Braun Library News

To access our Braun Library catalog on-line click here.

Do you want to see what’s in our library?  Click on the link for the catalog on this page.   Try the “Simple Search” option first.  Or select “Advanced Search” from the drop-down menu. If you still need assistance, click on “Help.”  Some of the catalog options are not enabled at this time.  Additional catalog searching information is available in the library.

Thanks go to The Braun Family and Rabbi Rosenthal who made it possible to install ungraded hardware to link the library catalog to the internet through the synagogue web site.  Jacqueline Luna, our library intern, cataloged and  barcoded all of our books and DVD’s.  Check-in and check-out are now automated, too.  Marvin and Elaine Gale provided the initial funding for computerizing the library.

Thank you to our Friends

Our library is grateful to Elaine and Marvin Gale, whose contribution to our current fundraising effort will underwrite the cost of maintaining our software support system for the next two years. The Gales provided the original funding for our software package, allowing us to computerize the library. Their generous new gift insures that we will have the funds to continue providing internet and computerized access to our growing collection for our members, students, and staff. Thank you, Elaine and Marvin.

The library began a low-key fundraising campaign in November. So far, friends of our library have responded enthusiastically to our request with donations that will allow us to pay our library assistant and purchase additional materials to process our books, CDs, and DVDs. Thank you to the following donors:

Ralph Barnes
Susan and Richard Braun
Wendy Falcon
Charlotte Freifeld
Elaine and Marvin Gale
Rory and Mel Goldberg
Susan and Charles Hayman
Seth Krosner and Phil Johnson
Zita and Morris Liebermensch
Roberta and Jerry Litvinoff
Barbara and Mathew Loonin
Marcia and Robert Malkus
Arlene and Daniel Orlansky
Sallie Palash
Margaret Benedict and Randy Philipp
Alina and Ricardo Sanchez
Phyllis and Sam Spital
Edith and Dan Standler
Larry Vigdor

New arrivals for April:

Stories of spectacular courage and faith are featured throughout our library. Our preschool students, inspired by the story of Jonah and the whale, produced the art displayed on our bulletin board. Heroes in our new books and DVDs span the time from the Exodus to contemporary Israel.

New Children’s books

• Oh No! Jonah! by Tilda Balsley. A rhyming version of the greatest fish story.
• Jonah’s Whale, by Eileen Spinelli and Giuliano Ferri. This story, with exciting art, is told from the whale’s viewpoint.

New Adult books

• Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service, by Michael Bar-Zohar. 60 years of secret missions.
• Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars, by Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv. Israeli intelligence from 1948 to Stuxnet.

Classic DVDs

• Exodus, Paul Newman stars in the 1960 film about the founding of Israel.
• The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 epic story of Moses still entertains.

Volunteers needed

Can you spare a couple of hours on Sunday mornings to help staff the library? Email the library or contact the synagogue office if you can help.

Library Hours

The library is open on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. when Torah school is in session. The Book Cart is present in the social hall after most Shabbat services.

Library Fund

Remember to contribute to the Library Fund by contacting the synagogue office or selecting “Library Fund” from the online donation options. For more information, email the library or call the synagogue office at (619) 697-6001.

Five ways you can help our library grow

1. Join the library committee.
2. Contribute to the Library Fund. The library is entirely dependent on contributions to add new books and DVDs to the collection. We want to continue adding the best new literature for Jewish children as well as popular and worthy material for adults. A gift to the Library Fund is a heartfelt way to honor someone or express your sympathy. Library Fund donations are acknowledged in the Shofar, a book plate is placed in a new book noting your gift, and an appropriate letter is sent. To contribute to the Library Fund, contact the synagogue office or select the “Library Fund” from the online donation options.
3. Celebrate a child or teen’s birthday with a Birthday Book Club purchase.
4. Purchase a book or DVD from our Amazon Wish List.
5. Let us know what you want in the library.

Contact

Contact us at library@tiferethisrael.com or by leaving a message with the synagogue office at (619) 697-6001.

The Library Committee

Our library’s mission is to provide Jewish books, DVDs, and CDs for the children, adults, and teachers of our congregation.

A Message from the Rabbi about Our Library

The handwritten and printed word has always been central to the odyssey of the Jewish people. Our primary religious document, the Torah, is still painstakingly copied and preserved as it has been for centuries using the rather primitive tools of bird quill and sheepskin. Torah scrolls are treasured in synagogues throughout the world in much the same form as they were at the time of the Talmud. Jews have always prized large personal libraries and one of the questions a Bet Din asks potential Jews by Choice is, “What Jewish books do you have in your home?”

Tifereth Israel has long been the home of the Braun Library, established by Dr. Richard and Sue Braun. For many years the library has been overlooked and underutilized. This summer a devoted group of volunteers has been working to renew and revitalize it. The Braun Library has been moved closer to the Cohen Social Hall, to room #1 in our school building, outdated books have been culled and new ones ordered. Additionally, acknowledging that learning modalities have changed, the Braun Library will also become a resource center with computers and an audio/visual center for our Silverman Preschool and Abraham Ratner Torah School students, as well as the congregation at large. We look forward to the reopening of the newly renovated Braun Library in the coming months.

Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
The Shofar, November 2009