Their Stamp on Literature The November Connection 1 | 2 | 3 | HOME Several other Jews famous for their writings also have November connections. These include philosopher Baruch Spinoza (Netherlands #567) who was born on November 24, 1634; Marcel Proust (France #B396), who was raised as a Christian but who had a Jewish mother; Rabbi Leo Baeck (Germany #777) who died in November. Stamps issued in November depict literary critic Georg Brandes (Denmark #486) and philosophers Moses Maimonides (Dominica #932 and Grenada #1339) and Hannah Arendt (Germany #1487 and #9N528). A postmark used by India in 1988 honoring David Sassoon illustrates another linkage to Jewish Book Month. Besides being an author, Sassoon, who died on November 7, 1864, founded a public library in Bombay India. A major linkage to Jewish Book Month, of course, are stamps illustrating "The Greatest Book Ever Written" -- the Bible. Many of these were issued in November. For example, King David was pictured on stamps from Gambia (#322), Norway (#706), and Russia (#4513). If one does not limit oneself to November-related stamps, other linkages (and many more authors) can be found in Judaica philately. For example, Jewish printers have been noted on stamps from Czechoslovakia (the Gersonides, #l476), Hungary (Kner, #2756), and Italy (the Soncinos, #1773). Jewish fictional characters have been depicted on stamps -- e.g., Shakespeare's Shylock appears on #1051c from Sierra Leone and #C1l2 from Senegal. Pages from books include ones from a 14th century Passover Haggadah (Yugoslavia #1795) and a l3th century prayer book (Israel #947-9). Non-Jewish authors who have developed favorable Jewish main characters in their fiction include Gotthold Lessing ("Nathan the Wise," East Germany, #1999), and George Eliot (Daniel Deronda, United Kingdom #916). However you choose to mark Jewish Book Month, here's hoping that your exploration of literature by and about Jews will provide you with new insight into our faith -- as well as a good read. 1 | 2 | 3 | HOME © 2001, J-Stamps/Murray Frost. All Rights Reserved. froststamps@yahoo.com