Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards

Poet­ry

Berru Award in Mem­o­ry of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash

The Berru Award for Poet­ry is ded­i­cat­ed to the mem­o­ry of Ruth and Bernie Wein­flash, who were respect­ed lead­ers in their north­ern New Jer­sey com­mu­ni­ty for over fifty years. A dynam­ic cou­ple with both sub­stance and style, they were not just avid read­ers, but also were astute crit­ics, hon­ing in on what spoke to both them and to the world at large. The arts were an impor­tant part of their lives. Ruth, a for­mer actress and a live­ly and gift­ed ora­tor, chaired the Cul­tur­al Arts Com­mit­tee for many years at the JCC on the Pal­isades in Tenafly, New Jer­sey. She also designed pro­grams in local schools, intro­duc­ing chil­dren to the lives of famous his­tor­i­cal activists in order to spark inter­est in work­ing to make this a bet­ter world . Bernie, an active mem­ber of many boards, served for over twen­ty years on the board of the Jew­ish Book Coun­cil. A true human­i­tar­i­an, he believed that when peo­ple came togeth­er for a com­mu­nal pur­pose, pos­i­tive momen­tum would be ignit­ed. With intel­lect, com­pas­sion, and vision, both Ruth and Bernie immea­sur­ably enriched the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty, under­stand­ing the impor­tant rela­tion­ship between Jew­ish cul­ture and Jew­ish survival.

About this award

A book of verse con­sist­ing pri­mar­i­ly of poems of Jew­ish concern.

Year Endowment Winner Finalists
2025 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2024 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2023 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2022 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2021 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2020 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2019 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2018 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2017 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2016 Berru Award in Memory of Ruth and Bernie Weinflash
2015 Jewish Book Council Award
2013 Jewish Book Council Award
2011

C.K. Williams

Wait
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2009 Jewish Book Council Award
2007
2005 Jewish Book Council Award

Gerald Stern

Everything is Burning: Poems
W.W. Norton