ArtScroll ebooks on iBooks – But what happened to the Kindle, the Nook and the Sony reader!?

Posted on September 15, 2010 by mayerp

We are very excited to be presenting our first round of ArtScroll ebooks to the public. I am sure many of you are wondering – what about the other ebook devices on the market – why just the iBooks app – which only works on the iPhone, iPad and iTouch.  What about Kindle?

Here is the inside scoop:

Sorry I don’t speak Hebrew:
I have been testing various dedicated ebook readers for the past 10 years for ArtScroll – I still have my original RocketReader (paperweight anyone?)!  We have watched the technology slowly evolve over the years  – but until the iPad and iBooks application came out – we simply did not have a platform that could support ALL of the ArtScroll publications. This is due to one critical factor – Hebrew – ArtScroll’s best selling books have Hebrew in them –  and lots of it – and the current popular eReaders on the market (like Kindle and Nook) don’t support Hebrew.  Hebrew on these eReaders either looks like a bunch of little squares or the letters are backwards and there is no Nikkud – the little vowel marks.

Our goal was simple – find a device that supported interspersed Hebrew and English (Right to left and Left to Right characters) in the same paragraph – with the Nikkud (vowel marks) – with resizable and reflowable text. The iBooks family of devices do this! Finally we can present Hebrew English books with Nikkud – that can be resized and reflowed on a massively popular platform. There are still some minor aesthetic issues with the positioning of the Nikkud on the ibooks devices – but it is functional and correct.

It’s just too complicated for me to handle:
But our real dream is to have the classic ArtScroll texts like the Talmud, Torah, Tanach, Siddur and other translated works in digital format – these just cant be presented on the Kindle and the Nook! Firstly they don’t support Hebrew and secondly the page layout is too complex for these devices.  For example, a page of the Stone Chumash has 5 different text blocks that have to be kept in sync with each other in order to work properly – the Kindle and Nook can’t support that level of complexity.

I am just way too insecure:
Did you know that you can find instructions online on how to hack a Kindle book and remove its security protection in about 30 seconds?  It is no secret that Kindle books aren’t secure – you may not know how to – but there are many thousands of people that do. So why don’t other publishers care? We assume its because the lifespan of the average mass-market book is not very long – its here today and gone tomorrow – read it once and done! What about a Chumash or a volume of the Talmud – these books have a shelf life of a lifetime – if not multiple generations.  This makes ArtScroll books a high value target for hackers. We are committed to protect the intellectual property of our authors and to safeguard the enormous investment put into the classic works that we have produced over the years.

The iBookstore is secure (at least for today)  and we feel that the rights of our authors are being properly protected.

This is clearly an evolving market. We are working to produce all of our books in digital format.  But one thing we do know for sure – as of today there are 120,000,000 devices in the world that will support the reading of the first round of  ArtScroll ebooks – and there will be more to come.

You can visit our current offering of eBooks at artscroll.com/ebooks

- the ArtScroll eBook Maven

Filed under: ArtScroll News You Can Use, Book Features, Webmaster News | 3 Comments »

Standing Before the Judge: The ArtScroll Rosh Hashanah Machzors

Posted on September 5, 2010 by goldys

When defendants stand before a jury, they want the best possible legal representation. And when they stand before the judge for sentencing, they pray for mercy.
On Rosh Hashanah we all stand before the true Judge. As the poignant words of Unesaneh Tokef remind us: “You alone are the One Who judges… who will live and who will die…”  We are awed – but we are not paralyzed. We know there are things we can do to turn the judgment in our favor. “Repentance, prayer and charity remove the evil of the decree!”
We’ve been examining our lives and deeds, seeking teshuvah, repentance. We’ve been giving more charity than ever. And, like hundreds of thousands of Jews the world over, on Rosh Hashanah we will use an ArtScroll machzor to help us make our tefillos, our prayers, focused, sincere and heartfelt.
As we await the positive verdict we know we are using the ArtScroll machzor that will help us most effectively daven for a favorable judgment – and a sweet year.

The Classic ArtScroll Machzor: With its lyrical and yet readable translation by Rabbi Nosson Scherman, beautiful graphics, comprehensive directions, and engrossing commentary, this is the machzor that started “the ArtScroll Revolution.” Available in Nusach Ashkenaz and Sefard, in hardcover and paperback, in full and pocket size, and in elegant leather binding.

 

The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Machzor: The interlinear format is perfect for those who want to follow the Hebrew text but quickly access the English translation. The translation appears directly beneath the Hebrew, with ArtScroll’s patented icon gently leading the eyes in the proper direction. Includes full commentary. Available in Nusach Ashkenaz and Sefard, in full and pocket size.

The Seif Edition Transliterated Machzor: The ideal choice for those less familiar with Hebrew, this machzor includes the Hebrew text, with phrase-by-phrase transliteration and translation, and a full commentary.

The ArtScroll Hebrew Machzor: For those familiar with the Hebrew text of the prayers, this beautifully typeset machzor is clear and easy to follow. Includes a full Hebrew commentary and a choice of instructions in either Hebrew or English.

The Large Type Machzor: If you’re constantly taking on and removing those reading glasses, this is the machzor for you! With extra-large, clear type, uncluttered pages, and a comfortable, manageable page size.

ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications Ltd. wishes all of our readers, and all of Klal Yisrael, a kesivah v’chasimah tovah, and a happy and healthy New Year.

Filed under: ArtScroll In the News, ArtScroll News You Can Use, Book Reviews, Holiday Related, Holidays | Leave a Comment »

Making the Most of Chodesh Elul: Rabbi Yechiel Spero’s newest book, A Touch of Purity

Posted on August 25, 2010 by goldys

For me, Chodesh Elul came early this year.
It was in the steaming month of Tammuz, and my assignment for the day was to write cover copy for A Touch of Purity, Rabbi Yechiel Spero’s new book on teshuvah, repentance.
In the first chapter I read how the great men of previous generations reacted to Elul. This was classic Rabbi Spero: a combination of stories that left me feeling inspired to be the best person I could become together with Rabbi Spero’s insights on repentance. Though I had never met Rabbi Spero personally, I felt that I was in the presence of a master teacher, a person who thoroughly understood me, my challenges, my strengths and limitations.
In Chapter 2 I was treated to a Spero-esque (is there such a word? There should be!) combination of personalities and stories: tales of contemporary gedolim, Chassidic masters, mussar personalities, and little-known people who had accomplished great acts of growth. There were mashalim and mission statements, as Rabbi Spero shared the questions we should be asking ourselves in the month of Elul: “Who am I? Who do I want to be? Where am I heading?  What do I want for my children? What do my spouse and I want to accomplish as a couple? As a family?”
By now, I admit (this is, after all, the season for confessions!) I had more than enough material to write the copy, but I read on. I couldn’t pull myself away from the engaging stories and from Rabbi Spero’s sincere and unabashedly emotional words of chizuk.
Subsequent chapters were just as packed with information and inspiration. I read about the importance of unity and how chesed facilitates repentance and forgiveness. I learned how to recognize, and touch, the “pintele Yid,” the essence of every Jew (including me!). Cheshbon hanefesh, always a daunting task in today’s non-introspective world, became clearer when viewed through the lens of Rabbi Spero’s marvelous stories;  Selichos came to life as I read how Rav Dessler, author of Michtav M’Eliyahu, prepared himself for those beautiful but difficult penitential prayers.
As I finished the book and the copy I had set out to write I knew that, though summer vacation had just begun and “bein hazemanim” was still weeks away, for me, at least, Elul had come. And thanks to Rabbi Spero and his important new book, A Touch of Purity, I would make the most of it.

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Pride in the Past, Looking towards the Future: The New Wasserman Edition Expanded ArtScroll Siddur

Posted on August 25, 2010 by goldys

In the ArtScroll office the emotion is almost palpable; you can practically touch the excitement. Actually, you can touch the excitement: just run your hands over the beautiful, dignified, gold-stamped cover of the new Wasserman Edition Expanded ArtScroll Siddur. That’s excitement for you. And pride in the past. And looking towards the future.

Rabbi Nosson Scherman, whose name has become synonymous with the ArtScroll Siddur, remembers: “More than 25 years ago, the original ArtScroll Siddur revolutionized Jewish awareness of prayer, and in just a few years it became the most popular Siddur in the world.”  People had never seen anything like it: crisp, modern typography and page layouts that made the prayers readable and clear; a luminous translation that captured the beauty and depth of the original; easy-to-follow, comprehensive instructions; a commentary that inspired and lent a new dimension to the prayer experience. “The ArtScroll Siddur was a historic work,” says Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, General Editor of ArtScroll and Co-Editor of the Siddur. “Never before had a Siddur enriched the tefillah of so many Jews across the Jewish spectrum worldwide.”  With more than a million copies in print, “The ArtScroll,” as it came to be known, became the Siddur of choice for a generation.
And now, for the first time in more than two decades, comes an expanded edition of the ArtScroll Siddur.
The first thing the reader sees when glancing through the Wasserman Edition is the superb, crystal clear typography. “The design was particularly challenging, since we did not want to change the page numbers from the original ArtScroll Siddur,” says Rabbi Sheah Brander, who designed both the original and the expanded Wasserman Siddur. “The world of typography has changed a lot over the years, and using state-of-the-art techniques we were able to pull off a miracle: clearer, larger type with the same page numbering!”
The Expanded Wasserman Siddur includes more than 100 pages of additional material, including a new Overview; Yom Kippur Kattan; Megillas Esther, Ruth and Koheles; Perek Shirah; the Six Constant Mitzvahs; Iggeres HaRamban; Prayer of the Sh’lah; Prayer at the Holy places in Israel, and a special section: The Laws, Customs, and Prayers in the Land of Israel.
Says Rabbi Zlotowitz: “I am especially proud of the historic association on this project with the princely Wasserman family. The new Wasserman Edition Siddur brings a user-friendly, expanded ArtScroll Siddur, in all its magnificence, to a new generation.”

Filed under: ArtScroll In the News, Book Reviews, Books, In the News, Inside ArtScroll Weekly, Media | Leave a Comment »

The Story behind the Story: A Talk with Yair Weinstock

Posted on July 22, 2010 by goldys

 As the author of many bestselling novels, including  Gordian Knot and Blackout, Yair Weinstock knows how to use the power of words to tell a gripping, unforgettable story. And as a collector of true tales, author of the popular Tales of the Soul and Once Upon a Story series, he knows how transformative (and entertaining!) a true story can be.
With the release of his newest book, Once Upon a Story 2, I asked Rabbi Weinstock to tell me a little about his stories.
And he told me a true story…

“I once wrote a story about a certain Chassidic rebbe who had a son who went off the derech, despite all his father’s efforts. After the rebbe died, he came to his son in a dream, telling him that if he didn’t do teshuvah he would be punished.
“The rebellious son laughed at the dream, even though it was repeated a few times. Finally, he had another dream. His father, the rebbe, told him he had no choice but to punish him, and he threw a heavy branch on his son’s legs. ‘You didn’t do teshuvah,’ the rebbe told his son, ‘and for seven generations your sons will limp.’
“And, indeed, the rebellious son awoke, and from that day forward he, and his children, walked with a limp.
“Not long after the story appeared, I got a call from a stranger in Petach Tikvah. ‘My father, and my grandfather, limp,’ the man told me, ‘and I do not. And do you know what: I am the eighth generation descendant of that famed rebbe. Rabbi Weinstock,’ the man continued, ‘I am a completely secular Jew, but after I read that story, I put on tefillin for the first time.’”

Stories, wonderful Jewish stories, are in Yair Weinstock’s blood. “My father was always full of stories,” he remembers. “Even when I was small, I would listen as he told them over to the older children. And then I would hear stories told over by the Chassidim of Lelov, at melaveh malkahs, rosh chodesh gatherings, and just general ‘after-davening’ talk.”
Now, he adds, after so many hundreds of his true stories have delighted tens of thousands of readers, the stories find him. “Readers call me, send letters,” Rabbi Weinstock says. “I see tremendous siyata d’Shmaya: just when I need a story, someone tells me one!”

And that is the story behind the story.

Filed under: ArtScroll In the News, Authors, Book Reviews, Books, Inside ArtScroll Weekly, New Releases, Non-Fiction | Leave a Comment »

On Fire to Help Klal Yisrael:

Posted on July 16, 2010 by goldys

A Talk with Rabbi Heshy Kleinman
Author of Praying With Fire and Yearning With Fire
 
As I speak with Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, bestselling author of Praying with Fire and Praying with Fire 2 and the newly-released Yearning with Fire, I can tell that he is, indeed, a man on fire himself – blazing with passion for every single Jew, on fire to help Klal Yisrael. Here, he articulates his vision for helping bring the geulah closer.
 
ArtScroll: Praying With Fire changed the way tens of thousands of Jews daven. What are your goals for your new book, Yearning with Fire?
 
Rabbi Kleinman:  Especially in our challenging, tenuos world the goal is to hasten the geulah. I began to think about it after the Merkaz HaRav massacre in March 2008. Everyone said, “Moshiach has to come.” Then came the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008. Again: “Moshiach has to come.” So what do we do, and how do we do it? What is going to galvanize us? B”H, we had so much success with tefillah; why can’t we accomplish it with the geulah? There are many things that each and every person can do to hasten geulah in a very practical way.
 
AS: Such as?
RK: Chazal tell us very clearly what we can do, how to hasten the redemption. In the book we explain the connection certain mitzvahs have to geulah, and give very specific, practical strategies to actualize them.
 
AS: All this, in five minutes a day?
RK: Yes, even while sitting at your dinner table–your soup won’t even get cold! Think about Praying with Fire, also a five-minute-a-day program. Over 130 shuls have taken part in the “Shul Tefillah Initiative” in twenty-seven different cities like Philadelphia, St. Louis, Phoenix, Toronto and, of course, Brooklyn and Lakewood. Five minutes a day! A world of difference!
 
AS: Your book talks about strengthening achdus in Klal Yisrael as one of the strategies to hasten geulah. Is that a reachable goal, given all the unfortunate strife among us?
RK: Absolutely! Of course! I’ll tell you how: ruchniyus has the power to do this. Torah is called a “shirah,” a song. A song is enhanced with harmony, many different notes melding together. There were different berachos given to the twelve shevatim,  – that’s the mark of Klal Yisrael. We have to focus on our spiritual source; then we can achieve true unity.  And we can do it!

Filed under: ArtScroll In the News, Author Appearances, Author Interviews, Authors | Leave a Comment »

The Book Everyone is Talking About: Women Talk

Posted on June 15, 2010 by goldys

The Book Everyone is Talking About: Women Talk 

“I picked it up, and couldn’t put it down. I read it cover to cover, like a novel.”

That’s what one woman told me when we discussed the new book that so many women are talking about: Women Talk by Debbie Shapiro.

Readers are talking about Women Talk, and especially about the amazing variety of women who are interviewed in its pages. We meet a chareidi woman taxi driver who discusses her unusual job choice; the founder of a Bais Yaakov school in a tiny desert community who shares her memories of Rebbetzin Kaplan o’h. A woman who survived Bergen Belsen as a young child tells the story of the “many mothers” who raised her behind the barbed wire fence, and a ba’alas teshuvah talks about her experiences during Hurricane Katrina. We meet a convert from Germany whose Christian parents opposed the Nazi regime and the granddaughter of Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt’l, who grew up in the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. They are so different from each other, these women, yet they all share a love for Torah and the Jewish People, and a fervent desire to serve Hashem.

In an interview with master interviewer Debbie Shapiro, I asked how she made contact with so many different women. “Word of mouth, mostly,” she told me. “I’m a real people person – people seem to naturally open up to me. Most important, I love people, and I love hearing about people’s lives. My friends know that I’m always searching for new ‘victims.’ I read a newspaper article about a rebbetzin who was a convert, born to a Mormon family, and I just knew I had to speak with her. I ‘cold called’ her to ask if she would let me interview her – and she said yes!” 

And what, I ask Debbie, are the ingredients that make a remarkable Jewish woman?  “We are all remarkable women! It’s really a matter of priorities. It takes the ability to make choices that are Hashem-centered. These women ask themselves what Hashem wants of them at this time in their life, which ultimately means stretching themselves to their limits, without going beyond their limits. It’s a delicate balance, one that we Jewish women are pros at!”

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