Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor

Amster Gallery Exhibition with Sheldon Markel and Paulo Neuhaus
2023-11-02 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Detroit) | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States

Trio Cantilena Concert
2023-11-04 19:30 - 22:00 | Beth Israel Congregation, 2000 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
The Jewish Community Center, in partnership with Michigan State University College of Music, proudly presents Trio Cantilena! Join us for a night of beautiful Sephardic Jewish music on Saturday, November 4 at 7:30 PM at Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor.
Tickets are $18 for JCC Members and $25 for Community Members, and can be purchased here: https://operations.daxko.com/Online/4088/ProgramsV2/OfferingDetails.mvc?program_id=TMP35624&offering_id=SES923279&location_id=B368
Tickets are FREE for sponsors of the Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival. Sponsors must call (734) 971-0990 to receive their tickets.
Trio Cantilena, Jerusalém de España–Cantilena is an internationally renowned trio that brings Sephardic Jewish classical music to concert halls worldwide. The trio delivers an impassioned performance of a stirring mixture of works rooted in an ancient Judeo Español culture as depicted through Romansas, Cantigas and Piutim that go as far back as 2000 years ago. Stories of Love, loss and longing take center stage in classical concert form including both traditional and original contemporary works, one of which is a monument in the memory of the Jewish community of Salonika who perished in the Holocaust.

2023 Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival
2023-11-05 - 2023-11-19 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
The 36th Annual Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival is fast approaching! Mark your calendars for November 5-19, 2023 for two weeks of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events featuring a diverse array of authors bringing new fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature to the greater Ann Arbor community.
Most events are free and open to the public; paid admission is required for Lunch & Learn sessions and the annual Sponsors’ Dinner.
To see our author lineup, learn more about sponsorship, or visit the JCC’s virtual bookstore, please visit https://jccannarbor.org/book-festival/ to learn more!
Organizational Sponsors as of October 2023

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Sponsor Night
2023-11-05 17:30 - 21:00 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
SPONSOR NIGHT @ THE JCC
With Author Benyamin Cohen, The Einstein Effect: How the World’s Favorite Genius Got into Our Cars, Our Bathrooms, and Our Minds
Moderated by Timothy Chupp, Professor of Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan
DINNER @ 5:30 PM
PROGRAM WITH AUTHOR @ 7:00 PM
Register HERE to attend the FREE public program!
Almost 70 years after his death, Albert Einstein’s genius continues to define our everyday lives and his enduring legacy has shaped him into a modern-day pop culture icon. Albert Einstein’s face is still one of the most recognizable in the world and he’s widely considered to be the first modern-day celebrity. While many of his discoveries continue to define our daily lives, it’s not just his genius that continues to shape our world. Today, more people know Einstein as an icon rather than a theorist — decades after his death, he’s a celebrity with a massive online following.
The Einstein Effect shows all the ways his influence is still with us today — in our systems and our culture. Interspersed between chapters on his long-lasting scientific legacy, author Benyamin Cohen (the mind behind Einstein’s Twitter account!) also tells the story of how Einstein became an unlikely social media figure and pop culture icon in the modern age.
Benyamin Cohen manages the official social media accounts of Albert Einstein. He is the News Director of the Forward. Cohen is also the author of My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith, named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly and for which he received the Georgia Author of the Year award. He is based in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Diana Fersko, We Need to Talk About Antisemitism
Moderated by Dr. Jonathan Trobe, Ophthalmology, Michigan Medicine
7:00 PM over Zoom

A millennial rabbi explores why we’re reluctant to discuss antisemitism — and empowers us to fight against it.
Antisemitism is on the rise in America, in cities and rural areas, in red states and blue states, and in guises both subtle and terrifyingly overt. Rabbi Diana Fersko is used to having difficult conversations with members of her congregation about the issues they face — from the threat of violence to microaggressions and identity denial. In We Need to Talk About Antisemitism, she gives all of us the ultimate guide to modern antisemitism in its many forms.

Exploring topics like vile myths about Jewish people and the intersection of antisemitism with other forms of discrimination, We Need to Talk About Antisemitism gives readers the tools they need to understand the state of antisemitism today. Fersko shows Jews and non-Jews alike how to speak up and come together, spreading a message of solidarity and hope. This is a timely read for anyone passionate about fighting for social justice.
Rabbi Diana Fersko is the Senior Rabbi at the Village Temple in Manhattan. She is the national vice president of the Women’s Rabbinic Network and a member of the New York Board of Rabbis. Fersko has been profiled in The New Yorker and has been published in HuffPost. She lives in New York City.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-07 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Jennifer Rosner, Once We Were Home
Moderated by Jenny Traig
12:00 PM over Zoom
From Jennifer Rosner, National Jewish Book Award Finalist and author of The Yellow Bird Sings, comes a novel based on the true stories of children stolen in the wake of World War II.
Ana will never forget her mother’s face when she and her baby brother, Oskar, were sent out of their Polish ghetto and into the arms of a Christian friend. For Oskar, though, their new family is the only one he remembers. When a woman from a Jewish reclamation organization seizes them, believing she has their best interest at heart, Ana sees an opportunity to reconnect with her roots, while Oskar sees only the loss of the home he loves.
Roger grows up in a monastery in France, inventing stories and trading riddles with his best friend in a life of quiet concealment. When a relative seeks to retrieve him, the Church steals him across the Pyrenees before relinquishing him to family in Jerusalem.
Renata, a post-graduate student in archaeology, has spent her life unearthing secrets from the past–except for her own. After her mother’s death, Renata’s grief is entwined with all the questions her mother left unanswered, including why they fled Germany so quickly when Renata was a little girl.
Two decades later, they are each building lives for themselves, trying to move on from the trauma and loss that haunts them. But as their stories converge in Israel, in unexpected ways, they must each ask where and to whom they truly belong. Beautifully evocative and tender, filled with both luminosity and anguish, Once We Were Home reveals a little-known history. Based on the true stories of children stolen during wartime, this heart-wrenching novel raises questions of complicity and responsibility, belonging and identity, good intentions and unforeseen consequences, as it confronts what it really means to find home.
Jennifer Rosner is author of The Yellow Bird Sings, a 2020 National Jewish Book Award finalist in Debut Fiction and Book Club. She also wrote the memoir If a Tree Falls: A Family’s Quest to Hear and be Heard, and the Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable picture book, The Mitten String, about deafness in her family, which she has traced back to Galicia in the 1800s. Jennifer’s books have been translated into a dozen languages. Her short writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Times of Israel, The Massachusetts Review, the Forward, and elsewhere. In addition to writing, Jennifer has taught philosophy. She earned her B.A. from Columbia University and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her family.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Jeff Bender, Oh, I Just Didn’t Know and Apparel Has No Gender and Author A.J. Sass, Camp Quiltbag
7:00 PM over Zoom
Apparel Has No Gender
When Jeff Bender’s child Courtney, who was assigned male at birth, asked for her first dress at one and a half years old, all Jeff saw was the smile and delight on his child’s face. Little did he know that he and his family were about to embark on a journey of learning, growth and acceptance that would include issues surrounding clothing, bathrooms, and sports teams.
Parenting in today’s world is challenging, but parenting a gender-nonconforming or gender-questioning child can be confusing as well. Jeff opens up about his family’s experiences with honesty and compassion, detailing the struggles and joys of parenting two gender-fluid children. Along with his own story, Jeff shares the viewpoints of other parents, grandparents, and even his own wife.
Apparel Has No Gender also provides guidance for parents wanting to learn more about gender identities and expression. Any parent will benefit from Jeff’s lessons on how to grow in understanding and parent with unconditional love and support.
Camp Quiltbag
Twelve-year-old Abigail (she/​her/​hers) is so excited to spend her summer at Camp Quiltbag, an inclusive retreat for queer and trans kids. She can’t wait to find a community where she can be herself — and, she hopes, admit her crush on that one hot older actress to kids who will understand.
Thirteen-year-old Kai (e/​em/​eir) is not as excited. E just wants to hang out with eir best friend and eir parkour team. And e definitely does not want to think about the incident that left eir arm in a sling — the incident that also made Kai’s parents determined to send em somewhere e can feel like emself.

After a bit of a rocky start at camp, Abigail and Kai make a pact: If Kai helps Abigail make new friends, Abigail will help Kai’s cabin with the all-camp competition. But as they navigate a summer full of crushes, queer identity exploration, and more, they learn what’s really important. Camp Quiltbag is a heartfelt story full of the joy that comes from being and loving yourself.
About the Authors
Jeff Bender is the father to two of the most incredible kids in the world. He and his wife have been married since 2005 and reside in the St. Louis area. Jeff founded The Lion and The Owl, a company creating a community for LGBTQ+ youth to feel safe in while normalizing the idea of gender-neutral clothing. The Lion and the The Owl’s mission is to support and celebrate inclusivity and diversity among our youth through apparel, community, and education.
A. J. Sass is an author, editor, and competitive figure skater. He is the author of Ana on the Edge and Ellen Outside the Lines as well as a contributor to This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us anthology. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his partner and their pets.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-08 12:00 - 13:30 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
IN-PERSON LUNCH & LEARN @ THE JCC
With Author Martin Fletcher, Teachers: The Ones I Can’t Forget
Moderated by Efrat Lachter, Investigative Correspondent for Israel’s Channel 12 News
12 PM @ the JCC
Teachers are the people Martin Fletcher met throughout his work as a news correspondent, often on the worst day of their lives. He watched as they picked up the pieces following personal tragedy and discovered the invaluable lesson of carrying on, no matter the circumstances.
Through intimate profiles, Martin Fletcher’s Teachers details the struggles of everyday people in extraordinary circumstances-war, revolution, natural disasters and yes, life. Fletcher’s writing is uplifting as he examines the truth of resilience despite hardship. These are the people he sought out in his international reporting, detailing their woes while celebrating their will to survive and recover.
Teachers offers a unique take on reporting, as it features a traveling photo exhibit that Fletcher created to accompany the book. Each chapter is paired with an extraordinary digital montage to illustrate the stories taken directly from his reporting from NBC news programs. At a time when news coverage is often dismissed as fake or biased, Teachers is a welcome reminder of the integrity, devotion and empathy that goes into true reporting of the world. As Tom Brokaw wrote, “Fletcher has a calling.”
Considered for decades the ​“gold standard of TV war correspondents” by Anderson Cooper, Martin Fletcher was an NBC News Correspondent and bureau chief in Tel Aviv for nearly thirty years. Fletcher has won five Emmys and a Columbia University DuPont Award — a Pulitzer for work in television — as well as awards from the Overseas Press Club and Royal Society of Television. Today, Fletcher’s work as an author is rapidly gaining an equally impressive reputation. He currently lives in Mexico and New York.
Efrat Lachter is an investigative correspondent for Israel’s Channel 12 News and the weekly newsmagazine “Friday Studio.” A recipient of the 2022 Shimon Peres Center for Peace Award, she has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments on topics including human trafficking in Sudan and Israel, modern-day slavery in Malawi, orphans in Ukraine, internal political corruption in Israel, and a women-and-children-only village in the Kurd-controlled area of Syria. As the first female war correspondent in her newsroom, much of her work has illuminated the lives of women in conflict zones. Lachter studied political science and communications at Tel Aviv University and journalism at the Koteret School of Journalism in Tel Aviv. She previously worked as an investigative journalist for “Uvda,” Israel’s version of “60 Minutes.”

TBE: Getting Good at Getting Older
2023-11-09 12:00 - 13:00, 2023-11-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Temple Beth Emeth, 2309 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
As part of a new initiative at Temple Beth Emeth we are offering programming and study sessions centered around the art of aging through a Jewish lens. More information about future programming will be coming soon. Until then, please join us for our 6 part book discussion using the text Getting Good at Getting Older by Richard Siegel and Laura Geller. The book can be purchased from most major book retailers. This is open to adults of all ages who are open to learning about aging.
One time registration required for in-person meeting. REGISTER HERE.
On zoom here.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-09 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Rebecca Clarren, The Cost of Free Land
Moderated by Deborah Dash Moore, Professor of History, University of Michigan
12:00 PM over Zoom
Rebecca Clarren only knew the major plot points of her immigrant family’s origins. Her great-great-grandparents, the Sinykins, and their six children fled antisemitism in Russia and arrived in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, ultimately settling on a 160-acre homestead in South Dakota. Over the next few decades, despite tough years on a merciless prairie and multiple setbacks, the Sinykins became an American immigrant success story. What none of Clarren’s ancestors ever mentioned was that their land, the foundation for much of their wealth, had been cruelly taken from the Lakota by the United States government. America had broken hundreds of treaties with hundreds of Indigenous nations across the continent, and the land that had once been reserved for the seven bands of the Lakota had been diminished, splintered, and handed for free, or practically free, to white settlers. In The Cost of Free Land, Clarren melds investigative reporting with personal family history to reveal the intertwined stories of her family and the Lakota, and the devastating cycle of loss of Indigenous land, culture, and resources that continues today.
Award-winning journalist Rebecca Clarren has been writing about the American West for more than twenty years. Her magazine pieces, for which she has won the Hillman Prize, appear in High Country News, The Nation, and Indian Country Today. Her debut novel, Kickdown, was shortlisted for the PEN/​Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. An American Inheritance, her work of creative nonfiction, was awarded a Whiting Nonfiction Award. Her work is regularly supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two kids.

TBE: Getting to This Moment: A Brief History of the Conflict Between Israel and the Palestinians
2023-11-09 19:30 - 21:00 | Temple Beth Emeth, 2309 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Registration required for in-person seating and to receive the Zoom link (below).
Please join Temple Beth Emeth clergy for a discussion on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict. We will explore the different leadership factions in the West Bank and Gaza, with a particular focus on the rise of Hamas. This conversation aims to serve as an introductory overview for those seeking clarity on the region’s history and its current situation. This session will be in-person and on zoom.
In the weeks following the discussion, we will facilitate a series of small group conversations to provide safe spaces where diverse viewpoints can be openly shared and discussed within our congregation. Details about these conversations will be released soon.
Registration coming soon.

BIC: Guest Lecture
2023-11-10 08:00 - 17:00 | Beth Israel Congregation, 2000 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-10 12:00 - 13:30 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
HYBRID LUNCH & LEARN PROGRAM
With Author Sylvie Bigar, Cassoulet Confessions
Moderated by Lonnie Sussman
12:00 PM | Lunch at the JCC | Author Will Join Virtually
When Sylvie accepted an apparently anodyne assignment on cassoulet, France’s ancestral bean and meat stew, she could not have known that she was about to jump into a rabbit hole that would lead her miles away from her upper-crust childhood in Switzerland and force her to reckon with her identity and her own dramatic family history. Cassoulet Confessions, a poignant gourmand memoir, vacillates between generational family drama and Sylvie’s gastronomic training as the reader is engulfed in the simmering smells of the French kitchen, then suddenly thrown in the terrifying front seat of the family car.

Award-winning food and travel writer Sylvie Bigar was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and is based in New York City. Her writing has appeared widely, including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Food & Wine, Forbes​.com, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Edible, Departures, Travel + Leisure, and National Geographic Traveler. Bigar co-authored chef Daniel Boulud’s definitive Daniel: My French Cuisine, as well as Living Art: Style Your Home with Flowers, with floral artist and designer Olivier Giugni.

TBE: Elementary Shabbat and Family Camp
2023-11-10 17:45 - 18:30 | Temple Beth Emeth, 2309 Packard St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
Elementary Shabbat: A short service, song session, and community building!
Dinner: $5, registration requested.
Family Camp: Family Camp is part of our monthly Elementary Shabbats, although younger and older siblings are totally welcome, too! Each time we will have a different theme, largely focused on Jewish holidays, and we will play team-building games and have competitions all based around that theme.
It provides an opportunity for families to play and learn together, for students to reinforce and share some of what they are learning in the classroom, and most importantly, to strengthen ties among students and parents/caretakers.

JCC Board Meeting
2023-11-12 09:30 - 11:00

FED: Signs for Israel: Washington March
2023-11-12 12:00 - 13:00
Join community members to show support by making signs to be carried at the Washington March for Israel. Materials (markers, stickers, poster boards) will be provided but please also feel free to bring your own.
REGISTER HERE
Please note that flag poles and carrying sticks will not be permitted.

Limo N Roll with BBYO
2023-11-12 12:00 - 16:30
Calling all Jewish 7th and 8th graders!
Join us on November 12th for your first taste of BBYO! $10 includes a limo ride, bowling + shoes, and a special stop for dessert. You won’t want to miss this event!
The limo will leave at 12:15pm prompt. Please arrive 10-15 minutes prior to ensure you have enough time.
We can only accommodate those who pre-register using the event link.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-12 12:30 - 14:00 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
IN-PERSON CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
With Author Anita Fitch Pazner, The Topsy-Turvy Bus
12:00 PM at the JCC
Sponsored By

Reuse, recycle, renew, and rethink! Climb aboard the Topsy-Turvy Bus with Maddy and Jake as it travels around the country teaching communities the importance of taking care of the earth and creating a better, cleaner, healthier world.
Based on a real Topsy-Turvy Bus created by Hazon, the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America.
Anita earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She’s created picture-book workshops for kids of all ages, ranging from second graders to high school students. The Topsy-Turvy Bus is her debut children’s book.
Register HERE to attend the FREE public program!

JFS 30th Anniversary Mosaic Gala
2023-11-12 14:00 - 17:00

Sigd
2023-11-13
Ethiopian Jewish holiday occurring 50 days after Yom Kippur

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-13 10:00 - 11:30 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
IN-PERSON CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
With Author Elyssa Friedland, The Museum of Lost Teeth
10:00 AM at the JCC
Sponsored By

Toothy lives in Liam’s mouth next to his best friend Fang. He’s a good tooth — sparkly and strong, and he loves doing the floss.
One day, Toothy notices that he is loose and panics! Where will he go after he leaves his comfy spot next to Fang? After a crunchy apple seals the deal, Toothy is tucked under Liam’s pillow. When the Tooth Fairy appears, she takes Toothy to the Museum of Lost Teeth. It’s a more incredible place than Toothy could have ever imagined. It’s filled with new friends and fun activities like Tooth or Dare! Toothy finds a new home on the Firsts Floor, where first baby teeth are proudly displayed.

In the tradition of School’s First Day of School, The Museum of Lost Teeth answers the question, ​“Where do all the lost teeth go?” in this unexpected and hilarious picture book.
Elyssa Friedland is the author of five adult novels and teaches creative writing at Yale, from which she graduated. She also holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School. The Museum of Lost Teeth is her first picture book. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children.
Register HERE to attend the FREE public program!

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Richard Hurowitz, In the Garden of the Righteous
7:00 PM over Zoom
Moderated by Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, CEO, Zekelman Holocaust Center
Sponsored By

The Second World War took the lives of more than fifty million, more than six million exterminated through crimes of such enormity, a new name to describe the horror was coined: the Holocaust. Yet amid such darkness there were glimmers of light. In the Garden of the Righteous chronicles extraordinary acts at a time when the moral choices were stark, the threat immense, and the passive apathy of millions predominated. Deeply researched and astonishingly moving, it focuses on ten remarkable stories, including that of the circus ringmaster Adolf Althoff and his wife Maria, the Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Italian cycling champion Gino Bartali, the Polish social worker Irena Sendler, and the Japanese spy Chinue Sugihara, who provided hiding places, participated in underground networks, refused to betray their neighbors, and secured safe passage. They repeatedly defied authorities and risked their lives, their livelihoods, and their families to save the helpless and the persecuted. In the Garden of the Righteous is a testament to their kindness and courage.
Richard Hurowitz is a writer and the founder and publisher of the Octavian Report. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Times (UK), Los Angeles Times, Time, History Today and the Jerusalem Post, among other publications. Richard serves on the governing board of the Yale University Art Gallery and is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was a co-founder and president of the Renew Democracy Initiative, an organization dedicated to defending liberal democracy. He received his BA in history from Yale University, graduating in three years, magna cum laude and with distinction and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta. He earned a JD from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the editor-in-chief of the Columbia/VLA Journal of Law & the Arts.

Rosh Chodesh Kislev
2023-11-14
Beginning of new Hebrew month of Kislev

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-14 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Jonathan Freedland, The Escape Artist
Moderated by Rita Benn
12:00 PM over Zoom
In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom—among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world—and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen—a forensically detailed report that eventually reached Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and the Pope.
And yet too few heeded the warning that Vrba had risked everything to deliver. Though Vrba helped save two hundred thousand Jewish lives, he never stopped believing it could have been so many more.
This is the story of a brilliant yet troubled man—a gifted “escape artist” who, even as a teenager, understood that the difference between truth and lies can be the difference between life and death. Rudolf Vrba deserves to take his place alongside Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler, and Primo Levi as one of the handful of individuals whose stories define our understanding of the Holocaust.

Jonathan Freedland is a columnist for The Guardian in London. He presents BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series, The Long View, as well as two podcasts, Politics Weekly America for The Guardian and Unholy, alongside the Israeli journalist Yonit Levi. He is a past winner of an Orwell Prize for journalism and has written 12 books including nine thrillers, mostly as Sam Bourne. The Escape Artist is a 2023 National Jewish Book Award Winner for Biography and Holocaust.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Andrew Lawler, Under Jerusalem
Moderated by Yaron Eliav, Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Jewish History of Late Antiquity, University of Michigan
7:00 PM over Zoom
In 1863, a French senator arrived in Jerusalem hoping to unearth relics dating to biblical times. Digging deep underground, he discovered an ancient grave that, he claimed, belonged to an Old Testament queen. News of his find ricocheted around the world, evoking awe and envy alike, and inspiring others to explore Jerusalem’s storied past.
In the century and a half since the Frenchman broke ground, Jerusalem has drawn a global cast of fortune seekers and missionaries, archaeologists and zealots, all of them eager to extract the biblical past from beneath the city’s streets and shrines. Their efforts have had profound effects, not only on our understanding of Jerusalem’s history, but on its hotly disputed present. The quest to retrieve ancient Jewish heritage has sparked bloody riots and thwarted international peace agreements. It has served as a cudgel, a way to stake a claim to the most contested city on the planet. Today, the earth below Jerusalem remains a battleground in the struggle to control the city above.
Under Jerusalem takes readers into the tombs, tunnels, and trenches of the Holy City. It brings to life the indelible characters who have investigated this subterranean landscape. With clarity and verve, acclaimed journalist Andrew Lawler reveals how their pursuit has not only defined the conflict over modern Jerusalem, but could provide a map for two peoples and three faiths to peacefully coexist.
Andrew Lawler is author of three books, Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City, The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a national bestseller, and Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization. As a journalist, he has written more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles from more than two dozen countries. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many others. He is contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology. Andrew’s work has appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing.

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-15 12:00 - 13:30 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
HYBRID LUNCH & LEARN PROGRAM
With Author Debby Applegate, Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age
Moderated by Chuck Newman
12:00 PM | Lunch at the JCC | Author Will Join Virtually
In Roaring Twenties New York City, when the nightclubs closed down, the in-crowd didn’t go home. Everyone went to Polly’s place, the “speakeasy with a harem” run by “The Female Al Capone,” as the newspapers dubbed her. Polly “Pearl” Adler (1900-1962) was a diminutive dynamo whose Manhattan brothels were more than oases of illicit sex, where men paid top-dollar for the company of her girls, they were also swinging salons where the culturati and high society partied with the elite of showbiz, politics and organized crime. Polly’s pals — luminaries like Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sinatra, Lucky Luciano, Duke Ellington, Dorothy Parker, Bugsy Siegel and Desi Arnaz – made the Jazz Age roar.
No one would’ve guessed that Pearl would become “the First Lady of the Underworld” when she arrived in America as a 13-year old Russian Jewish immigrant. But Polly’s life became a topsy-turvy Horatio Alger tale – a childhood that could be a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, a wild ghetto adolescence out of a Henry Roth novel, blossoming into a glittering epic of parties and power worthy of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Then Polly wrote her own ending, penning a memoir that shocked the squares of the 1950s and sold over two million copies.
Applegate immerses the reader in Polly’s world and uses her rip-roaring life to unpack what made this era so corrupt, so glamorous and so transformational, showing how this riotous collision of high and low gave birth to modern American culture.
Debby Applegate is a historian whose first book, The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She was a Sterling Fellow in American Studies at Yale University, where she earned her Ph.D., and now lives in New Haven, Connecticut where she continues to haunt the stacks of the Yale Library.
Debby is also the author of numerous book chapters and articles and has written for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal among other publications. She has taught at Yale University, Wesleyan University, and Marymount College; served on the boards of organizations including the Yale Summer Cabaret, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, and the New Haven Review; and is the chair of Biographers International Advisory Council.

Chabad House: Mega Challah 3
2023-11-15 18:30 - 21:00 | Palmer Commons – Forum Hall, 100 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, United States
3rd Mega Challah BakeRSVP Here!
Date:Wednesday, Nov. 15th, 2023
Location:Palmer Commons100 Washtenaw Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival Program
2023-11-15 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
VIRTUAL PROGRAM
With Author Martin Sneider, Shelf Life: A Novel
Moderated by Robin Pollak
7:00 PM over Zoom
A Jewish American family saga set in St. Louis about the rise of its fashion retailing empire, and how it splits and ultimately devastates the family.
As the son of Max Feldman, the brilliant founder of the Fratelli Massimo chain, Josh Feldman has always known his destiny…working alongside his father during the last half of the 20th century and one day succeeding him, as promised by his father.
But as he comes of age, starts a family of his own, and works his way up in the business, Josh slowly begins to understand his father’s penchant for treachery. With Max’s ruthless ambition and his drive to be celebrated for his success, will Josh ever be allowed to succeed him?
When the family becomes divided over the future of the business, Josh faces the fact that even the deepest family bonds and his father’s promises may have a shelf life.
Martin Sneider was born in New York, grew up in the Midwest, and educated at Harvard, University of Missouri, and Washington University of St. Louis. He was married for 55 years and recently widowed. He has two married children, four granddaughters, and three careers. He was a ready-to-wear and fashion shoe merchant for 25 years and co-CEO of a 3,000-store chain. Sneider is an adjunct professor at Washington University, an author, former chairman of St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Board of Directors of Harvard Business School, and a former board member of Jewish Community Center Association. He is a 40-year member of Shaare Emeth Temple in St. Louis.

ORT Book Group
2023-11-15 19:30 - 21:00 | Jewish Community Center of Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, United States
The ORT Book Group meets monthly on the third Wednesday of the month. During the Spring and Fall, the meetings will be in person at the Jewish Community Center. During the bad weather months, they will meet on zoom.
Schedule information, the books being discussed, and the requirements for membership can be find on our website: ORTannarbor.org.
