = 2013.
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Deinard, Ephraim. Tselem ba-hekhal : yesupar le dor le-zikaron ʻolam davar ha-toʻevah ha-noraʼah, ki ḳamu be-Yiśraʼel shene ʻovde ha-baʻal, Dr. Yosef Ḳloizner bi-Yerushala[y]im, ṿe-Dr. Sṭefan Ṿais be-Nuyorḳ … ; ve-nilṿeh alaṿ be-sof ha-sefer, maʼamar gadol be-shem “ha-Meshumadim be-Yiśraʼel”. New Orleans : E. Deinard, [19–]
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L–Ḳ., Y. Der nayer ḳinder lehrer fir di Rusishe shprakhe. Ṿarsha : Druḳ fon Yosef Unṭerhendler, 1885.
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New books December 2016

By Vanessa Freedman, on 19 January 2017

Veltri, Giuseppe. A mirror of rabbinic hermeneutics : studies in religion, magic and language theory in ancient Judaism. Berlin : De Gruyter, [2015]
HEBREW A 6 VEL

A handbook of biblical Hebrew / edited by W. Randall Garr and Steven E. Fassberg. Winona Lake, Indiana : Eisenbrauns, 2016.
HEBREW P 8 GAR

Sekine, Seizo. Philosophical interpretations of the Old Testament / translated by J. Randall Short, in collaboration with Judy Wakabayashi. Berlin : De Gruyter, [2014]
HEBREW QM 9 SEK

Oz, Amos. Israel, Palestine and peace : essays. Orlando : Harcourt, Inc., [1994]
HEBREW SE 179 OZ

Hayes, Christine Elizabeth. What’s divine about divine law? : early perspectives. Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2015]
HEBREW W 25 HAY

Das altjiddische Epos Meloḵîm-Bûḵ / herausgegeben von Dr. L. Fuks. Assen : Van Gorcum & Comp. N.V., 1965.
YIDDISH C 100 MEL:FUK

Markish, Peretz. Pusṭ un pas. Ḳaṭerinoslaṿ : Ṿisnshafṭ, 1919.
YIDDISH C 200 MAR

Markish, Peretz. Shṿeln. Ḳieṿ : Idisher folḳs farlag, 679 [1918 or 1919]
YIDDISH C 200 MAR

Singer, Israel Joshua. Yoshe Ḳalb. Sweden : l’Aleph, [2015]
YIDDISH C 200 SIN

New books November 2016

By Vanessa Freedman, on 15 December 2016

Munk, Salomon. Evreĭskīi͡a drevnosti / perevel D. Smyshli͡aev. [Russia?] : [publisher not identified], [201-?]
HEBREW A 6 MUN

Lochery, Neill. The resistible rise of Benjamin Netanyahu. London : Bloomsbury, 2016.
HEBREW B 20 NET:LOC

Brafman, I͡Akov Aleksandrovich. Evreĭskīi͡a bratstva : mi͡estnyi͡a i vsemīrnyi͡a. Vilʹna : V tipografīi Gubernskago Pravlenīi͡a, 1868.
HEBREW ER 13 BRA

Ezri, Meir. The legacy of Cyrus : my Iranian mission / translated from Hebrew by Philip Simpson. [Israel] : [University of Haifa], [2011].
HEBREW FC 15 EZR

Gravett, Sandra L., Karla G. Bohmbach, F. V. Greifenhagen, and Donald C. Polaski. An introduction to the Hebrew Bible : a thematic approach. Louisville : Westminster John Knox Press, [2008]
HEBREW QM 5 GRA

Paluch, Agata. Megalleh ʻAmuqot : the Enoch-Meṭaṭron tradition in the Kabbalah of Nathan Neṭa Shapira of Kraków (1585-1633). Los Angeles : Cherub Press, 2014.
HEBREW RS 89 SPI:PAL

Thurn, Nike. “Falsche Juden” : performative Identitäten in der deutschsprachigen Literatur von Lessing bis Walser. Göttingen : Wallstein Verlag, [2015]
HEBREW TG 400 THU

Elior, Rachel. Yiśraʼel Baʻal-Shem-Ṭov u-vene doro : Meḳubalim, Shabetaʼim, Ḥasidim u-Mitnagdim. Yerushalayim : Karmel, 774 = 2014.
HEBREW W 250 ELI

Sefer zikaron ḳehilat Ṿilaiḳah : ha-meḥozit, pelekh Ṿilnah / ba-ʻarikhat Ḳalman Farber, Yosef Zeʼevi (Ṿileḳ). [Israel] : Irgun yotsʼe Ṿilaiḳah ṿeha-sevivah, [1972]
STORE 16-1128/135

Pinḳes Gosṭinin : yizker bukh / redaḳṭor, Y.M. Biderman. Nyu-Yorḳ : aroysgegebn fun Gosṭininer yizker-bukh ḳomiṭeṭn, 1960.
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Undzer gezang / [tsuzamengeshṭelṭ durkh A. Ḳolegyus ; muziḳalishe redaḳtsye, Leon Ṿayner]. Ṿarshe : Tsenṭral-ḳomiṭeṭ fun di Yidn in Poyln, Opṭeylung far ḳulṭur un propagande, 1947.
STORE 16-1128/148

Sholem Aleichem. Tévye, o leiteiro / J. Guinsburg, organização, tradução, introdução e notas ; Sergio Kon, desenhos. São Paulo SP Brasil : Editora Perspectiva S.A., 2012.
STORE 16-1128/149

Jahrbuch für jüdische Volkskunde / herausgegeben von Dr. Max Grunwald. Berlin ; Verlag Benjamin Harz, 1923.
STORE 16-1128/151

Baranovits : sefer zikaron / [ʻarakh, A. Sh. Shṭain]. Tel-Aviv : Irgun yotsʼe Baranovits be-Yiśraʼel, 1953.
STORE 16-1128/152

Yuditsḳi, A. Oḳṭiaber-ṭeg : maṭerialn tsu der geshikhṭe fun der Oḳṭiaber-reṿolutsye. Ḳieṿ : Ḳooperaṭiṿer farlag “Ḳulṭur-lige”, 1927.
STORE 16-1128/156

Agursky, Samuel. Der Idisher arbeṭer in der ḳomunisṭisher baṿegung (1917-1921) / forṿorṭ fun S. Dimenshṭayn. Minsḳ : Melukhe-farlag fun Ṿaysrusland, 1925.
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Asch, Sholem. ʻAl pi ha-tehom : roman / tirgem Y.L. Barukh. Tel Aviv : Devir, 697-698 [1937-1938]
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Markish, Peretz. Brider. Ḳieṿ : Ḳooperaṭiṿer farlag “Ḳulṭur-lige”, 1929.
YIDDISH C 200 MAR

Markish, Peretz. Anshl der zalyazniḳ : poeme. Ṿarshe : Liṭerarishe bleṭer, 1935.
YIDDISH C 200 MAR

New Books July-October 2016

By Vanessa Freedman, on 14 November 2016

Multiple identities in Jewish education / Jen Glaser, David Mittelberg & Erik H. Cohen. Tel Aviv : The Kalman Center for Jewish Education, [2013].
HEBREW A 6 GLA

Languages of modern Jewish cultures : comparative perspectives / Joshua L. Miller and Anita Norich, editors. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2016]
HEBREW A 6 MIL

Die Judenfrage der Gegenwart : Dokumentensammlung / herausgegeben unter der Redaktion von Leon Chasanowitsch und Leo Motzkin. Stockholm, Bokförlaget Judäa a.b., 1919.
HEBREW A 89 CHA

Ḳehilot Yiśraʼel she-ḥarvu ba-Shoʼah / ʻorekh, Avraham Ḳlevan. Yerushalayim : Yad ṿa-shem, rashut ha-zikaron la-Shoʼah ṿela-gevurah, 742 = 1982.
HEBREW A 132 KLE

Soyinka, Susan. From East End to Land’s End : the evacuation of Jews’ Free School, London, to Mousehole in Cornwall during World War Two. Derby : Derby Books Publishing Company Limited, 2010.
HEBREW BA 50 SOY

Grabski, August. Centralny Komitet Żydów w Polsce (1944-1950) : historia polityczna. Warszawa : Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma, 2015.
HEBREW EP 45 GRA

Cohen, Hillel. Tarpaṭ : shenat ha-efes ba-sikhsukh ha-Yehudi-ʻArvi. Yerushalayim : Keter, c2013.
HEBREW FC 14 COH

Mahler, Gregory S. Politics and government in Israel : the maturation of a modern state. Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2016]
HEBREW FC 30 MAH

Vinig, Marlyn. ha-Ḳolnoʻa ha-ḥaredi. Tel Aviv : Resling, c2011.
HEBREW FC 50 VIN

Maadia, Meira. Le-hatsliaḥ be-ʻIvrit! = To succeed in Hebrew. Ramat Gan : Meʼirah Maʻadiah, 2009-
HEBREW QUARTOS P 5 MAA

Kalmanofsky, Amy. Dangerous sisters of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis : Fortress Press, [2014]
HEBREW QM 7 KAL

Aejmelaeus, Anneli. On the trail of the Septuagint translators : collected essays. Leuven : Peeters, 2007.
HEBREW QM 11 AEJ

Halperin, Dalia-Ruth. Illuminating in micrography : the Catalan micrography maḥzor-MS Heb 8o 6527 in the National Library of Israel. Leiden : Brill, 2013.
HEBREW RP 23 HAL

Moses ben Shem Tov, de Leon. Sefer Mishkan ha-ʻedut / hehedir ʻal pi kitve yad, heḳdim mevoʼot ṿe-hosif heʻarot Avishai Bar-Asher. Los Ang’eles : Hotsaʼat Keruv, 774 = 2013.
HEBREW RS 35

Shaked, Gershon. Modern Hebrew fiction / translated from the Hebrew by Yael Lotan ; edited and adapted by Emily Miller Budick ; bibliography compiled by Jessica Cohen. New Milford, CT : The Toby Press LLC, 2008.
HEBREW SE 200 SHA

Taub, Yermiyahu Ahron. Prayers of a heretic : poems = Tfiles̀ fun an apiḳoyres. Austin, TX : Plain View Press, [2013]
HEBREW TE 42 TAU

Asimov, Isaac. Puzzles of the Black Widowers. Toronto : Bantam Books, 1991.
HEBREW TE 202 ASI

Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s mysteries. Frogmore, St Albans, Herts : Panther Books Ltd, 1969.
HEBREW TE 202 ASI

Bergman, Andrew. Hollywood and LeVine. New York : Harper & Row, 1983.
HEBREW TE 202 BER

Bergman, Andrew. The big kiss-off of 1944 : a Jack LeVine mystery. London : Arrow Books, 1976.
HEBREW TE 202 BER

Block, Lawrence. The Matt Scudder mysteries. London : Orion, 1997.
HEBREW TE 202 BLO

Block, Lawrence. The devil knows you’re dead. London : Phoenix, 1996.
HEBREW TE 202 BLO

Coben, Harlan. Long lost. London : Orion Books Ltd., 2009
HEBREW TE 202 COB

Cunningham, E. V. Helen. London : Pan Books Ltd, 1968.
HEBREW TE 202 CUN

Cunningham, E. V. Sylvia. London : Corgi Books, 1971.
HEBREW TE 202 CUN

Davidson, Lionel. Kolymsky heights. London : Mandarin, 1995.
HEBREW TE 202 DAV

Ebersohn, Wessel. Divide the night. New York : Vintage Books, 1982.
HEBREW TE 202 EBE

Engel, Howard. Murder sees the light. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England : Penguin Books, 1985.
HEBREW TE 202 ENG

Engleman, Paul. Dead in center field. New York : Ballantine Books, 1983.
HEBREW TE 202 ENG

Engel, Howard. Murder on location. New York : Penguin Books, 1986.
HEBREW TE 202 ENG

Engel, Howard. A victim must be found. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England : Penguin Books, 1989.
HEBREW TE 202 ENG

Estleman, Loren D. Sugartown. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England : Penguin Books, 1987.
HEBREW TE 202 EST

Estleman, Loren D. Lady yesterday. New York : Ballantine Books, 1988.
HEBREW TE 202 EST

Estleman, Loren D. Every brilliant eye. New York : Fawcett Crest, 1987.
HEBREW TE 202 EST

Block, Lawrence. Step by step : a pedestrian memoir. New York : HarperLuxe, [2009]
HEBREW TE 350 BLO

Decout, Maxime. Écrire la judéité : enquête sur un malaise dans la littérature française. Seyssel : Champ Vallon, [2015]
HEBREW TM 5 DEC

Chamiel, Ephraim. The middle way : the emergence of modern religious trends in nineteenth-century Judaism : responses modernity in the philosophy of Z.H. Chajes, S.R. Hirsch, and S.D. Luzzatto. Volume 1. Brighton, MA : Academic Studies Press, 2014.
HEBREW W 15 CHA

Joskowicz, Ari. The modernity of others : Jewish anti-Catholicism in Germany and France. Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2014]
HEBREW W 80 JOS

Kopciowski, Adam. Wos hert zich in der prowinc? : prasa żydowska na Lubelszczyźnie i jej największy dziennik “Lubliner Tugblat”. Lublin : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, 2015.
STORE 16-0718/154

Eisenberg, Josy and Daniel Epstein. Fils de roi, fils d’esclave : un conte de rabbi Nahman de Braslav. [Paris] : Albin Michel, [2010]
STORE 16-0718/155

Singer, Israel Joshua. De fer et d’acier : roman / traduit du yiddish par Monique Charbonnel-Grinhaus. [Paris] : Éditions Denoël, [2015]
STORE 16-0718/156

Abramovitch, Raphael R. and A. Menes. Leyenbukh tsu der geshikhṭe fun Yiśroel. v. 1. Berlin : Ṿosṭoḳ, 1923.
STORE 16-0725/01

Sutzkever, Abraham. Aquarium vert : brefs récits / traduit du yiddish par Batia Baum; postface Heather Valencia. Paris : Bibliothèque Medem, c2013.
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Contes yiddish de Chelm à Varsovie / contes choisis et traduits par Sarah Schulmann. Paris : École des loisirs, 2000
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Algemeyne geshikhṭe : far idishe grunṭshuln / iberzetsṭ loyṭ P. Zaliṭis ; Sh. Z. Paul, Sh. Sḳuṭelsḳi. Hesofeh: Ḳitsur fun Idisher geshikhṭe / tsunoyfgeshṭelṭ fun Sh. Z. Paul un Sh. Sḳuṭelsḳi. Rige : Farlag “Logos”, 699 = 1938.
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Liṭerarishe khresṭomaṭye : farn VII lernyor fun der Poliṭekhnisher shul / tsunoyfgeshṭelṭ O. Holdes un F. Shames. Kharḳov : Melukhe-farlag far di Natsyonale minderhayṭn in U.S.R.R., 1934.
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Goscinny. Der ḳleyner Niḳola : af Yidish / Rene Gosini, Zshon-Zshaḳ Sempe ; ibergezetsṭ fun Frantseyzish durkh Sharon Bar-Kokhva un Zshil Rozie. Paris : IMAV éditions, 2013.
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Peretz, Isaac Leib. A gilgl fun a nign : tsṿantsiḳ holtsshniṭn / inspirirṭ fun der ḥsidisher geshikhṭe fun Y.L. Perets ; A. Ḳolniḳ. Pariz : [publisher not identified] 1948.
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Aronson, Boris. Marḳ Shagal / Idish, Ben-Barukh. Berlin: Idisher liṭerarisher farlag, 1924.
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Milḥamah ṿe-shalom be-Erets Yiśraʼel = Ḳrig un friden in Erts-Iśroel = War and peace in Palestine : albom le-zikaron meha-yamim ha-rishonim shel ha-Tsiyonut ʻad ha-zeman ha-zeh … / osef temunot u-veʼurim bi-yede Y. Ṭriṿaḳs. Tel-Aviv : Bet hotsaʼat sefarim “Tel-Aviv”, 1930.
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Peretz, Isaac Leib. Di goldene ḳeyṭ : a ḥsidishe familyen-drame : in ṿaysen ferz. [Warsaw? : s.n.], 1909.
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Fajgenbaum, M. J. Podliashe in umḳum : noṭitsn fun ḥurbn. Minkhen : Aroysgegebn fun der Tsenṭraler hisṭorisher ḳomisye baym Ts. ḳ. fun di bafrayṭe Yidn in der Ameriḳaner Zone in Dayṭshland, 1948.
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Shifris, M. Di reṿolutsye ṿeṭ ḳumen. [New York?] : Inṭernatsyonaln arbeṭer ordn, [19–]
YIDDISH BOXED PAMPHLETS C 200 SHI

Hagadah shel Pesaḥ : miṭ a sotsyalisṭishen nuseḥ. Podgurzsh : Ferlag “Der Sotsyaldemoḳraṭ”, 1919.
YIDDISH BOXED PAMPHLETS D 50 HAG

Af der shṿel : zamelhefṭen fun tsayṭ tsu tsayṭ. Heft eyns. Berlin : [publisher not identified,] 1918.
YIDDISH BOXED PAMPHLETS D 100 POA

Rosenfeld, Moshe N. Jewish printing in Wilhermsdorf : a concise bibliography of Hebrew and Yiddish publications printed in Wilhermsdorf between 1670 and 1739, showing aspects of Jewish life in Mittelfranken three centuries ago : based on public & private collections and genizah discoveries / with an appendix, ‘Archival notes’ by Ralf Rossmeissl. London : M.N. Rosenfeld, 1995.
YIDDISH QUARTOS A 16 ROS

Bordin, Hanan. English-Yidish ṿerṭerbukh fun ṭoponimen = English-Yiddish dictionary of place-names / Tel-Aviv: Bedeḳ-medya-grup, [775=2015]
YIDDISH B 2 BOR

Borenshṭeyn, S. Fun ṿayṭe ṿelṭ-ṭeyln. ḳinder mayselekh. Shiḳago, Il. : Farlag M. Tseshinsḳi, 1936.
YIDDISH C 200 BOR

Galai, Daniyel. In shpas, in ʻernsṭ un in tsṿishn… : saṭires un ḳleynbine-shafungen. Tel-Aviv : H. Leṿiḳ-Farlag, 774 = 2013.
YIDDISH C 200 GAL

Kobrin, Leon. A Lithuanian village / authorized translation from the Yiddish by Isaac Goldberg. New York : Brentano’s Publishers, [1920]
YIDDISH C 200 KOB

Kotli͡ar, Iosif. Far ḳind un ḳeyṭ. Ḳiyeṿ : Melukhe-farlag far di Natsyonale minderhayṭn in USSR, 1940.
YIDDISH C 200 KOT

Simon, Solomon. Dos ḳluge shnayderl /  ilusṭrirṭ fun Y. Fridlender. Nyu Yorḳ : Farlag Matones̀, 1949.
YIDDISH C 200 SIM

Wiegand, Haike Beruriah. Tsi hoṭ ir gezen mayn tsig? un andere lider : tsṿeyshprakhiḳ liderbukh Yidish – English = Have you seen my goat? and other poems. Tel-Aviv : H. Leyṿiḳ-farlag, 2012.
YIDDISH C 200 WIE

Sternharz, Nathan. Las cartas del Rabí Natán de Breslov : (Alim liTerufá = Hojas para curación). Volumen 1, (1806–1834) / traducido al español por Guillermo Beilinson. Jerusalem : Breslov Research Institute, [2015]
YIDDISH D 140 NAH

Tales from the conservation studio

By Vanessa Freedman, on 10 November 2016

One of the trickiest items to conserve as part of our Uncovering UCL’s Jewish Pamphlet Collections project has been an 18th century Hebrew wedding poem (De Sola Pamphlets 17, item 15). This poem, from Livorno, celebrates the marriage of Joshua and Esther Recanati. We needed to do a bit of detective work to conserve it correctly.

At some point in its history, the poem had been cut in two. The two halves had been taped together, but closer inspection revealed that the text did not line up and in fact some text was missing.

We decided to remove the old repairs and instead mount the two halves of the poem with a gap where the missing text would have been. We were able to locate another copy online in the Jewish Theological Seminary Library’s digital collections. By comparing the two copies, we could see how much text was missing and work out exactly how much space to leave between the two halves.

So our conservator carefully separated the two halves, and the poem was then humidified and pressed for two weeks to remove creases. It was repaired so that it was stable enough for mounting and then attached to a mount board with polyester corners and strips, so it can be removed easily for digitisation or to look at the other side.

The Jewish Theological Seminary’s copy also has missing text, but between the two copies we can now reconstruct the complete  poem, a great example of the value of digitisation!

Reading room changes

By Vanessa Freedman, on 26 September 2016

Welcome back to all returning students and staff!

You may be wondering why there is a large empty space in the Hebrew & Jewish Studies reading room. It’s not a dance floor or space for a ping-pong table (as some people have suggested); we are waiting for the delivery of some new tables which will create 24 much-needed extra study spaces. To make space for the new tables, most of the Yiddish collection has moved into the adjacent corridor.

Here are the new locations:

• HEBREW books: reading room (encyclopaedias and other reference books are on the shelf nearest the door)
• HEBREW periodicals: reading room (end of the book sequence; recent issues are on display racks near the door; the Jewish Chronicle is on the side wall)
• YIDDISH books: corridor
• YIDDISH periodicals (except newspapers and recent issues): corridor (end of the book sequence)
• YIDDISH newspapers: reading room (side wall)
• YIDDISH periodicals, recent issues: reading room (on display racks near the door, with HEBREW periodicals)

If you have problems finding anything, do ask a member of staff.

Wishing you a great year and a shanah tovah u-metukah.

Digital Judaica Collections in Poland

By Vanessa Freedman, on 13 September 2016

Our Erasmus trainee, Monika Biesaga, is leaving UCL at the end of this week. While Monika has been learning about one of our digitisation projects we thought it would be interesting to hear from her about some digitisation projects in Poland. She gave this presentation to UCL staff on 13th September 2016.

Erasmus experiences

By Vanessa Freedman, on 8 September 2016

Monika Biesaga, a PhD student from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, has been working on the Jewish pamphlets project as a trainee through the Erasmus+ scheme. Here are some of her thoughts on the placement:

If you think that working in a library is boring, you couldn’t be more wrong! Especially when it comes to working in a Special Collections section.

As an Erasmus trainee, for over two months I’ve been taking part in the project Uncovering UCL’s Jewish Pamphlet Collections, discovering Jewish treasures stored at UCL Special Collections and learning new skills every day. I’m involved with every stage of the project – cataloguing, conservation and digitisation.

Before all the catalogued materials fall into the hands of readers, some of the pamphlets need to be cleaned and repaired. So under the guidance of two specialist conservators, I’ve been spending half of my traineeship in a conservation studio, handling very rare and fragile documents.

Another chance for coming into contact with the most precious pamphlets from the collection is the digitisation part. I’m more than thrilled to assist in this process.

It might sound a bit strange, but cataloguing books can be fascinating too… You never know what is hidden in a box that you’re going to catalogue. I’ve encountered a mixture of literary forms (from Biblical poems to a dictionary of telecommunication terms) and languages (like this Hebrew grammar book in Marathi).

Joseph Ezekiel Rajpurkar’s Elementary Hebrew grammar in Marathi for Bene-Israel children. Bombay, 1881 or 1882. From the Asher Myers collection.
MOCATTA BOXED PAMPHLETS P 5.8 RAT

I’ve also come across handwritten dedications, notes and even a curse:

Autograph inscription by Y. Dawud in The Jews in Germany by Israel Cohen. London: Murray, 1933.
MOCATTA BOXED PAMPHLETS DD 15 COH

And if you also think that working in a library is easy, again you couldn’t be more wrong! Just take a look at one of the bibliographic records that I created with the help of the Hebrew & Jewish Studies Librarian. For the uninitiated, all the numbers in the record may look like an “enigma code”, but records like this can be a key to the success of every researcher.

New books May-June 2016

By Vanessa Freedman, on 5 August 2016

Davies, Philip R. On the origins of Judaism. London : Routledge, 2014.
HEBREW A 6 DAV

Manuscrits hébreux et arabes : mélanges en l’honneur de Colette Sirat / édités par Nicholas de L Lange et Judith Olszowy-Schlanger. Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols, [2014]
HEBREW A 7 SIR

Schwartz, Daniel R. Judeans and Jews : four faces of dichotomy in ancient Jewish history. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2014]
HEBREW A 17 SCH

Den Hollander, William. Josephus, the emperors, and the city of Rome : from hostage to historian. Leiden : Brill, [2014]
HEBREW A 39 HOL

Shoham-Steiner, Ephraim. On the margins of a minority : leprosy, madness, and disability among the Jews of medieval Europe. Detroit : Wayne State University Press, 2014.
HEBREW A 70 SHO

Goldin, Simha. Apostasy and Jewish identity in High Middle Ages Northern Europe : ‘are you still my brother?’ Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press, 2014.
HEBREW A 106 GOL

Nirenberg, David. Anti-Judaism : the Western tradition. New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2013]
HEBREW A 110 NIR

Avineri, Shlomo. Herzl’s vision : Theodor Herzl and the foundation of the Jewish state. Katonah, New York : BlueBridge, 2014.
HEBREW B 20 HER:AVI

Landau, David. Arik : the life of Ariel Sharon. New York : Vintage Books, October 2014.
HEBREW B 20 SHA

Kogman, Tal. ha-Maśkilim ba-madaʻim : ḥinukh Yehudi la-madaʻim ba-merḥav dover ha-Germanit ba-ʻet he-ḥadashah. Yerushalayim : Hotsaʼat sefarim ʻa. sh. Y.L. Magnes, ha-Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit, 2013.
HEBREW D 50 KOG

Dohm, Christian Wilhelm von. Über die bürgerliche Verbesserung der Juden : kritische und kommentierte Studienausgabe / herausgegeben von Wolf Christoph Seifert. Göttingen : Wallstein Verlag, [2015]
HEBREW DD 13 DOH

Studies in the history and culture of North African Jewry : proceedings of the symposium at Yale University, April 25, 2010 / editors, Moshe Bar-Asher and Steven D. Fraade. New Haven : The Program in Judaic Studies, Yale University ; Jerusalem : The Center for Jewish Languages and Literatures, Hebrew University, 2011.
HEBREW GA 6 BAR

Bar-Asher, Mosheh. Torat ha-tsurot shel leshon ha-Mishnah : pirḳe mavo u-tetsurat shem ha-ʻetsem. Yerushalayim : Mosad Byaliḳ : ha-Aḳademyah la-lashon ha-ʻIvrit, [2015- ]
HEBREW P 30 BAR

Cook, Edward M. Dictionary of Qumran Aramaic. Winona Lake, Indiana : Eisenbrauns, 2015.
HEBREW PR 302 COO

Wexler, Paul. Judeo-romance linguistics : a bibliography : (Latin, Italo-, Gallo-, Ibero-, and Rhaeto-Romance except Castilian). London : Routledge, 2014.
HEBREW PS 100 WEX

The Cambridge history of Jewish American literature / edited by Hana Wirth-Nesher. New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2016.
HEBREW Q 5 WIR

Hamori, Esther J. Women’s divination in biblical literature : prophecy, necromancy, and other arts of knowledge. New Haven : Yale University Press, [2015]
HEBREW QM 7 HAM

Penkower, Jordan S. Masorah and text criticism in the early modern Mediterranean : Moses ibn Zabara and Menahem de Lonzano. Jerusalem : The Hebrew University Magnes Press, [2014]
HEBREW QUARTOS QM 8 PEN

Creation and chaos : a reconsideration of Hermann Gunkel’s Chaoskampf hypothesis / edited by JoAnn Scurlock and Richard H. Beal. Winona Lake, Indiana : Eisenbrauns, 2013.
HEBREW QM 13 SCU

Israel’s Exodus in transdisciplinary perspective : text, archaeology, culture, and geoscience / Thomas E. Levy, Thomas Schneider, William H.C. Propp, editors ; managing editor: Brad C. Sparks. Cham : Springer, [2015]
HEBREW QM 14 LEV

Abigail, wife of David, and other ancient Oriental women / edited by Daniel Bodi. Sheffield : Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2013.
HEBREW QM 22 BOD

Yadin-Israel, Azzan. Scripture and tradition : Rabbi Akiva and the triumph of Midrash. Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2015]
HEBREW RA 13 YAD

Kalmin, Richard Lee. Migrating tales : the Talmud’s narratives and their historical context . Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2014]
HEBREW RD 16 KAL

Harshav, Benjamin. Three thousand years of Hebrew versification : essays in comparative prosody. New Haven : Yale University Press, [2014]
HEBREW SA 40 HAR

Swartz, Michael D. Signifying creator : nontextual sources of meaning in ancient judaism. New York : New York University Press, [2012]
HEBREW W 13 SWA

Toledot Yeshu = The life story of Jesus / edited and translated by Michael Meerson and Peter Schäfer ; with the collaboration of Yaacov Deutsch, David Grossberg, Avigail Manekin, and Adina Yoffie. Tübingen : Mohr Siebeck, [2014]
HEBREW W 60 TOL

Ulrich, Eugene. The Dead Sea scrolls and the developmental composition of the Bible. Leiden : Brill, 2015.
HEBREW QUARTOS W 142 ULR

Naḥman, of Bratslav. Kol sipure Rabi Naḥman mi-Breslav : ha-maʻaśiyot, ha-sipurim ha-sodiyim, ha-ḥalomot ṿeha-ḥezyonot : liḳuṭ ha-nusaḥim mi-kitve yad nadirim ṿemi-mikhlol ha-sifrut ha-Breslavit : be-tosefet pirḳe mavo ṿe-heḳshere ha-sipurim / meʼet Tsevi Marḳ ; ʻorekh ṿe-mevi li-defus Dov Elboym. Yerushalayim : Mosad Biʼaliḳ, c2014.
HEBREW W 250 NAH

Kohn, Max. L’événement psychanalytique dans des entretiens en yiddish / Max Kohn ; préface de Robert Samacher. [Paris] : MJW Fédition, [2015]
YIDDISH B 10 KOH

New York’s Yiddish theater : from the Bowery to Broadway / edited by Edna Nahshon. New York : Published by Columbia University Press, in association with the Museum of the City of New York, 2016.
YIDDISH C 30 NAH

Udel, Miriam Never better! : the modern Jewish picaresque. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2016]
YIDDISH C 40 UDE

The Jewish oil magnates of Galicia. Montreal : McGill-Queen’s University Press, [2015]
YIDDISH C 200 HIR

Shor, S. Unṭer’n nayem himel : ertsehlungen fun Ameriḳaner Idishen leben. Nyu-Yorḳ : M.N. Mayzel, 1915.
YIDDISH C 200 SHO

Shtern, Israel. Yiśroel Shṭern : gezamlṭe lider : Ṿarshe, 1919-1939 / esey ṿegen Shṭerns lider: Yitsḥok Niborsḳi ; redaktsye: Endru Fayershṭain miṭ der miṭhilf fun Yitsḥoḳ Niborsḳi = Yisroel Shtern : collected poems : Warsaw 1919-1939 / with an essay by Yitzkhok Niborski ; edited by Andrew Firestone with the assistance of Yitzkhok Niborski. Melburn : Aroysgegebn durkh Ḳdimeh-bibiyoṭek tsuzamen miṭn Parizer Yidish-Tsenṭer-Medem-Bibliyoṭek, 2014.
YIDDISH C 200 SHT

Gal-Ed, Efrat. Niemandssprache : Itzik Manger, ein europäischer Dichter. Berlin : Jüdischer Verlag im Suhrkamp Verlag, 2016.
YIDDISH C 200 MAN:GAL

Singer, Isaac Bashevis. The parakeet named Dreidel / Isaac Bashevis Singer ; pictures by Suzanne Raphael Berkson. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2015.
YIDDISH C 200 SIN

Wood, Abigail. And we’re all brothers : singing in Yiddish in contemporary North America. London : Routledge, 2016.
YIDDISH F 100 WOO

Uncovering UCL’s Jewish Pamphlet Collections: an update

By Vanessa Freedman, on 13 July 2016

The second phase of our  Uncovering UCL’s Jewish Pamphlet Collections project is now well under way.

Conservation

Conservation of the pamphlets that are in very poor condition is continuing. This has included cleaning, repairs, removing glue, replacing spines and making folders for pamphlets that had been disbound.

Digitisation

Selecting items for the digitisation pilot

We have selected ten pamphlets as a pilot batch for digitisation. The pilot will allow us to identify any particular problems in dealing with this material. We have chosen a range of formats and types of material, including pamphlets in Hebrew which open from right to left; pamphlets that are bound with a large number of blank sheets; volumes that include folded pamphlets; volumes that have manuscript items, such as letters, bound in with the pamphlets; and unusual materials, such as a copy of Hyman Hurwitz‘s dirge to be chanted on the day of King George III’s funeral, which is printed on satin.

Cataloguing

We have finished cataloguing the Montefiore Bound Pamphlets, a collection of pamphlets, mostly in Hebrew, from the library of the Judith Lady Montefiore College in Ramsgate, held on deposit from the Montefiore Endowment. We have now moved onto Albert Hyamson’s Zionist pamphlets. Hyamson (1875-1954) was a civil servant, author and historian. His relationship with Zionism was complex. Originally a Zionist, he was appointed as Chief Immigration Officer for Palestine under the British Mandate from 1921-1934. In this role he put into practice the British Government’s restrictive immigration policy and became extremely unpopular with the Zionists. By the time he returned to England in 1934, he had become resolutely anti-Zionist. He wrote a number of works on Zionism, before, during and after his posting in Palestine.

A new member of the team

Monika Biesaga, a PhD student from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, is joining the project team as a trainee over the summer through the Erasmus+ scheme. Monika is assisting with cataloguing, conservation and digitisation and will also be contributing to this blog.