In 1925, Fanny Goldstein, a Jewish librarian at the Boston Public Library, decided Jewish books and Jewish pride deserved celebration. She created a display of Jewish books at the West End Branch, launching the first Jewish Book Week. By 1927, Jewish communities nationwide adopted the event, observing it annually around Shavuot. In 1940, it shifted to the week before Hanukkah to encourage gifting Jewish books. That same year, Goldstein founded and chaired the National Committee for Jewish Book Week. In 1944, the celebration expanded to a month, and the committee became the Jewish Book Council (JBC), now the longest-running organization devoted exclusively to Jewish literature.
Today, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC are part of the JBC Network, a group of roughly 130 Jewish organizations across North America that give more than 250 authors a platform to promote their work each year. Tidewater has embraced the JBC’s mission to celebrate Jewish content and support Jewish authors. JCCs remain cultural hubs of Jewish life, a role reinforced when the JBC partnered with the National Jewish Welfare Board (later the Jewish Community Centers Association) in 1945.
More than 40 years since what is now known as the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival began, UJFT and Simon Family JCC continue to steward the community’s reputation as “the people of the book.”
Here are some ways to celebrate Jewish Book Month this year, a century after its founding, November 13 – December 13, 2025:
Attend an event of the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival
UJFT’s annual Book Festival offers something for everyone. On Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 1 pm, UJFT is partnering with JBC and its other network sites for a Community One Read event: a conversation between Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Abigail Pogrebin. Rabbi Buchdahl, the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi; and author, journalist, and former Book Festival speaker Abigail Pogrebin will speak to an online audience across North America about Buchdahl’s memoir, The Heart of a Stranger, a spiritual guide for everyday living.
In-person events will take place with Rachel Simons (founder of Chelsea Market’s Seed + Mill on Thursday, Nov. 20), Rick Mersel (local author and co-founder of the NorVa, on Thursday, Dec. 4), and expert storyteller Corey Rosen (on Thursday, Dec. 11). Learn more at JewishVA.org/BookFest.
Register for Tidewater’s Great Jewish Bookshelf
The Great Jewish Bookshelf is a gateway to a richer connection to Jewish heritage, culture, and contemporary thought. Designed for Jewish adults, or adults of other faiths interested in learning more about the Jewish experience, this unique subscription program delivers handpicked Jewish literature directly to the subscriber’s doorstep every two months. Register at JewishVA.org/GJB. Interested in joining the GJB selection committee? Contact Sierra Lautman, senior director of Jewish Innovation, at SLautman@UJFT.org or 757-965-6107.