With gratitude and praise to the Almighty, I am delighted to tell you that, b’sha’ah tova umutzlachat–may it be at an auspicious and successful time–Letters to Josep: An Introduction to Judaism is now available to order! (…We religious Jews start spewing flowery Hebrew phrases when we get excited. Bear with me.)

How Do I Get My Copy?!?!

The eBook:

For the time being, the eBook will be available exclusively on Amazon Kindle here. (I will probably expand to other eBook distributors in a few months.) If you have Kindle Unlimited, you should be able to download it for free! (Don’t worry, they will still pay me, provided you actually read it. 😉 )

The USA:

You can order on Amazon.com here.

Europe:

You can order from: the UK here; France here; Germany here; Italy here; and Spain here. 🙂

Anywhere Else:

You can still order from any of the above places, they ship worldwide and the shipping isn’t terribly expensive. However, if you want to wait for better shipping rates, sit tight; I’m going to get the book on Book Depository (which has free shipping worldwide) and other booksellers across the globe as soon as I can, but I’m doing that through Ingram Spark, which could take a while (up to a few months). I will be sure to let you know when it goes up in other stores.

What Can I Do to Help?

Thanks for asking! 😉 Here’s what you can do:

• Buy the book. Duh. 😛
• Leave a starred review on Amazon. The more reviews the book has, and the higher my ratings, the more people will see the book. You don’t have to write much; just give the book as many stars as you think it deserves (which is five, obviously. 😛 ) and write a few words about what you liked about it.
• Share the link to the book, or this post, on social media and add a few words explaining to your friends why you think they should buy a copy of their own.
• When you receive your copy, take a picture of it (or better yet–a selfie with it!) and post it on social media, tagging me or Letters to Josep’s Facebook page! This will make me really happy. 😀
• Mention the book in relevant contexts. Have a friend who expresses an interest in learning about Judaism? Belong to an interfaith group or forum? Mention LtJ!
• The usual: “like” the FB page if you haven’t already. I am theoretically on Twitter, too, but I still haven’t quite figured it out, as I find the word limit super prohibitive. (When have I ever written anything in 140 characters or less?! 😛 ) But feel free to follow me: @DaniellaNLevy, and help me get a handle on it, so to speak 😉
• Also, write a guest letter if you haven’t already, or write another one if you have! 😉 They help the blog reach wider and more diverse audiences.
• If you belong to a synagogue or Jewish community center, or a church, mosque or other faith community that you think would be open to the book, please be in touch with me–use the contact form or e-mail me at letterstojosep[at]gmail[dot]com. I will be giving out signed bookplates in exchange for a photo of a flyer hung on the bulletin boards of such places. 😉

A Little Prayer

I composed for the occasion:

ריבונו של עולם,
גלוי וידוע לפניך
שהכול בחזקת סומין
עד שאתה מאיר את עיניהם,
והכול בחזקת אילמים
עד שאתה פותח את פיהם,
כך אין הסופר כותב אפילו אות אחת
עד שאתה מכוון את ידו.
לכן יהי רצון מלפניך
שתישא את פרי עטי אשר כיוונת,
לכל מי שיזדקק להם,
להיקרא על ידי כל מי שירצה בהם,
ולגעת בלב כל אשר יקרא,
ולהאיר את עיניו ואת דרכיו.
שלח לי הצלחה ושמחה ופרנסה ומנוחת נפש
ויקויים בי הכתוב “והוציא כאור צדקך ומשפטיך כצהריים”
בספר זה אשר אני מוציאה לאור.
חונני וענני, כי אל מלך רחום וחנון אתה.
ברוך שומע תפילה.

Master of the Universe,
It is apparent and known before You
That all are considered blind
Until You bring light to their eyes,
And all are considered dumb
Until You open their mouths,
So too the writer cannot write a single word
Until you guide his hand.
Therefore, may it be Your will
To carry the fruits of my pen which You directed,
To whosoever shall need them,
To be read by all who shall want them,
And to touch the hearts of all who read,
And to bring light to their eyes and their paths.
Send me success and joy and livelihood and peace of mind
And may the words “And He shall bring out your righteousness like light, and your sentences like noon*” be fulfilled through me
With this book which I bring to the light.*
Be gracious to me and answer me, for You are a gracious and merciful God and king.
Blessed be He who hears prayer.

*The Hebrew phrase for publishing a book is hotza’ah la’or, literally “bringing to the light.” And like in English, the word “sentence,” which in the original phrase in Psalm 37 (mishpatekha) refers to judgment, can also mean a sentence of words.