As Jews continue to digest October 7, anthologies offer a buffet of food for thought

In June, writer and publisher Zibby Owens was reflecting on the straits the US Jewish community had passed through over the last several months.

Owens has always been drawn to books; her step-grandfather owned his own mini printing press and she had written from a young age. Now she sought the words to capture what she and other Jews were feeling in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.

The result is “On Being Jewish Now,” a collection of essays released by Owens’s boutique publishing house Zibby Books in October, which grapples with what it means to be Jewish in the US and how Jewish life has changed there since the Hamas attack.

“I’ve been feeling so frustrated,” said Owens, who lives in New York City and has been facing antisemitism and anti-Zionist hate for months, particularly in the book world. “This book is just the beginning, to shake off the shock of last year and start acting and gathering and mobilizing.”

“On Being Jewish Now” is just one of several anthologies published recently that bring together a breadth of voices looking back at the unprecedented assault on Israel and its aftermath, offering prayers, thoughtful essays and largely positive messaging.

Seventy-five contributors wrote pieces within a four-week timeline for “On Being Jewish Now,” which was published as an ebook and audiobook (narrated by contributors) in October, followed by a trade paperback in November.

“We ended up with such a diverse group of contributors, including a Black Jewish man, someone who’s secretly Jewish, a writer who’s Jew-ish, a huge range of points of view and the collection ended up being about how different Jewish people can be,” said Owens. “I was surprised by how much I cried as I read them, even the funny ones. But it’s been that kind of year.”

All proceeds from the tome, edited by Owens, will be donated to Artists Against Antisemitism, a nonprofit founded by Owens and 32 other female writers in the wake of the Hamas attack to spread awareness against antisemitism and help others combat the phenomenon.

Owens, the daughter of Blackstone private equity billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, also owns an indie bookstore in Santa Monica, California.

Zibby Books publishes one book each month, usually literary fiction and memoirs, though not usually anthologies. Owens is no stranger to the format, though, having found success with the 2021 publication of “Moms Don’t Have Time To,” which brought together essays on parenting and more during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

That anthology was quickly followed up with a sequel, and “On Being Jewish Now” has also continued to make waves after its publication. Owens is now publishing several related pieces each week in her Substack, with writers ranging from college students to 90-year-olds.

“I feel so much more hopeful,” said Owens. “People just wanted to gather and be together. It’s hard to get people to pay attention, but this is a book that people need.”

Preach, sister

For some, prayer has been one way of finding succor and relief from the tragedies and anguish of the last 14 months.

“Az Nashir – We Will Sing Again” (The Layers Press) is an anthology of prayers and liturgical poems written by women of faith, offering the artistic expression of Torah scholars, teachers, spiritual leaders, activists, poets, writers and other creatives in reaction to October 7 and the ongoing war.

The book was edited by Rachel Sharansky Danziger, Anne Gordon and Shira Lankin Sheps, three friends from a writing group who initially thought they would put together a 40-page pamphlet, or “a little project,” in Gordon’s words. The end result was a bit more ambitious, clocking in at 558 pages of prayers, art and more, published in September to coincide with the High Holidays.

“More and more people came out of the woodwork and had powerful things to say and at length,” said Gordon.

(Gordon is deputy editor of Ops and Blogs for The Times of Israel. Sharansky Danziger and Lankin Sheps both blog on The Times of Israel’s platform.)

The anthology came together in a few months over the spring and summer, with 55 authors or artists contributing 116 prayers and 30 artworks for the English-Hebrew volume, which is meant as a companion to prayer books, not a replacement.

Some writers sent in more than one piece, as they had more than one angle to share. Others initially expressed discomfort with the task of writing a prayer, but those submissions ended up being some of the most powerful pieces in the anthology, said Gordon.

“It’s a real range of pieces, and not everything will speak to everyone, but I found that each is moving in its own way,” she said.

“There’s a lot of searching and frustration and pain and anger,” said Gordon. “People are angry at God, or questioning, and nothing is Pollyanna here. It’s very true to the real lived experience of this past year.”

Just about every prayer in the book ends on a hopeful note, said Gordon.

“It was a gift of the community for the community,” she said.

“Az Nashir” held several public events to launch the book, including one with Danziger Sharansky’s father, the former politician and Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky.

They plan to continue holding discussions around the book, joining women’s study groups and hosting programs for young women studying in Israeli seminaries.

“There’s enough meat and potatoes in these prayers with allusions to liturgy texts, theodicy and philosophy — and finding bullets in the washing machine,” said Gordon. “That mix of traditional context with modern applications is very rich, and could be fodder for later reflections and examination down the road.”

Reaching for chutzpah

Both “On Being Jewish Now” and “Az Nashir” are strongly influenced by the female perspectives of their editors and contributors, but for stories of Jewish women heroically taking action and battling adversity, there is “Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women.”

Published by Koren Books in November, the anthology contains 100 short, colorful biographies of proud Jewish women who shaped history and helped create a better world, edited by co-authors Tami Schlossberg Pruwer and Julie Silverstein with original portraits by Jewish female artists.

“Chutzpah Girls” isn’t about October 7 per se, but it is heavily colored by the attack and the ensuing war.

“It’s been a journey,” said Schlossberg Pruwer, who lives in Tel Aviv.

She and Silverstein started working on the book before October 7, but shifted direction to meet the challenging times.

“After October 7, the book took on a completely different scope, strengthening Jewish identity as we have to explain impossible stories to children this year,” Schlossberg Pruwer said.

The girls and women included in the book range from lesser-known heroines and activists to household names such as Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, influencer Noa Tishby, designer Judith Leiber, Soviet refusenik Ida Nudel and US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Some heroines from October 7 are included, such as Ofakim’s Rachel Edry, who placated the terrorists who invaded her home with conversation and cookies until police could find a way in to kill them.

All 100 women in the book were driven and led by Jewish values, said Silverstein, a mother of five living in Jerusalem.

Like much of the rest of the country, Silverstein’s distance from the front lines has not kept her from being impacted by the war. Over the last 14 months, some of her kids have lost teachers and some of her friends have lost children, she said.

“We tend to feel so despondent right now, but we had the privilege of writing about Jewish women through this book,” Silverstein said. “They’re the through line of our story and they faced dark moments similar to what we’re facing today.”