Basic HTML Version
1 9 7 4
NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS
1 8 3
Bernard H. Marks who for many years was associated with the
Hebrew Publishing Co. and has been active in Jewish educa
tional and Zionist circles. He is a dynamic member of the Jew-
wish Book Council’s Executive Board. We are grateful to Mr.
Marks for initiating this award since many outstanding Jewish
historians merit the recognition which the award brings.
The judges were three professors of Jewish history: Dr. Robert
Chazan of Ohio State University; Dr. Sidney B. Hoenig of Yeshi-
va University and Dr. Yosef Yerushalmi of Harvard; and they
were unanimous in recommending for the award Professor Ber
nard D. Weinryb for his book,
T h e Jew s o f P o land : A Social and
E co nom ic H istory o f the Jew ish C omm un ity in P o land from
11 0 0 to 1 8 0 0 ,
published by the Jewish Publication Society of
America. Dr. Weinryb came to the United States at the begin
ning of the 1940s. After a few years as head of the Jewish Teach
ers’ Seminary in New York, he served as a professor at Brooklyn
College, Columbia University, the Graduate School of Yeshiva
University and Dropsie University, teaching general and Jewish
history or Middle East studies. He is currently with the Rus
sian Research Center of Harvard. He is the author of thirteen
published volumes and about 300 studies in English, Hebrew
and German. His books have been published in Europe, Israel
and the United States.
The first part of Professor Weinryb’s book brings to the era
of pre-Chmielnicki Polish Jewry a lifetime’s research and a crit
ical and novel approach. He also is a historian of religious ideas
and describes Sabbatianism, Frankism and Hasidism. This is a
major historic work on one of the great Jewish communities in
Jewish history.
HARRY AND FLORENCE KOVNER MEMORIAL AWARD
In 1973 the Harry and Florence Kovner Memorial award was
presented for a volume of Yiddish poetry and in 1972 for a vol
ume of Hebrew poems. This year it is being given to a poet who
translated into English from the Hebrew. The late Harry Kov
ner, in whose memory the award is being given together with
his wife, was a Jewish poet of the past generation.
The judges for this award were James Kugel, poetry editor of
Harper’s Magazine;
Ruth Finer Mintz, a poet in her own right
who was a previous recipient of this award, and Dr. A. Alan