Library

Rabbi Max Gruenewald Library

Rabbi Gruenewald served as Congregation B’nai Israel’s Rabbi from 1946 thru 1970, and as Rabbi Emeritus from 1970 thru 1992 … 46 years of loving, remarkable service to CBI.

He spoke often of books and libraries. The Library “spells out the history of centuries of (Jewish) living and deserves, as an instrument of objective information, our attention and support.” — December, 1952

So that his memory is a blessing for all of us, CBI proudly maintains this book collection which joyfully carries the name of a man who was CBI for nearly 50 years, and who so loved all of the books in our library.

Do you love books? We are looking for a passionate volunteer (or more!) to facilitate keeping the library fresh and vibrant and to help secure new books of interest to our congregants. Please contact president@cbi-nj.org to let us know!

Getting Familiar with Our Library

This quick-guide to our Library should help “get where you would like to go.” Please visit the Library whenever the synagogue building is open to the public. Books may be borrowed on the “honor system” and returned in baskets provided.

We have eight main areas of interest, as well as many smaller collections as reflected in the shelf listings.

  1. Fiction – Novels – Stories written by Jewish authors and/or on Jewish subjects are located on shelves #101, 104 and 105
  2. The Shoa, The Holocaust is covered from almost every angle in the books found on shelves #205 & 296
  3. Israel, the Land and its People are covered from every vantage point and time period in the books found on shelves #208, 209 & 210.
  4. The Story of Jews in America, as well as the sociology and psychology of Jewish Americans, are all found in the books on shelves #211, 212 & 213.
  5. The Torah, The Talmud, The Mishna, The Prophets and Writings, as well as much commentary and analysis are found on the six shelves from #301 thru 306.
  6. Biographies and Autobiographies, of the great and not so great are found on shelves #307, 308 and 309.
  7. World Jewish History fill shelves #311, 312 & 313. Isn’t it interesting that there are so many books with similar titles ranging in all different sizes on the same subject? Hmmm.
  8. The Jewish Home, Family, Celebrations & Life Cycles are all covered on shelves #317, 318 & 319

We also have several shelves with children’s books (in addition to the children’s reading center in the school wing).