[2][3] The first Jewish Publication Society was founded in 1845 in Philadelphia, but was dissolved six years later after a fire destroyed the building and the entire JPS stock.

After years of meetings, deliberations and revisions, the entire translation of the Bible was finally completed in 1917.

Works such as The Decay of Czarism and Legends of the Jews became staples of Jewish literacy and helped to preserve the legacy of European Jewry.

[6] JPS also assisted the war effort by supporting refugee employment and resettlement, and by printing pamphlets that were dropped behind enemy lines, at the request of the American government.

Past editors-in-chief include Henrietta Szold (1893–1916), Solomon Grayzel (1939–1966), and Chaim Potok (1966–1974).

Rabbi Schwartz served on the board of several nonprofit organizations, and is especially active in environmental work.

Produced and recorded for JPS by The Jewish Braille Institute (JBI), this complete, unabridged audio version features over 60 hours of readings by 13 narrators.