The Jewish people are known as the People of the Book. In fact, the written word for Judaism has an essential time and region where it developed its comprehensive importance. After the loss of the Temple and kingdom, the Jews no longer had a homeland. They had to create for themselves a spiritual home. Jewish written tradition, which is rooted in the Torah, was expanded at this time with the development of rabbinic texts. Thus, rich literature was created. The Jewish people lived in the Scripture.

And today? The “Jewish Book Festival” addresses the question, what Jewish literature actually is, what it can be, and what it should be. Writers, rabbis, scholars and journalists – all those whose medium is language – examine the numerous styles of Jewish literature together with and for an audience. The spectrum is wide and includes many diverse topics, as well as different languages, in which Jewish literature may be found. We are delighted that at this year’s Book Festival, we are able to present publications in German, Hebrew, Russian and Turkish.

The community center of the Duisburg Jewish Community sits on the inner harbor, which, from its architecture, recalls an “open book,” providing this event with a seemingly “destined” location.

This is a project from the Duisburg Jewish Community and The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The “Jewish Book Festival” is taking place this year for it’s fourth time. We thank The National Association of the North-Rhein Jewish Communities for generously supporting this tradition.

We wish you all an exciting time at the festival and “a good read!”

Your Jewish Book Festival

Translation by Molly Fried