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PunkTorah Secret Book Club Shavuot Fundraiser!

May 29, 2014 by Patrick Beaulier

Our library at PunkTorah has gotten so large (thanks to generous contributions from our friend Mitch) that we no longer have room for our books! Our pain means your gain, which is why we are revamping the PunkTorah Secret Book Club in honor of Shavuot.

When you donate $20.00, you will receive a secret Jewish book in the mail.

Donate $30.00 or more and receive TWO books in the mail!

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Books include works by several Orthodox rabbis, siddurim (prayer books), Jewish ethics/social commentary, music books and more.

100% of the proceeds of this fundraiser go to PunkTorah.org. This offer ends on Shavuot (evening of June 3rd, 2014).

Note that due to increasing shipping costs, this offer is only available in the Continental United States.

This offer ends on

Filed Under: Jewish Media Reviews, Rants Tagged With: book club, cheap jewish books, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, free shipping jewish books, jewish book club, jewish books, jewish books free, judaism book, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Book Reviews: The Apple Tree’s Discovery and How Dalia Put a Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Blue Box

December 30, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

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In each of us is a star, sometimes it just takes a little while to find it. That’s the lesson the little apple tree learns from G-d in The Apple Tree’s Discovery by Peninnah Schram and Rachayl Davis and illustrated by Wendy Lee.

The little apple tree wants more than anything else to have stars on its branches like those that appear to be hanging on the branches of the big oak trees. The apple tree asks G-d in winter, spring, summer and fall for stars upon its branches because it’s the only way it believes it will feel special.

G-d replies “Be patient, little apple tree.” As a year goes by the apple tree grows apples. And yet the apple tree still isn’t satisfied without the stars on its branches it doesn’t feel truly special. G-d causes a strong wind to blow and causes several apples to fall to the ground and split open. What the little apple tree discovers is what was inside of it all along. The Apple Tree’s Discovery is a beautiful story to share and pass on.

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“Tsadee Daled Kof Hay” Do you know what that spells? Well, Dalia in the book How Dalia Put a Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Blue Box teaches her younger brother Yossi what this word means. It means Tzedakah. Dalia tells Yossi, “And it means I’m happy when you’re happy.”
This beautiful picture book written by Linda Heller and illustrated by Stacey Dressen McQueen is a unique and powerful book. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it’s one of the only children’s books written about this important mitzvah. It’s powerful because it teaches children and adults alike how giving can change the lives of others and oneself in the process.

After Dalia learns about tzedakah boxes at school, she goes home and makes one herself. She tells her brother Yossi who is curious about the box that a “big yellow comforter” is in the box. As Dalia goes through the week she does good deeds and always remembers to put a little away in her tzedakah box. Dalia keeps adding new things such as a butterfly bush and banana cream pie to her tzedakah box.

Although adding money to the tzedahak box is a great mitzvah, sharing and doing kindness to others is equally as great. Read this book to find out what Yossi, Dalia and her classmates did to warm someone’s heart.

Reviews by Tamara Levine.

Filed Under: Jewish Kids, Jewish Media Reviews Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, How Dalia Put a Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Blue Box, jewish book review, jewish books, jewish children book, jewish childrens book, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, The Apple Tree’s Discovery

FREE SHIPPING! Shabbat Evening Zine Siddur

June 5, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

The newest multimedia project from PunkTorah, The Shabbat Evening Zine is a zine (short for “magazine”) prayerbook featuring the Friday night Shabbat service in Hebrew, English and transliteration, as well as a Havdalah service and several short essays on the meaning of Shabbat.

If 90’s riot grrl feminists, punks, indie rockers and subversive crafters had a prayerbook, this would be it!

Preview the book by clicking here (some pictures/text removed).

This siddur is only $9.99, now with FREE SHIPPING. You can also order an e-reader version of the zine or a print-and-bind-it-yourself version for only $5.99. All proceeds go to PunkTorah’s general fund.

There are only 30 in stock, so don’t wait! Need more than one copy? Order more than one and we will reimburse your shipping.

PRINTED BOOK: Click here to order

E-READER VERSION: Click here to order

PRINT IT YOURSELF VERSION: Click here to order

Filed Under: Jewish Media Reviews, Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, jewish books, jewish zine, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, prayerbook zine, punk zine, punktorah, punktorah zine, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, religion zine, shabbat, siddur, siddurim, zine, zine making

PunkTorah Will Publish Your Book

May 16, 2011 by Patrick Beaulier

PunkTorah, the Jewish non-profit that brought you the OneShul Community Siddur, Birkat Hamazon: A Community Bencher, Kosher Cocktail Party and The NewKosher Cookbook will be launching a new series of books this August.

And we need you to write them!

So if you’d like PunkTorah to publish your book in one of our digital or print outlets, please send it to us.

Our submission guidelines are pretty simple:

  • Non-fiction submissions must be related to independent Jewish spirituality, culture or learning.
  • Fiction submissions must have Jewish characters or in some way speak to the Jewish experience. Please note that fiction is not one of our top areas of interest, but we are still open minded.
  • We are currently not interested in children’s “picture books” or works which require a lot of illustration (such as art books, zines, etc.)
  • Submissions must be original and not have been published before or released anywhere including online or as a blog series
  • Please, no literary agents. This is DIY, kids.

Before submitting your manuscript, please do the following:

  • Familiarize yourself with PunkTorah, the projects we do and the types of books we have published. When proposing a book, please consider whether it is a good fit for us. I’m sure your book on the history of cheese problems is great, but we’re not the right people for it.
  • Send an email to Ashton@PunkTorah.org with a short “cover letter” describing the work, an outline of the book and some info about who you are and why you think we’re the right people to put out this book

After we read your email, we will decide if we think the book is right for us and ask you to send us the manuscript. If you have any questions, please email us at Ashton@PunkTorah.org

In receiving a submission, we do not assume any duty not to publish a book based on a similar idea, concept or story. We will not consider manuscripts that are currently on submission to another publisher.

We receive a ton of emails every day. If we don’t respond immediately, please don’t email us over and over again. We promise we have it and we are reading it. We’ll get back to you in no more than three to four weeks.

Looking forward to reading your stuff!

Filed Under: Jewish Media Reviews, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: call for artists, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jewish authors, jewish books, jewish publishing, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, request for proposal

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