Announcing the 3rd Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism

November 2013

Chaim Bermant was the outstanding commentator of his generation on Jewish affairs

A Prize of £5000 will be awarded in his memory for a major article or collection of articles, published between 1 June 2013 and 30 November 2014, that furthers the understanding of contemporary Jewish life and Jewishness.

To be awarded at Jewish Book Week 2015

The Judges are Miriam Gross (former Women's Editor of the Observer and Literary Editor of the Sunday Telegraph 1991 2005), Gerald Jacobs (Literary Editor and former Assistant and Comment Editor of The Jewish Chronicle) and Geoffrey Paul (Journalist and Editor of The Jewish Chronicle 1977-1990).

Please send nominations or entries, by 1 December 2014, to bermantprize@gmail.com.

The full terms and conditions can be downloaded here.

More information can be found at:  http://jewishbookweek.com/prizes/chaim-bermant-prize

Geoffrey Alderman Wins The Chaim Bermant Prize For Journalism 2011

The Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism was awarded to JC columnist and academic Geoffrey Alderman at the closing evening of Jewish Book Week 2011. Professor Alderman said he was "shocked" by the win.

He began writing his JC column following Mr Bermant's death in 1998.

Afterwards the academic confided that he may use part of his prize in touring whisky distilleries on the Isle of Skye - a fitting echo of Chaim Bermant, a life-long lover of the peerless single malt.

Opening of submissions for the Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism 2011

The Jewish Book Council and The Jewish Chronicle are delighted to announce the opening of submissions for the Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism 2011.
Judging this year will be Stephen Pollard, Editor of The Jewish Chronicle and Daniel Finkelstein, Executive Editor of The Times and winner of the Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism 2008.

The prizes are open to all journalists, but the subject must have relevance to Jewish themes and/or Israel.

Published Journalist
The winner in this category will be chosen by the judges on the basis of out- standing achievement in the field of journalism, and will receive £3,000. Candidates may be nominated either by themselves or by others, whether private individuals or publications.

Aspiring journalist
This is open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 (on 31 October 2010). Candidates should submit a previously unpublished non-fiction article of be- tween 500 and 1,000 words. The winner will receive £2,000, and the opportunity to take up an internship at The Jewish Chronicle. An edited version of the article will be published in The Jewish Chronicle.

Closing date for submissions is Tuesday 30 November 2010. Entries, nominations and articles should be sent to journalismprize@bermant.com.

The full terms and conditions can be downloaded here.

More information can be found at:  http://www.jewishbookweek.com/jewish-book-council/chaim-bermant-journalism-prize.php

Daniel Finkelstein - Winner of the Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism

March 2008

Daniel Finkelstein, Associate Editor of The Times, has been named winner of the inaugural Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism.
 
The prize was launched by the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish Book Council in memory of Chaim Bermant, the writer and journalist who wrote a weekly column for the Jewish Chronicle for nearly 40 years until his death in 1998. The award recognises journalism on Jewish and Israeli themes.
 
Finkelstein submitted a series of columns published in the Times and the Jewish Chronicle. Although he writes a monthly Jewish Chronicle column, the judges were insistent that this connection had no bearing on their decision.
 
The judges said: “He was simply the writer who most closely reflected the values, spirit and qualities of Chaim Bermant’s journalism, his controlled playful and witty columns effectively drawing the reader in by anecdote and humour to a deeper issue or painful truth, bringing to a wide national readership issues such as Holocaust denial or property restitution in a fresh, lively, conversational style.”
 
Daniel Finkelstein is a weekly Times columnist and that newspaper's Comment Editor. He is the author of the popular blog Comment Central and the weekly football column Fink Tank.
 
Finkelstein said, "It is a tremendous honour for a columnist to have their name associated with Chaim Bermant in any way. I was delighted that the judges detected some of his spirit in my work - his erudition and wit were justly celebrated."
 
An award for an Aspiring Journalist was won by Ross Perlin, for Ladino in Lagado, a comment piece on the decline of the Ladino language.
 
The awards were judged by David Rowan, editor of The Jewish Chronicle, Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian and literary agent Jonny Geller to mark the end of jewish Book Week.

On The Other Hand now in paperback

Published by Valentine Mitchell ISBN 978 0 85303 870 2

February 2008

Chaim Bermant was The Jewish Chronicle’s main opinion columnist for nearly forty years, until his death in 1998. He covered all aspects of Jewish life in his weekly column ‘On the Other Hand’, and his witty, wise and thought-provoking chronicling of Jewish life and concerns through the pages of the JC still have profound resonance today. His widow Judy has collected here a selection of his best writings as a tribute to one of the best loved and most important recorders of and commentators on modern Anglo-Jewry. This new edition by Vallentine Mitchell contains a new foreword and article.

Chaim Bermant was born in Lithuania and spent his early childhood in Barovke (Latvia) where his father was Rabbi. At the age of nine he moved with his family to Scotland and was educated at Glasgow Rabbinical College, Glasgow University and London School of Economics. A former schoolmaster, an economist and television screenwriter, he regularly wrote for the Daily Telegraph, the Observer and Newsweek, as well as ‘On the Other Hand’, his weekly column for The Jewish Chronicle. He was author of over thirty books, both fiction and non-fiction. His posthumous autobiography, Genesis: A Latvian Childhood, was published in 1998

Chaim Bermant Prize

The Jewish Book Council and The Jewish Chronicle are delighted to announce the establishment of the Chaim Bermant Prize for Journalism in memory of the author and journalist, who was a leading light of The Jewish Chronicle for forty years until his death in 1998. The first award will be presented at Jewish Book Week in February 2008.

Chaim Bermant was both witty and wise to a rare degree. He was one of the leading chroniclers and critics of his age, and his weekly column in The Jewish Chronicle was compulsory reading over decades.

Described by the late Lord Jakobovits, the former Chief Rabbi, as “Anglo-Jewry’s voice of conscience” and by himself as a “licensed heretic”, he always wrote memorably and incisively, combining humour and erudition to convey his original and often irreverent perspective on the issues of the day.

Chaim Bermant’s voice reached well beyond the Jewish community. He regularly contributed feature articles and reviews to many of the nation’s broadsheets and periodicals, in particular The Observer and The Sunday Telegraph. He also wrote over thirty books of history, fiction, satire and memoirs, all imbued with his characteristic wit and elegance.

The judges for the first award will be David Rowan, Editor of The Jewish Chronicle, Jonathan Freedland, journalist and author, and Jonny Geller, literary agent and author. They will be looking for journalists whose writing best reflects the qualities that made Chaim Bermant so outstanding and so loved.

THE PRIZES

The prizes will be open to all journalists, but the subject must have relevance to Jewish themes and/or Israel. There will be two categories:

Published journalist

The winner in this category will be chosen by the judges on the basis of outstanding achievement in the field of journalism, and will receive £3,000. Candidates may be nominated either by themselves or by others, whether private individuals or publications.

Aspiring journalist

This is open to anyone between 18 and 30 on 31st October 2007. Candidates should submit a previously unpublished non-fiction article of between 500 and 1,000 words. The winner will receive £1,000, and the opportunity to have an internship at The Jewish Chronicle. An edited version of the article will be published in The Jewish Chronicle.

TO ENTER

The closing date for entry for both prizes is 31st October 2007. Entries, nominations and articles should be sent to Nicole Gordon either by email to journalismprize@thejc.com or by post to 25 Furnival Street, London EC4A 1JT.

Click here for Terms and Conditions.

Chaim Bermant collection

Research files, audio cassette tapes, manuscripts, plays, short stories, legal contracts, newspaper & magazine articles, personal memorobilia, person and professional correspondence etc etc...are included in the Chaim Bermant Archive which is part of the special collection at the Mugar Memorial Library, part of Boston University:

Howard B Gottleib (Director)
Sean D Noel (Assistant Director)
Special Collection / Archive
Boston University
771 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

Tel: 617-353-3696
Fax: 617-353-2838

Email: speccol@bu.edu

Chaim's latest book

Chaim Bermant liked to describe himself as the Jewish Chronicle's "licensed heretic" and he came to regard "On the Other Hand" his weekly column in the paper, as his pulpit. His topics covered matters spiritual and not so spiritual. He wrote with wit and insight on subjects ranging from Israeli politics, war criminal trials and political correctness in the Church of England, to mad cows, kosher pigs and semitic cats.

The long awaited compilation of Chaim's memorable Jewish Chronicle articles was launched on Thursday 11th May 2000

The book went on sale from Thursday 1st June 2001 and is available in all good book shops.

It is also available online from Amazon.