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Behrman House is facebooking!

January 6, 2009 Digital Domain Comments Off

At Behrman House we pride ourselves on being on the cutting edge of technology, both professionally and personally. (You should see how many iPhones are lying around the office!)

Since we’re all online all day, we’re no strangers to facebook. On this social networking site, people create their own profiles that tell viewers about their personal lives and interests; for example, there is a section just for the kind of music you like to listen to. Businesses, too, can create a page to tell viewers about their company and the products they offer. Many companies have joined the facebook community: Coca-Cola, Hebrew National, Random House. And now Behrman House!

Please stop by the Behrman House page on facebook. You can find us by entering Behrman House in the search bar—it will pop up as one of the top options. You’ll find links to our new books, pictures of our staff, photos of educators taken at recent conventions, links to our “Open Lion” newsletter, and articles for creating effective classroom lessons. You’ll be able to let us know you are attending conferences by RSVPing—that way we can be sure to get together. We hope you’ll like what you see and will want to become a “fan” of the page. To do so, simply click “Become a fan” on the upper right corner of the page.

Stay tuned for our first application (that’s facebook talk for game) that you can then add to your own profile page!

Making Mosaics and Making Books

October 2, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

When I go to a play, I see it as a whole. Maybe I like it, maybe not; if I’m lucky it will have intellectual content that engages me. Sometimes I’m struck by the music, maybe by the set. But I almost never understand the pieces that make up the production. Until now.

We went to visit our son Joel this summer; to a parents’ program during his 6-week intensive drama program at Carnegie Mellon University. It made me think about what we do here at Behrman House, and how we share our work with you and your colleagues.The program was remarkable. I’ve been to too many grand finale extravaganzas, presentations intended to wow with a glitzy performance. This wasn’t that. Instead, in about two hours, the school took us through all the classes these budding high school dramatists take. Movement (how to communicate with another member of the ensemble using one’s body.) Speech (pronunciation, dialect, intonation, projection, and other verbal nuances.) Jazz dance (how to move what seemed like each individual part of your body independently of the rest of it). Singing, stage arrangement, all the other elements of the performance arts. What they did for us–we the amateurs–was deconstruct a production, showing us all the pieces and parts that get assembled into the whole. What before had appeared to me as either good or bad, I like it or I don’t, engaging or boring, I now know to be a mosaic–the sum of a series of parts that work together to form a final production. It was an eye opener.

So I’m sitting here at my desk thinking that we do the same thing at Behrman House. Yet I’m not sure we ever share with you the full range of what we do. Strike that. I’m actually quite sure that we don’t. And I’d like to change that, because we do a lot of interesting and fun things here. You, who trust us enough to use our books with your students, are entitled to know what they are. I think you’ll enjoy it, and I think it will help you understand and evaluate our books more effectively.

So what do I want you to know? A lot. Although the user of a well-made textbook has a single experience, like me at the theater, that book is like carefully choreographed theater, with each dancer playing a role, interacting with other members of the troupe. I’d like you to know about the author. His or her background and experience. How we choose the manuscript, and the author, from among the most talented people and best manuscripts we can find, both within our educational community, and in the broader Jewish community as well.

There are the photographs. Did you know we have a photo library of 14,000 images? And did you know that when we can’t find just the right image to convey an idea, keeping in mind that the book might be a 2nd grade holiday book, or a 9th grade history text, we commission a photo shoot, or purchase a photo from an agency? For imagery is key to creating an engaging learning experience for children. Imagery brings me to illustrations. We have no artists on staff. (We practically require our editors not to be able to draw.) We want to hire just the right artist, with the right taste and style, look and feel, for each book. Then we give the artist lots of direction, we look at pencil sketches, revised sketches, color palettes, and preliminary drawings before moving on to final art.

The activities. Activity writing is also an art. Not every author can do it. So we bring in specialists. And our editorial staff is world-class at crafting engaging, thought-provoking activities. Design is key as well. I hope you’ve noticed that there is no Behrman House style. We want each book to look and feel different. It needs to fit the age, and the subject matter. So we contract with outside designers, again the best in the business, to give our books a modern look and feel that will draw kids in.

Fact checking. I can’t tell you how many times we read and re-read a manuscript, then copyedit it, then proofread it. Our staff is thorough. Very, very thorough. A few years ago, the emails flew fast and furious between Springfield, NJ and Israel, as Gila Gevirtz’s friend Yossi made a special trip to the Shalom Tower in Tel Aviv to see if the observation deck was still open to the public. We consulted no less than three Bible scholars to ensure that it was in fact Delilah herself who cut Samson’s hair. And my favorite fact-checking story of all time is when Rabbi Morrison Bial wouldn’t let us use an image of a horse with a rider in its saddle because at the time depicted, stirrups hadn’t been invented yet. Who knows this stuff? Our reviewers do.

That’s just a small slice of what we do. I hope we can begin a conversation so that you can see what goes into our books. If there’s something you’d like to know about, just drop me a note. I’ll look forward to hearing from you and sharing with you some of what happens in our house.

David

Brad Artson in Uganda

September 4, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

Rabbi Brad Artson, Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, wrote to tell us this news:

This summer, I and a delegation of rabbis flew to Entebbe, Uganda, to install the first African rabbi in Subsaharan Africa. Gershom Sizomu is a member of the Abayudaya tribe in Nabagoye Hills. His tribe has considered themselves Jewish for almost a century - crafting beautiful melodies to the Psalms in Hebrew and Lugandan, and fashioning a rich Jewish communal life. Several years ago, his tribe decided to officially join the Jewish people, which they did through the help of a group of Conservative rabbis from the United States and Israel. Now, five years later, Gershom was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and was returning to his home to continue to work with his community and his people.

To be a rabbi in Uganda is far more than a ritual role. In addition to leading one of the several synagogues that make up the social and religious centers of his village, Gershom has been responsible for mobilizing support for a health clinic (one of the first in the region), for installing hydro-electric power, for providing hundreds of nets to protect people from malaria, and countless other improvements for the lives of Christians, Muslims, and Jews throughout eastern Uganda. As a result of his social significance, his installation was attended by about 1500 notable guests - imams, priests and pastors, as well as Ugandan politicians. I flew with a delegation of rabbis to represent the school and the congregations which had provided Gershom and his family with an education and a community during their time in the United States.

While we were there, we also assisted 250 Africans from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa in converting to Judaism. Imagine their thrill (and ours) as we all spent a Shabbat on the hills of Nabugoye, under the shade of the acacia trees, teaching Torah (translated into Lugandan) and sharing stories of Jewish wisdom. His community demonstrated a generosity of spirit, an ability to welcome guests and visitors, and to find their center in the service of God and a life of Torah. We flew home enriched by their dignity, depth, and vision.

– Brad Artson

It was great to see you at CAJE!

August 19, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q5zmJop4Gg

Click to see photos from CAJE
Click here for this video blog on YouTube

Amazing Interns

July 2, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

It was fun to read Sunny Yudkoff’s farewell blog last week. It reminded me of all the terrific things she’s done since she first came on board as an intern four years ago and then later joined our staff. It was sad to read the blog because we’re sorry to lose Sunny, even if it’s to a Ph.D. program in Yiddish Literature at Harvard. And it reminded me of the integral part our internship program has come to play at Behrman House.

Since we started the program, we’ve been blessed with some wonderful college students who have enriched our work and our lives, and have helped bring engaging books and other materials into Jewish schools. Sunny was with us for two summers, then after obtaining a Masters degree at Oxford, joined our full-time staff until last week, when she left to return to academia.

Vardit Haimi-Cohen was our very first intern (at the time we weren’t even sure we’d have enough for her to do!); after graduation she crossed the Ivy League tracks, graduating from Yale to work in the Harvard Library’s Judaica Division. And we still keep in touch. In fact, Vardit will be the voice of Rahel in software that we will release in about a year.

Sam Weinreich, who like Sunny spent two summers with us, will finish at Williams this coming year, studying Classics (and Sanskrit). Lisa Bonnifield has graduated from Duke (with high honors, I’ll have you know!); she’s working with economically disadvantaged kids through the Teach for America program. And as I write this, Carrie Klapper is busily at work on our photo library of 14,000 images, doing photo research for upcoming early childhood materials and ensuring that we can continuing to include the most engaging and professional images in our books. Carrie will go back to the University of Pennsylvania in the Fall, and if experience is any guide we may continue to see the benefits of her talents for some time to come.

So why do I write this? It’s of course sad when someone who has become part of our family leaves us, and I write to acknowledge that and give testimony to Sunny’s particular talent and contribution. She’s a remarkable individual and deserves nothing less. And I also write to celebrate the strength of the program, and acknowledge all that it brings to us and to the educators we serve. We’ve come to count on this annual infusion of youth and imagination; we know that the program will continue to be important to us, to the work we do, and to our interns themselves.

And lastly, I write to say to you that when next summer grows a bit nearer (yes, it’s far away, though there’s no harm in planning), if you know of a talented college student who would like to make a tangible contribution to Jewish education, and learn about publishing in a hands-on environment, you know who to call.

Reflectively,

David

So Long, Farewell!

June 19, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

Behrman House has fed me well.

From my first summer as an intern in 2004 to this year as an editor, I?m pretty sure that I have eaten 25+ meals on Behrman House?s tab?not to mention the countless number of ice cream cones, slices of chocolate cake, and donuts that make their way into the kitchen. (For those who don?t know, the Behrman House customer support and editorial staff are self-identified foodies. And, Behrman House generously supports our cause).

This Friday marks my official transition from Behrman House editor to full-time graduate student in the field of Yiddish literature. On Sunday, I?ll be flying to Tel Aviv to take part in a ten-day Yiddish research seminar for beginning graduate students hosted by the Goldreich Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture at Tel Aviv University. Come fall, I?ll be starting my doctoral courses at Harvard where I?ll be studying under Professor Ruth Wisse (who also happens to be a Behrman House author).

Before I head out, I want to say thank you to Behrman House for providing me with all types of sustenance?both literal and professional. Whether working on early childhood material for the Look at Me series, writing activities for the Teach Me Torah Teaching Guide (coming July 15th!), or crafting ?In the Classroom? techniques (check out 5 Ideas for a Tasty and Terrific Tu B?Shevat), I?ve come to rely on the constructive comments, thoughtful feedback, and open ears of my colleagues. I will miss them.

Have a wonderful summer,
Sunny

Why the Israeli Secret Service Has My Business Card

May 30, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

Everyone knows it’s unwise to take photos of the Israeli Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem. But who knew that taking a photo of an apartment building diagonally across the street could get you into trouble with the Israeli Secret Service. Not me.

There I was in Israel last week, camera in hand, capturing a shot that I thought had potential for use in our books: an Israeli flag draped over a balcony, covered in laundry. I was already planning the caption: “Who needs a flag when you don’t have clean socks?”—or something like that.

The Israeli Secret Service didn’t like it. Two polite young men in dark glasses questioned me for 15 minutes about why I was taking the photo. Didn’t I know that the Rosh Hamemshalah lived across the street? Why was I in Israel? Where was I staying? For how long? Why was I interested in this particular building?

Talking into their sleeves, they called in my passport number. They had me click through every photo I’d taken in Israel—on two cameras (we’re talking hundreds of photos).

I tried to explain what I do for a living and why I was taking the photo and that I’m a good citizen but it was only when I gave them my business card (see, I’m official!) that they wished me, “Have a nice day,” and sent me on my way. Although they didn’t make me delete the photo, I’ve decided it’s not good enough to include in a book. But on a blog, hey, it’s just fine.

My Yom Ha’atzma’ut Routine

May 8, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

Yom Ha’atzma’ut (Israel Independence Day) provokes many emotions for me. I am astonished by Israel’s beauty, proud of Israel’s accomplishments, worried about Israel’s future, and dumbfounded by Israel’s miraculous existence.

For the past 10 years I have a Yom Ha’atzma’ut routine. I reflect on how great it is to be an American Jew. I ponder if there has ever been a better time and place to live as a Jew. And then, I try to understand how this became so.

My thoughts quickly turn to my Aba. I think, “Israel only exists because of underground soldiers like my Aba. And if Israel did not exist, what would it be like to be an American Jew?”

My father Joseph A. Poisson was born in Berlin, Germany in 1930 and immigrated with his parents and brother a few years later as Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. He was recruited to the Irgun at the age of 14 and fought with them and his fellow Israelis from 1944-1948. Then, as most members of the underground, he became part of the Israeli armed forces. He attended Yeshiva in B’nai-Brak, in addition to his secular education. In 1960 he moved to the United States where he married and now has 4 children and 16 grandchildren.

Growing up we never heard the war stories from my Aba, but about ten years ago, he wrote his life story up until the age of 18. He wrote it for his mishpachah (family) and he titled it Lev el Lev (From Heart to Heart.) I would like to share two excerpts from my Aba’s life in 1948, which have become part of my Israel Independence Day ritual readings.

The Conquest of an Arab Village: Yehudiye

Yehudiye was situated not far from the city of Lod, near the Ben Gurion airport. On May 3rd, 1948, I received orders to go out to battle in Yehudiye. The next day we had to report at 6.00 A.M. at our meeting place. Read more.

From the Seder to Jaffa

It was the eve of Pesach, the Seder. Our family was seated around the table, on the Seder-night of 1948, the Festival of unleavened bread and of freedom. We recited Kiddush; we thanked the Lord who has chosen us from all peoples and has raised us high above all nations and has made us holy by His commandments…Read more.

Two Anniversaries and a Birthday

May 2, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

Debbie Shai blows out her candles At Behrman House we look for any reason to have lunch. Yesterday we had a triple reason: Debbie Shai from our customer support team turned the big FIVE-O (she gave me permission to tell!); Vicki Weber, editor and creator of the just-published Teach Me Torah, celebrated her 5th anniversary working here, and Gila Gevirtz, Executive Editor and author of the brand-new Jewish History: The Big Picture, hit ten successful Vicki Weber reads a card from her colleagues and productive years with the firm.

Excellent Thai cuisine, warm speeches, and the BEST chocolate and vanilla cupcakes!

Enjoy photos from the event. Gila Gevirtz celebrates 10 years

Involving Young Children in the Passover Seder

April 11, 2008 Behrman House News No Comments

Below you’ll find six activities to help enrich the experience of three- to six-year-olds at the seder table by engaging them and keeping them entertained. Enjoy!

1. I Spy: Throughout the seder, we point to Passover foods and ritual objects before discussing their significance. Transform this process of identification into an enrichment activity with a game such as “I Spy.”

For example, when the seder leader introduces the seder plate, announce to young children, “I spy something round on the table” or “I spy a plate that has parsley and maror on it.” You might play this game with a variety of items, such as matzah, haroset, a haggadah, or Elijah’s and Miriam’s cups. Feel free to personalize the activity, for example, “I spy something squishy and soft that Grandma Barbara gave to you” (answer: a pillow).

2. “Lotsa’ Matzah”: Before the Seder begins, tell young children that they have a seder mission: to count the number of times the word “matzah” is said and to call out “lotsa matzah” each time the word is mentioned. This assignment will help young children stay engaged throughout the length of the seder and add a bit of fun to a matzah-filled meal.

3. Mini-Seder Chorus: Before the seder, teach young children the words or tune to one of the Passover songs, such as “Dayeinu.” Then, encourage children to sing along during the seder. Children also may have learned playful songs in a Jewish pre-school or kindergarten, for example, “Frogs Were Jumping Everywhere” or “Let My People Go.” For the music and lyrics to these songs, visit www.totshabbat.com.

4. Plague Plaques: During the reading of the ten plagues, distribute 10 home-made signs to the children, each with the name and picture of a plague (alternatively, distribute “Plague Finger Puppets” that can be purchased at local Judaica stores). As the leader reads off the plagues, involve the children in the seder by having them stand and hold up their signs.

5. Seder Helpers: Enlist young children to help serve as Seder Helpers. Create name tags for them that list their new titles. For example, they might help bring the seder leader a towel to dry his or her hands during the Rachtzah section of the seder (the washing of the hands). The Seder Helpers might also help distribute matzah before the Motzi Matzah section in which a blessing is said over the matzah.

6. Another Four Questions: After the Four Questions are read or sung, ask young children to pose their own set of Four Questions. Encourage them to be creative. Some sample questions you might suggest include: How was Miriam a heroine? How would you have felt living in Egypt? What is your favorite part of the seder (aside from the meal!)? If the children are too young to pose their own questions, consider asking these questions yourself and give them the opportunity to voice their opinions and ideas.

We hope that these activities will allow even the youngest seder participants to learn from the seder rituals, have fun with their families, and look forward to next year’s celebration! Chag sameach

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OnLion

Behrman House is facebooking!

Making Mosaics and Making Books

Brad Artson in Uganda

It was great to see you at CAJE!

Amazing Interns

So Long, Farewell!

Why the Israeli Secret Service Has My Business Card

My Yom Ha’atzma’ut Routine

Two Anniversaries and a Birthday

Involving Young Children in the Passover Seder

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