Celebrating a Century of Jewish Books

November 13 marks the start of a monthlong celebration of Jewish literature, an expansion of the first Jewish Book Week in 1925.

A century ago, Fanny Goldstein, a Russian-Jewish immigrant working as a librarian at the Boston Public Library, noticed Jewish visitors rarely checked out books about their own culture.

With her colleagues’ support, she set up a display in the library and called it “Jewish Book Week.”

In 1943, the week became Jewish Book Month (JBM), organized by the Jewish Book Council.

Every year it is timed to take place 30 days before the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah—a festival that often involves gift-giving.

Leading off this year’s JBM, which runs November 13–December 13, is a new picture book published this week, Fanny’s Big Idea: How Jewish Book Week Was Born, written by Richard Michaelson and illustrated by Alyssa Russell (Rocky Pond Books).

Author summary: Jewish Book Month celebrates a century.

Publishers Weekly — 2025-11-04

Celebrating a Century of Jewish Books

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