Austin Public Library Marks Jewish Book Month with Culture and History Display

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AT THE LIBRARY Books on Jewish Culture And History Available In its final week on exhibit at the Austin Public Library is a display commemorating Jewish Book Month, which ended this past Sunday. The following are some works that portray the Jewish people, its history, culture, and, more specifically, its religion — works for Jews and non-Jews alike. Desider Holisher's "The Synagogue and Its People" is a work that explains and beautifully illustrates the role that the synagogue (the Jewish house of worship) plays in the life of the Jewish congregation and community. Not only the buildings themselves but the heartwarming experiences within are depicted — the observance of the Sabbath, the religious education of Jewish children, the holding of various ceremonies, and the respective roles of the rabbi and layman in the synagogue. The work, edited by Eugene Kohn, "American Jewry: The Tercentenary and After," is a sober evaluation of various aspects of Jewish life in the United States. This is an analysis of the problems and prospects of American Jewry from the standpoint of a writer concerned with the survival of the Jewish people and Judaism. Mordecai Kaplan's "Jews Ask" throws light upon every phase of Jewish life and thought. Emphasis is given to Jewish educational and cultural activities and various phases of religion, ethics, and ritual. The material side of Jewish life is about as vital and enriching, in its own way, as the spiritual. Jewish cookery, for instance, has a wide and well-reputed history among gourmets of all extractions. Exemplifying this phase of Jewish life is Jennie Grossinger's "The Art of Jewish Cooking." This work is equally for the cook who wants to serve a complete Jewish menu and for the cook who simply wants to add variety to her culinary repertoire. Written by a famous hostess of the Grossinger resort in New York, this book has Jewish dishes drawn from many lands. The strictly literary vein of Jewish life is a rich one to mine. Nathan Ausubel's "A Treasury of Jewish Poetry" is a full-scale, comprehensive anthology of Jewish poetry of all times and all places, covering all aspects of life. The poems are presented chronologically within four major divisions: the spirit of man, the Jew in the world, God, and the mind of the Jew. The State of Israel, a new-old state that includes sites holy to Mohammedan, Christian, and Jew alike, has been written of recently by a number of writers, including, among others, Abba Eban and Lily Edelman. Eban, Israeli ambassador to the United States, in his "Voice of Israel," takes the reader back to a year-by-year examination of Israel's fortunes at moments of historic decision. In the course of his discussion, Eban reflects on the inner meaning of Israel's rebirth. Lily Edelman's "Israel" is the story of a people, old and young, of more than sixty nations, now being transformed into a new nation of Israelis. This is the epic of a proud, defiant new people who are rooted in biblical traditions but are seeking to build a modern industrial, atomic-age civilization. Finally there are various works on the Jewish people and religion at the Library that are available for use in the Reading Room only. These works include the four-volume set, "The Jewish People Past and Present" (published by the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation) and the ten-volume set, "Universal Jewish Encyclopedia."