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REPORT OF THE TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR OF THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 1913-1914 JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 421 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OP AMERICA OFFICERS PRESIDENT SIMON MILLER, Philadelphia FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT DR. HENRY M. LEIPZIGER, New York SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT HORACE STERN, Philadelphia TREASURER HENRY FERNBERGER, Philadelphia SECRETARY BENJAMIN ALEXANDER, Philadelphia ASSISTANT SECRETARY I. GEORGE DOBSEVAGE, Philadelphia SECRETARY TO THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE HENRIETTA SZOLD, New York TRUSTEES DR. CYRUS ADLER 3 Philadelphia HART BLUMENTHAL 2 Philadelphia CHARLES EISENMAN 2 Cleveland HENRY FERNBERGER * Philadelphia 2 DANIEL GUGGENHEIM New York 1 JOSEPH HAGEDORN Philadelphia 2 EPHRAIM LEDEEER Philadelphia DR. HENRY M. LEIPZIGER S New York SIMON MILLER2 Philadelphia ! MOBRIS NEWBUKGEE New York JULIUS ROSENWALD * Chicago SIGMUND B. SONNEBORN J Baltimore HORACE STERN * Philadelphia a SAMUEL STRAUSS New York 1 HON. SELIGMAN J. STRAUSS Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 1 CYRUS L. SULZBERGER New York 1 Term expires in 1915. 2 Term expires in 1916. 3 Term expires in 1917. 3 422 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK HON. MAYEB SULZBERGER 8 Philadelphia A. LEO WEIL3 Pittsburgh 2 HARBIS WEINSTOCK Sacramento EDWIN WOLF' Philadelphia HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS 1 ISAAC W. BERNHEIM Louisville REV. DR. HENRY COHEN 3 Galveston 8 Louis K. GTJTMAN Baltimore REV. DR. MAX HELLER * New Orleans 2 Miss ELLA JACOBS Philadelphia S. W. JACOBS • Montreal HON. JULIAN W. MACK * Washington REV. DR. MARTIN A. MEYER 2 San Francisco HON. SIMON W. ROSENDALE = Albany, N. Y. 8 MURRAY SEASONGOOD Cincinnati HON. M. C. SLOSS * San Francisco REV. DR. JOSEPH STOLZ * Chicago HON. SIMON WOLF * Washington, D. C. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE HON. MAYER SULZBERGER, Chairman Philadelphia DB. CYRUS ADLER Philadelphia REV. DB. HENRY BERKOWITZ Philadelphia DR. S. SOLIS COHEN Philadelphia REV. DR. HYMAN G. ENELOW New York DR. HERBERT FRIEDENWALD New York DR. ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER New York FELIX N. GEBSON Philadelphia REV. DR. MAX HELLER New Orleans DR. JACOB H. HOLLANDER Baltimore DR. JOSEPH JACOBS New York RABBI JACOB KOHN New York REV. DB. J. L. MAGNES New York LEON S. MOISSETBT New York REV. DB. DAVID PHILIPSON Cincinnati DR. SOLOMON SCHECHTER New York REV. DB. SAMUEL SCHULMAN New York HON. OSCAR S. STRAUS New York SAMUEL STRAUSS New York The Board of Trustees meets in January, March, May, and October. The Publication Committee meets in the afternoon of the first Sunday in January, February, March, April, May, June, October, NoveinDer, and December. 1 Term expires in 1915. 2 Term expires in 1916. 'Term expires in 1917. 4 JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 423 MEETING OF THE TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR The annual meeting of The Jewish Publication Society of America was held Sunday evening, May 10, 1914, at The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, Broad and York Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. The President of the Society, Mr. Simon Miller, called the meet- ing to order. Mr. I. George Dobsevage, of Philadelphia, acted as Secretary of the meeting. The President read his annual address. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS Ladies and Gentleme-n: The Board of Trustees bids you welcome to the meeting that marks the close of the twenty-sixth year of the existence of The Jewish Publication Society of America. The past year has been one of steady and continuous growth of the Society in point of membership, of sales of books, and of furtherance of the many and varied plans which engage our attention. The report of the Board of Trustees, which is before you, gives but an incomplete picture of what we have accomplished. The figures submitted tell the story of our physical growth as it were, but the projects planned by the Publication Committee and the Board are the real indices to our progress. Our membership is larger than ever before. We now have nearly 12,000 members, of whom about 2970 are new members enrolled during the year. The accessions have been won everywhere. Our foreign membership has grown, particularly in Western Canada. In England, our new agent, The Union of Jewish Literary Societies, has commenced a campaign in our behalf, which, judging from the initial reports, promises acceptable results during the coming year. The suggestion to increase the annual dues from three dollars was considered, but the Board decided to retain the popular subscription rate, and thus assure a wide distribution of our publications. An effort will be made, however, to Induce those who feel that we are doing important work, and who can conveniently pay more than three dollars, to increase their subscriptions. An excerpt from a letter lately received would indicate that such an effort might meet with success. The writer says : " I have, for some time, had a feeling that I was getting too much for my money, so I raise, my subscription to ten dollars annually. I also enclose a check of $3.00 for my nephew, and hope he will continue a member." Three dollars a year, in these days of the high cost of paper, printing, binding, and shipping, do, indeed, not leave a large balance for other necessary expenditures. Our sales of books continue to increase. We sold during the year publi- cations amounting to over $25,000, which is twelve times as much as was realized ten years ago, and about six times as much as five years ago. The total number of books distributed was close to 60,000 copies. From these sales we may safely assume that our books are being read. What is particularly gratifying is the interest manifested in our books by schools, Young Men's Hebrew Associations, and the branches of the Inter- collegiate Menorah Association. We have arranged to supply the Menorah Societies with libraries of our books as well as with some not published by 424 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK us, for the use not only of the Jewish students affiliated with them, but also of the colleges and universities with which these Menorah Societies are connected. The expense has been borne practically by the Publication Society. The Society has also subventioned three eminent Jewish scholars, one who is engaged In the preparation of a new edition of the Talmud Yerushalmi, another who is issuing a new edition of the Midrash Raboa, and a third who is publishing in Hebrew a History of the Jews of Turkey. Last year we published five new books, and were forced, by the demand for them, to reprint eighteen of our older publications. The new publi- cations issued were favorably received by the public and the press. In publishing The Haskalah Movement in Russia, by Rabbi Jacob S. Raisin, and Zionism, by Professor Richard J. H. Gottheil, the Society has introduced a new series to the public. These volumes will be followed soon by mono- graphs on Hellenism, Mysticism, Pharisaism, Rationalism, and Reform Judaism. The Society has, through the publication of The Haskalah Movement, added to its own considerable output dealing with the intellectual and spiritual exploits of the Russian Jews, and the volume on Zionism has sup- plied a long-felt want, a sympathetic yet accurate statement of the most recent movement in Jewry. The Federation of American Zionists has already placed an order for a large number of copies of this book for distribution among its constituency. The Jewish Child's Booh by Katherlne M. Cohen, just issued by the Society In co-operation with the David Sulz- berger Fund of the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia, is the first of a contemplated series of Kindergarten Books. This little volume, with its quaint pictures of Jewish ceremonial life and the appropriate verses accompanying them, will attract young Jewish children. In a few weeks we shall send to our members a new Biblical story entitled The Game of Doey, which is based on episodes in the life of King David. The volume will be attractively illustrated. The AMERICAN JEWISH TEAR BOOK will be published in September, and will contain important articles of timely interest. In December, we shall publish Mr. Norman Bentwlch's biography of Josephus, the great Jewish historian of the first century. Arrangements are being concluded that will enable us to publish additional biographies at frequent and regular Inter- vals. The series will include, among others, biographies of Hillel, Saadia, Judah Halevl, Ibn Ezra, Don Joseph of Naxos, Isaac Abarbanel, Manasseh ben Israel, Elijah Vllna, and Baron de Hirsch. A copiously illustrated volume dealing with Jewish artists is In course of preparation. Mr. Herman Struck, of Berlin, will prepare the European part of the volume, and Mr. Leo Mielziner will treat of American Jewish artists. The Society has numerous projects under advisement. At present there are twenty authors engaged in writing books for us. Thus, we shall soon have the fifth volume of Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, containing the notes, indices, and references; Malter's Saadia; Dubnow's History of the Jews of Russia and Poland, of which half the manuscript is in our posses- sion ; Slousch's Jews of Northern Africa; Friedlaender's General Jewish History, and Vogelsteln's Rome, which is to be the first volume of a new Jewish Historical Communities Series, and which is to include volumes on Prague, Vilna, Cairo, London, Paris, Constantinople, Cologne, Lemberg, and other towns. But all the above-mentioned projects are overshadowed by the new Bible Translation, which will be Issued In 1915. After twenty-one years of C JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 425 labor the translation of the Bible by Jews for Jews has been completed. This marks an epoch for English-speaking Jews. Admirable as was the translation by Leeser, it was the work of one man while our version is the product of the combined scholarship of English-speaking Jewry. It was always our dream to place the Bible within the reach of every Jew, and It has been realized through the munificence of that Prince in Israel, Mr.

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