Qesher Book Club: "Eva and Eve"

Julie Metz's mother Eve was the quintessential New Yorker—steely, savvy, thrifty, pragmatic, brusque. It was difficult to imagine her living anywhere else except the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but New York City was in fact her adopted home. She was born in Vienna to a comfortable, middle class Jewish family until Germany annexed Austria on March 12, 1938. In the two years following the Nazi takeover, her father Julius struggled to find a safe haven for his wife and children. Across the ocean, anti-immigration fervor prevailed as part of the initial America First movement. Miraculously, Julius got his family out of Vienna just in time, thanks to perseverance, a medicine package made of folded paper, a sympathetic American Vice Consul, and good luck. Shortly after Eve's death, Metz found a keepsake book her mother had kept hidden in a drawer for over half a century, filled with farewell notes from her childhood friends and relatives. In that secret keepsake book, her mother's name was Eva. Inspired by this discovery, Metz set out in search of her mother's lost childhood. The result is Eva and Eve, a real-life detective story that offers moments of grace, serendipity, and lessons for this polarized moment when once again Otherness is the enemy. Read more and sign up for free

Qesher Book Club: "The Anatomy of Exile"

Zeeva Bukai - The Abadi Family saga begins when a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story between a Palestinian and a Jew ends in predictable tragedy. The family flees to America to mend, but encounters only more turmoil that threatens to tear the family apart.

The Anatomy of Exile will be published by Delphinium Books in January 2025. Read more and sign up for free

We Remember Lest the World Forget - Memories of the Minsk Ghetto

December 10, 2024

Debra Brunner and Artur Livshyts - Join us for an insightful talk about the long-hidden stories of the Minsk Ghetto, one of the Holocaust's most tragic yet overlooked chapters. After the war, the Soviet regime suppressed Jewish voices, claiming all Soviet citizens suffered equally. Now, thanks to The Together Plan's efforts, personal stories and hidden histories are emerging. In 2018, The Together Plan published We Remember Lest the World Forget, a collection of 27 survivor memories, shedding light on the Ghetto's creation, resistance, survival, and legacy. 

Places We Left Behind

December 3, 2024

Join us for a conversation with Jennifer Lang as she presents her new memoir, Places We Left Behind. When American-born Jennifer falls in love with French-born Philippe during the First Intifada in Israel, she understands their relationship isn't perfect. Both 23, both Jewish, they lead very different lives: she's a secular tourist, he's an observant immigrant. Despite their opposing outlooks on two fundamental issues—country and religion—they are determined to make it work. For the next 20 years, they root and uproot their growing family, each longing for a singular place to call home. In Places We Left Behind, Jennifer puts her marriage under a microscope, examining commitment and compromise, faith and family while moving between prose and poetry, playing with language and form, daring the reader to read between the lines.

Cave of Secrets

November 12, 2024

Lynne Golodner - During a writing sabbatical in the Scottish Highlands, American author Lynne Golodner researched the Jews of Scotland and stumbled upon some historic individuals whose stories and legacies inspired her new novel, CAVE OF SECRETS. With a love for the culture and the land, Golodner wove a tale of romance, suspense and identity. She'll talk about how the story came to be, her on-the-ground research of the places and people behind the book and shed light into the actual history of Jewish Scotland. This presentation will include photos, history, a brief excerpt of the novel and why she focuses her author brand on creating stories with compelling Jewish characters—and why it's so important, especially in these times, to share with the world strong Jewish identity wherever we find it.

Wave After Wave

October 8, 2024

Sarah Ansbacher -Newlywed Lilly is looking forward to the future with her husband in Vienna until the Nazi annexation of Austria throws everything into uncertainty. Suddenly, their Jewish heritage turns them into outcasts, facing persecution and daily humiliation. With the outbreak of war, Lilly remains trapped in Vienna, fearful of what lies ahead. Her cousin discovers a possible escape: joining a group of Jewish refugees on a daring journey down the Danube River and across the sea to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine. With danger and difficulties at every turn, can Lilly and all the other refugees survive the journey and reach their intended destination? 

The Loving Life: Memoirs of an Iranian-Jewish Woman

August 20, 2024

Ilana Ebrahimi Kahen, author of "The Loving Life", presents an insightful exploration of the impact of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on Iran's Jewish minority, detailing how this upheaval challenged their community and altered their lives. Ilana also recounts her journey from Iran to London, focusing on the cultural adaptation process and the preservation of identity within the diaspora. The presentation concludes with valuable lessons learned from Holocaust survivors, emphasizing the importance of inter-generational communication in preserving historical memory.

The Gallery of Beauties. A Venice Beauties Mystery

September 10, 2024

Nina Wachsman - Venice, 1612. Two very different women, a notorious courtesan and a Talmudic scholar, are brought together by an artist when they pose for a "Gallery of Beauties," forming a relationship neither of them anticipated. Conflicted about her past, Belladonna finds herself drawn to Diana, the rabbi's widowed daughter and has ambitions for her future, but only if Diana will discard her origins and her traditions. The Gallery of Beauties was nominated for an Agatha for Best First Novel, and a Silver Falchion for Best Historical Novel. The book has two sequels; The Courtesan's Secret and The Courtesan's Pirate,

The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues

September 25, 2024

Anat Geva -The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s offers a fresh perspective on an important moment in American Jewish society and culture as reflected in their houses of worship and adds to the literature on modern American sacred architecture. The book attempts to decipher the synagogue's architectural design as a reflection of the intersection of post WWII Jewish religious/cultural identity; the move to the suburb; and modern design and building technology concepts.

Shalom Uganda

August 6, 2024

Janice Masur grew up in a tiny, remote European Jewish community in Kampala, Uganda, under British Imperial rule, with no rabbi or Jewish infrastructure. And yet, this community of only twenty-three families formed a cohesive group that celebrated all Jewish festivals together and upheld their Jewish identity. Sadly, while Kampala Jewry made every effort to survive, it eventually failed and withered under the hot African sun. In "Shalom Uganda: A Jewish Community on the Equator", Masur tells her story of living in this little-known Ashkenazi Jewish community from 1949 to 1961. Because so many Jewish communities were obliterated in the last century, she documents, remembers, and preserves Kampala European Jewry with all the respect that it deserves. This book is the only piece of scholarship on this particular Jewish topic. 

The Sweet Fragrance of Life & Other Horror Stories

July 10, 2024

Renowned Jewish vocalist and writer Elizabeth Schwartz's first book of fiction, "The Sweet Fragrance of Life & Other Stories" is a meditation on historic European Jewish Culture seen through the lens of a woman's point of view. She will read excerpts from her stories and talk about the religious, cultural and historic factors that shaped them and her approach to traditional Jewish art. The author weaves in rich historical particulars, from the political climate of decades past to an account of a real-life incident that inspired one of the tales herein. Smooth, descriptive prose makes these short stories fly by. This exceptional collection's brevity is sure to leave readers wanting more. 

Family Declassified

June 18, 2024

Katherine Fennelly - In Family Declassified social scientist Katherine Fennelly delves into the rationale and consequences of family secrets by studying her grandfather, Francis Kalnay, a high-level spy for the Allied Forces in Europe. In 1954 Francis abandoned his family and fled to Mexico for two decades where he reinvented himself as a children's book author, an architect, and a gourmand. Until his death at age 93, he never spoke of his Jewish ancestry, his work as a spy, or of the murder of his sister and nephew at the hands of Hungarian Fascists. 

Caravan of Hope

May 21, 2024

Dahlia Abraham-Klein - This book is a historical non-fiction based on her mother's life, Zina Abraham, who was born in a Soviet Uzbek prison in 1933. Ultimately released from prison and strapped to her mother's chest, Zina and her mother, traveled by horseback undetected to Afghanistan. But as a woman in Afghanistan, she was still essentially in prison, concealed from the outside world with no access to education or medical care. Abraham's story takes us on sweeps and swirls through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Her quest toward religious freedom and education transports us to India, to Israel, and then finally to the United States. Central to each chapter of her life is a story of survival and deep faith and commitment to build and nurture a Jewish life for herself and her community.

The Marriage Box  

May 14, 2024

Corie Adjmi - Casey Cohen, a Middle Eastern Jew, is a sixteen-year-old in New Orleans in the 1970s when she starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. Then she gets in trouble and her parents turn her whole world upside down by deciding to return to their roots, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn. In this new and foreign world the Marriage Box is a real place designated for teenage girls to put themselves on display for potential husbands. Casey is at first shocked by this unfamiliar culture, but after she meets Michael, she marries him at eighteen, believing she can adjust to Syrian ways. But she begins to question her decision when she discovers that Michael doesn't want her to go to college; he wants her to have a baby instead. Can Casey integrate these two opposing worlds, or will she have to leave one behind in order to find her way?

Finding Home

May 7, 2024

Dean Cycon - For nine months in Auschwitz, eighteen-year-old Eva Fleiss clung to sanity by playing piano on imaginary keyboards. After liberation, Eva and the five remaining Jews of Laszlo, Hungary, journey home, seeking to restart their lives. Yet the town that deported them is not ready to embrace their return. Longing for connection to her old life, Eva agrees to clean her former home, now the mayor's home, in return for practice time on her piano. As her profound experiences allow her to access music at a depth she didn't know existed, Eva's performances begin to affect those around her, with unexpected consequences.

 Monsters and Miracles

April 16, 2024

Ira Wesley Kitmacher and Daniel Gurevich - Join us to learn about the special trip which will be based on Ira Wesley Kitmacher's book: "Monsters and Miracles: Horror, Heroes, and the Holocaust" (2022). In this unique talk, you will have the opportunity to meet Ira, who will share about his book, in the form of a Qesher Book Club. In the second half of the event, you will meet Daniel Gurevich, leader of Jerulita and this one-of-a-kind trip, based on this novel, and which will take place between August 2-September 4, 2024.

Across So Many Seas

March 26, 2024

Ruth Behar - Spanning over 500 years, Pura Belpré Award winner Ruth Behar's epic novel tells the stories of four girls from different generations of a Jewish family, many of them forced to leave their country and start a new life. In 1492, during the Spanish Inquisition, Benvenida and her family are banished from Spain. Four centuries later, in 1923, shortly after the Turkish War of Independence, Reina's father ships her away to Cuba. In 1961, Reina's daughter, Alegra, teaches literacy in the Cuban countryside. But Fidel Castro's crackdowns force her to flee to Miami. Finally, in 2003, Alegra's daughter, Paloma, is thrilled by the opportunity to learn more about her heritage on a family trip to Spain, where she makes a momentous discovery. Though many years and many seas separate these girls, each is lucky to stand on the shoulders of their courageous ancestors

Stranger in the Desert 

March 12, 2024

Jordan Salama - Inspired by family lore, a young writer embarks on an epic quest through the Argentine Andes in search of a heritage spanning hemispheres and centuries, from the Jewish Levant to turn-of-the-century trade routes in South America. Combining travelog, history, memoir, and reportage, Stranger in the Desert transports readers from the lonely plains of Patagonia to the breathtaking altiplano of the high Andes; from the old Jewish quarter of Damascus to today's vibrant neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. It is also a fervent journey of self-discovery as Jordan Salama grapples with his own Jewish, Arab, and Latin American identities, interrogating the stories families tell themselves, and to what end.

A Sephardi Turkish Patriot

February 20, 2024

Anthony Gad Bigio - A Sephardi Turkish Patriot explores the life of Gad Franco (1881-1954), a prominent journalist who worked relentlessly for the Jewish community's acceptance as part of the national Turkish polity. This historical biography, written by his grandson, takes the reader from Izmir to Istanbul and beyond, tracing his footsteps, including his opposition to Zionism which he considered a threat to assimilation. Inflamed by ethno-nationalism, cleavages between the Muslim majority and Turkey's ethnic minorities deepened in the 1930s, leading to their harassment during World War II. By then, Gad Franco was expropriated of all his assets and deported to a labor camp. As its belonging to the nation had been so dramatically denied, half of the Turkish Jewish community migrated to Israel in the 1950s, putting an end to Gad Franco's hopes of its integration and acceptance.

We Are Not Strangers

January 23, 2024

Josh Tuininga - The new Graphic Novel, 'We Are Not Strangers' is based on the true story of a Sephardic Jewish immigrant who helped his Japanese-American neighbors when they were incarcerated during WWII. In this talk, author Josh Tuininga traces his family's Sephardic roots as they flee their home in Turkey, discover opportunities in America, and forge a new community in the diverse, migrant neighborhood of the Seattle Central District. Through a visually engaging presentation, Tuininga shares the intricacies of his research and creative process, unraveling the profound lessons embedded in these tales of allyship and unity amidst the turbulence of wartime. 

Kantika

January 09, 2024

Elizabeth Graver - Kantika ("song" in Ladino) was inspired by Elizabeth's grandmother Rebecca, who was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Istanbul and whose tumultuous and shape-shifting life journey took her to Spain, Cuba, and New York. For Elizabeth, the process of writing Kantika was also a journey. She interviewed relatives and strangers, traveled to Turkey, Spain and Cuba, and read deeply to better understand the worlds of the novel. In this talk, she will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the writing of Kantika and discuss some of its central themes, among them music and language crossings, ideas of home, resilience and joy, and the rich, vanishing culture of Turkish Sephardic Jews.

"Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma"
November 21, 2023

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone - We are living in heartbreaking times, when so many around the world are enduring war, displacement, and profound fear. These and other traumas have roots in history, in the collective and intergenerational wounds of our ancestors. Science now demonstrates what many of us may have intuited — that the past can leave imprints upon future generations, affecting the minds, hearts, behaviors, and resilience of those who come next. Drawing from her award-winning book, Wounds into Wisdom, Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone will share research, stories, and principles of trauma healing that speak directly to the moment we are in, and how we can stay healthy, helpful, and humane.

"Anything But Yes": A Novel of Anna del Monte, Jewish Citizen of Rome, 1749 October 17, 2023

Joie Davidow - Anything But Yes is the true story of a young woman's struggle to defend her identity in the face of relentless attempts to destroy it. In 1749, eighteen-year-old Anna del Monte was seized at gunpoint from her home in the Jewish ghetto of Rome and thrown into a convent cell at the "House of Converts". Very few people know the story of the Ghetto, or the abduction of Jews to convert them to Catholicism. Young girls and small children were the primary targets. But Anna del Monte was strong, brilliant, educated, and wrote a diary of her experiences. The document was lost for more than 200 hundred years, then rediscovered in 1989. Anything but Yes is also based on Davidow's extensive research on life in the eighteenth-century Roman ghetto, its traditions, food, personalities, and dialect.

"Worlds Apart": Journeys of a Jewish family in 20th century Europe            May 2, 2023 

Nadia Ragozhina - Two brothers grow up on the Jewish streets of Warsaw. At the turn of the twentieth century, Adolphe leaves to seek work and start a family in Switzerland. Marcus moves east, inspired by his Communist beliefs. In Moscow, he is arrested and exiled. They would never see each other again. A hundred years later, Marcus' great-granddaughter, Nadia Ragozhina, rediscovers the missing part of her broken family. Join us to find out how Nadia pieced together the stories hidden for generations and what she learned about the lives of her relatives amid some of the most tumultuous events of twentieth-century Europe.