Again in a Great City
T
hroughout history, there have been contributions to human civilization by Jews living in the diaspora. Guided by their faith and traditions, it was necessary for Jews to adapt to the environs of their host societies. Resident Jews absorbed the local customs and by turn, Jewish influences became a part of the countries in which they lived. Pervasively, Jewish innovation has had an impact on science, medicine, literature and the arts.
Relics of Jewish European history remain. The remembrances continue to reach across the ocean as families try to reconstruct the lives their ancestors experienced. Monday, November 9 is Kristallnacht Remembrance Day, and authors will speak on relevant topics as diverse as the provenance of buildings commandeered by the Nazis and an ancestor’s haunting SS past. The Jewish influence on the countries in which they live is historic. The Jewish influence on the countries in which they are citizens, their increasing knowledge of and participation in political life, became 20th century phenomena. Audiences attending Opening Night of the 64th Annual Jewish Book Fair will be privileged to hear American Diplomat Dennis Ross speak on the delicate relationship between the United States and Israel. The City of Detroit is no exception when it comes to the impact the Jewish people can have on their geographic location. Members of the Detroit Jewish community, both famous and infamous, contributed to the fabric of the city during the past centuries. Jewish Detroit has produced and supported musicians, comedians, scholars and clergy, and all are topics throughout this year’s Book Fair. The 19th and 20th century architecture of Albert Kahn provided timeless buildings used by science, industry, worship, education and theatre that endure as landmarks in the Detroit area. Wayne State University has educated Jews and been endowed by Jews. This year, Wayne State University Press partners with Book Fair to feature Victoria Aarons discussing Jewish Literature in the Diaspora, which will certainly include some of your favorite authors and introduce you to many more. Patron Night at Book Fair will feature David Maraniss, author of Once in a Great City. This superbly written book is a must-read for anyone who has grown up in Metro Detroit and is an inspiration for those committed to the idea that Detroiters will live “Again in a Great City.” Terry Hollander & Susan Lutz Book Fair Chairs
MISSION STATEMENT The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit’s Annual Jewish Book Fair is a community-wide cultural and literary event, attracting a large and varied audience of more than 20,000 people of all ages. It is the oldest and largest Jewish book fair in the nation. Prominent and emerging writers – from our community and all over the world – in literature, the arts, philosophy, theology, history and current events are invited to engage, educate and entertain.
BOOK STORE HOURS Wednesday, November 4
7 – 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 5
10:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Friday, November 6
9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Saturday, November 7
7 – 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 8
9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Monday, November 9
10:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 10
10:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 11
9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 12
9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Friday, November 13
9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Saturday, November 14
7 – 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 15
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Wednesday, November 4
2 p.m. BOOK FAIR PREVIEW PANEL With Tara Hayes and Sharon Schwartz
8 p.m. Dennis Ross Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama
Too many great authors to pick from at the Book Fair? Don’t know which new books to purchase? Join us as some of our favorite literary experts and book club facilitators provide insight. Hear their take and opinions, share yours and then browse and shop!
An unprecedented account of America’s changing relationship with Israel, Doomed to Succeed takes readers through every administration from Truman to Obama, offering insight into each president's attitude toward Israel and the region, the often tumultuous debates between key advisers and the events that drove the policies.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
5 p.m. Jay Hack
HAPPY HOUR Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
6 p.m. Author presentation in The Berman Center for the Performing Arts The Steady Climb: A Family Journey from Mountain to Markets
$10 Sponsored by Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit
Like mountain climbing, long-term investing is a journey with no shortcuts to success. But the right tools can help anyone learn to make smart decisions.
Thursday, November 5 Day Underwritten by Elaine & Michael Serling
Noon Aviya Kushner LUNCH & LEARN The Grammar of God
In The Steady Climb, former NEXTGen President Jay Hack, financial advisor with Raymond James & Associates and mountain-climbing guide, shares a philosophy of wealth management based on the wisdom of history’s greatest investors – a philosophy that applies to much more than investing. Learn why taking the long-term approach isn’t always easy emotionally, but the results of being slow and steady are well worth the challenges.
Aviya Kushner grew up reading the Bible in the original Hebrew and debating its meaning at the dinner table. So while studying for her MFA, she was surprised to learn that she could barely recognize the text. From differences in the Ten Commandments to a less ambiguous reading of the Creation story, the English translation often felt like another book. In this eye-opening chronicle, Kushner illustrates how differences in translation affect our understanding of the Bible.
$7 includes Happy Hour Sponsored by NEXTGen
$18 includes buffet lunch Held in Marion & David Handleman Hall Reservations required one week prior to event
ADVANCE REGISTRATION RECOMMENDED FOR ALL TICKETED EVENTS theberman.org/bookfair or 248.661.1900
Sponsored by SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment) Co-sponsored by Jewish Federation’s FedEd & Melton
Unless otherwise noted, events will be held in The Berman Center for the Performing Arts Buy a Prime Time Pass for $50 and attend ALL regularly priced ($10) events A SAVINGS OF $20!
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
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Friday, November 6
standing the exacting toll sugar and carbs take on the body. His book is based on his clinical work and reveals how dietary changes can dramatically help regenerate nerves and rehabilitate their normal function.
HEALTH AWARENESS DAY Day Underwritten by Rona Rones
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
10 a.m. Rebecca Alexander Not Fade Away: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found
Co-sponsored by the JCC Women’s Executive Health Club
Saturday, November 7
Born with a rare genetic mutation, Rebecca Alexander has been simultaneously losing her sight and hearing since she was a child. When she was 18, a fall from a window left her body shattered. Yet Alexander refused to lose her drive, her zest for life and her sense of humor.
COMEDY NIGHT Day Underwritten by Penny & Harold Blumenstein
8 p.m. Dani Klein Modisett Take My Spouse, Please: How to Keep Your Marriage Happy, Healthy, and Thriving by Following the Rules of Comedy
Now 35, with only a sliver of sight and significantly deteriorated hearing, she is a psychotherapist with two master’s degrees from Columbia University, and an athlete who teaches spin classes and competes in extreme endurance races.
In love, as in comedy, timing is everything. And one bad night doesn’t mean it’s time to quit. With her trademark humor and sharp, yet reverent tone, writer and comedian Dani Klein Modisett shares a map for navigating marriage through rough patches, bad jokes and even nights when you bomb.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Co-sponsored by Kadima
11:30 a.m. Jessica Fechtor Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home
$10 Co-sponsored by Temple Beth El Sisterhood
Sunday, November 8
Jessica Fechtor was 28, happily immersed in graduate school and her marriage and thinking about starting a family. Then she went for a run and an aneurysm burst in her brain.
Day Underwritten by Esther & Neal Zalenko
10 a.m. – Noon READ IN DETROIT Hosted by Sarah Gottlieb and moderated by Sid Simon of the Jewish Historical Society
Fechtor nearly died. She lost her sense of smell and the sight in her left eye, and she was forced to the sidelines of the life she loved.
Please join us as we pay tribute to local authors Gabriella Burman: Michaela Tracey Cohen: Six-Word Lessons on Female Asperger Syndrome
Jessica's journey to recovery began in the kitchen, where she drew strength from the restorative power of cooking and baking. Written with intelligence, humor and warmth, Stir, which includes 27 recipes, is an examination of what it means to nourish and be nourished.
Edith Covensky: presenting Under a Silky Sky: The Symbolist Poetry of Edith Covensky, by Yair Mazor G. Aimee Ergas: Michigan Women Who Made a Difference: Builders of the Detroit Jewish Community
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
Nancy Fishman: Eight Lessons I Learned in the Corners of the Field
1 p.m. Dr. Richard P. Jacoby Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage, and Reclaim Good Health
Julie Hauser: When I Check on You at Night
Sugar Crush exposes the truth about how a diet high in sugar, processed carbohydrates and wheat compresses and damages the peripheral nerves in the body, leading to pain, numbness, migraines, gall bladder disease and diabetes.
Michelle Segar: No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness
Beth Rodgers: Freshman Fourteen Linda Rosenbaum: Not Exactly As Planned: A Memoir of Adoption, Secrets and Abiding Love Judi Schram: Lights Out in the Attic
Stephanie Steinberg: In the Name of Editorial Freedom: 125 Years at the Michigan Daily Dave Usher, Berl Falbaum: Music is Forever: Dizzy Gillespie, the Jazz Legend and Me Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
In this important work, Dr. Jacoby offers a holistic approach to under-
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
Sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan Co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom Sisterhood, Hadassah Greater Detroit
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11 a.m. Joshua Braff The Daddy Diaries
significant changes in his/her response to stress. This book also includes a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience some of the methods that benefit children in the program.
Mom, her hair a masterpiece of swirls, in a tidy apron and making a roast. Dad smoking his pipe and sitting in his favorite chair. Homework complete, the kids play a swell card game.
Held in Marion & David Handleman Hall
4 p.m. Peter Manseau One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History From the Pilgrims to presidents (“The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity” [John Adams] and the United States “is founded on the principles of Christianity” [FDR]), Americans often describe the United States as a country established on Christian ideals.
Wait. This is so not The Daddy Diaries. Meet Jay and Jackie. Jay is an aspiring author who is now – ouch – Mr. Mom. His wife is starting a high-paying new job. They have a troubled 13-year-old son and a precocious daughter, and then there’s Jay’s narcissistic older brother and lunatic childhood friend. Joshua Braff’s third novel is a funny, poignant take on contemporary fatherhood and changing marital roles. It’s also the story of one man who must tap into his own vulnerabilities to learn how to be the rock of stability his family desperately needs.
But what if it’s not true? In One Nation, Under Gods, Peter Manseau offers a spellbinding look at U.S. history. His conclusion: Christians held political and economic power, but “A society is always shaped not only from the top down but the bottom up. We take for granted that other parts of culture – music, literature, art – are influenced from the margins … the same is true of belief.”
Held in Marion & David Handleman Hall
1 p.m. Green Golly & her Golden Flute FAMILY PROGRAM Unlike Rapunzel, tower-trapped Green Golly is so inspired by life she can’t help but make music. She loves playing her flute and uses courage and creativity to meet whatever comes her way. This Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winning performance features Barbara Siesel as Green Golly and actor-storyteller-songwriter Keith Torgan as everyone else in a touching, funny story about overcoming life’s challenges.
Many of those “on the margins” were Jewish, including seamen traveling with Columbus and the physician nearly murdered for supposed blasphemy. Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Co-sponsored by David Horodoker Organization, Henry & Delia Meyers Library and Media Center/Joan & Robert Jampel
IRWIN SHAW NIGHT 6 p.m. Dan Ephron Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel
$24 Sponsored by The Berman Center for the Performing Arts
Twenty years ago this month Israel experienced an incident that would profoundly change the landscape of the nation and have serious consequences for the future: The assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
2 p.m. Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg A Perfect God Created An Imperfect World Perfectly: 30 Life Lessons from Kids Kicking Cancer People magazine “Hero Among Us” and Top Ten CNN Hero Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, a clinical assistant professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine, is founder and director of Kids Kicking Cancer, which uses martial arts to help boys and girls, some as young as 2, learn how to manage the stress, fear and anxiety that accompanies their disease.
In Killing a King, Dan Ephron relates the parallel stories of Rabin and his killer, Yigal Amir, over the two years leading up to the assassination. Based on new documents and interviews with members of Amir’s family, the book provides revealing details about the murderer, a student and activist just 25 years old. It also explains how only through a prism of the assassination is it possible to understand Israel today, from the paralysis in peacemaking to the difficult relationship between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.
Presented by the Kids Kicking Cancer participants, the 30 lessons in this book explain how anyone can make
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
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Sunday, November 8 Continued
One set of letters stood out, yet the name was completely unfamiliar. The writer was “Valy,” Valerie Scheftel.
8 p.m. Michael Bar-Zohar No Mission Is Impossible: The Death-Defying Missions of the Israeli Special Forces
Who was Valy? This simple question took Wildman on a search that lasted for years and spanned continents and whose ultimate answer she could never have imagined. Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
A spellbinding follow-up to the best-selling Mossad, this gripping narrative takes readers on the ground, in the air and at sea with Israel Defense Force operatives and behind closed doors with high-level tacticians and decision makers. No Mission Is Impossible chronicles the major battles, retaliation raids and commando missions that have ended with decisive victories and painful failures.
4 p.m. Dina Gold Stolen Legacy: Nazi Theft and the Quest for Justice at Krausenstrasse 17/18, Berlin A building with many windows and bearing a kind of heavy elegance, Krausenstrasse 17/18 in Berlin has a curious story to tell. It was built in 1910 by the Wolffs, a Jewish family, and served for many years as one of the city’s most successful fur stores. In 1937, the business was forced into foreclosure by the Victoria Insurance Company and ownership transferred to the Reichsbahn, the Nazi railway that would transport millions of Jews to their deaths.
Interwoven throughout the book are compelling insights into some of Israel’s most fearless warriors including Moshe Dayan, Ariel Sharon, the Netanyahu brothers and Ehud Barak. $10 Co-sponsored by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), Israel Bonds, StandWithUs-Michigan
And after the war? The Victoria Insurance Company kept the building and remained in business there. Dina Gold is a Wolff descendant who loved her grandmother’s stories about the building that had once housed her father’s fur business. Did it belong to them still? There was no proof of ownership. But there was Dina.
Monday, November 9 KRISTALLNACHT COMMEMORATION DAY Day Underwritten by Barbara & Douglas Bloom
11 a.m. Barbara Stark-Nemon Even In Darkness: A Novel
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Co-sponsored by the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive & the Mardigian Library
Based on a true story spanning one century and three continents, Even in Darkness traces the life of Klare Kohler, a German Jew who brought passionate resilience to the Nazis’ destruction of her beloved world. This is the extraordinary saga of family, a lover, two world wars and a concentration camp, all of which shaped the unconventional life Klare built in post-war Germany.
8 p.m. Rita Gabis A Guest at the Shooter’s Banquet: My Grandfather’s SS Past, My Jewish Family, a Search for the Truth Rita Gabis’ family background is filled with Eastern European Jews and Lithuanian Catholics, including a Catholic grandfather with whom she was very close. As a little girl, Rita was mesmerized by his stories of how he fought the Russians and their occupation of Lithuania.
Even in Darkness is based on 15 years of interviews, on-site investigation and letters from Europe, Israel and the United States.
Rita’s grandfather also was a man of secrets, and Rita Gabis learned that he had a very different responsibility than fighting the Russians. From 1941-1943, he was chief of the security police under the Gestapo in Svencionys near the killing fields of Poligon, where 8,000 Jews were murdered in 1941. Here was a man Gabis knew, yet did not know: an adoring grandfather and a Nazi responsible for the deaths of thousands. Gabis set out to learn the complicated truth of who her grandfather really was and what he had done.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
2 p.m. Sarah Wildman Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind Years after her grandfather’s death, Sarah Wildman stumbled across a box of his letters in a file labeled “Correspondence: Patients A-G.”
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
$10 Co-sponsored by C.H.A.I.M. – Children of Holocaust-Survivors in Michigan
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Tuesday, November 10
5 p.m. Dion Nissenbaum A Street Divided: Stories from Jerusalem’s Alley of God
Day Underwritten by Andi & Larry Wolfe
11 a.m. Shulem Deen All Who Go Do Not Return: A Memoir
Arabs called it al Mantiqa Haram, and Jews knew it as shetach hefker. Both translate to “the forbidden area,” and it referred to the no-man’s land that, for many years, separated Israel and Jordan.
Shulem Deen was raised to believe that questions are dangerous. As a member of the Skverers, one of the most insular Hasidic sects, he knew little about the outside world – only that it was to be shunned. His marriage at 18 was arranged, and several children soon followed.
First a shepherd’s path, the “forbidden area” became Assael Street in what was once known as “East Jerusalem.” It was split by coils of barbed wire that separated the Jordaniancontrolled territory from western Jerusalem, supervised by Israel. After Israel’s victory in the 1967 war, Jerusalem was reunited and the wire came down, but the emotional barriers remained.
Deen’s first transgression – turning on the radio – was small, but soon he began a feverish inquiry into the tenets of his religious beliefs, until, several years later, his faith unraveled entirely. His relationship with his family at stake, he was forced into a life of deception and he began a long struggle to hold on to those he loves most: his five children.
Throughout its existence, the “forbidden area,” was home to prostitutes and priests, poets and spies. It was the setting for absurd humor (a United Nations-declared ceasefire to search for dentures), romance and a shocking, unsolved international murder.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Nissenbaum has written a compelling collection of stories that explore the history of a small piece of land and consider how two very different groups live – or do not live – together.
Co-sponsored by Temple Kol Ami Sisterhood
2 p.m. Emily Liebert
TEA & FICTION
Co-sponsored by Ameinu Detroit
Those Secrets We Keep
7 p.m. Pam Jenoff
On the surface, Sloane has the perfect life – an adoring husband, a precocious daughter and enough financial security to be a stay-at-home mom. Still, she can’t help but feel as though something is missing.
BOOK CLUB NIGHT Meet & Greet and Dessert Reception The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach Adelia Montforte flees fascist Italy for America, where she is whisked away by her well-meaning aunt and uncle. Here, she falls for Charlie Connally, the eldest of the four Irish-Catholic boys next door. But all hopes for a future together are throttled by the war and a tragedy that hits much closer to home.
Hillary has a successful career and a solid marriage. The only problem is her inability to conceive – and there’s a reason for that. As the wild-child daughter of old family money, Georgina has never had to accept responsibility for anything. So when she realizes an unexpected life change could tie her down, she does exactly what she’s always done: escape. When the three women unite for a vacation in New York, Sloane, Hillary and Georgina quickly discover that no secret can be kept forever.
Grief-stricken, Addie flees first to Washington and then to war-torn London, where she finds a position at a prestigious newspaper, as well as a chance to redeem lost time, lost family and lost love.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Ahm Sisterhood, Temple Israel Sisterhood
Following the author presentation and book signing, please join us for a discussion: “Fiction: Content and Craft,” with book club facilitator Tara Hayes
$18 for reception $28 for reception and book Held in Marion & David Handleman Hall
Originally from Montana, Tara Hayes moved east to study as a trustee scholar at Boston University. There, she earned the Daniel Dorchester English Prize and chose to defer grad school to serve domestically as a member of Teach for America and Americorps. Hayes spent the next six years in inner-city Houston, Los Angeles and the Mississippi Delta before moving to Detroit to complete her master and doctoral degrees. Locally, Hayes became the “Book Club Professor,” facilitating groups engaged in elevating textual – both literary and film – analysis and discussion.
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
Reservations required one week prior to event Co-sponsored by Bookies Book Club
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Wednesday, November 11
2 p.m. Daniel M. Cohen Single Handed: The Inspiring True Story of Tibor “Teddy” Rubin - Holocaust Survivor, Korean War Hero, and Medal of Honor Recipient
Day Underwritten by Beatrice (z”l) & Boris (z”l) Katz Family Foundation
10 a.m. Henry Gornbein Divorce Demystified: Everything You Need To Know Before You File for Divorce Divorce invariably comes with complications. Some of these, like what’s best for the children and how to manage property, are obvious. But there are many issues that most people may not even consider, or that can leave them overwhelmed.
In 2005, 76-year-old Tibor “Teddy” Rubin received the Medal of Honor from President George W. Bush, becoming the only Holocaust survivor to earn America’s highest military distinction. In Single Handed, Daniel M. Cohen tells the true story of this remarkable man whose life began as the son of a shoemaker in Paszto, Hungary.
Practicing in Michigan for more than 40 years and a leading expert in family law, attorney Henry Gornbein deconstructs the divorce process and serves it up in small, manageable steps. In addition to exploring legal, economic and psychological concerns, Gornbein discusses the random, routine and often overlooked details of ending a marriage. His goal is to help everyone understand what to expect in a divorce and learn how to avoid the drama and trauma.
Tibor was 13 when he was captured by the Nazis and sent to Mauthausen, where he was a prisoner for two years before liberation by American troops. After the war, now an orphan, Tibor immigrated to the United States. He volunteered to serve in the Korean War and single-handedly defended a hill against an onslaught of enemy soldiers, braved sniper fire to rescue a wounded comrade and commandeered a machine gun after its crew was killed. He also was captured and, as a POW, used his experience in Mauthausen to help fellow GIs survive captivity.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
Meanwhile, Tibor was encountering another, and equally devastating enemy: anti-Semitism in the U.S. military.
11 a.m. Hannah Nordhaus American Ghost: A Family's Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Sponsored by Jewish Family Service
6 p.m. David Maraniss
The ghost made its first appearance near a fireplace at La Posada, formerly a private home and now one of Santa Fe’s most elegant hotels. Soon afterward, vases filled with flowers began appearing in unexpected places, glasses started flying off shelves and guests reported that their blankets were ripped off in the middle of the night.
PATRON NIGHT Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story The Washington Post Associate Editor David Maraniss is a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist and bestselling author whose latest work focuses on his hometown.
The ghost was said to be that of Julia Schuster Staab, who died in 1896 and was the wife of the home's original owner.
It’s 1963 and Detroit is on top of the world, guided by visionaries like Walter Reuther, Berry Gordy, Gov. George Romney and Lee Iacocca. Yet already, the shadows of collapse are evident. Before the riots, before the civic corruption and neglect, before people trotted out the grab bag of infirmities (from harsh weather to competition from abroad) to explain Detroit’s collapse, one could see the signs of a city’s ruin.
Almost 120 years later, Julia’s greatgreat-granddaughter, Hannah Nordhaus, has written the true account of her ancestor’s life, death and unsettled afterlife. Nordhaus takes readers on a fascinating journey from Julia's childhood in Germany to her years in the American West with her Jewish merchant husband, from the spas and séance rooms of the late 19th century to encounters with villains and visionaries.
Though Detroit is a very different place today, it was once threatened by its own design, Maraniss says; it was a city plagued by employment and labor challenges and a sharp division of “haves” and “have nots.”
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Co-sponsored by Hadassah Greater Detroit
$15 Following the author talkback, Book Fair patrons are invited to a dinner reception and private book signing in Marion & David Handleman Hall
Sponsored by DeRoy Testamentary Foundation
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
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Thursday, November 12
At the same time, Adam is facing a challenge of a very different sort: he is about to meet up with other damaged souls all trying to turn their lives around.
Day Underwritten by Sallyjo & H. Barry Levine
10 a.m. Victoria Aarons The New Diaspora: The Changing Landscape of American Jewish Fiction
$30 includes luncheon in Marion & David Handleman Hall Reservations required one week prior to event Co-sponsored by National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Detroit Section, West Bloomfield Township Public Library
Rebecca Goldstein, Nathan Englander, Jonathan Safran Foer, Dara Horn, Julie Orringer and Joseph Skibell are a handful of authors shaping Jewish literature today and whose works are included is this collection of award-winning writing.
3 p.m. Jo Ivester The Outskirts of Hope: A Memoir of the 1960s Deep South Jo Ivester was 10 years old when, in 1967, her Jewish family moved from a Boston suburb to a small, all-black town in the heart of Mississippi, where Jo’s father, Leon Kruger, would be director of a medical clinic and her mother, Aura, would be a high school English teacher. The move, Aura told her children, was going to be a great adventure.
There are 36 stories and chapters from books that originated in Cuba, South Africa, Hungary, Egypt, France and Russia, as well as America. All reflect the myriad interests of and literary forms that characterize the Jewish experience. Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Sponsored by Wayne State University Press
Leon Kruger had been inspired by President Lyndon Johnson, who declared: “Unfortunately, many Americans live on the outskirts of hope – some because of their poverty, and some because of their color, and all too many because of both.”
Co-sponsored by Adat Shalom Sisterhood
Noon LUNCH WITH THE AUTHORS Talia Carner Hotel Moscow: A Novel
Forty years later, Ivester’s mother, then in her 80s, began writing about her life, including her experiences in Mississippi; when she was done, she left a pile of notebooks one-foot tall. “My mother felt as if her task was complete at this point,” Ivester says. “But that was just the beginning for me.”
Brooke Fielding is a 38-year-old investment manager and the daughter of Holocaust survivors whose life takes an extraordinary turn when she accepts an invitation to teach in Moscow. Brooke is excited by the opportunity to be one of the first Americans to visit Russia after the fall of communism. But as the former Soviet Union is turned into a war zone, Brooke finds herself in a terrible world where neighbors spy on neighbors and the new economy is in the hands of a few dangerous men. As a foreigner, Brooke cannot go unnoticed – and a mistake in her past may compromise her future.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Co-sponsored by ADL, Bookstock – Supporting the Need to Read, Repair the World, Southfield Public Library
5:30 p.m. Mike Wien
HAPPY HOUR The Specific Edge: How Sustained Effort Wins in Business and Life Who hasn’t given up on a dream because, “I’m just not lucky” or “I’m not talented enough” or “I don’t seem to have the magic formula”?
Jessamyn Hope Safekeeping: A Novel At the heart of this extraordinary new novel is a sapphire brooch forged in a medieval ghetto and carrying a perilous backstory spanning three continents and seven centuries.
The Specific Edge is a blueprint that shows how anyone can become a winner. A marketing expert with Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Citibank and Deloitte, as well as a competitor in the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, Mike Wien explains how success has nothing to do with luck, but is instead a combination of concentration, discipline and endurance.
In 1994, a drug addict named Adam arrives with the priceless brooch at Kibbutz Sadot Hadar in Israel. To redress a crime, he must give the heirloom to a woman his grandfather loved when, 50 years earlier, he was a refugee on this same kibbutz. But finding the mystery woman proves more complicated than expected.
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
In his presentation, Wien will provide tips on how to discover your specific edge, outsmart your competitors, improve your performance and win in business and life. $7 includes Happy Hour Held in the Janice Charach Gallery Sposored by JCC Fitness
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Thursday, November 12 Continued
1 p.m. Film: “Life as a Rumor” Israel, 2013, 123 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles
8 p.m. Anthony David An Improbable Friendship: The Remarkable Lives of Israeli Ruth Dayan and Palestinian Raymonda Tawil and Their 40-Year Mission to Build Understanding Between Their Peoples
Assi Dayan (1945-2014), was one of Israel’s leading actors and directors, a man who experienced first-hand Israel's major political and cultural challenges. “Life as a Rumor” is a documentary about this remarkable man, the son of Gen. Moshe Dayan, who not only saw behind the scenes of Israel’s most epic events but had much to say about them in the daring films he made. Born with the country, his tumultuous life and the narrative of the nation both merge and clash with one another.
One woman became the mother-in-law of Israel’s most notorious enemy. The other was married to Israel’s top military leader. The two women met soon after the Six-Day War and, incredibly enough, became close friends.
“Life as a Rumor” also is the story of the Dayan family, intergenerational struggles, founding fathers and rebellious sons. $10
Award-winning author Anthony David delivers a fast-paced, fascinating and revealing dual biography of Moshe Dayan’s widow, Ruth, who lives in Tel Aviv, and Yasser Arafat’s motherin-law, Raymonda Tawil, of Malta.
Sponsored by the JCC’s Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival
Saturday, November 14 8 p.m. Steve Katz
$10
CONCERT AND TALK
Sponsored by Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit
Blood, Sweat, and My Rock ‘n’ Roll Years: Is Steve Katz a Rock Star?
Co-sponsored by Congregation B’nai Moshe, Congregation B’nai Moshe Sisterhood, Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit, Pathways to Peace Foundation, WISDOM (Women’s Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue & Outreach in Metro Detroit)
In 1970, it didn’t get any better than Blood, Sweat and Tears. The group won Best Album of the Year (beating the Beatles and Johnny Cash) and had three major hits, including “And When I Die.”
Friday, November 13 Day Underwritten by Nancy & James Grosfeld
10 a.m. Max and Eli Sussman
Among the band’s founders was Steve Katz, who also wrote many of the group’s songs, played guitar and sang. Katz came to BS&T after a career that included performing with the Blues Project (notably at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival) and would extend, by 1982, to producing for Lou Reed.
COOKING DEMONSTRATION AND TASTING Classic Recipes for Modern People Chef brothers and Huntington Woods natives Max and Eli Sussman are back with their fourth cookbook, Classic Recipes for Modern People, featuring more than 75 recipes that reimagine favorite dishes from childhood, accompanied by plenty of humor to spice things up along the way.
Katz jammed with everyone from Mose Allison to Jimi Hendrix and had affairs with famous folk singers. He managed to both be part of the music world and stay at the edge of the spotlight, allowing for an extraordinary perspective on rock music from the ‘60s to today. $18 includes concert
Sunday, November 15
Classics Recipes includes dishes that have been reinvented, rejiggered, reordered and recreated by the Sussmans, who believe that recipes should be easy-to-make, ever expanding and evolving, a philosophy they practice in their professional and home kitchens. Max is chef de cuisine at Roberta's, and Eli works as a line cook at Mile End Delicatessen, both in Brooklyn.
Day Underwritten by Rona Rones
10 a.m. Joseph Skibell My Father's Guitar and Other Imaginary Things Was it a trick when Joseph Skibell’s father offered his son a beautiful guitar – then delivered a not-sobeautiful one? Could it be that the telemarketer calling at dinnertime (of course) has no interest in your money, but is instead in search of a Utopian world? Can a father really have any say-so over his daughter’s private life?
$7 includes small bites tasting Reservation required one week prior to event Sponsored by Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy Co-sponsored by Congregation B’nai Moshe, Congregation B’nai Moshe Sisterhood, Friends of Jewish Senior Life
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
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248.661.1900
1 p.m. Todd Parr FAMILY PROGRAM
Joseph Skibell ponders these and other bewildering questions in My Father’s Guitar, a collection of stories about the little annoyances, fantasies and delusions that make us who we are. In his first work of non-fiction, the award-winning Skibell presents insightful essays that are a bit quirky, charming and disarmingly funny.
Todd Parr is a fantastic children’s author just as fun and full of whimsy as the books he creates, leading to 16,000 followers giving him the thumbs-up on Facebook. If you’ve ever wondered about the density of black holes or the household uses of mac ’n’ cheese, Todd is ready to be your new guru.
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
11:30 a.m. Steven Gimbel Einstein: His Space and Times Everyone knows Einstein, the eccentric genius – the man so absentminded he forgot to wear socks and so brilliant his ideas changed the world.
$7 Co-sponsored by The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, PJ Library, Shalom Street Museum
Einstein also was a man of his times, politically engaged and driven by strong moral principles. An avowed pacifist, he was mistrustful of authority and outspoken on social and moral issues.
2 p.m. Gil Troy The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s It was the best of times or the worst of times. Or perhaps a bit of both. The 1990s were the Age of Clinton, says author Gil Troy. It was a decade of astonishing technological and cultural change that shaped and were shaped by the president. It was a decade of a leader – and his wife – who personified the country’s noble aspirations, its achievements and missed opportunities and its embarrassing excesses.
In his revealing new book, Steven Gimbel explains how Einstein saw science not only as a means for understanding the behavior of the universe but as a foundation for considering the deeper questions of life and a way for the Jewish community to gain pride and confidence. Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
Offering an insightful look at both the Clintons and the transformative 1990s, The Age of Clinton takes readers on a wild ride from the New York of “Rent” to Beverly Hills 90210, from Oprah Winfrey to Newt Gingrich, from Bill Gates to Kurt Cobain and from Harry Potter to America’s changing relationship with Israel.
Co-sponsored by Jewish Book Fair Book Club, Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit
12:30 p.m. Rabbi Arthur Green LUNCH & LEARN Judaism’s 10 Best Ideas: A Brief Guide For Seekers
Held in the Janice Charach Gallery
BOOK FAIR CLOSING EVENT 4 p.m. Tess Gerritsen Playing With Fire
Have you ever wondered, “Why be Jewish?” “Is this a legacy really worth preserving?” “Is Judaism relevant to my life?”
A gripping new thriller by New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen (famous for her Rizzoli and Isles series), Playing with Fire begins in an antiques shop in Rome, where violinist Julia Ansdell discovers a piece of music called Incendio. Full of passion, torment and chilling beauty, this mournful waltz is seemingly unknown to the world.
In his new book, the engaging Rabbi Art Green presents the ideas in Judaism that kept him loyal to the tradition. There are no lectures here; instead, Rabbi Green – named to Newsweek’s list of Top 50 Influential Rabbis in America every year since 2008 – writes with warmth and humor and uses stories to explain the beauty and relevance of religion.
Back home in Boston, Julia decides to play the mysterious melody. But from the moment her bow touches the string, something strange is stirred: Whenever she hears the music, Julia’s daughter suddenly seems violently transformed.
Whether you’re looking to learn, refresh or simply take a new look at your own faith, this book is an indispensable guide. $18 includes buffet lunch
Convinced that the hypnotic strains of Incendio are weaving a spell, Julia sets out to discover the meaning behind the score – a journey that will take her back to Germany’s darkest hour and a young Jewish man in love.
Held in Marion & David Handleman Hall Reservations required one week prior to event Sponsored by Adat Shalom Synagogue, Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies – Wayne State University, SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment)
Detroit will be one of only two stops nationwide where awardwinning violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou will join Tess Gerritsen on stage for a live performance of Incendio.
Co-sponsored by Jewish Federation’s FedEd & Melton, Michigan Board of Rabbis
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
$18
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Author schedule at a glance Wednesday, November 4 8 p.m. Dennis Ross........................................ 3
Thursday, November 5 Noon Aviya Kushner...................................... 3
2 p.m. Book Fair Preview Panel.................... 3 5 p.m. Jay Hack............................................... 3
November 4-15, 2015
Sunday, November 8 continued
Thursday, November 12
4 p.m. Peter Manseau.................................... 5
10 a.m. Victoria Aarons................................. 9
8 p.m. Dr. Michael Bar-Zohar........................ 6
3 p.m. Jo Ivester............................................. 9
Monday, November 9
8 p.m. Anthony David...................................10
6 p.m. Dan Ephron......................................... 5
11 a.m. Barbara Stark-Nemon....................... 6
Noon Talia Carner, Jessamyn Hope.............. 9
5:30 p.m. Mike Wien....................................... 9
2 p.m. Sarah Wildman................................... 6
Friday, November 13
8 p.m. Rita Gabis............................................ 6
1 p.m. Life as a Rumor, Film.........................10
1 p.m. Dr. Richard Jacoby............................... 4
Tuesday, November 10
Saturday, November 14
Saturday, November 7
2 p.m. Emily Liebert....................................... 7
11 a.m. Shulem Deen..................................... 7
8 p.m. Steve Katz..........................................10
5 p.m. Dion Nissenbaum............................... 7
Sunday, November 15
Friday, November 6 10 a.m. Rebecca Alexander........................... 4
11:30 a.m. Jessica Fechtor............................. 4
8 p.m. Dani Klein Modisett........................... 4
4 p.m. Dina Gold............................................ 6
7 p.m. Pam Jenoff........................................... 7
Sunday, November 8 10 a.m. Read in Detroit, Local Authors........ 4
11 a.m. Joshua Braff....................................... 5
1 p.m. Green Golly.......................................... 5 2 p.m. Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg................ 5
Wednesday, November 11 10 a.m. Henry Gornbein................................. 8
11 a.m. Hannah Nordhaus............................. 8 2 p.m. Daniel M. Cohen................................. 8 6 p.m. David Maraniss................................... 8
TICKET PRICES Wednesday 11/4
8 p.m.
Dennis Ross
$10
Thursday 11/5
Noon
Aviya Kushner
$18
Thursday 11/5
5 p.m.
Jay Hack
$7
Saturday 11/7
8 p.m.
Dani Klein Modisett
$10
Sunday 11/8
1 p.m.
Green Golly
$24
Sunday 11/8
8 p.m.
Michael Bar-Zohar
$10
Monday 11/9
8 p.m.
Rita Gabis
$10
Tuesday 11/10
7 p.m.
Pam Jenoff
$18/$28
Wednesday 11/11
6 p.m.
David Maraniss
$15
Thursday 11/12
Noon
Talia Carner, Jessamyn Hope
$30
Thursday 11/12
5:30 p.m.
Mike Wien
$7
Thursday 11/12
8 p.m.
Anthony David
$10
Friday 11/13
10 a.m.
Max & Eli Sussman
$7
Friday 11/13
1 p.m.
Life as a Rumor, Film
$10
Saturday 11/14
8 p.m.
Steve Katz
$18
Sunday 11/15
12:30 pm
Rabbi Arthur Green
$18
Sunday 11/15
1 p.m.
Todd Parr
$7
Sunday 11/15
4 p.m.
Tess Gerritsen
$18
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
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10 a.m. Max & Eli Sussman..........................10
10 a.m. Joseph Skibell..................................10
11:30 a.m. Steven Gimbel............................. 11 12:30 p.m. Rabbi Arthur Green..................... 11 1 p.m. Todd Parr............................................ 11 2 p.m. Gil Troy................................................ 11 4 p.m. Tess Gerritsen.................................... 11
ORDER TICKETS EARLY! Seats for Book Fair patrons will be held until 15 minutes before start time. Events with cost require a ticket for admission; all other lectures are free. To order tickets: 248.661.1900 or theberman.org/bookfair
➧ Buy a Prime Time Pass for $50 and attend ALL regularly priced ($10) events – a savings of $20!
248.661.1900
Thank You to Our Sponsors! The Book Fair is one of Metro Detroit’s premier cultural events, featuring best-selling authors in fiction and non-fiction, plus politicians, entertainers, historians, leading chefs, Pulitzer Prize winners and talented local authors.
We would not be able to host the Book Fair without your generous support. PUBLISHER The Baronette Renaissance* Bookstock – Used Book & Media Sale DeRoy Testamentary Foundation*
EDITOR Credit Union ONE*
DAY UNDERWRITERS Barbara & Douglas Bloom* Penny & Harold Blumenstein* Nancy & James Grosfeld* Beatrice (z”l) and Boris Katz (z”l) Family Foundation Sallyjo & H. Barry Levine* Rona Rones* Elaine & Michael Serling* Andi & Larry Wolfe* Esther & Neal Zalenko*
AUTHOR Maxwell Bardenstein* Natalie & Manny Charach* Judith & Irwin Elson* Terry & Martin Hollander* Sheri & David Jaffa* Raymond & Atara Zimmerman Philanthropic Fund*
BOOK LOVER American Fireplace Distributors Leslie & Norman Bash Beaumont Health System Detroit Roofing Company – Lee Lutz Finkel Whitefield Selik Carol & Ronald Fogel* Gary A. Goldin & Associates Hollander, Ellison & Associates, PC Kaplan, Katzman, Klein & Koterba, PC
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
Sue & Alan Jay Kaufman*
Israel Bonds
Cis Maisel Kellman & Martin Kellman*
JCC’s Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival
The Kroger Company of Michigan
JCC Women’s Executive Health Club
LoPatin & Company
Jewish Bar Association of Michigan (JBAM)
Sandi & Steve Matz
Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit
Pet Nosan*
Jewish Family Service
Sophie Pearlstein* Rosenberg Family Dental Bluma & Robert (z”l) Schechter* Showfer Books
Jewish Federation’s FedEd & Melton Jewish Gay Network of Michigan Jewish Historical Society of Michigan Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit
Tama, Budaj, Raab Cheri & Dean Victor
Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit
BOOK FAIR AMBASSADORS
Kadima
(Sponsoring Organizations) ADL Adat Shalom Sisterhood Adat Shalom Synagogue Ameinu Detroit
Michigan Board of Rabbis National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Detroit Section NEXTGen Detroit Pathways to Peace Foundation PJ Library
Bookies Book Club C.H.A.I.M – Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association in Michigan
Repair the World SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment)
Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies, Wayne State University
Shalom Street Museum
Congregation Beth Ahm Sisterhood
StandWithUs-Michigan
Congregation Beth Shalom Sisterhood Congregation B’nai Moshe Congregation B’nai Moshe Sisterhood David Horodoker Organization Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Friends of Jewish Senior Life Hadassah Greater Detroit Henry & Delia Meyers Library and Media Center/Joan & Robert Jampel* Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit
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Southfield Public Library Temple Beth El Sisterhood Temple Israel Sisterhood Temple Kol Ami Sisterhood The Berman Center for the Performing Arts The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive & The Mardigian Library, University of Michigan – Dearborn Wayne State University Press West Bloomfield Township Public Library WISDOM (Women’s Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue & Outreach in Metro Detroit) * Indicates Pillars of Light donors List as of September 1, 2015
248.661.1900
Pillars of Light PIONEER
The Ravitz Foundation Rona Rones
Anonymous Madeleine & Mandell Berman Florine Mark
VISIONARY Financial One Accounting, Inc.
Bluma & Robert (z�l) Schechter Raymond & Atara Zimmerman Philanthropic Fund
REGENT Maxwell Bardenstein DeRoy Testamentary Foundation
PACESETTER
Detroit Pistons
Joan & Dr. Robert Jampel
Carol & Ronald Fogel Terry & Martin Hollander
INNOVATOR Barbara & Douglas Bloom
The Marjorie and Maxwell Jospey Support Foundation
Natalie & Manny Charach
Karen & Jerald Kaufman
Jeffrey Charach
Shari & Alon Kaufman
Credit Union ONE
Sue & Alan Jay Kaufman
Judith & Irwin Elson
Sallyjo & H. Barry Levine
Nancy & James Grosfeld
Mark/Lis Family Philanthropic Fund
Andi & Larry Wolfe
Pet Nosan Sophie Pearlstein
CHAMPION
Karen & Todd Sachse
The Baronette Renaissance
Ellen & Ronney Schmier
Penny & Harold Blumenstein
Merton Segal
Henry Ford Health System
Elaine & Michael Serling
The John & Ella Imerman Foundation
Sydelle Sonkin
Renee & Earl Ishbia
Sally & Louis Soverinsky
Sheri & David Jaffa
Esther & Neal Zalenko
Cis Maisel Kellman & Martin Kellman Northwest Child Rescue Women
Pillars of Light donate $5,000 and more annually to Jewish Community Center programming. For more information on becoming a Pillar of Light, please call the development department at 248.432.5418.
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
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248.661.1900
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit BOOK FAIR COMMITTEE Co-Chairs Terry Hollander Susan Lutz
Arts, Culture & Education Department Chair
Ilana Glazier
Carol Weintraub Fogel
Steve Lefkowsky
Department Director
Scott Small
Martin Hollander
Noemi Herzig
Board of Directors
Leslie Bash
Book Fair Director
Barbara Bloom
Shelley Goldin
Rachel Ruskin
Helayne Kaplan
Book Fair Coordinators
Associate Chairs
Jennifer LoPatin
Linda Levy
Stacy Brand Jeffrey F. Budaj Carrie Cohen Suzan Curhan
Sandi Matz
Adina Pergament
Committee
Book Fair Assistant
Stephen Feldman
Karen Siegel
Dennis Frank
The Berman Center for the Performing Arts
Dr. Sonia Gonte
Ruth Beitner Leslie Black Roz Blanck Brenda Brook Heidi Budaj Julie Chaiken Janice Cohen Susie Feldman Nancy Finkel Gail Fisher Carol Weintraub Fogel Vera Gell Sarah Gottlieb
Elaine (Hendricks) Smith, Director Eric W. Maher, Technical Director Bryan Spangler, Box Office Manager Jessica Green, Outreach Coordinator
Ben Falik
Scott Isner Howard Katz Alan J. Kaufman Shari Kaufman Allen Kessler
Neil Koivu, Master Electrician
Susan Lutz
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
Donna Pearlman
President Brian D. Siegel
Jerold R. Minkin Michael Phillips (z�l) Evelyn Rosen Jared Rothberger
Wendy Heller-Kippelman
Chair, Executive Committee
Bassie Shemtov
Phyllis Kessler
Florine Mark
Malke Torgow
Cheryl Kirsch
Vice Presidents
Steve Weisberg
Howard Iwrey
Immediate Past President
H. Barry Levine
Florine Mark
Eric Lumberg
Executive Staff
Lois Langberg Addie Levine Sallyjo Levine Francine Menken Maida Frank Portnoy Elaine Robins Rona Rones Candy Rosen
Mark Rubenfire Nathan Upfal Rick Zussman
Leslee Magidson, Assistant Executive Director
Treasurer
Larry Poupard, CFO
Lauren Rosenberg
Terry Hollander
Sheri Schiff
Secretary
Steve Showfer
Jeremy Wolfe
Pam Siegfried Lynn Silverman Cheri Victor Margie Winston Judy Yunas Linda Zlotoff
www.jccdet.org/book-fair
James Issner, CEO
Executive Committee Members at Large Michael Berger Miriam Bergman Carol Weintraub Fogel
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248.661.1900
Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus 6600 W. Maple Road • West Bloomfield, MI 48322 www.jccdet.org
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YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US AT THE
64th Annual Jewish Book Fair
PATRON NIGHT Wednesday,
November 11, 2015 at 6 p.m. F E AT U R I N G
David Maraniss AU TH OR OF Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story Sponsored by DeRoy Testamentary Foundation
FINANCIAL ONE ACCOUNTING, INC.