Following a successful inaugural event last year, Congregation Shomrei Torah of Fair Lawn will host its second annual SeferFest on Sunday, December 8 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It promises to be bigger and better than last year, with an even larger variety of offerings, tefillin and mezuzah checks, and an opportunity to buy a letter to complete a kollel’s sefer Torah.
Thousands of seforim will be on display for sale, including new and used titles from professional booksellers as well as offerings from private and semi-private collections, many at substantial discounts. The range of titles is sure to meet just about anyone’s needs. Along with Torah, halacha and mussar volumes, there will be popular and academic Judaica, biographies, books on Jewish history—both recent and earlier—titles covering Jewish thought and philosophy, and the very latest published works of YU rabbonim such as Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rabbi Mordechai Willig and the just-released work of Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz. Given the range of vendors and sellers and the number of titles they are planning to bring, the Shomrei Torah ballroom will be full, packed corner-to-corner with over 20 tables of offerings, far more than last year.
Along with the seforim event and the opportunity to help complete a new sefer Torah, Rav Yitzchak Weinberger will again be available to check mezuzahs and tefillin. Drop off (include name and contact info) will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m.. Rabbi Weinberger will be available to address specific questions and concerns between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Shlomo Greenwald of Shomrei Torah, who again will be coordinating the event with the help of several devoted volunteers from the shul, is highly enthusiastic about the event. “I’m very excited about the range of items that will be available this year,” he said. “There will be many more vendors and sellers, with nearly all of last year’s vendors returning, along with a number of large private collections. The vast majority of seforim—both new and used—will be sold at attractive discounts. There will be something for everyone who has any sort of interest in Judaica.”
Along with the seforim for sale, some vendors will also be giving away surplus titles that had been earmarked for shaimos. Additionally, at least one vendor will be offering the opportunity to receive a free sefer just for visiting his tables.
Among the professional booksellers who will be in attendance are Yeshiva University’s RIETS Press, which will feature up to 40 of its latest titles from its rabbaim, all brand new and at discount. Kodesh Press will again be there, and Capitol Seforim from Lakewood, which had multiple tables last year, is planning to have eight tables filled with new and used seforim this year.
Aryeh Weiner of Teaneck, an online book reseller who normally uses Amazon, eBay and Facebook as his preferred venues, will be returning with several tables of mostly English Judaica, ranging from academic to popular. Joseph Miller of Long Island, who has been buying private libraries for the past four years, will be showcasing several thousand titles of seforim ranging from Torah to mussar, including full sets, all of which are used but in excellent condition.
In addition, Shomrei Torah, as it has added to its own overflowing library in its beit midrash, will have seforim for sale. There will also be at least a half dozen sellers who will be offering various new and used seforim from their private collections.
The idea of SeferFest was first proposed last year by Rabbi Andrew Markowitz of Shomrei Torah, who felt that although his shul’s library had an impressive array of seforim, there was a need to make room for new offerings. He felt a seforim sale would be beneficial to all involved. Based on the number of sellers who plan to attend this year, he is not alone in that thinking.
Congregation Shomrei Torah is located at 19-10 Morlot Ave, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410. https://www.shomrei-torah.org
Robert Isler is a freelance writer who focuses on Jewish issues. He can be reached at [email protected]
