The room is full of books, staff and eager customers looking for the next sefer to add to their shelf. Welcome to The Seforim Sale at Yeshiva University!
Located at YU’s Weissberg Commons on the first floor of Belfer Hall, “The Seforim Sale is a three-week long, entirely student-run Jewish book and Judaica sale at Yeshiva University with thousands of books, millions of dollars worth of books and thousands of customers coming every year,” said Brandon Melamed, ’25, CEO of the sale. As CEO, he “oversees all the general operations of the sale. That ranges from things that are more directly seforim-related, like making sure seforim are organized properly, as well as things that are not directly sale-related but more external, which include overseeing marketing, advertising, speaker arrangements and other things” for an annual sale that has taken place for some 60 years.
The sale began on Feb. 2 and runs to Feb. 23 and offers a wide swath of books ranging from the traditional Tanachs, Gemaras and siddurim to various English books and much more, and even has Judaica; in short, there is something for everyone.
On YU’s Wilf Campus, I may have overheard a student asking what’s so great or popular about the sale. Indeed, people who are unfamiliar with the event might wonder: What sets it apart from a regular seforim store? To Melamed, “The Seforim Sale is unique and different than any other seforim store because of its temporary pop-up nature. It’s entirely student-run, and allegedly it is the largest pop-up seforim store in North America.”
But there’s also more than just the seforim.
The sale does not stop at merchandise but also offers robust programming. “Aside from the actual sale itself, The Seforim Sale as a whole is more of an experience as opposed to just shopping,” Melamed told The Jewish Link. “That experience includes book talks and other lectures, speeches and shiurim from authors and rabbis. And so nearly every day of the sale, and sometimes multiple times a day on specific days of the sale, we will have various authors and rabbis come speak about the books that they’ve written recently, or shiurim on various topics of their choice.”
For example, Rabbi Yosie Levine discussed his book, “Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi and the Battlegrounds of the Early Modern Rabbinate” on Feb. 5, and Feb. 18 is slated to be “Bnei Akiva Night” with Rabbi Shaul Feldman. Overall, the month includes well over a dozen presentations.
The Seforim Sale is also a destination for many schools: “A lot of times, high schools and middle schools will reach out to The Seforim Sale for private events here and private shopping sessions,” Melamed pointed out. “This year so far, we have over a dozen high schools and middle schools coming to visit, as well as other groups that are interested.”
Where do profits go? “The profits of The Seforim Sale are primarily reinvested into The Seforim Sale for internal costs, year by year, of food, rental equipment and other necessary payments,” Melamed explained. “Additional profits, aside from that, go toward funding student life activities on campus.”
The Seforim Sale is located at the YU Wilf Campus in Belfer Hall, 2495 Amsterdam Ave., New York City. It’s open from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Sunday; 6:30-10:30 p.m. from Monday to Thursday; and 8-11 p.m. on Motzei Shabbat. It is closed on Fridays and ends Feb. 23. See theseforimsale.com for more information, including dates that have discounts for certain groups. Items can also be purchased online on the website.
Melamed concluded, “My favorite part of The Seforim Sale is that I find it so meaningful to connect Jews and Torah, and that I get to play such a big part of it this year. It brings me a lot of happiness.”
Daniel Brauner is a contributor and former summer intern for The Jewish Link. He attends Yeshiva University and lives in Teaneck. Contact him at [email protected].
