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Volume 6   Issue 5	Spring 2000

New Behrman House Offices Dedicated by Rabbinic Leaders

On April 13 our new offices were dedicated in a ceremony led by Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; Rabbi Alan Silverstein, President of the World Union of Conservative Judaism; and the Honorable Clara Harelik, Mayor of Springfield, NJ. Below are remarks by David Behrman and pictures of the event.

Tony Bisram, Bob Tinkham, Terry Kaye, and Yaffa Liebman

Welcome. Let me extend, on behalf of our entire staff, our sincerest thanks for being here today to help dedicate our new home. Special thanks go to Rabbi Alan Yuter for, by his presence, extending the welcome of Congregation Israel of Springfield, and to Rabbi Charles Kroloff and Rabbi Alan Silverstein.

When I turned 30, about a hundred years ago, my wife Vicki threw me a surprise party, with an extensive guest list. At that age, one has friends from many different parts of life--they may not know each other, but they all become part of the fabric of one's history. I was struck by how all these individuals had come together at that moment. And I had this overwhelming desire to try to introduce them all to each other.

I feel the same way today. Each of you has played a part in making Behrman House what it is today. With us are rabbis who lead the congregations where our children learn, educators who use our books to teach our children, authors who write manuscripts, editors who shape and sculpt books and often impress their very personalities on them, designers who make the books attractive and effective, printers who actually make the books, and even some of the children who use them. We even have with us the architects and builders who designed and built our new home. We thank you all for playing a part in our enterprise; we celebrate that you are able to be here to help dedicate our new home; and we hope you all get to meet each other during your afternoon here.

David Behrman, Rabbi Alan Silverstein of Congregation Agudath Israel, Caldwell, NJ, Jacob Behrman, and Rabbi Charles Kroloff of Temple Emanuel, Westfield, NJ affix the mezuzah.

My sister is the first doctor in our family. My father is the second, having received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College two years ago. In accepting it, he observed that we all stand on the shoulders of those who come before us. He was right, of course, and in that spirit there are a number of people I want to thank for our being able to be here today. First, I would like to recognize the memory of my grandfather, whose picture is on the wall by the door, who started this firm 79 years ago as a bookstore in Manhattan, and who began the publishing that would allow it to become what it is today.

I would also like to recognize, with gratitude and admiration, my father, who after his return from World War II changed this firm into a publisher in its own right. His good taste in publishing authors such as Abba Eban, Lucy Davidowicz, Milton Steinberg, Louis Jacobs, and Mordecai Kaplan, allowed this house to become the prominent and respected force in Jewish publishing that it is today. And his prescience and understanding of the needs of Jewish educators, and again his taste, allowed it to excel as a publisher of textbooks.

I must also thank Ruby Strauss, who was with us for about 20 years, is here with us today, and whom we miss every day. When Ruby retired, we made a poster of the books she had authored, edited, or otherwise made happen. It was a very large poster, and it covered about three quarters of our list. You cannot walk into a modern Jewish religious school, even today, and fail to find children using the books that Ruby developed.

Ruby Strauss and Jacob Behrman

For those of you who see us from time to time, you also know that the past two years have been challenging ones for our staff, with a new building, a wholly new computer system, and many new staff members. I'd like to offer special thanks to those who helped us emerge from these two years stronger than ever. Terry Kaye, our Director of Educational Services, stepped up to an entirely new set of responsibilities to make sure we properly served our religious school customers. Gila Gevirtz, our Executive Editor, maintained the highest of editorial standards, spurred our creativity, developed stunning books, and used her enthusiasm to maintain ours. And Bob Tinkham, our Director of Operations, kept the orders processing and the books shipping even when the new computer system seemed designed to make us grind to a halt, and also moved us into this beautiful new building with only a one-day shutdown in operations. Lastly, I'd like to thank my friends and family, who kept me sane and humored me when it seemed that the work here at Behrman House would become all-consuming.

Jacob Behrman and Rabbi Alan Silverstein

Today, we find Behrman House here in Springfield, in our new home, stronger than ever.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Rabbi Charles Kroloff and Rabbi Alan Silverstein for helping us dedicate our new home, and to Mayor Harelik for symbolically opening it with the cutting of the ribbon. It is a pleasure and an honor to have these leaders with us. We are proud to be the publisher of Rabbi Kroloff's wonderful book When Elijah Knocks. We have been delighted to work with Rabbi Silverstein over the years on a number of educational projects and to publish his handbook on training lay leaders of synagogues. And we look forward to seeing and working with Mayor Harelik and the warm community of Springfield.

Thank you again for being with us, for your contributions to our house, and for helping us to dedicate our new home.

Ruby Strauss, author Roberta Baum, and Abby Kanter

Terry Kaye and NATE Executive Director Rabbi Stan Schickler

Rachel Fisher, Terry Kaye, author Seymour Rossel, and Sharon Wechter, director of education at Temple Sinai, Stamford, CT

Gila Gevirtz, Ruby Strauss, Terry Kaye, and Kathy Bloomfield

Rabbi Joan Glaser Farber of Greenwich Reform Synagogue, Greenwich, CT, Rabbi Stan Schickler, and Rabbi Charles Kroloff

Rabbi Alan Silverstein, Mayor Clara Harelik of Springfield, NJ. David Behrman, and Rabbi Charles Kroloff

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