American Jewish Publication Society

The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf among others, JPS is especially well known for its English translation of the Hebrew Bible, the JPS Tanakh.

The JPS Bible translation is used in Jewish and Christian seminaries, on hundreds of college campuses, in informal adult study settings, in synagogues, and in Jewish day schools and supplementary programs. It has been licensed in a wide variety of books as well as in electronic media.

As a nonprofit publisher, JPS develops projects that for-profit publishers will not invest in, significant projects that may take years to complete. Other core JPS projects include the ongoing JPS Bible commentary series; books on Jewish tradition, holidays and customs, history, theology, ethics and philosophy; midrash and Rabbinics; and its many Bible editions and Bible study resources.jps.org

Since 2012, JPS publications have been distributed by the University of Nebraska Press."Regents approve purchase of Jewish books"
''Lincoln Journal Star'', September 9, 2011.Robert Leiter
"A New Chapter for JPS"
''The Jewish Exponent'', September 14, 2011.

History

The first Jewish Publication Society was founded in 1845 in Philadelphia, but was dissolved six years later after a fire destroyed the building and the entire JPS stock. A second, founded in New York in 1873, ended in 1875.

In response to the growing need for English-language Jewish texts, rabbis and lay leaders of the American Jewish community met on June 3, 1888 at a national convention in Philadelphia and founded the Jewish Publication Society.

As JPS moved into the 20th century, membership grew rapidly. After years of meetings, deliberations and revisions, the entire translation of the Bible was finally completed in 1917. This crowning achievement was put to use at the start of World War I, when young Jewish men were given prayer books and Bible readings as they marched off to war.

As Hitler and the Nazi party rose to power during the 1930s, Jews in America resisted anti-Semitism through the power of words. Works such as ''The Decay of Czarism'' and ''Legends of the Jews'' became staples of Jewish literacy and helped to preserve the legacy of European Jewry. JPS also assisted the war effort by supporting refugee employment and resettlement, and by printing pamphlets that were dropped behind enemy lines, at the request of the American government.

During the latter half of the 20th century, JPS published a revised translation of the Bible, books detailing both war atrocities and triumphs, and books with a new-found focus on the State of Israel. Works such as ''The JPS Commentary Series'', ''The Jewish Catalog'' and ''The K'Tonton Series'' were tremendously successful. From 1975 to 1978 A. Leo Levin was its President. In 1985, the newly translated three parts of the Bible (the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms/Writings) were finally compiled into what is now known as the JPS Tanakh