Jewish Publication Society of America
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The Jewish Publication Society of America was founded in Philadelphia in 1888 to provide the children of Jewish immigrants to America with books about their heritage in the language of the New World.
As the oldest publisher of Jewish titles in the English language, JPS on its website states that its mission is "to enhance Jewish culture by promoting the dissemination of religious and secular works of exceptional quality, in the United States and abroad, to all individuals and institutions interested in past and contemporary Jewish life."
Two of their most notable publications have been translations of the Hebrew Scriptures (i.e., what is known to Christians as the Old Testament). The JPS Holy Scriptures was published in 1917, an attempt to create a truly Jewish English translation of the Jewish Bible. This version, however, drew heavily on the precedent of the King James Version of the Bible and especially on the English Revised Version of 1885. The JPS also initiated publication of the American Jewish Year Book in 1899, although publishing rights have since moved to the American Jewish Committee.
Several decades later, the JPS embarked on a thoroughly new translation, the full version of which appeared in 1985 under the title Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (The New JPS Translation according to the Traditional Hebrew Text). This translation was intended to break from the King James (and JPS 1917) tradition, but is still based on the traditional Masoretic text of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The JPS also publishes many other books, in an effort to "broaden and deepen understanding of the Jewish heritage and advance Jewish scholarship" (as stated on their website). They are a non-profit organization dependent on the support of contributors.
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