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.
Make sure children, grandchildren, or any Jewish child is signed up for PJ Library
PJ Library mails free, high-quality Jewish children’s literature and music to families with children from birth through age 12 across North America. PJ Library in Tidewater at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater partners in these efforts and offers high-quality programming in the area with the goal of connecting Jewish families. To register kids, contact Blake Sisler, coordinator of Youth and Family Engagement, at BSisler@UJFT.org or 757-965-6127.
Volunteer or contribute to help guide UJFT’s work promoting Jewish literature
Beyond these programs, UJFT has several initiatives devoted to getting Jewish books in the hands of Jewish students and community members.
UJFT’s Konikoff Center for Learning’s Jewish American Heritage Month Book Project supplements school libraries with books featuring Jewish characters to ensure Jewish students feel represented, and to teach other students about Jewish culture. The program provides three titles to more than 300 public and independent schools, amounting to more than 1,000 books distributed annually. Contact Sierra Lautman, senior director of Jewish Innovation, at SLautman@UJFT.org or 757-965-6107 to join the project’s selection committee.
The White Rose Project of UJFT’s Holocaust Commission sends books designed to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust to dozens of middle and high schools throughout Tidewater each year. To contribute to the program, contact commission director Elka Mednick at EMednick@UJFT.org or 757-965-6112
The Book Festival’s visiting authors, as well as many titles for the programs mentioned above, are selected through the JBC Network, which convenes annually for a conference via Zoom in May. During the conference, attendees listen to more than 250 authors give two-minute pitches of their books, in what can only be described as author speed dating. Attend the conference and help select which authors will present at next year’s festival. Contact Hunter Thomas, director of Arts + Ideas, at HThomas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137 for more information.
Contributing to UJFT’s annual campaign is a great way to support all these programs. Visit JewishVA.org/Campaign or contact Amy Zelenka, chief development officer, at AZelenka@UJFT.org or 757-965-6139.
And more!
• Read a Jewish book. (Visit JewishBookCouncil.org/Books for book suggestions).
• Buy a book by a Jewish author. (Support the UJFT’s Book Festival by buying books at JewishVA.org/BookShop).
• Join or start a book club. (Learn about Simon Family’s JCC book club at JewishVA.org/BookClub)
• Read a Jewish book to children. (And volunteer to Be a Reader. UJFT’s BeAR literacy program places volunteer mentors with students in eight Title I elementary schools in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. Learn more and sign up to be a reader at JewishVA.org/Bear)
• Ask local libraries and bookstores to stock Jewish books.
• Follow your favorite authors on social media (especially Goodreads) and comment on their feeds with positive reviews.
Finally
UJFT wants to see how YOU celebrate Jewish books and authors. Snap a photo of you and your favorite Jewish book or of your bookshelf and post it online with the hashtags #JewishBookMonth, #JewishBookMonth100, and #CelebrateACenturyOfJewishBooks. Make sure to tag @UJFTidewater, @SimonFamilyJ, and @JewishBookCouncil.
Here’s to 100 years more of Jewish literary tradition.
With the international rise in antisemitism since the events of October 7, 2023, the JBC has launched an initiative for authors, publishers, publicists, agents, editors, and readers to report antisemitic literary-related incidents. If you have experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident in literary spaces, email Reporting@JewishBooks.org with information and a description of what occurred. If the incident occurred locally, please also report it to the UJFT and the Secure Communities Network by visiting JewishVA.org/Report.
Hunter Thomas is director of Arts + Ideas at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. For more information about these events and initiatives, contact him at HThomas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137.