Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature

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Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature
Sami Rohr Prize Final Logo file.png
Awarded forrecognising the unique role of contemporary writers in the transmission and examination of the Jewish experience, and to encourage and promote outstanding writing of Jewish interest.
CountryUnited States
First award2007
Website samirohrprize.org

The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is an annual prize awarded to an outstanding literary work of Jewish interest by an emerging writer. Previously administered by the Jewish Book Council, it is now given in association with the National Library of Israel.

Contents

History

In 2006, the family of Jewish philanthropist Sami Rohr honored his lifelong love of Jewish learning and great books by establishing the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature on his 80th birthday. At its inception, the $100,000 prize was the largest literary prize in North America. [1] The second place winner receives the Jewish Literature Choice Award of $25,000. [2]

The annual award, first awarded in 2007, alternates between honoring fiction and non-fiction and seeks to promote writings of Jewish interest, and to encourage the examination of Jewish values among emerging writers. [3] [4] Awardees are honored at an August ceremony at the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. [4] The award was administered by the Jewish Book Council, before being given in association with the National Library of Israel. [4]

In 2023, Israeli author Iddo Geffen won the prize, the first time it was awarded to the author of a Hebrew-language work and its translator, Daniella Zamir. The award to a translated work represented an effort to expand the reach of the prize to non-English works. [4]

Honorees

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature honorees
YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
2007 Tamar Yellin The Genizah at the House of ShepherWinner [5] [6]
Michael Lavigne Not MeRunner-up [5] [6]
Amir Gutfreund Our Holocaust Runner-up [5] [6]
Yael Hedaya AccidentsShortlist
Naomi Alderman Disobedience Shortlist
2008 Lucette Lagnado The Man in the White Sharkskin SuitWinner [7] [8]
Eric Goldstein The Price of WhitenessRunner-up [7] [8]
Ilana Blumberg Houses of StudyRunner-up [7] [8]
Haim Watzman A Crack in the EarthShortlist
Michael Makovsky Churchill's Promised LandShortlist
2009 Sana Krasikov One More YearWinner [9] [10]
Dalia Sofer The Septembers of Shiraz Runner-up [9] [10]
Elisa Albert The Book of DahliaShortlist
Anne Landsman The Rowing LessonShortlist
Anya Ulinich PetropolisShortlist
2010 Kenneth B. Moss Jewish Renaissance in the Russian RevolutionWinner (tie) [11]
Sarah Abrevaya Stein Plumes: Ostrich Feathers, Jews, and a Lost World of Global Commerce [11]
Lila Corwin Berman Speaking of Jews: Rabbis, Intellectuals, and the Creation of an American Public IdentityShortlist
Ari Y. Kelman Station Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United StatesShortlist
Danya Ruttenberg Surprised by God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love ReligionShortlist
2011 Austin Ratner The Jump ArtistWinner [12]
Joseph Skibell A Curable RomanticRunner-up [12]
Nadia Kalman The CosmopolitansShortlist
Julie Orringer The Invisible BridgeShortlist
Allison Amend Stations WestShortlist
2012 Gal Beckerman When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet JewryWinner [13]
Abigail Green Moses Montefiore: Jewish Liberator, Imperial HeroRunner-up [13]
Ruth Franklin A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust FictionShortlist
Jonathan B. Krasner The Benderly Boys and American Jewish EducationShortlist
James Loeffler The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian EmpireShortlist
2013 Francesca Segal The InnocentsWinner [14]
Ben Lerner Leaving the Atocha Station Runner-up [14]
Stuart Nadler The Book of LifeShortlist
Asaf Schurr MottiShortlist
Shani Boianjiu The People of Forever Are Not Afraid Shortlist
2014 Matti Friedman The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible Winner [15]
Sarah Bunin Benor Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox JudaismRunner-up [15]
Eliyahu Stern The Genius: Elijah of Vilna and the Making of Modern JudaismShortlist [16]
Nina S. Spiegel Embodying Hebrew Culture: Aesthetics, Athletics, and Dance in the Jewish Community of Mandate PalestineShortlist [16]
Marni Davis Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of ProhibitionShortlist [16]
2015 Ayelet Tsabari The Best Place on EarthWinner [17]
Kenneth Bonert The Lion SeekerRunner-up [17]
Yelena Akhtiorskaya Panic in a SuitcaseShortlist [18]
Boris Fishman A Replacement LifeShortlist [18]
Molly Antopol The UnAmericansShortlist [18]
2016 Lisa Leff The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the HolocaustWinner [19]
Yehuda Mirsky Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of RevolutionRunner-up [19]
Aviyah Kushner The Grammar of God: A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the BibleShortlist
Dan Ephron Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of IsraelShortlist
Adam Mendelsohn The Rag Race: How Jews Sewed Their Way to Success in America and the British EmpireShortlist
2017 Idra Novey Ways to DisappearWinner [20]
Daniel Torday The Last Flight of Poxl West: A NovelRunner-up [20]
Rebecca Schiff The Bed Moved: StoriesShortlist [21]
Paul Goldberg The YidShortlist [21]
Adam Ehrlich Sachs Inherited Disorders: Stories, Parables & ProblemsShortlist [21]
2018 Ilana Kurshan If All the Seas Were Ink: A MemoirWinner [22]
Sara Yael Hirschhorn City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler MovementRunner-up [22]
Chanan Tigay The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt For The World's Oldest BibleShortlist [23]
Yair Mintzker The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court JewShortlist [23]
Shari Rabin Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth-Century AmericaShortlist [23]
2019 Michael David Lukas The Last Watchman of Old CairoWinner [24]
Dalia Rosenfeld The Words We Think We KnowRunner-up [24]
Rachel Kadish The Weight of InkShortlist [25]
Mark Sarvas Memento ParkShortlist [25]
Margot Singer Underground FugueShortlist [25]
2020 Benjamin Balint Kafka's Last Trial: The Case of a Literary LegacyWinner [26]
Sarah Hurwitz Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life--in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There)Shortlist
Yaakov Katz Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear PowerShortlist
Mikhal Dekel Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey Shortlist
2022 Menachem Kaiser Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi TreasureWinner [27]
Danny Adeno Abebe , trans. by Eylon Levy From Africa to Zion: The Shepherd Boy Who Became Israel's First Ethiopian-Born JournalistShortlist [28]
Ayala Fader Hidden Heretics: Jewish Doubt in the Digital AgeShortlist [28]
2023 Iddo Gefen , trans. by Daniella Zamir Jerusalem BeachWinner
Anna Solomon The Book of V Shortlist [29]
Mikolaj Grynberg , trans. by Sean Gasper Bye I'd Like To Say I'm Sorry, But There's No One To Say Sorry ToShortlist [29]
Max Gross The Lost ShtetlShortlist [29]
2024 Oren Kessler Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East ConflictWinner [30]
Jeremy Eichler Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of RemembranceShortlist [30]
Michael Frank One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost WorldShortlist [30]
Natalie Livingstone The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous DynastyShortlist [30]

References

  1. ↑ Dennis Hevesi (August 10, 2012). "Sami Rohr, Jewish Philanthropist Remembered by a Writing Prize, Dies at 86". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ Harris, Rachel (2011-05-29). "Jewish Prize for Brooklyn Author". New York Times . Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  3. ↑ Jessica Weinberg (March 15, 2013). "A Dispatch from the National Jewish Book Awards Ceremony". Tablet. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Friedman, Gabe (2023-05-02). "In a first, Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature goes to Hebrew-language author and translator". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Retrieved 13 April 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 Lapidos, Juliet (2007-03-30). "A Chat With Tamar Yellin, Winner of New Fiction Prize". The Jewish Daily Forward. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  6. 1 2 3 "Sami Rohr Prize 2007". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  7. 1 2 3 "Sami Rohr Prize 2008". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  8. 1 2 3 Crown, Sarah (2008-02-13). "Exile's tale takes $100,000 Jewish book prize". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  9. 1 2 "Sami Rohr Prize 2009". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  10. 1 2 "Sana Krasikov wins Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature". The Jerusalem Post . 2009-03-26. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  11. 1 2 "2010 Sami Rohr Prize Winners Announced". Jewish Book Council . 2010-01-26. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  12. 1 2 Oster, Marcy (2011-03-24). "Austin Ratner wins Rohr prize for first novel". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  13. 1 2 "Gal Beckerman Wins $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize". Publishers Weekly . 2012-02-15.
  14. 1 2 Winkler, Joe (2013-04-10). "Novelist Francesca Segal wins Sami Rohr Prize with 'The Innocents'". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  15. 1 2 Kissileff, Beth (2014-01-23). "2014 Sami Rohr Prize Awarded In Jerusalem". Tablet. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  16. 1 2 3 Chandler, Adam (2013-11-07). "'The Aleppo Codex' Nabs the Sami Rohr Prize". Tablet. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  17. 1 2 "Ayelet Tsabari Wins Sami Rohr Prize". The Jewish Daily Forward. 2015-02-23. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  18. 1 2 3 "Sami Rohr Prize 2015". Jewish Book Council . Archived from the original on 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
  19. 1 2 Steinberg, Jessica (2016-06-05). "Sami Rohr prize-winners tell of books that insisted on being written". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  20. 1 2 "Idra Novey wins Sami Rohr prize for Jewish literature". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2017-05-03. Archived from the original on 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  21. 1 2 3 Jewish Book Council (2017-04-03). "2017 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Fellows Announced". Facebook . Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  22. 1 2 "Author Ilana Kurshan wins $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature". The Times of Israel . 2018-06-06. Archived from the original on 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  23. 1 2 3 Zax, Talya (2018-04-30). "Sami Rohr Prize Finalists include Ilana Kurshan, Yair Mintzker". Forward. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  24. 1 2 Grisar, PJ (2019-05-01). "Michael David Lukas Wins 2019 Sami Rohr Prize". Forward. Archived from the original on 2019-12-07. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  25. 1 2 3 Grisar, PJ (2019-04-01). "The Sami Rohr Prize For Jewish Literature Announces Its Nominees". Forward. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  26. ↑ Brawarsky, Sandee (2020-05-11). "'Kafka's Last Trial' Garners Prestigious Rohr Prize". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  27. ↑ "Menachem Kaiser wins Sami Rohr Prize for nonfiction". Jewish News Syndicate . 2022-05-19. Archived from the original on 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  28. 1 2 "Finalists announced for best Jewish literature authors of 2022". The Jerusalem Post . 2022-04-26. Archived from the original on 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  29. 1 2 3 Muchnick, Laurie (2023-04-30). "A Prize Recognizes the Riches of Jewish Literature". Kirkus Reviews . Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  30. 1 2 3 4 Jerusalem Post Staff (2024-04-17). "Oren Kessler awarded Sami Rohr Prize for 'Palestine 1936,' receives $100,000". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 2024-04-23.
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