Special Holiday Edition: Spreading Light With Words and Deeds
A new essay, end-of-year giving, and other literary matters
Dear friends,
Happy Chanukah and/or Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating this week. May we use this holiday season to spread some light with words and deeds. First, a few literary-related announcements:
I have a new essay out: “My Truth” - I’ve mentioned Writing on the Wall here before, so it was an honor when William Kolbrener reached out asking me to submit something for their Scarred issue. I don't usually think about scars (other than a few minor ones I received after a bike accident), but I took it as a prompt, started journaling a bit, and if you read it, you’ll see how I turn the theme around. Thanks to everyone who has shared this on Facebook or elsewhere.
Last call to take part in my annual Readers’ Choice survey, where you can list your five favorite books of the year. (Note: the books do not need to have been published in 2024…just your five favorites). I’ll publish the results in my January newsletter.
As for my Chanukah - it doesn’t look like we’ll have all of our kids home, even for one night - but I’m looking forward to celebrating a wedding and a few parties with dear friends.
Spreading light with words
Readings
The Jewish Fiction Journal’s Chanukah issue is out, with 12 new stories, originally written in 5 languages. I was grateful to see this email from Jewish Fiction in my inbox yesterday and shared on Facebook today:
To enrich your holiday experience, we now share with you four Chanukah stories about, or set on, Chanukah, taken from our archive and made available free of charge in celebration of the holiday: Chanukah, What is Chanukah?, Rock of Ages*, and Jack of Hearts. We hope these Chanukah-relevant stories add to your holiday pleasure.
*That’s my story :-), Rock of Ages, published back in 2021.
The Green Golem, a Zionist literary magazine, also has a Chanukah issue out, featuring poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including “Mansion over the Town Fields,” a story by the late Jewish Russian refusenik author David Shrayer-Petrov.
Holiday gift guides
Since beginning this newsletter nearly five years ago, I’ve curated several lists on Bookshop, any of which could serve as a great holiday gift guide for the readers in your life. There are 189 general books I’ve recommended in the newsletter, 126 books by authors hosted by Literary Modiin, 59 books to read for Jewish American Heritage Month or Canadian Jewish Heritage Month, 33 books by Israeli women, and of course, my very own book, The Book of Jeremiah, which makes a great gift for your kooky grandfather, your professor, your sister, or anyone else in your life. :-) (Here’s the Bookshop link, or get your signed copy here).
Spreading light with deeds (& funds)
It’s the end of the year, and I’ve been asked by a few people for suggestions of where to donate in Israel. There are so many worthy causes it is difficult to choose, but here are a few great options:
Helping to rebuild Kibbutz Kfar Azza - one of the (many) Gaza envelop communities devastated on October 7th, home of my daughter’s friends Alon Shamriz, z”l, and Gali and Ziv Berman, 27-year-old twin brothers who are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Leket - Israel’s national food bank. In normal times, Leket rescues surplus agricultural produce from farms and packing houses and excess cooked food from hotels, corporate cafeterias and IDF army bases for redistribution through a network of 296 nonprofit organizations feeding 330,000+ Israelis in need each week. Since Oct 7th, Leket has been instrumental in helping Israel’s struggling agricultural sector while continuing to feed those in need. Donate here. Volunteer opportunities here.
United Hatzalah (Ichud Hatzalah) - a community-based volunteer emergency medical services organization committed to providing the fastest response to medical emergencies across Israel, often before an ambulance can arrive, and completely free of charge.
ERAN provides Lifesaving Emotional First Aid Services, offering initial response and emotional support on the phone and online, while maintaining strict confidentiality and anonymity.
The Road to Recovery - an Israeli Association of volunteers who drive Palestinian patients - primarily children - from checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza for life-saving treatments in Israeli hospitals. (Read my award-winning essay, Under One Sky, about my very occasional volunteering for this organization).
Lone Soldier Center in memory of Michael Levin, z”l - offering Shabbat and holiday meals, housing, adopted families, and support for lone soldiers.
Koby Mandell Foundation - working with bereaved families from October 7, including a Chanukah camp for 400 bereaved kids and a retreat for 52 bereaved couples.
Banishing the darkness
It’s now day 445, and for weeks we’ve been hearing about a potential hostage deal. Halavai, halavai. May it happen soon. To paraphrase one of my favorite Chanukah children’s songs - may we banish the darkness and together be a strong light.
I’ll leave you with two nice pictures from my week.
Until next time, b’sorot tovot. Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas to those celebrating. May our hostages return home, our soldiers stay safe, and may we see peace and dignity for everyone in the region soon. Am Yisrael Chai.
A small way to support my work: Since June 2019, I’ve hosted the monthly Literary Modiin author series, and since April 2020, I’ve been putting out this monthly newsletter. Both represent a significant amount of effort for me, but I love talking about books and promoting other authors, and I’m committed to keeping both of these things FREE for all. I do incur some expenses to keep these up, however, so if you have enjoyed the Literary Modiin events and/or if you enjoy the newsletter or both, and you’d like to support my work in some small, tangible way, I’d be grateful if you’d click on the “Buy Me a Coffee” link below. (If you can’t, that’s fine too)! I appreciate your continued support for these events, book recommendations and my literary musings.
Request: If you’ve read (and liked) The Book of Jeremiah, please help me out by writing a brief review on Amazon or wherever you purchase books online. It can be as simple as one or two lines. Thank you!
Julie Zuckerman's debut novel-in-stories, The Book of Jeremiah, was published in May 2019 by Press 53. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in CRAFT, Tikkun, Jewish Women’s Archives, Crab Orchard Review, The Coil, The SFWP Quarterly, Ellipsis, MoonPark Review, Sixfold, and The MacGuffin, among others. She is the founder and host of Literary Modiin, a monthly author series celebrating fiction, memoir and poetry with Jewish content. A native of Connecticut, she lives in Israel with her husband and four children. www.juliezuckerman.com