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National Jewish Book Awards 2009

The 2009 National Jewish Book Awards went to We Remember With Reverence and Love: American Jews and the Myth of Silence After the Holocaust, 1945 – 1962 by Hasia R. Diner (American Jewish Studies), Rethinking European Jewish History by Jeremy Cohen and Moshe Rosman (Anthologies and Collections) and The Fall of a Sparrow: The Life and Times of Abba Kovner by Dina Porat (Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir), with winners in 15 more categories.

Winners

American Jewish Studies

  1. We Remember With Reverence and Love: American Jews and the Myth of Silence After the Holocaust, 1945 – 1962 by Hasia R. Dinersource (opens in a new tab)

Anthologies and Collections

  1. Rethinking European Jewish History by Jeremy Cohen and Moshe Rosmansource (opens in a new tab)

Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir

  1. The Fall of a Sparrow: The Life and Times of Abba Kovner by Dina Poratsource (opens in a new tab)

Children's and Young Adult Literature

  1. The Other Half of Life by Kim Ablon Whitneysource (opens in a new tab)

Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice

  1. Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End by Daniel Gordissource (opens in a new tab)

Fiction

  1. Gratitude by Joseph Kertessource (opens in a new tab)

History

  1. Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America by Beryl Sattersource (opens in a new tab)

Holocaust

  1. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933 – 1945 , Volume 1 by Geoffrey P. Megargeesource (opens in a new tab)

Illustrated Children's Book

  1. JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible by Ellen Frankelsource (opens in a new tab)

Jewish Book of the Year

  1. Louis D. Brandeis: A Life by Melvin I. Urofskysource (opens in a new tab)

Jewish Family Literature

  1. Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Spring and Summer Holidays by Paul Steinbergsource (opens in a new tab)

Modern Jewish Thought and Experience

  1. Covenant and Conversation, A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Genesis: The Book of Beginnings by Chief Lord Sackssource (opens in a new tab)

Poetry

  1. The Book of Seventy by Alicia Ostrikersource (opens in a new tab)

Scholarship

  1. Subversive Sequels in the Bible by Judy Klitsnersource (opens in a new tab)

Sephardic Culture

  1. We Look Like the Enemy: The Hidden Story of Israel’s Jews from Arab Lands by Rachel Shabisource (opens in a new tab)

Visual Arts

  1. Action/Abstraction: Pollack, De Kooning, and American Art, 1950 – 1976 by Norman L. Kleeblattsource (opens in a new tab)

Women's Studies

  1. Mitzvah Girls: Bringing Up The Next Generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn by Ayala Fadersource (opens in a new tab)

Writing Based on Archival Material

  1. The Holocaust in the Soviet Union by Yitzhak Arad, translated by Ora Cummingssource (opens in a new tab)

About the National Jewish Book Awards

Winners and finalists in every book category from Jewish Book Council's past-winners page for each year. Year is the award year JBC labels each list with, which is the books' publication year: the 2025 awards (the 75th) were announced in February 2026. Category names are JBC's as printed for that year, so they shift over time. JBC lists winners only for 2006, 2008 and 2009, and one finalist for 2007. Excluded: Lifetime Achievement, Mentorship and JBC Modern Literary Achievement awards, which honor people; the 2007 My People's Prayer Book series and the 2014 Jewish Lives series, which are series rather than single books. A book that won two categories appears once in each. Author fields name writers, or editors when a book has no writer; illustrators and foreword writers are left out.

Organization: Jewish Book Council. Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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