When updates to Marcia Posner’s Juvenile Judaica stopped being issued in 1995, librarians, teachers, parents, and other users lost an authoritative single source of information and selection guidance for children’s books of Jewish content. With more books of this type being published each year, the need became ever more pronounced. As Jewish values have become an increasingly important concept in Jewish education, both formal and informal, the responsibility to create a new guide was recognized and assumed by Dr. Posner and the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL), the author and publisher respectively of Juvenile Judaica. The capabilities and widespread use of computers enabled the publication of this new work on the Internet, with access and searching methods greatly improved and much more versatile than those of the print versions.

The purpose of AJL’s New Jewish Valuesfinder is to identify the Jewish values found in contemporary Jewish children’s books. Librarians, teachers, and parents concerned with character development and Jewish continuity look for them and this guide will make their search easier. Subject headings are also given for each title as well as descriptive and bibliographic information. The subject headings that are used are based on those of the Weine Classification Scheme for Judaica Libraries, Revised Edition (Association of Jewish Libraries, June 1999). The list of Jewish values was developed by the editor, drawing on numerous sources, both printed and those gained from the experience and advice of colleagues. Any errors or omissions in either list or in any other part of the guide are solely the responsibility of the editor. Comments or suggestions from users about any aspect of the guide are invited and may be sent to Contact Us.

For all of their guidance, expertise, knowledge, and support, I am very grateful to my fellow Judaic librarians, to my co-workers at the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, to the Association of Jewish Libraries, and above all, to Dr. Marcia Posner whose love of books, dedication to Jewish libraries, and confidence in my ability to carry on her work inspire me.

Think “middot” – moral qualities. Think “mitzvot” – commandments or good deeds. Think “musar” – instruction. Then, think “mensch” – decent person. These are the ideas and the ideals that express the meaning of the term “Jewish values” as it is conceptualized and used in The New Jewish Valuesfinder.

What makes a value Jewish? Louis Jacobs’ book, The Jewish Religion: A Companion (Oxford University Press, 1995), clarifies that important question. Jacobs writes: “Basic to all the higher religions are ideals corresponding closely to those described as Jewish. Non-religious, as well as religious, ethical thinkers have expounded the worth of humility, truth, love, and compassion. If the adjective “Jewish” is used the intention is to suggest: (a) that these values receive a special kind of emphasis in the Jewish tradition, a Jewish way of looking at them, and (b) that they are no remote ideals but are a real, vital force in the lives of Jews” (p.574).

Jewish teaching, Jewish law, Jewish tradition and Jewish history all embrace a remarkably constant set of beliefs and behaviors that can be called Jewish values. Along with the positive ones - love G-d, study Torah, beautify the mitzvah, pursue justice– there are negatives: do not speak lashon hora; do not humiliate others; do not destroy. Practice the positive, reject the negative, and the moral qualities you possess will make you a mensch. Not necessarily rich, or handsome, or famous but, better than all of those, a mensch.

To be included in this guide, a book must meet the following criteria:

It is written for children from preschool through high school. Age levels for each book are given: PS (Preschool), PRI (Kindergarten – Grade 2), ELE (Grades 3 – 5), MS(Grades 6 – 8), HS (Grades 9 – 12). The designation ADULT is given when the audience for the book includes adult family members. It meets recognized standards of literary and artistic quality within a range from outstanding to acceptable. Annotations will point out weaknesses in literary or artistic quality when appropriate. It has Jewish content exemplified by character, time, place, or theme, or it was originally written in Hebrew. The Jewish content is presented accurately, authentically, and with sensitivity to Jewish concerns. To be fully appreciated by children, it merits introduction by a knowledgeable librarian, teacher, or parent. It has potential for use in the curricula of Jewish day schools and supplementary schools in one or more denominations of North American Judaism. It is not a textbook, a reprint, or self-published.

In a few cases, titles that do not meet the above criteria are included because of their relevance to Jewish issues or their current importance.

 

Children’s books of Jewish content that meet the above criteria are or will be included in the database. Most of the books in the New Jewish Valuesfinder are in English, but a few Hebrew translations from English are included, as well.   Picture books, fiction, non-fiction, and biography were considered for inclusion but not reference works such as encyclopedias or almanacs. If users have questions about a particular title or about any aspect of the Valuesfinder, they are invited to contact the editor.

Each book entry contains the following fields: author, title, illustrator, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, number of pages, ISBN, a brief annotation, age level(s), its Jewish values, its subjects, and if it won a Sydney Taylor Book Award. Each of the fields is searchable.

Although guiding users to Jewish values in Jewish children’s books is the main purpose of The New Jewish Valuesfinder, other pages are posted on the website such as links to interesting websites, a bulletin board for reporting on what’s new in the world of Jewish children’s books, announcements of children’s book awards, and notable children’s books.

 

Linda R. Silver, the editor of The New Jewish Valuesfinder, has a Master’s of Library Science from Case Western Reserve University. She is also the editor of Developing a Judaic Children’s Collection: Recommended Books and Videos (Association of Jewish Libraries, 2001), of the children’s book review section of Jewish Book World, the co-editor of children’s book reviews of the AJL Newsletter, a columnist for Jewish Education News (CAJE), and librarian of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.