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Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards

Made possible by funding from Jordan Schnitzer and Arlene Schnitzer through the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer Family Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, the Association for Jewish Studies is proud to award eight prizes this year (four winners and four finalists) for the annual Jordan Schnitzer Book Prize.

The categories in the 2020 competition were Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, and Jewish History and Culture in Antiquity; Jews and the Arts: Music, Performance, and Visual; Modern Jewish History and Culture: Europe and Israel; and Social Science, Anthropology, and Folklore. Books published in 2018 and 2019 by AJS members were eligible for submission. The competition had over 100 submissions this year and each category was judged by a committee of expert scholars in their field who chose this year’s winners and finalists. Winners receive a $10,000 prize and Finalists receive a $2,000 prize.

This year’s awards ceremony will be available to all conference attendees to stream through the conference app.

We wish a hearty congratulations to this year’s awardees.

2020 WINNERS

In the category of Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, and Jewish History and Culture in Antiquity

Time in the Babylonian Talmud: Natural and Imagined Times in Jewish Law and Narrative
Cambridge University Press
LYNN KAYE, Brandeis University

In the category of Jews and the Arts: Music, Performance, and Visual

Writing on the Wall: Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity
Princeton University Press
KAREN B. STERN, Brooklyn College

In the category of Modern Jewish History and Culture: Europe and Israel

Prince of the Press: How One Collector Built History’s Most Enduring and Remarkable Jewish Library
Yale University Press
JOSHUA TEPLITSKY, Stony Brook University

In the category of Social Science, Anthropology, and Folklore

The Jews’ Indian: Colonialism, Pluralism, and Belonging in America
Rutgers University Press
DAVID S. KOFFMAN, York University

2020 FINALISTS

In the category of Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, and Jewish History and Culture in Antiquity

Job: A New Translation
Yale University Press
EDWARD L. GREENSTEIN, Bar-Ilan University

In the category of Jews and the Arts: Music, Performance, and Visual

Possessed Voices: Aural Remains from Modernist Hebrew Theater
SUNY Press
RUTHIE ABELIOVICH, University of Haifa

In the category of Modern Jewish History and Culture: Europe and Israel

The Rise of the Modern Yiddish Theater
Indiana University Press
ALYSSA QUINT, YIVO

In the category of Social Science, Anthropology, and Folklore

Fighting for Dignity: Migrant Lives at Israel’s Margins
University of Pennsylvania Press
SARAH S. WILLEN, University of Connecticut


For further information, contact Amy Weiss, Grants and Professional Development Manager, at aweiss@associationforjewishstudies.org.

2008-2023 Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards

2021 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients
2020  Jordan SchnitzerBook Award Recipients
2022 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients
2023 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients
2019 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients
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2014 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients
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2011 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients
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2009 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients
2008 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Recipients