Exciting! Two wonderful new books by outstanding women released by Lioness Books
Our Names Do Not Appear, by Judy Lev (Labensohn), and Kol Halev: A Jewish Chaplain's Handbook, both great additions to the Jewish bookshelf, are coming out in June
I’m thrilled to announce that two wonderful new books by inspiring authors are to be released this June by my indie publishing house, Lioness Books and Media, both of which will make exciting new additions to the Jewish feminist bookshelf, each in its own unique and beautiful way.
Stirring new memoir uncovers the lifelong impact of silenced childhood grief
Judy Lev (Labensohn), Our Names Do Not Appear, (Lioness Books)
Release date (print edition): 19 June 2023
ISBN: 978-1-957712-07-9
When childhood grief is silenced, mourning lasts a lifetime.
Veteran author and writing teacher Judy Lev (Labensohn) brings us the touching 70-year-old story about the death of Joey, her baby brother, and its devastating impact on her family history. In a moving memoir that blends fact, fiction, and personal essays, the Pushcart Prize nominee longs for closure, while grappling with sadness and anger.
The process of uncovering family secrets buried for decades launches a journey into imaginative grief-processing, in which Lev crafts alternative scenarios to Joey’s life and death. Lev introduces imagination as an integral part of grieving. Our Names Do Not Appear invites readers to witness the complexity of silenced childhood grief that persists and confuses for decades.
What people are saying about Our Names Do Not Appear:
“Our Names Do Not Appear is a vivid memoir of the heroine’s quest for an understanding of the void left in her life by the infant death of a younger brother. Reaching across the decades, and spanning cultural distances between Cleveland and Jerusalem, her quest leads her in the end to an intimate re-imagining of her own experience of family trauma. A richly moving story of a woman’s growth to insight and compassion.”
— Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, author of The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious
“Held captive by a familial tragedy she cannot remember, the writer liberates herself through constructing an astonishing narrative. Judy Lev renders her younger brother’s forgotten death in striking prose, engages the fictive imagination in the father’s first-person narrative, and employs an analytic intellect in courageous personal essays. Our Names Do Not Appear is a bold literary tour de force that transcends genre—a searing triumph of postmodernism!”
— Allen Hoffman, author of the Small Worlds series.
“How do you tell a complex family story of love, loss, secrecy, grief, revelation, and forgiveness? Judy Lev’s answer is through a multiplicity of forms and genres. In this lyrical, imaginative hybrid memoir, she pieces together the story of her baby brother’s brief life, a taboo subject in her family, through letters and documents, the fictionalized version of her father’s experience of Joey’s birth and death and the introspective story of Lev’s quest to reach a deeper understanding of her parents and herself. Our Names Do Not Appear is an engrossing, brilliantly written jewel of a book.”
— Lisa Knopp, author of The Nature of Home: A Lexicon and Essays
“Our Names Do Not Appear recounts the solving of a personal and deeply troubling family mystery story—part investigation, part imaginative tale. It unfolds as an engrossing, gorgeous, and intimate account of a woman’s life-long passage from childhood innocence through haunting grief to a mature reckoning with self and family, leading us through Jewish tradition, culture, and history to a place of peace and enlightenment—for both the author and the reader. A powerful and moving story, a book that matters.”
— Philip Gerard, author of Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life
“In a woven trilogy, a triple elegy, part fairy tale, part investigative journalism, Our Names Do Not Appear moves from 1950s Ohio to end-of-century Jerusalem. Lev’s tender alchemy of forgiveness and love is a triumph of the spirit and the imagination.”
— Marcela Sulak, Co-author of Family Resemblance: An Anthology and Exploration of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres
About the Author
Judy Lev (Labensohn) is an award-winning author, writing teacher, and
Pushcart Prize nominee. She spent thirty years writing this book. A former
Clevelander, Lev has lived in Israel since 1967. This is her first book.
For a review copy of Our Names Do Not Appear, contact me at elana@lionessbooks.com
Groundbreaking new resource for Jewish chaplains, written by two Maharat-trained rabbis, is sure to become a vital tool for Jewish clergy
Rabbi M. Chava Evans and Rabbi Eryn London,
Kol Halev: A Jewish Chaplain’s Handbook (Lioness Books)
Release date: 4 June 2023
ISBN: 978-1-957712-10-9 (print) ISBN: 978-1-957712-09-3 (ebook)
This pioneering new book will provide a much-needed resource for those dedicated to the holy work of healing and comfort-giving in the field of chaplaincy.
Kol Halev: A Jewish Chaplain's Handbook, is a thoughtful collection of prayers, meditations, and rituals used by Jewish chaplains and chaplains serving Jewish clients during some of the most emotionally delicate moments in people's lives. This comprehensive volume, which covers a broad range of events and circumstances such as birth, pre-op, post-op, illness, anxiety, and death and dying, includes vital information about each prayer, gentle explanations of how prayers are used, and personal reflections by the authors. Each text is brought in its original language, many of which are in Hebrew, followed by transliterations, translations, and easy-to-follow instructions. The sources in the book can be adapted to almost any situation of prayer and reflection. This handbook is sure to become an invaluable resource for the people engaged in this sacred work.
What people are saying about Kol Halev: A Jewish Chaplain’s Handbook
“Kol Halev: A Jewish Chaplain's Handbook is a wonderful compilation of essential prayers and rituals used by clergy during some of life's most delicate moments. The easy-to-use volume covers moments of birth, death, and uncertainty with sensitivity, attentiveneness, and wisdom. This book will certainly be a vital resource for chaplains and rabbis. And I am extremely proud to say that the authors, Rabbi M Chava Evans and Rabbi Eryn London, are graduates of Yeshivat Maharat!”
— Rabba Sarah Hurwitz, President and Co-Founder, Yeshivat Maharat
“Hospital Chaplaincies often ask me if there's a book specifically designed for Jewish chaplains and caregivers supporting their patients. Until "Kol Ha Lev," I knew of none. Chava and Eryn have created an invaluable resource. This comprehensive guide combines traditional and original Jewish prayers, offering tools to address diverse spiritual needs. It also bravely provides a menu of suggestions for modern Jewish Chaplains in public spaces to best serve patients of all faiths and none, leaving the choice to the user. I highly recommend Kol Ha Lev."
— Rabbi Alex Goldberg, Dean of Religious Life and Belief, Surrey University
“It is inspirational to be aware of the years of experience which have gone into compiling this essential resource for all practitioners of Jewish pastoral and hospital work. At its heart are deeply moving and spiritual original prayers composed by the authors themselves. ‘I try to remind my colleagues and patients that they themselves are sources of blessing.’” (Rabbi M. Chava Evans)
— Rabbi Michael Hilton, author, Rabbi Emeritus of Kol Chai Hatch End Reform Jewish Community, a lecturer at Leo Baeck College London and a Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester.
About the authors
Rabbi Eryn London is a freelance Jewish educator, chaplain and rabbi living in London. She is involved with a number of projects within the UK and the global Jewish community. She received her ordination from Yeshivat Maharat.
Rabbi M. Chava Evans is a chaplain, artist, poet, and liturgist who received her ordination from Yeshivat Maharat.
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For more information or to request a review copy:
Contact Dr. Elana Sztokman
Lioness Books
elana@lionessbooks.com
www.lionessbooks.com
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