National Jewish Book Awards

Scholarship

Year	Endowment	Winner	Finalists
2023	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Mira Balberg Fractured Tablets: Forgetfulness and Fallibility in Late Ancient Rabbinic Culture University of California Press	J. H. Chajes The Kabbalistic Tree / האילן הקבלי Penn State University Press Oded Zinger Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt University of Pennsylvania Press
2022	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Jay Michaelson The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth Oxford University Press	Daniel J. Lasker Karaism: An Introduction to the Oldest Surviving Alternative Judaism Littman Library of Jewish Civilization Max K. Strassfeld Trans Talmud: Androgynes and Eunuchs in Rabbinic Literature University of California Press
2021	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Katell Berthelot Jews and Their Roman Rivals: Pagan Rome’s Challenge to Israel Princeton University Press	Melila Hellner-Eshed Seekers of the Face: Secrets of the Idra Rabba (The Great Assembly) of the Zohar Stanford University Press Ari Mermelstein Power and Emotion in Ancient Judaism: Community and Identity in Formation Cambridge University Press
2020	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Sarit Kattan Gribetz Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism Princeton University Press	Moshe Halbertal, Daniel Tabak (trans.) Nahmanides: Law and Mysticism Yale University Press Annette Yoshiko Reed Demons, Angels, and Writing in Ancient Judaism Cambridge University Press
2019	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Eric Lawee Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah: Canonization and Resistance in the Reception of a Jewish Classic Oxford University Press	Michal Bar-Asher Siegel Jewish-Christian Dialogues on Scripture in Late Antiquity Cambridge University Press Alyssa Quint The Rise of the Modern Yiddish Theater Indiana University Press Joshua Teplitsky Prince of the Press: How One Collector Built History’s Most Enduring and Remarkable Jewish Library Yale University Press
2018	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Marcin Wodziński Historical Atlas of Hasidism Princeton University Press	Lynn Kaye Time in the Babylonian Talmud: Natural and Imaged Times in Jewish Law and Narrative Cambridge University Press Vered Noam Shifting Images of the Hasmoneans: Second Temple Legends and Their Reception in Josephus and Rabbinic Literature Oxford University Press Ora Wiskind–Elper Hasidic Commentary on the Torah The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in association with Liverpool
2017	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Dov Weiss Pious Irreverence: Confronting God in Rabbinic Judaism University of Pennsylvania Press	Mark R. Cohen Maimonides and the Merchants: Jewish Law and Society in the Medieval Islamic World University of Pennsylvania Press Eve Krakowski Coming of Age in Medieval Egypt: Female Adolescence, Jewish Law, and Ordinary Culture Princeton University Press Alan Mintz Ancestral Tales: Reading the Buczacz Stories of S.Y. Agnon Stanford University Press
2016	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Benjamin R. Gampel Anti-Jewish Riots in the Crown of Aragon and the Royal Response 1391 – 1392 Cambridge University Press	Sylvie Anne Goldberg; Benjamin Ivry, trans. Clepsydra: Essay on the Plurality of Time in Judaism Stanford University Press Boaz Huss The Zohar: Reception and Impact Littman Library of Jewish Civilization Yishai Kiel Sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud Cambridge University Press
2015	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Christine Hayes What’s Divine about Divine Law? Early Perspectives Princeton University Press	Jason Sion Mokhtarian Rabbis, Sorcerers, Kings, and Priests: The Culture of the Talmud in Ancient Iran University of California Press Benjamin S. Sommer Revelation and Authority: Sinai in Jewish Scripture and Tradition Yale University Press Marc Michael Epstein, ed. Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts Princeton University Press
2014	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel & Lawrence H. Schiffman, eds. Outside the Bible, 3‑Volume Set: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture Jewish Publication Society	Gary Philip Zola We Called Him Rabbi Abraham: Lincoln and American Jewry, A Documentary History Southern Illinois University Press
2013	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Moshe Halbertal Maimonides: Life and Thought Princeton University Press	Ephraim Kanarfogel The Intellectual History and Rabbinic Culture of Medieval Ashkenaz Wayne State University Press
2012	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein The Chosen Few: How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70 – 1492 Princeton University Press	Katrin Kogman-Appel A Mahzor From Worms: Art and Religion in a Medieval Jewish Community Harvard University Press David Ellenson and Daniel Gordis Pledges of Jewish Allegiance: Conversion, Law, and Policymaking in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Orthodox Responsa Stanford University Press Marjorie Lehman The En Yaaqov: Jacob ibn Habib’s Search for Faith in the Talmudic Corpus Wayne State University Press
2011	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Talya Fishman Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures University of Pennsylvania Press	Elisheva Carlebach Palaces of Time: Jewish Calendar and Culture in Early Modern Europe Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
2010	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Dan Miron From Continuity to Contiguity Stanford University Press	Robert Alter The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes W. W. Norton & Company Jeremy Stolow Orthodox By Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the Art Scroll Revolution University of California Press Hillel Halkin Yehuda Halevi Schocken Books/Nextbook Press
2009	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Judy Klitsner Subversive Sequels in the Bible Jewish Publication Society
2008	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Adam Shear The Kuzari and the Shaping of Jewish Identity, 1167-1900 Cambridge University Press
2007	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Moshe Idel Ben: Sonship and Jewish Mysticism Continuum Books
2006	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Jon D. Levenson Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel Yale University Press
2005	Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award	Elliott R. Wolfson Language, Eros, Being: Kabbalistic Hermeneutics and Poetic Imagination Fordham University Press
2004	Jewish Book Council Award	Marc Brettler and Adelle Berlin, eds. The Jewish Study Bible: Tanakh Translation, Torah, Nevi'im, Kethuvim Oxford University Press
2002-2003	Dorot Foundation Award in Memory of Joy Ungerleider	Martin Goodman, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies Oxford University Press
2001	Anonymous Donor	Seth Schwartz Imperialism and Jewish Society Princeton University Press
2000	Anonymous Donor	Ruth R. Wisse The Modern Jewish Canon The Free Press
1999	Anonymous Donor	Jeremy Cohen Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval Christianity University of California Press
1998	Anonymous Donor	Reuven Hammer Entering the High Holy Days: A Complete Guide to History, Prayers, and Themes Jewish Publication Society
1997	Anonymous Donor	David Weiss Halivni Revelation Restored Westview Press
1996	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Marc Saperstein Your Voice Like A Ram's Horn: Themes and Texts in Traditional Jewish Teaching Hebrew Union College Press
1995	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Elliot Wolfson Through A Speculum That Shines Princeton University Press
1994	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Menachem Elon Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principles Jewish Publication Society
1993	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Ephraim Kanarfogel Jewish Education and Society in the Middle Ages Wayne State University Press
1992	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Steven D. Fraade From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre Deuteronomy State Unversity of New York Press
1991	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Gavin Langmuir History, Religion, and Anti-Semitism University of California Press
1990	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Jeremy Cohen """Be Fertile and Increase, Fill the Earth and Master It"" The Ancient and Medeival Career of a Biblical Text" Cornell University Press
1989	Sarah H. and Julius Kushner Memorial Award	Moshe Idel Kabbalah: New Perspectives Yale University Press
1988	Julius Kushner Award	Daniel M. Friedenberg Medieval Jewish Seals from Europe Wayne State University Press
1987	Julius Kushner Award	Reuven Hammer Sifre: A Tannaitic Commentary on the Book of Deutoronomy Yale University Press
1986	Julius Kushner Award	Michael Fishbane Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel Oxford University Press
1985	Julius Kushner Award	Levi Ben Gershon;Seymour Feldman, trans. The Wars of the Lord: Book One--Immortality of the Soul Jewish Publication Society
1984	Julius Kushner Award	S. D. Goitein A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Community of the Arab World, as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza--Daily Life University of California Press
1983	Sarah H. Kushner Memorial Award	Jeremy Cohen The Friars and the Jews: The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism Cornell University Press

Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards

By Year

By Category

Schol­ar­ship

About this award

Mira Bal­berg

J. H. Chajes

Oded Zinger

Jay Michael­son

Daniel J. Lasker

Max K. Strassfeld

Katell Berthelot

Melila Hellner-Eshed

Ari Mermelstein

Sarit Kattan Gribetz

Moshe Halbertal, Daniel Tabak (trans.)

Annette Yoshiko Reed

Eric Lawee

Michal Bar-Asher Siegel

Alyssa Quint

Joshua Teplitsky

Marcin Wodziński

Lynn Kaye

Vered Noam

Ora Wiskind–Elper

Dov Weiss

Mark R. Cohen

Eve Krakowski

Alan Mintz

Benjamin R. Gampel

Sylvie Anne Goldberg; Benjamin Ivry, trans.

Boaz Huss

Yishai Kiel

Christine Hayes

Jason Sion Mokhtarian

Benjamin S. Sommer

Marc Michael Epstein, ed.

Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel & Lawrence H. Schiffman, eds.

Gary Philip Zola

Moshe Halbertal

Ephraim Kanarfogel

Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein

Katrin Kogman-Appel

David Ellenson and Daniel Gordis

Marjorie Lehman

Talya Fishman

Elisheva Carlebach

Dan Miron

From Continuity to Contiguity

Robert Alter

Jeremy Stolow

Hillel Halkin

Judy Klitsner

Adam Shear

The Kuzari and the Shaping of Jewish Identity, 1167-1900

Moshe Idel

Jon D. Levenson

Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel

Elliott R. Wolfson

Language, Eros, Being: Kabbalistic Hermeneutics and Poetic Imagination

Marc Brettler and Adelle Berlin, eds.

The Jewish Study Bible: Tanakh Translation, Torah, Nevi'im, Kethuvim

Martin Goodman, ed.

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies

Seth Schwartz

Imperialism and Jewish Society

Ruth R. Wisse

The Modern Jewish Canon

Jeremy Cohen

Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval Christianity

Reuven Hammer

Entering the High Holy Days: A Complete Guide to History, Prayers, and Themes

David Weiss Halivni

Revelation Restored

Marc Saperstein

Your Voice Like A Ram's Horn: Themes and Texts in Traditional Jewish Teaching

Elliot Wolfson

Through A Speculum That Shines

Menachem Elon

Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principles

National Jewish Book Awards

Scholarship

Mira Balberg

Jay Michaelson