Greenberg Families Library Hours
- Monday-Thursday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
- Friday – Saturday: Closed
- Sunday: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
You must have an active SJCC or Greenberg Families Library membership to access the Library.
To purchase a Greenberg Families Library Membership click here.
Related Pages
Use of the library is included in your Soloway JCC membership!
- The latest Jewish Fiction and Non-Fiction available without long wait lists
- Extensive collection of books for children and young adults
- Foreign and English language DVDs including TV series, movies and documentaries
- MusicCDs from klez to classical to contemporary
- Israeli books and movies
- Computers available for use
To access our extensive collection click here to search the catalogue.
- Click on the Greenberg Families Library link and then hit the catalog button to begin searching.
Carlie MacPherson
Senior Librarian
(613) 798-9818 ext: 245
library@jccottawa.com
Greenberg Families Library Policies and Procedures
Effective July 2022, the Greenberg Families Library no longer accepts book donations.
Borrowing Books
You must have an active SJCC or Greenberg Families Library membership in order to borrow items.
Material requests will be held for a maximum of one week. Holds on new releases, or those with a waiting list of more than 3 people will be held for a maximum of 4 business days.
Find everything on our shelves from home using Greenberg Families Library Online Catalog
Book Return
The library’s book return box is outside the doors of the library.
All policies, procedures and operating hours are subject to change. Patrons will be notified of any updates.
Upcoming Events and Programs
Author Talk: Robert Wolf – Not a Real Enemy
Join the Greenberg Families Library and AJA 50+ for a Zoom talk by Rob Wolf, MD about his book, Not a Real Enemy. Not a Real Enemy tells the amazing story of Robert Wolf’s father who was living as a Jewish man in Hungary when the Nazis, and later the Communist Russians seized power. A true story of one of the most unknown chapters in the Holocaust, following the transformation of a young man as he confronts antisemitism, cruelty, kindness, despair, and hope in his journey toward freedom. In all, four escapes, two from Nazi Hungary and two from Communist Hungary.
Tuesday, March 11
10:15-11:15 am
Via Zoom
$10
Register here.
Carlie’s Creations: Paper Quilling for Beginners
Paper Quilling for Beginners is a hands-on, creative workshop designed to introduce newcomers to the intricate art of paper quilling. In our second session, we’ll build on foundational techniques to craft nature inspired designs. This program fosters creativity, precision, and patience, providing a relaxing yet rewarding artistic experience. Missed our first session? No worries! You’re still welcome to join and explore the beauty of paper quilling. All supplies included in the fee.
Wednesday, March 26
6:30-8:30 pm
$20
Register here.
Crafternoons in the Library
Whether your child is a budding artist or simply loves to explore new materials, this program encourages open play and fosters a love for art. No registration required, just drop in to Library and let the crafting begin! All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Sunday, 1:00-2:30 pm
- April 6
- May 4
- June 1
New Titles
DVD
White Bird
Struggling to fit in at his new school after being expelled for his treatment of Auggie Pullman, Julian is visited by his grandmother and is transformed by the story of her attempts to escape Nazi-occupied France during World War II.
GRAPHIC NOVEL
Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz: A Graphic Family Memoir of Trauma & Inheritance by Ari Richter
Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is an act of self-discovery and the resuscitation of historical memory. At its heart is the intersection of a genocidal political moment in 20th-century history and the author’s own family history. Told from the perspectives of four generations of the author’s family, spanning pre-war Germany to post-Trump America, it is both a celebration of Jewish cultural resilience and a warning of democracy’s fragility in the face of the seductive forces of authoritarianism.
Part travelogue, part memoir, part historic retelling, author Ari Richter recreates his family’s journey leading up to and extending beyond the Holocaust. Relying on extensive genealogical research and his family’s archiving, Richter illustrates the lives of his grandparents while reflecting on the burden of a storyteller to carry on these legacies. Harrowing and humorous in equal measure, this evocatively drawn graphic novel will be discussed for generations to come.
FICTION
Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff
London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe—and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war.
Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history. The necklace leads them to discover the dark history of Lévitan—a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi prison—and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there, torn apart from her husband when the Germans invaded France. Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the department store, and Franny’s death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever. Inspired by the true story of Lévitan, Last Twilight in Paris is both a gripping mystery and an unforgettable story about sacrifice, resistance, and the power of love to transcend in even the darkest hours.
Other new titles:
- Bronshtein in the Bronx by Robert Littell
- The Lady of the Mine by Sergei Lebedev
- Let’s Call Her Barbie by Reneé Rosen
- This Is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer
NON-FICTION
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison
Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery.
Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him. He’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Tracy Morgan), the “great and powerful Oz” (Kate McKinnon), “some kind of very distant, strange comedy god” (Bob Odenkirk). Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time.
With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes readers behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever. Drawn from hundreds of interviews—with Michaels, his friends, and SNL’s iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd—Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life and have a profound impact on American culture.
Other new titles:
- Ayn Rand: Writing a Gospel of Success by Alexandra Popoff
- Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning by Peter Beinart
- The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai by Dianne Ashton and Melissa R. Klapper
- Lincoln and the Jews: A History by Jonathan D. Sarna and Benjamin Shapell
- The Many Lives of Anne Frank by Ruth Franklin
- Shylock’s Venice: The Remarkable History of Venice’s Jews and the Ghetto by Harry Freedman
- To You I Call: Psalms Throughout Our Lives by Rabbi Jade Sank Ross
- Zen and the Jewish Mind: Koan, Midrash, & the Living World by Rabbi Rami Shapiro
YOUNG ADULT
A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff
COVID lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the low point of A’s life isn’t online school, missing his bar mitzvah, or the fact that his parents monitor his phone like hawks—it’s the weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings his parents all but drag him to.
At SOSAD, A and his friends Sal and Yarrow sit by while their parents deadname them and wring their hands over a nonexistent “transgender craze.” After all, sitting in suffocating silence has to be better than getting sent away for “advanced treatment,” never to be heard from again.
When Yarrow vanishes after a particularly confrontational meeting, A discovers that SOSAD doesn’t just feel soul-sucking… it’s run by an actual demon who feeds off the pain and misery of kids like him. And it’s not just SOSAD—the entire world is beset by demons dining on what seems like an endless buffet of pain and bigotry. But how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?
JUVENILE
The Keeper of Stories by Caroline Kusin Pritchard
A library is a keeper of stories. A keeper of memories. A keeper of hope. But what happens when that keeper is threatened?
When a fire broke out at New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary library in 1966, firefighters raced to the rescue. But by the end of the day, thousands of books had been turned to ashes and the ones that remained were on the brink of ruin. The community was devastated. Would the priceless stories in those waterlogged pages be lost forever? Or could helping hands from every background and corner of the neighborhood come together to become keepers of stories, too?
This powerfully told and lushly illustrated true story is a welcome example of how we all can come together to keep libraries and the books within safe for generations to come.
Other new titles:
- The Keeper of Stories by Caroline Kusin Pritchard
- Shabbat Shalom: Let’s Rest and Reset by Suzy Ultman
- Ten Purim Bears by Ron Atlas
- What Shape Is Your Bagel? A First Book of Jewish Food by The Macaroons
Libby – Digital and Audiobooks
The Libby app is the easiest way to get started with digital and audiobooks from your public library!
Download the free Libby app on any device to get started or visit libbyapp.com
Why Libby is your perfect reading companion:
- Eliminate wait lists for your favourite titles.
- Read or listen on your phone, tablet, or other e-reader.
- Make any text large print and adjust lighting settings for ebooks.
- Change the playback speed or set a sleep timer for audiobooks.
- Questions? Speak to your librarian, or get help in the app from the U.S.-based Libby support team.
- Install Libby for Android, iOS, or Fire tablets from overdrive.com/apps/libby. Or, visit libbyapp.com in your Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge browser.
- Email the Greenberg Families Library to set up your login credentials (library@jccottawa.com)
- In Libby, follow the prompts to find your library and sign in with your email.
- Browse your library’s collection and borrow a title.
- Borrowed titles appear on your Shelf and download to the app automatically when you’re on Wi-Fi, so you can read them when you’re offline.
- Tap Open In Libby, Open Audiobook to start reading or listening in the app.
- Tap Manage Loan to see options like Renew Loan and Return Early.
Happy reading!
Sefer Torah 1336
This is Sefer Torah 1336, the Ivanovice Scroll
Having arrived in Ottawa on permanent loan from the Memorial Scrolls Trust in Westminster, England, Sefer Torah 1336 was dedicated in 1998 and installed in the Soloway Jewish Community Centre’s Greenberg Families Library in April 2001. Where it has been ever since.
Sefer Torah 1336 comes from the town of Ivanovice, now part of the Czech Republic. Ivanovice is located approximately 7km from the district town of Vyskov. Until 1918, Ivanovice and the region were part of the Austrian Empire. Between the two World Wars, and during the postwar communist era, it was part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia.
History of the Jews in Ivanovice
It is unclear precisely when Jews first settled in Ivanovice, however, tombstones dating from the 17th century indicate that by that point there were a significant number of Jews living there. By 1727, a synagogue had been built. By the mid-20th century the majority of the Jews in the community spoke German.
In 1848, Jews throughout the Austrian Empire were emancipated and received full civil rights. Restrictions on movement were also removed, which led to a migration of Jews to larger towns and cities in search of more economic and educational opportunities. This resulted in a population decline of the Jewish community of Ivanovice. In 1857, the Ivanovice Jewish community’s population peaked at 483, which was approximately 20% of the town’s total population. However, by 1922, this population had decreased to only 80 members. By 1930, the Jewish population had dropped to just 64.
The Jews of Ivanovice and The Holocaust
When the 1938 Munich Agreement was enacted the Republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved and in March 1939, the region of Bohemia and Moravia became a protectorate of Nazi Germany. This ushered in a period of discrimination and violence against the Jews of the area.
While we do not know for sure, it is most likely that the Jews of Ivanovice were deported to the Terezin (Theresienstadt) Ghetto along with the Jews of Brno around the end of 1941. From there, they would have been sent to a number of concentration and death camps. Jewish life was not renewed in Ivanovice after the war.
The Looted Torahs
During the Second World War the Nazis looted many items, including Torah from damaged Synagogues and stored them near Prague. After the war some 1,100 were recovered. Those that could be repaired were, but those that were not sparked a debate about what to do with them. It was determined that these Torahs would be used for educational purposes, displayed in Jewish Centers, museums, archives, schools, etc. around the world as a memorial and reminder of the Holocaust.
While we are unsure of the original provenance of Sefer Torah 1336, we believe it could have come from this Synagogue. This synagogue was active from the early 19th century until the outbreak of the Second World War. The Synagogue was reconstructed in 1951 but has since been converted into a Czechoslovak Hussite Church.
As written by Rabbi Kassel Abelson:
“A notice was sent to synagogues, museums, colleges and similar institutions throughout the world offering such a scroll on condition that they be kept on perpetual display as a reminder of the Holocaust. Over four hundred synagogues, museums, colleges, etc., have received such Torahs and keep them on display as a reminder of the Holocaust.”
For information on other Memorial Torah Scrolls please visit www.memorialscrolltrust.org
