Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature -

Prize-winning journalist Amir Tibon is moving back to the kibbutz where he and his family survived Oct. 7

July 23, 2026July 23, 2026Jesse Orine

“To be a liberal Zionist, it’s quite a lonely place,” said Amir Tibon, the Israeli journalist whose memoir “The Gates of Gaza” is one of the defining books of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. “Lonely” is relative, of course. Tibon’s story of how he, his wife Miri and their young daughters hunkered […]

Her Jewish grandfather’s shame inspired a prize-winning novel

August 24, 2025August 24, 2025Jesse Orine

Sasha Vasilyuk was surprised to be named a finalist for the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, wondering if the judges were going to honor an author whose “last name isn’t Jewish, and whose main character avoided being Jewish.” Nevertheless, her debut novel, “Your Presence Is Mandatory,” won the $100,000 prize for a story […]

Novel set in a war-torn Ukraine wins Sami Rohr prize for Jewish literature

May 21, 2025May 21, 2025Jesse Orine

A debut novel about a Ukrainian Jewish World War II veteran, and family secrets unveiled against the backdrop of the 2014 Russian-Ukrainian war, has won the 2025 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. “Your Presence Is Mandatory” by Sasha Vasilyuk is the second book by an immigrant from the former Soviet Union to win the […]