National Jewish Book Awards

The National Jewish Book Awards is the longest-running North American awards program of its kind in the field of Jewish literature and is recognized as the most prestigious. The awards, presented by category, are designed to give recognition to outstanding books, to stimulate writers to further literary creativity and to encourage the reading of worthwhile titles.

The National Jewish Book Awards program began in 1950 when the Jewish Book Council presented awards to authors of Jewish books at its annual meeting. The first book awarded the prize was Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Harry Austryn Wolfson. Among the past notable literary winners are Sonia Levitin, Howard Fast, Chaim Grade, Samuel Heilman, John Hersey, Bernard Malamud, Cynthia Ozick, Chaim Potok, Arthur A. Cohen, Philip Roth, I.B. Singer, Michael Chabon, Lauren Belfer, and Elie Wiesel.

In addition to the category awards, every year since 2002, one non-fiction book has been selected as the winner of the Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award. The last winner was Daniel Gordis. With such prominent, influential thinkers participating in the program, the awards have a significant impact on American Jewish cultural life.

The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is an annual prize awarded by the Jewish Book Council to an outstanding literary work of Jewish interest.

Staff Pick Badge
The Lost Shtetl: A Novel By Max Gross Cover Image
$20.99
ISBN: 9780062991133
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: HarperVia - October 5th, 2021

NJB 2020: BOOK CLUB


Florence Adler Swims Forever: A Novel By Rachel Beanland Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781982132477
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Simon & Schuster - June 1st, 2021

NJB 2020: DEBUT FICTION


Apeirogon: A Novel By Colum McCann Cover Image
$19.00
ISBN: 9780812981933
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - February 2nd, 2021

NJB 2020: FICTION


NJB 2020: AMERICAN JEWISH STUDIES

NJB 2020: HISTORY

NJB 2020: WOMEN STUDIES


Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times By Jonathan Sacks Cover Image
$30.00
ISBN: 9781541675315
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Basic Books - September 1st, 2020

NJB 2020: JEWISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 

NJB 2020: MODERN JEWISH THOUGHT & EXPERIENCE


When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains By Ariana Neumann Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781982106386
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Scribner - November 3rd, 2020

NJB 2020: AUTOBIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR


From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History By Nancy Sinkoff Cover Image
$36.74
ISBN: 9780814345108
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Wayne State University Press - March 10th, 2020

NJB 2020: BIOGRAPHY


Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail By Leslea Newman, Susan Gal (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Leslea Newman, Susan Gal (Illustrator)
$17.99
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ISBN: 9781580898829
Published: Charlesbridge - January 28th, 2020

NJB 2020: CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK


Judaism for the World: Reflections on God, Life, and Love By Arthur Green Cover Image
$32.00
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ISBN: 9780300249989
Published: Yale University Press - September 22nd, 2020

NJB 2020: CONTEMPORARY JEWISH LIFE & PRACTICE


Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps By Sarah Bunin Benor, Jonathan Krasner, Sharon Avni Cover Image
$40.19
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ISBN: 9780813588735
Published: Rutgers University Press - July 17th, 2020

NJB 2020: EDUCATION & JEWISH IDENTITY


The Unanswered Letter: One Holocaust Family's Desperate Plea for Help By Faris Cassell Cover Image
$16.99
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ISBN: 9781684511907
Published: Regnery History - June 8th, 2021

NJB 2020: HOLOCAUST


The Blackbird Girls By Anne Blankman Cover Image
$8.99
ISBN: 9781984837370
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Puffin Books - January 19th, 2021

NJB 2020: MIDDLE GRADE LITERATURE


Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism By Sarit Kattan Gribetz Cover Image
$56.25
ISBN: 9780691192857
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Princeton University Press - November 17th, 2020

NJB 2020: SCHOLARSHIP


Forging Ties, Forging Passports: Migration and the Modern Sephardi Diaspora (Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture) By Devi Mays Cover Image
$38.40
ISBN: 9781503613218
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Stanford University Press - August 25th, 2020

NJB 2020: SEPHARDIC CULTURE


Blood Libel: On the Trail of an Antisemitic Myth By Magda Teter Cover Image
$51.60
ISBN: 9780674240933
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Harvard University Press - January 28th, 2020

NJB 2020: WRITING BASED ON ARCHIVAL MATERIAL


The Way Back By Gavriel Savit Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781984894625
Availability: Not in stock at Boswell. Available to order.
Published: Knopf Books for Young Readers - November 17th, 2020

NJB 2020: YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE