Longtime Prozdor instructor and distinguished alumnus Norman Finkelstein received a 2002 National Jewish Book Award in a ceremony at the Center for Jewish History in New York City on October 30. His book was among the 15 works honored this year by the Jewish Book Council, which reviewed over 400 entries.
Winner in the children's literature category, Finkelstein's
Forged in Freedom: Shaping the Jewish-American Experience (Jewish Publication Society, 2002) chronicles in words and photographs the growth of the Jewish community in the United States and its contributions to American culture, politics and economics in the 20th century. A prolific author, teacher and librarian, Finkelstein (
P'57, BJEd'61, MA'86), an alumni class agent, has been on the Prozdor faculty for 22 years. The 1989 recipient of Hebrew College's Louis Hillson Memorial Award for outstanding service as an educator in a Jewish school, he also won the 1999 National Jewish Book Award for
Heeding the Call: Jewish Voices in America's Civil Rights Struggle.
"The ceremony was impressive and humbling," says Finkelstein. "It's a great feeling to be recognized for one's work. My wife, Rosalind, was there, as was my son Robert, a Prozdor graduate."
Dr. Nehemia Polen, Professor of Jewish Thought, also received the award in the autobiography and memoir category for his edited and annotated translation of Malkah Shapiro's memoir,
The Rebbe's Daughter: Memoir of a Hasidic Childhood (Jewish Publication Society, 2002).
Finkelstein adds, "So many great names in American Jewish literature were present. I was most grateful to receive my award and to kvell as Nehemia Polen received his—making it a truly Hebrew College night!"
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