Behrman House: About Us: Open Lion 6.2: A Letter from the Publisher

About Us: Open Lion 6.2

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Volume 6 Issue 2	Winter 1998

A Letter from the Publisher

I've known for a couple of years that I would eventually have to write this letter, but all the warning doesn't make it any easier... Ruby Strauss has told us she's retiring from Behrman House.

Many of you know Ruby personally. She was at the first CAJE conference (she tells a hilarious story about the 1973 CAJE at Rutgers University; it seems she was a bit taken aback by the dormitory accommodations). She's been a regular at both NATE--most recently in Atlanta to unveil Partners with God--and at the JEA. Many of you have spoken to her on the phone about books, and if you've taken part in any of our contests, chances are Ruby designed it.

Even if you don't know her personally, just look up at your bookshelf. Ruby is there, and she's in the hands of virtually every one of your students. Derech Binah? That's hers. Child's Bible? She edited the books and made them into a series. Let's Discover the Bible? Yup. The New Siddur Program, Let's Discover the Synagogue, Partners with God, The Ten-Minute Hebrew Reader ... the list goes on and on. As either author or editor, Ruby gave these books shape, substance, and life.

No one has done more to make Behrman House books as fine as they are. No one.

But Ruby's professional legacy goes even beyond these books. She has been exceptionally creative in everything she's touched. She created the first readiness-level Hebrew textbook. She worked on audio-visual materials before there was "multimedia," and put together the first Jewish family education program (20 years ago, with Exploring Our Living Past). She has been a teacher, mentor, and friend to other staff members at Behrman House. And I will forever be grateful to Ruby for the generosity with which she lent her time and her energy in tutoring me when I arrived here in 1991.

A few years ago, Ruby told me that she and her husband, Stanley, wanted to spend three winter months in Florida. So, they turned into snowbirds (actually, the first year they tried the train, but didn't like it) and we knew that sooner or later, Ruby would break the bad news to us. As Stanley's golf handicap improved in the subsequent years, the three months have stretched to four, and now Ruby has told us she wants to retire.

If we could, it would be tempting to say, "No, you can't go." But of course we can't. So we wish her the very, very best. We hope that from time to time she'll do freelance work for us, or at least consult with us and advise us. And we are comforted by the fact that she lives less than 10 minutes from the office (when the snow isn't falling), so we'll continue to see her for lunch and kibbitzing.

--David E. Behrman

Here are some pictures from Ruby's retirement party at Nero's, in Livingston, NJ


Terry Kaye, Ruby, and Gila Gevirtz	Jacob Behrman makes a speech to Ruby


Alison Minion and Ruby	From left, Joy Ferraris, Marie Dieterle, Yaffa Liebman

David Behrman pays tribute to Ruby
	Ruby, David Behrman, author Sarah Feldman

	The Behrman House choir sings a tribute to Ruby. From left, Alison Minion, Jacob Behrman, Marie Dieterle, Bob Tinkham, Ari Goldberg, and Tony Bisram

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