“I love Behrman House, but I don’t use textbooks.” 
I hear this at times from colleagues in the Jewish educational community. And while I am truly warmed by the love (thank you!), I feel admittedly a bit awkward about the textbook part. Because, actually, I no longer identify our materials with textbooks—those staid, encyclopedic presentations of all the facts an esteemed academic feels are necessary to the understanding of a subject.
Like others, we at Behrman House have been rethinking our approach to Jewish education. And since our specialty is publishing, we have focused on rethinking the materials to help Jews of all ages experience their world and their lives through Judaism and then reflect upon those experiences in deep and meaningful ways that create opportunities for learning. This was brought home to me especially as I was working on this year's Behrman House catalog, and during some recent editorial meetings reviewing some of the amazing upcoming projects. We're just doing things differently these days.
We work with educators and authors from all over the Jewish world to bring their ideas to life. Then we help translate those ideas into materials and even complete courses that can be used successfully by a wide array of educators in a variety of settings for all types of learners. Courses that guide personal exploration of values and character, food justice, aging, the environment, even family history from a Jewish perspective.
The final works combine thoughtful and ready reference material, essential questions, directions for organizing and completing a variety of individual, partner, and group experiences, visual organizers, enrichment ideas, practice and experimental spaces, and journaling prompts. Each printed work itself is then actively transformed through use into a personal portfolio of experience that also serves as meaningful and true evidence of learning. Textbooks? I don’t think so. More like guidebooks for Jewish exploration.
So my friends, there’s no need to feel awkward together about textbooks—because we don’t really make those anymore.
Vicki Weber, RJE, is a partner at Behrman House.
