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
Sassy, Smart, and Seriously Good Stories with Sara Goodman Confino
Postponed
More details coming soon.
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, June 1
1:00-2:30 pm
New Titles
DVD
Remembering Gene Wilder
This loving tribute to Gene Wilder celebrates his life and legacy as the comic genius behind an extraordinary string of film roles, from his first collaboration with Mel Brooks in The Producers, to the enigmatic title role in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, to his inspired on-screen partnership with Richard Pryor in movies like Silver Streak.
It is illustrated by a bevy of touching and hilarious clips and outtakes, never-before-seen home movies, narration from Wilder’s audiobook memoir, and interviews with a roster of brilliant friends and collaborators like Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, and Carol Kane. Remembering Gene Wilder shines a light on an essential performer, writer, director, and all-around mensch.
- Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Assassin
- The Good Half
FICTION
The Wild Date Palm by Diane Armstrong
From a bestselling Australian author comes a gripping novel of espionage, passion and sacrifice set in the Middle East during World War I. Based on an astonishing true story, it asks: what are you willing to die for?
For readers of Geraldine Brooks, Heather Morris and Alli Parker. During a train journey across Turkey’s Anatolian Plain in 1915 during World War I, Shoshana Adelstein witnesses the slaughter of the Armenians and knows she has just come face to face with her destiny. Convinced that her Jewish community in a small outpost of the Ottoman Empire will soon meet a similar fate, she is desperate to save her people.
With Turkey and Britain locked in a global conflict, she orchestrates an audacious plan. Enlisting a group of co-conspirators who include her charismatic lover Eli and her impetuous brother Nathan, this young woman forms a clandestine spy ring. Conquering almost insurmountable obstacles, they risk betrayal, torture and death to spy on the Turks and pass on intelligence to the British to help them win the war.
This epic novel explores the fate of ordinary people whose mission collides with the secret agenda of powerful countries—people ready to risk everything to rescue their communities. But can individuals affect the fate of nations? And when life is at stake, how far will we go to reach the limits of our dreams?
Other new titles:
- Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger
- The Delegation by Avner Landes
- Sons and Daughters by Chaim Garde
- Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory by Iddo Gefen
- Seventeen Spoons by Esther Goldenberg (Desert Songs Trilogy, Book 2)
- The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose (Molly the Maid, Book 3)
- We Would Never by Tova Mirvis
- The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner (available in regular and large print)
- Wedding at the Graveyard: And Other Stories of the Jewish Fantastical by Nilton Bonder
NON-FICTION
On Democracies and Death Cults by Douglas Murray
Murray is not Jewish, and before October 7, he had never lived in Israel. However, he objects to being lied to, and Israel has been on the receiving end of the biggest, deepest, longest lies in history.
Israel’s commitment to fundamental Western values has made it a beacon of progress in a region dominated by authoritarianism and extremism. Israel’s principles vividly contrast with the ideology of Hamas, which openly proclaims its love of death over life.
With incisive moral clarity, On Democracies and Death Cults exposes how the campus left and international establishment confuse this conflict by:
- Calling on Israel for restraint and proportionality, while Hamas commits genocide
- Slandering Israelis as white colonialists, while only a third of Israelis are Jews of European ancestry
- Framing the conflict as oppressor vs. oppressed, when it is really between a thriving multi-ethnic democracy and a death cult bent on its annihilation
Drawing from intensive on-the-ground reporting in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon, Douglas Murray places the latest violence in its proper historical context. He takes readers on a harrowing journey through the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, piecing together the accounts of victims, survivors, and even the terrorists responsible for the atrocities.
If left unchecked, misplaced sympathy could embolden forces that seek to undermine not only Israel, but all of Western civilization.
Other new titles:
- The Jewish South: An American History by Shari Rabin
- Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery by Richard Kreitner
Young Adult
Wicked Darlings by Jordyn Taylor
Aspiring journalist Noa has a secret she’s been keeping. Ever since her sister’s tragic death, she’s felt almost… relieved. Noa and Leah had been locked in competition with one another since childhood, and things came to a head when her sister scored a glitzy internship at a New York society newspaper. Noa can’t help but revel in her newfound autonomy.
But when she gets a lead about the sketchy circumstances surrounding her sister’s untimely death, she knows she needs to investigate—she owes it to Leah. Noa sets out to infiltrate the seedy underbelly of Manhattan high society to investigate her sister’s final days. Along the way, she finds herself entangled with the glamorous Avalons and their close-knit circle of friends and frienemies.
But will Noa be able to resist the allure of the Avalons’ world and uncover a shocking scandal? Or will she find herself in over her head… like Leah?
Other new titles:
- How I Became a Spy: A Mystery of WWII London by Deborah Hopkinson
- Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II by Adam Gidwitz (Operation Kinderspin, Book 1)
- Max in the Land of Lies: A Tale of World War II by Adam Gidwitz (Operation Kinderspin, Book 2)
Young Reader
The Prince of Steel Pier by Stacy Nockowitz
A young teen falls in with the mob and learns a lesson about what kind of person he wants to be.
In The Prince of Steel Pier, Joey Goodman is spending the summer at his grandparents’ struggling hotel in Atlantic City, a tourist destination on the decline. Nobody in Joey’s big Jewish family takes him seriously, so when Joey’s Skee-Ball skills land him an unusual job offer from a local mobster, he’s thrilled to be treated like “one of the guys”—and develops a major crush on an older girl in the process.
Eventually disillusioned by the mob’s bravado and ashamed of his own dishonesty, he recalls words of wisdom from his grandfather that finally resonate. Joey realizes where he really belongs: with his family, who drive him crazy, but where no one fights a battle alone.
All it takes to get by is one’s wits… and a little help from one’s brothers.
Other new titles:
- One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe by Dara Horn (Graphic novel)
- The Trouble With Secrets by Naomi Milliner
Juvenile
Abuela’s Secret Language by Alma Flor Ada
“Una merenda azeremos,” Abuela says to her grandson.
“But I don’t understand,” says the boy.
“It means ‘we will cook together’ in our secret language,” says Abuela.
That evening, Mamá explains that the Spanish Jews took the Ladino language with them when they were forced to leave their homelands in Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition.
“Can I learn the secret language?” the boy asks.
Other new titles:
- A Purr-fect Passover by Jenna Waldman
- Roadside Seder by Anna Levine
- Yes, We’ll Do It! by Dafna Strum
- A Ring for a King: A Tale of King Solomon by Martha Seif Simpson
- A Kids Book About Judaism by M.M. Friedman
- The Secret Recipe by Ilan Stavans
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
