A donation of books enhances Judaica collection at Monmouth Univ. Library

by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

Thirty rare and out-of-print books about Jewish culture, history, music, and philosophy have been donated to the Monmouth University Library in West Long Branch by a brother and sister from Monmouth County.

Bernard Karasic of Ocean Township and Eleanor Karasic Gould of Long Branch donated the books in June in memory of their late parents, Isadore and Sonia Karasic, who died in 1977 and 2005, respectively, and their brother, Harold Karasic, who died in 1982 at the age of 47.

The donated volumes will take their place among the approximate 250,000 texts that are housed in the newly renovated college library, according to associate librarian Rachel Gardner.

Isadore and Sonia Karasic were avid readers and stocked the personal library at their Asbury Park home with books about Jewish culture and history, according to Gould. Only her parents’ English-language texts have been donated to Monmouth University; approximately 50 Yiddish-language books will be given to the YIVO Institute in New York City, she said.

Although a monetary value has not yet been assigned to the 30-volume collection, many of the texts are out of print and considered rare, according to university library officials. The copyright dates for some of the volumes date back to the 1800s and early to mid-20th century. The copyright date for The History of the Jews, Volumes 2-6, for example, is listed as 1893; for Stories of the Prophets, 1912; and for The Jewish Anthology, 1925.

“Our parents were dedicated to collecting books that would perpetuate Jewish culture through poetry, prose, fiction, history, and music,” Gould said. “The books were collected over an 80-year period. There are so many precious volumes in both Yiddish and English.”

After their mother’s death last year, Karasic, an attorney whose office is in Long Branch, and Gould, who formerly taught in the Ocean Township school district, began the ritual of going through the possessions in Sonia Karasic’s home. They concluded that the large collection of books deserved a proper repository. Karasic eventually called Monmouth University and was offered a tour of the library by Ravindra Sharma, dean of the facility.

Karasic and Gould then decided to donate the books to the university.

“We talked with Ravindra Sharma and [university president] Paul G. Gaffney,” Karasic said. “We thought these books might encourage the school to expand its Jewish study curriculum, and we also hope the books will introduce an in-depth Jewish academic presence to the university.”

And the university library is happy to be the recipient of the books, said Sharma.

“I want to thank [them] for donating 30 volumes on Jewish history to the library,” Sharma said. “It is a very valuable collection and will certainly help out students and faculty in their research needs.”

The books will be maintained in the Special Collections area of the library for the benefit of all patrons, Sharma added.

The library, located on Cedar Avenue, has been undergoing extensive renovations for the past three years. A grand opening of the refurbished facility is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 13. The enlarged and enhanced library is on the grounds of the former Guggenheim estate.

According to Gould and Karasic, their parents were active in the Jewish School of the Workman’s Circle, and, as a result, became friendly with poets, authors, and actors, many of whom would come to the Karasic home for dinner.

Among the guests were poet Abraham Reisen and Isaac Metzger, an author of Jewish historical novels and an editorial staff member of the Jewish Daily Forward.

“We would sit at the top of the stairs in our parents’ home and listen to these fascinating conversations,” Gould recalled. “We often learned about news events before they appeared in the English-language newspapers.”

Sonia Karasic, whose favorite writers included Whitman, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky, often presented book reports to area book clubs and civic organizations, including Hadassah and the sisterhood at Temple Beth El in Oakhurst. More than 40 years ago, she wrote a thesis on the role of Jewish women in society for a women’s group at Brandeis University.

“As a young girl in New York City, she cherished her weekly visits to the 92nd Street Library,” Karasic recalled. “It was there that she discovered her fascination and love for the written word. That love for reading nurtured her thirst for knowledge through which she would come to know, understand, and expound upon history, the human condition, and social justice. She shared those interests with my father, and their personal library grew out of that.”

And now, 30 from among the volumes so lovingly collected by Sonia and Isadore Karasic have a new home.