TO ORDER THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

SEX, GOD, CHRISTMAS & JEWS:
Intimate Emails About Faith and Life Challenges
NAMED AS KORET INTERNATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALIST

(SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12, 2006) - Judges today announced that Sex, God, Christmas and Jews, Intimate Emails and Life and Faith Challenges, by Gil Mann has been named one of 4 finalists for the Koret International Jewish Book Awards, in the Jewish Life and Living category. This category had over 120 books nominated for consideration (the most of any category).

Prizes totaling $25,000 will be awarded to winning authors in the four categories: fiction, Jewish thought, Jewish Life & Living, children's literature and - new this year - the JBooks.com People's Choice Award. Each voter will automatically be entered in a sweepstakes to win one of eight Amazon.com gift cards ranging in value from $25 to $250.

The Koret International Jewish Book Awards, managed for the first time this year by Jewish Family & Life! (JFL) in cooperation with the National Foundation for Jewish Culture (NFJC), will present the awards at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. The awards ceremony, emceed by Broadway legend Theodore Bikel and scheduled to coincide with International Jewish Book Month, is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

Winners will be selected from the following finalists:

Jewish Life & Living:

* Sex, God, Christmas & Jews by Gil Mann (www.beingjewish.org/sgc)

* The JGirls' Guide by Penina Adelman, Ali Feldman and Shulamit Reinharz

* Dignity Beyond Death by Rochel Berman

* History on Trial by Deborah Lipstadt

Fiction:

* The Seventh Beggar by Pearl Abraham

* Her Body Knows by David Grossman

* A Changed Man by Francine Prose

Jewish Thought:

* Betraying Spinoza by Rebecca Goldstein

* Purity, Sacrifice, and the Temple by Jonathan Klawans

* The Personhood of God by Yochanan Muffs

* Caviar and Ashes by Marci Shore

BabagaNewz Children's Literature:

* Shlemiel Crooks by Anna Olswanger, illustrated by Paula Goodman Koz

* Before You Were Born by Howard Schwartz, illustrated by Kristina Swarner

* Butterflies Under Our Hats by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, illustrated by Joani Keller Rothenberg

A celebration of the Koret International Jewish Book Award winners is scheduled at New York City's 92nd Street Y on Nov. 21.

"This year's finalists have helped shape some of the most thought-provoking Jewish ideas and values, advancing the international Jewish dialogue," said book awards chairman and JFL founder Yosef I. Abramowitz. "And with the launch of the JBooks.com People's Choice Award this year, we have been able to engage the reading public on a much more participatory level."

Judges in the Jewish Life and Living Category are

·  Rabbi Harold Kushner, Judge Chairman, author of many books including When Bad Things Happen to Good People

· Joel Grishaver, author and co-author of over 60 books

· Dr. Wendy Mogel, author of Blessings of a Skinned Knee

For complimentary tickets to the Nov. 15 awards ceremony in San Francisco, contact the JCCSF box office at (415) 292-1233 or email koretbookawards@jflmedia.com.

CONTACT:

Susan Wolfe swolfe@koretfoundation.org

Koret Foundation Funds (415) 882-7740

Yosef I. Abramowitz yabramowitz@jflmedia.com

Jewish Family & Life! 011-972-54-692-2

Jill Baker jbaker@jflmedia.com

Jewish Family & Life! (617) 581-6849

Richard Siegel rsiegel@jewishculture.org

National Foundation for Jewish Culture (212) 629-0500

Emily Grotta esgrotta@urj.org

Union for Reform Judaism (212) 650-4227

About Koret

An entrepreneurial spirit guides Koret in addressing societal challenges and strengthening Bay Area life. Investing in strategic, local solutions, Koret helps to inspire a multiplier effect - encouraging collaborative funding and developing model initiatives.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Koret adds to the region's vitality by promoting educational opportunity, contributing to a diverse cultural landscape, and bolstering organizations that are innovative in their approaches to meeting community needs.

Koret has supported the book awards program since 1998.

About Jewish Family & Life!

JFL, a dynamic Jewish media organization committed to connecting Jews to Jewish life, was selected to reimagine Koret's book awards. JFL's deep understanding of the literary field through long-standing management of JBooks.com, its experience in forging partnerships with other organizations, and its media reach to targeted audiences of all ages through GenerationJ.com, BabagaNewz magazine for middle school students, and other websites and magazines, bring the promise of sustained excellence and increased accessibility, both priorities stemming from the Koret mission.