Read The Spirit Releases '100 Questions and Answers About American Jews'

Read the Spirit Books and Michigan State University's School of Journalism are proud to announce the publication of 100 Questions and Answers About American Jews with a Guide to Jewish Holidays. This is the 10th guidebook to cross-cultural issues published by the MSU team, a series of books that are widely used to help individuals, organizations and major companies navigate our increasingly diverse communities.

This simple, introductory guidebook, prepared with input from many Jewish leaders to ensure accuracy and balance, answers 100 basic questions about American Jews. Now, this new guide joins the array of books on understanding diversity that are helping professionals in business, education, medicine, law enforcement, nonprofits, government agencies and social work. The series started with volumes on ethnicity and has expanded to include guidebooks on understanding veterans and now the major religious groups that are part of American life. An earlier guide focused on Muslim Americans.

Led by Joe Grimm at Michigan State University's School of Journalism, classes of students who call themselves Bias Busters meet each term to research, write and edit a new guide. As a journalist, Grimm is known nationwide as a leading expert in cross-cultural communication, beginning as the ombudsman, an editor at the Detroit Free Press and a columnist for the Poynter Institute. The concept of the Bias Busters classes, and this resulting series of guidebooks, is to teach cultural competence by spreading awareness about a certain group or community. Ultimately, the goal is to break down cultural walls and open up discourse among groups. Other guides in the series include: 100 Questions and Answers About African Americans, 100 Questions and Answers about Hispanics & Latinos, 100 Questions & Answers about Muslim Americans, and 100 Questions and Answers about Veterans. For a complete list, please see www.ReadTheSpirit.com/bookstore.

To prepare the guide, Michigan State University journalism students collect commonly asked questions from members of the selected cultural group. Then the students focus especially on questions that are frequently asked wherever friends or coworkers gather-but that are not answered in other popular reference works. Educators in cultural competence find that common questions asked out of sincere interest are the best ways to bridge cultures. The guides are written in easy-to-understand language and many passages read like face-to-face conversations. These books are ice-breakers, perfect for individuals to read on their own-or for groups of friends, neighbors or co-workers to read and discuss.

In addition to answering the 100 questions and answers, this guide includes a chapter about the most significant Jewish observances each year, written by religious holidays and festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton. She provides a helpful, fascinating overview of Jewish holidays that non-Jewish readers might encounter in any religiously diverse community.

This is a cutting-edge multi-media book with easy-to-follow links in print editions and clickable media in ebook versions. Among these resources are video clips made at the Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center. This unique publishing project also allows organizations placing larger group orders to customize the cover or add pages to the book in a group order. Curious about these options? Additional information is available from Read the Spirit Books or Morgan Street Media Services.

100 Questions and Answers about American Jews
with a Guide to Jewish Holidays

Michigan State University School of Journalism
Foreword by Rabbi Bob Alper
Introduction by Kirsten Fermaglich

http://news.jrn.msu.edu/culturalcompetence/

Read The Spirit Books; ISBN 978-1-942011-22-4
Available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
ITunes and other on-line retailers

Paperback $9.95
Digital $6.95

Publication Date: March 1, 2016

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