Behrman House: About Us: Open Lion 7.1: Personal Reflections from Two Generations

About Us: Open Lion 7.1

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Volume 7 Issue 1	Fall 2000

Personal Reflections from Two Generations

By Jacob G. Behrman Thirty-three years ago, my son, David, who was then 12 and my daughter, Rachel, who was two years younger, and I were building a table for their electric trains in our house on 11th Street in Greenwich Village. We were almost finished, but I had an appointment and asked the children to stop. David, however, said, "Why can't we finish by ourselves?" and I, with great trepidation, said, "Yes" because, after all, there was an electric saw involved. I knew David was smart and he was competent and it was best to trust.
Three hours later I came back and the table was done and it was perfect.
Today, in my 80th year, I will soon stop visiting the office on a regular basis. But at this point I have no anxiety nor trepidation. David has been running Behrman House with intelligence, élan, and creativity for almost ten years. After all, he is smart and competent just as he always was.
And so I say to my son with much love, b'hatslahah.
By David E. Behrman In 1978, when I was 23 years old, my father and I drove cross-county in an old Mercury Montego with a bad transmission. I was on my way to begin law school in California, and he wanted to see me safely there. Once there he made sure I was settled in, then turned around and went back to his life. (I got to keep the car, but that's another story.)
Today, 22 years later, I feel very much the same way. I've been here a while (almost ten years) and I believe I know what I'm doing. And I am surrounded by a strong institution, perhaps not as old as my law school, but at 80 years established and vibrant. Yet it is nonetheless a daunting time. My father is on to the next part of his life, and while I can call, and he will visit, I am on my own today in a way much more profound than I was yesterday.
We have from time to time mentioned some of the history of Behrman House, and a bit should be said here today, in recognition of my father's accomplishments, for they are substantial. When he returned from the World War II infantry, Behrman House was but a small bookstore. Legend says it was barely solvent. But my father changed that, publishing some very distinguished authors (Mordecai Kaplan, Milton Steinberg, Abba Eban, Louis Jacobs, Lucy Davidowicz, Robert Alter, and Meyer Levin, among others), and publishing books for the emerging Jewish religious schools. Today, we are the proud partners of educators throughout North America in the noble and sacred task of educating our community's children.
I am so very proud to be associated with this enterprise. There is no better feeling, I think, than the one I get on Sunday mornings as I pick up my children at religious school. As the students stream out, carrying their books, I can see the impact that we have on Jewish education. It's an affirmation that what we do—the books we make—have found a place, that we are playing our part in the transmission of our grand tradition to the next generation.
This is a weighty responsibility for me. I am entrusted with our family's heritage and our firm's mission, built over the 80 years of our history. And just as each of us has grown up and left our childhood homes, so will I assume this responsibility. I am comforted by many things, most of all our terrific staff. Together, we have an enormous amount of experience. I know that we'll do some things differently. But I also know that we will be able to continue the heritage—producing the best educational materials for you, for your school, for your children.
So, join us as we continue this grand tradition, of Jewish education and of Behrman House. We look forward to the years ahead as we serve with you in the scared mission of educating our children. And as always, we welcome your thoughts and your ideas of how we can do the best job possible.
And, just to make you (and me) feel a bit better, Behrman House is in much better shape than the Mercury ever was. And for that, among other things, I say, "thanks, Dad."

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