In 1978, I returned home after spending a year in Israel and began teaching in my synagogue’s religious school. The principal handed me When a Jew Celebrates and The Holocaust: A History of Courage and Resistance. A year later, I entered rabbinical school and taught Hebrew school in the Philadelphia suburbs. In my first job, the principal handed me A Child’s Introduction to Torah. As my education progressed, so did my responsibilities, until soon, I was the principal handing out textbooks. Not surprisingly, I selected books that I had taught, and which I trusted would be effective. Thus, for my 4th grade teachers, I chose Child’s Introduction to Early Prophets; I gave Journey Through Jewish History to my 5th grade teachers, and my 2nd grade Hebrew teachers received Sam the Detective (which I also used to teach my own children). Looking back, I realize that my association with Behrman House has been long and satisfying.
As the new Executive Editor, however, I’m more interested in looking forward, and what I see excites me. After one month at Behrman House, I see
- an organization that recognizes the educational potential of media convergence, a term that describes the flow of content across multiple platforms; hence, resources such as iMah Nishtanah (an iPhone app available early March), Customized Family Haggadah, Kol Yisrael Hebrew Series with integrated digital activities, and Siddur Mah Tov with accompanying music CD (coming in April)
- a vibrant publishing house that never forgets that books provide an essential part of a creative classroom experience; hence, an editorial pipeline filled with stimulating textbooks, such as The Prophets: Speak Up for Justice (coming in April), Jewish Guided Imagery (revised and coming in July), My Jewish Stories: Traditional Folktales and Midrashim Retold for Young Children (coming in July)
- a company committed to Jewish literary culture; hence, the publication of The Prophet’s Wife (coming in March), the unfinished novel by Rabbi Milton Steinberg, z’l, the brilliant author of As a Driven Leaf—also a Behrman House publication
- an edutainment powerhouse hip enough to understand youth culture and intelligent enough to relate it to Judaism’s eternal truths; hence, the new Behrman House partner, www.babaganewz.com
Although Tu B’Shevat has recently passed, I can’t resist connecting my personal experiences with Behrman House to the fruit we ate at the Tu B’Shevat Seder. As a classroom teacher, I mainly appreciated the physical product, the colorful textbooks that caught my students’ attention and helped me do my job. This corresponds to fruit with hard outer shells, like almonds and walnuts, which represent the material world.
When I became a principal, I no longer saw only books; I recognized the beauty of the underlying curricular structure. This parallels the fruit we eat with inner pits and soft outer skins, like dates and olives. They represent the non-material world of perfect forms. Finally, as a staff member at Behrman House, I see the equivalent of the highest level of the non-material realm, where the first impulses of creativity stir. To symbolize this level at the Tu B’Shevat Seder, we eat fruit with neither pits nor shells, like figs and grapes. This domain corresponds to the deep commitment to Judaism and Jewish continuity that the staff puts into every project.
