Bibliografija "Jevrejskog almanaha"

Abstract

Časopis "Jevrejski almanah", koji je izlazio u periodu od 1925. do 1930., a potom od 1954. do 1996. godine predstavlјa ogledalo istorije, kulture, tradicije i identiteta jevrejskih zajednica iz bivše Jugoslavije. Kroz ovu reprezentativnu bibliografiju koja sadrži 563 bibliografske jedinice sa anotacijama za sve pojedinačne članke koji su objavlјeni u "Almanasima", opširnu uvodnu studiju kao i autorski i predmetni registar ovaj časopis je verodostojno predstavljen javnosti, a posebno istraživačima jevrejskog nasleđa. U okviru bibliografskog opisa navedeni su aktivni linkovi putem kojih je moguće pristupati metapodacima i svim pojedinačnim člancima "Almanaha" koji su deponovani u Jevrejskoj digitalnoj biblioteci.

"Jewish Almanac" is a periodical which, with a few interruptions, lasted almost as long as Yugoslavia: from December of 1924, following the decision of the Congress of the Union of Rabbis of the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenians (SHS), held in Belgrade, until 2000, when the final issue was published. Even though the time span was extensive, the number of published issues was relatively small: in the period between two world wars, the "Almanac" was published only five times and during the socialist period, from 1954 to 1970, only eight issues were printed. "Almanac’s" 14th and final issue was a compilation of articles that were created during the quarter of a century period from 1971-1996. Although Yugoslavia had already disintegrated by then, the main idea of the journal - to be a reflection of the culture of the Jews from all the regions of former Yugoslavia - was remarkably evident in the final issue. Between the two world wars, "Jewish Almanac" was published in Vršac where both the publisher (the Union of Rabbis of the Kingdom of SHS) and the printing house (Art Institute under the auspices of J. E. Kirschner’s widow) resided. Aside from the articles which were predominantly devoted to religious and philosophical themes and written in Serbian and Croatian, some commentaries were partially or completely written in German or Hebrew. As a consequence, Hebrew and Cyrillic alphabets can be found in the journal next to the Latin alphabet used for the Almanac’s title page. After World War II, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia took over the publishing of the Almanac, while the head office of the editorial board was moved to Belgrade. The new editorial board determined to revive the former rabbinical journal and continued establishing connections with the pre-war Jewish community, which 320 had almost vanished during the Shoah the "Almanac" was significantly changed. While the pre-war journal was primarily intended for Jews as a separate religious and ethnic community and dealt with religious and didactic explanations of current and past events, the post-war "Almanac" had a multidisciplinary concept and approach. It introduced papers that followed scientific standards, featured strong literary columns and was driven to promote Jewish cultural heritage to the wider public. In order to publicize the journal internationally, the summaries of journal content were published in English in a booklet format as a supplement to each issue. The last issue of "Almanac" was published in the context of a celebration of the eightieth anniversary of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia. At this point, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia no longer existed. The Federation included only ten Jewish communities from Serbia and Montenegro with less than 3500 members. Consequently, the "Almanac" added an honorary editorship of representatives from Jewish communities from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia demonstrating the long-lasting cooperation among independent associations and their chairpersons. The result was a comprehensive publication in the Serbian and Croatian languages with illustrated covers and coloured illustrations. Parallel titles, notes about illustrations and sponsorship, as well as the foreword, were all translated into English. A "Bibliography of the Jewish Almanac" consists of 563 units with annotations. The chronological arrangement of units allows users to observe the changing times as well as changes in the Jewish community in Yugoslavia. Within the annual volumes, articles are organized in alphabetical order by authorʾs name or title. Authors’ names are in phonetic form, as pronounced in Serbian, and accompanied by their years of birth and death. The bibliographic description is in accordance with the international standard bibliographic description for serials and other continuing resources. Comments include email addresses of authors, as taken from the repository Jewish Digital Library which contains all articles in digital form. The names of all contributors, authors and translators of the "Almanac" are listed alphabetically in the Author Index in the form they appear throughout the journal. Subject Index consists of headings and subheadings which contain precise and detailed annotations, all with the purpose of adequately representing the content of the journal. "Jewish Almanac" is a journal of immense documentary, cultural, literary and historical importance, yet it is largely unknown to the scientific and cultural communities. This Bibliography could serve as an incentive for further exploration of Jewish history in the region as well as a valuable contribution to research in broader humanistic fields.