Anna Skorupsky, President & Acting Treasurer
Anne Dublin, Membership & Newsletter Editor
Marjorie Gann, Programs
Caroline Ingvaldsen, Secretary

Email: [email protected]
Website: AJL – Canada | Association of Jewish Libraries – Canada Chapter

Dear colleagues and friends,

It’s my sincere pleasure to use this opportunity to say to all of you how grateful I am for your invaluable help and ongoing cooperation during this difficult time.

I really hope that in the coming 5785 New Year we will continue our great tradition of organizing new excellent programs – one is coming during this fall – and increasing our membership.

I am grateful, as always, to the members of our AJL-Canada Executive: Anne Dublin, Marjorie Gann, and Caroline Ingvaldsen whose invaluable devotion makes the AJL-Canada chapter absolutely great.

I send you my best wishes for Shana Tova to you and your families! May all of you be inscribed for a good, healthy, and peaceful year.

SHANA TOVA ve-G’MAR HATIMA TOVA! Chag Sameah!

Anna Skorupsky

Your AJL-Canada executive is looking for someone to build and maintain our website.

A generous honorarium is available. If you’re interested in this worthwhile project, or know someone who is, please contact our president, Anna Skorupsky: [email protected] by Monday September 30.

Renewal notices for 2024–25 have been sent out. Our fiscal year is October 1 to September 30. I hope your membership in AJL-Canada has been valuable, and that you’ll renew for another great year. Stay tuned for an exciting partnership initiative that will be another benefit of membership.

We welcome new members: Eugene Barsky (Research Data Librarian, UBC, Vancouver), Donna Bernardo-Ceriz and Dara Solomon (Ontario Jewish Archives, Toronto), David Birnbaum (Nathan & Solomon Birnbaum Archives, Toronto), Rochelle Chester (teacher-librarian, Leo Baeck Day School, Toronto), Ellen Schwartz (author, BC), and Marilyn Sinclair (Liberation 75, Toronto).

If you know anyone who might be interested in joining AJL-Canada, please give them my contact information: [email protected].

I’m sad to announce the sudden passing of one of our members, Alex Rudkevich. May his memory be for a blessing.

Nadav Sharon
Judaica librarian
The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, The University of Toronto

I have been serving as the Judaica Librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library since January 2020. While I havealways loved books, a career in librarianship was a somewhat late transition.

I was born in Tel-Aviv and spent a few years during my childhood in New York, more accurately, in Brooklyn. I have a BA in archaeology and Jewish history followed by MA and PhD degrees in Second Temple

Jewish History, all from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A revised and expanded version of my PhD dissertation (2013), which focused on the end of the Hasmonean state and the beginning of Roman rule over Judea, was published by SBL press in 2017.

During my PhD studies I worked part time for over a year at the National library of Israel as selector of English language books in Judaica and Israeliana. That was my first step into the professional side of the library world. However, later I still pursued postdoctoral fellowships, which brought me to Toronto (2014/5) — providing me an opportunity to get acquainted with the Fisher Library and its important Judaica collections – followed by Harvard and then back in Jerusalem. Ultimately, in 2018, my family (three children then, four now) relocated to Toronto, where I studied for a master’s in information science at the University of Toronto’s School of Information (2018-19), at which time I also worked as a library graduate assistant with the Fisher’s Judaica collections.

At the Fisher, I work on selecting Judaica materials for acquisition, whether as purchases or Gifts-in-Kind; cataloguing; proving reference assistance; teaching one-off classes; leading tours for UofT classes and groups as well as external groups; putting together public events such as the Maimonides lecture or the Passover Haggadot open house, both of which were held at the Fisher this past year.

The Fisher Library’s Judaica collections include the Friedberg collection of Medieval and early modern manuscripts and early printings, the Price collection of rabbinics, the Druck Collection of Kibbutz and Secular Haggadot and Holiday Ephemera, the Otto Schneid Archive of Twentieth-Century Jewish Art, and the recently donated Alain Goldschläger Holocaust Literature Collection, and more. We are continuously adding to these collections and also widening our holdings into other areas of Judaica. Recent examples are acquisitions of manuscripts of tehines, which are personal prayers or supplications in Yiddish mostly for the use of women, as well as modern manuscripts from the Mizrahi world, including works in Judeo-Persian and Neo-Aramaic.

Aside from Judaica at the Fisher, my work includes selecting all things Jewish studies and religion for the University’s Central Libraries, liaising with the Centre for Jewish Studies and more. This past year, for example, I curated a display of books on antisemitism from the holdings of the Central Library (i.e., Robarts Library).

Marjorie Gann, Program Chair of AJL-Canada, participated in an AJL Zoom webinar on Sunday September 15, 2024. The program — “Countering Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Propaganda in Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Educational Resources” — introduced attendees to the work of the Camera Education Institute. (CAMERA is short for Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis.) Marjorie, who reviews anti-Israel children’s books for the organization, together with Karen Tal-Makhluf, CAMERA’s education analyst, demonstrated how anti-Israel ideology is reaching teachers and trickling down to students. Marjorie pointed to a marked increase in the number of children’s and young adult books, ostensibly about “Palestine,” that erase or malign Israel, and Karen showed how anti-Israel advocates use professional organizations to influence how teachers discuss the Arab-Israeli conflict in their classrooms. Ending the session on a more hopeful note, Karen highlighted several children’s books that present Israel in a positive light and displayed the many resources available on the Camera Education Institute website. She encouraged attendees to get in touch with CAMERA if they need help dealing with antisemitic indoctrination in publicly funded schools, libraries, and institutions. The program was sponsored by AJL’s SSCPL division.

I’m excited to tell you about our next AJL-Canada program! It will showcase Holocaust museums in three Canadian cities: Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Each museum will give us a brief tour of its artifacts, exhibits, research facilities, and archives, as well as special events. The program will be followed by a Q&A.

Date TBA in December. We’ll give you more information in the next Newsletter or via email.

Margie Gann, Programs Chair

BETH SHALOM MOSHE YEDLIN MEMORIAL LIBRARY, EDMONTON, ALBERTA

Edmonton’s largest dedicated Jewish library, with over 4000 titles, has spent the last few years converting our collection to a new database. Books are being donated as quickly as we can deal with them, due partly to our aging demographic, a situation with which we’ll all be familiar. In May 2024, we held a sale of duplicates and books that don’t fit our collection policy. It was a success, books were priced to sell from 50 cents to $2, and we made almost $600. If there were not synagogue security issues, we could have advertised to the entire city and sold more.

We have a wonderful crew of volunteers, and it is definitely a labour of love.

Library Committee: Karen Hering, Michelle Huberman & Netta Phillet

GILA GREEN is thrilled to announce that With A Good Eye is now available on Amazon. More than ever, Jewish writers and Israel-based authors are being excluded from literary spaces, regardless of their views. That’s why she’s asking for your support in promoting our work.

With A Good Eye is a family drama for readers aged 16 and up, featuring a diverse cast of Jewish, Israeli, Yemenite, and Sephardic characters. Gila is eager to participate in Zoom sessions, podcasts, interviews, and other forums, including events for schools, libraries, women’s organizations, and book clubs. If you read an early copy of With A Good Eye, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads—one line is enough. Thank you in advance.

LINKS: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Eye-Gila-Green/dp/1990496415/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1700058407&sr=8-1

WEBSITE: https://gilagreenwrites.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198120222-with-a-good-eye

In addition, here’s the link to GILA GREEN’s podcast with author Meryl Ayin, host of People of the Book. They discuss With A Good Eye which was released last August: https://m.soundcloud.com/authorsontheair/gila-green-author-of-with-a-good-eye-on-people-of-the-book-with-meryl-ain?si=6104df1622694dcdbdb57b642087ff15&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Zevi Takes the Spotlight by CAROL MATAS (Orca Book Publishers, Spring 2024), has received some wonderful honours. A starred review in SLJ,a wonderful review from AJL, Highly Recommended by Canadian Materials, chosen by the Children’s Book Council as a book for Building a Home Library, and one of 42 Stellar Middle Grade Books as chosen by School Library Journal. Carol will be happy to do virtual readings in the fall and winter for schools and libraries. Contact: [email protected].

Teacher’s Guide to KATHY KACER’S Two Pieces of Chocolate
By ANNE DUBLIN

Two_Pieces_of_Chocolate_Teacher_s_Guide_V2.pdf (shopify.com)

For more information about Kathy’s book, see: Two Pieces of Chocolate – Second Story Press

GILA GREEN’S short story, “Satisfaction” is coming out this month in the 4th edition of Write-Haus,which is published in Tel Aviv. https://write-haus.com/product/issue-04-presale/ .

JOANNE LEVY is gearing up for the October 29th release of LET IT GLOW, described as a middle grade book that’s “Sweet as a sugarplum and satisfying as a latke”. To celebrate, Joanne and her co-author, NYT Bestselling author, Marissa Meyer, are embarking on an international tour that kicks off in Toronto on October 27th (details to come). Keep an eye on joannelevy.com or follow Joanne on Instagram at @joanne_levy_ for details coming soon.

Also note that Joanne’s story, “The Greatest Gift” is included in The Festival of Lights: 16 Hanukkah Stories” (Albert Whitman, 2024), which received a starred review from School Library Journal. Great gifts for Hanukkah!

Rising
by SIDURA LUDWIG
Candlewick Press, May 2024

In this debut picture book, a child and mother wake early in the morning to make challah in preparation for Shabbat. They measure, mix, knead, shape, and tuck their dough under a towel like a sleeping baby. Then, as they do every week, they wait while their dough rises, soon to be baked and gratefully shared at a Shabbat gathering with loved ones. Written in lyrical prose with light and warm illustrations, this quiet, joyful story offers readers a lesson in patience, slowing down, faith and family. Includes an author’s note, glossary and challah recipe.

I wish you and your loved ones a healthy and peaceful New Year.

Anne Dublin
Newsletter Editor
& Membership Chair