Jewish Book Council Gives Five Awards for Best 1953 Books

The Jewish Book Council of America, at its annual meeting today, announced five awards for the best works of Jewish interest in the fiction and juvenile fields in 1953. It also elected Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik, Newark, as president.

The $250 Harry and Ethel Daroff Memorial Fiction Award went to Charles Angoff, New York, for his novel, “In the Morning Light.” The $250 Isaac Siegel Memorial Award for 1953’s best Jewish juvenile in English was given to Miss Deborah Pessin, New York, for her history, “The Jewish People.” The three Harry Kovner Memorial Awards of $100 each went for Ephraim E. Lisitzky, New Orleans, for his book of Hebrew poetry, “In Negro Tents”; Harry H. Fein. Boston, “for English Jewish poetry,” and Eliezer Greenberg, New York, for his volume of Yiddish poetry, “Night Dialogue.”

The Council awarded testimonial scrolls to a number of individuals and organizations for their efforts on behalf of Jewish literature. Dr. Judah D. Eisenstein, noted scholar and editor, was honored on the occasion of his 100th birthday with a testimonial which noted that he had “contributed greatly to Jewish scholarship by editing over 20 encyclopedic volumes, including the ten-volume Hebrew Encyclopedia, “Otzar Yisroel.”

A testimonial scroll was also granted to the National Jewish Welfare Board for its work on behalf of the Council and its services to its affiliated Jewish Community Centers “on the occasion of the Centennial of the Jewish Community Center movement.” Cited in addition were the Bloch Publishing Company, oldest Jewish book publisher in this country, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its founding, and Dr. Sol Liptzin, retiring president of the Book Council.