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August 17, 2009

We have winners! Prizes awarded for our Twitter it Romantic contest

A big thank you to all who participated in our Tu b'Av twitter contest. We asked you to send a romantic twitter to or about your loved one, and the response was heartwarming.

Our judges have picked the winning entries, who will receive copies of Shefa Gold's new book, In the Fever of Love: An Illumination of the Song of Songs.
  1. @velveteenrabbi :  My love plans built-in bookshelves, buys paint for the nursery, shapes where our child will dwell. We find home in each other. #15av
  2. @vegdem : to my true love, the one who completes me: Thank you for pursuing me relentlessly. Relentlessly! #15av
  3. @KatiBlack : chickpea & wilted spinach salad for lunch. thx @n_q_mainstream for being my #vegan meal pimp. u know how to keep ur girl happy #15av

And to keep the fever of love alive as the month of Av winds down, here is the first chapter of In the Fever of Love featuring the love poetry of The Song of Songs (in bold) and Shefa Gold's intimate, poetic response.







Posted by yudel at 4:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 3, 2009

Contest: Tweet to your love on Tu b'Av #15av

The date

Tu b'Av -- The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av -- the full moon at the height of summer -- this year, Tuesday night August 4 and Wednesday August 5 -- is the Jewish Valentine's Day.

In ancient times, "There were no better [i.e. happier] days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, since on these days the daughters of Israel/Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose [to be your wife]..." (Mishna Taanit, Chapter 4)." (Learn more about Tu b'Av at MyJewishLearning.com.

Our celebration

Ben Yehuda Press and MyJewishLearning.com are sponsoring a twitter-wide celebration of love on Tu b'av. Go to Twitter.com. Join if you aren't already a member. And then post a note to or about your true love. Add #15av to the end of your note (that's hash-one-five-ay-vee) so we'll know that it's an entry.

The contest begins Tuesday night and continuing until Wednesday night. You can follow the entries in real time on the Ben Yehuda Press home page.

The prizes

The three best tweets with the #15av label -- best as defined arbitrarily by the heart of each individual judge -- will receive a free copy of  In the Fever of Love: An Illumination of the Song of Songs by Shefa Gold.

(Here's how poet Alice Ostriker described In the Fever of Love:

"For Shefa Gold, the Song of Songs is--as Rabbi Akiba said--a Holy of Holies. It is at once God's word to us, ours to God, and the loving words of human lovers to each other. Readers of In the Fever of Love will be inspired and led deeper into their own souls by her shimmering interpretations.")

The judges


Matthue Roth wrote the novel Losers and the memoir Yom Kippur a Go-Go. He's a slam poet, an Internet filmmaker, and the associate editor of MyJewishLearning.com. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, who doesn't have Twitter, so he's disqualified from entering.

Sharon Rosenzweig and Aaron Freeman are authors of How To Say I Love You in Thirty Languages and creators of The Comic Torah.

Another judge is yet to be named. Stay tuned.

The fine print.

Prizes will be awarded to U.S. addresses only. You must be 18 years or older to enter. Decision of the judges is final. Void where prohibited by law.

Posted by yudel at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)