Why I Am Uniquely Qualified to Edit Jewish Manuscripts

Recently, I was interviewed by an American Jewish author writing a book about sensitivity readers. She focused on the feedback they receive and why they believe they offer valuable insight to writers. It was a thought-provoking and pleasant conversation that led me to reflect on why I specifically advertise myself as a Jewish sensitivity reader.

One of the most striking moments in our discussion was when she admitted that, despite being Jewish herself, she had never considered the need for a Jewish sensitivity reader. However, as we talked, she recalled an experience on a design team for a novel where a Jewish character erupted into a tirade of Yiddish curses after a breakup. The scene, set on the streets of Manhattan, felt completely inauthentic to her—after all, the heroine was a modern, secular, twenty-something New Yorker. Yet, as a member of the design team, she hesitated to challenge the non-Jewish author's depiction. By the end of our conversation, she saw the value of Jewish sensitivity readers more clearly. 

(As an aside, I agree—what we now call sensitivity readers were once simply called editors.)

Here's why my background and experience make me uniquely qualified for this role:

I have lived in Canada, South Africa, and Israel, giving me a relatively broad view of Jewish life across different cultures. Currently, I reside in an expat community, where I live closely with Jews from all over the world. This exposure has deepened my understanding of the nuances of Jewish identity, traditions, and cultural variations.

I am half Ashkenazi and half Yemenite. My Ashkenazi background came naturally—I attended an Ashkenazi Hebrew school, and the only grandparents I ever knew were Ashkenazim whose own ancestors fled Russia in the 1800s to escape pogroms.

My Yemenite heritage, however, was more of a challenge to connect with, as my father was the only Yemenite Jew I knew growing up. To bridge this gap, I turned to writing—fiction, auto-fiction, and short stories exploring Yemenite Jewish history. I conducted interviews with close and distant family members once I arrived in Israel, had my own Yemenite henna ceremony before my wedding, and immersed myself in Sephardic and Mizrahi traditions. Over time, my family expanded to include a Moroccan son-in-law and a Turkish daughter-in-law. For a while, we even had a recipe TikTok showcasing Jewish Sephardic dishes, some of which were published in The Nosher and Jewish Journal.

As a book editor for more than two decades, I have worked with Jewish authors from Australia, Argentina, the UK, and beyond. Editing these diverse manuscripts has taught me a world of information about Jewish history, folklore, and customs.

My fluency in Hebrew further enhances my ability to work with Jewish texts, allowing me to understand references, language nuances, and cultural intricacies. This stems from my Israeli father's influence and my academic background—I studied at three Israeli universities, including a year at Haifa University, where I focused on Middle Eastern studies, minorities in the Middle East, and the Holocaust. Additionally, I participated in a Footsteps of the Anusim tour in Portugal, which proved invaluable when editing a book set in 10th-century Cordoba.

Since 2013, I have taught English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to Israeli students from diverse backgrounds, including families with origins in Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Ethiopia, and France. Through years of class projects on family customs, recipes, and histories, I have gained a deep appreciation for the richness of the Jewish world. After years of grading presentations on these topics, you absorb an incredible amount of cultural and historical knowledge without even realizing it.

Beyond culture and history, I have significant exposure to the religious spectrum of Judaism. I studied in seminary for a year and attended an Orthodox primary school. My extended family spans from completely secular to ultra-Orthodox (Haredi), providing me with a well-rounded understanding of religious observance and practice. I spent many summers on Israeli kibbutzim (two in particular Palmachim and Maagan Michael) and, therefore, I'm just as familiar with Israeli dairy farmers as I am with those who learn full time in yeshivas. 

I have been hired to sensitivity read manuscripts for the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, HarperCollins YA novels, and various children's books. My ability to spot historical inaccuracies, cultural misrepresentations, and nuanced errors has been trusted by major institutions and publishers. For example, HarperCollins found it particularly helpful when I pointed out to them that Israelis do not speak in the same order as English-speakers (subject + verb + object) and therefore, their Israeli character didn't sound the least bit Israeli considering it was her first time in an English-speaking environment. It takes a lot of work on the part of a teacher (trust me, I know) to change the natural grammatical order of someone's spoken language and there's no way this could have happened in a day or two. These are nuances that delve deep into the character's head that are far more authentic than merely "simplifying" a character's English. Manners are another issue. What is polite in one culture, is rude in another and that includes different Jewish and Israeli communities. Yes, my Yemenite father would take it personally if he offered you something to eat and you refused it, something that would not happen with my mother. These small incidents in books and novels add up to create an authentic experience for the reader--even if the reader doesn't notice them.

If you're working on a Jewish manuscript and want to ensure authenticity, accuracy, and cultural sensitivity, let's talk! My unique background, deep knowledge, and years of experience can help bring your work to life in a respectful and meaningful way.