The Hebrew Teacher
Saturday, June 14, 12:45 – 2:00 p.m.
Three Israeli women, their lives altered by immigration to the United States, seek to overcome crises. Ilana is a veteran Hebrew instructor at a Midwestern college who has built her life around her career. When a young Hebrew literature professor joins the faculty, she finds his post-Zionist politics pose a threat to her life’s work. Miriam, whose son left Israel to make his fortune in Silicon Valley, pays an unwanted visit to meet her new grandson and discovers cracks in the family’s perfect facade. Efrat, another Israeli in California, is determined to help her daughter navigate the challenges of middle school, and crosses forbidden lines when she follows her into the minefield of social media. In these three stirring novellas–comedies of manners with an ambitious blend of irony and sensitivity–celebrated Israeli author Maya Arad probes the demise of idealism and the generation gap that her heroines must confront. By Maya Arad, led by Harry Cornbleet
Goyhood (Zoom)
NOTE: DIFFEREMT DATE, TIME, & ON ZOOM
Monday, July 14, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Author Reuven Fenton will speak about his novel Goyhood. Two estranged brothers from Georgia, one a yeshiva student in Brooklyn and the other leading an irreligious lifestyle, are brought together by an unsettling revelation about their identities. This Jewish comedy of errors is part coming-of-age story, part romp through the Southern U.S., and part serious exploration of identity, lies, and brotherly love. Register for Zoom
Have You Seen Luis Valez?
Saturday, August 9, 12:45 – 2:00 p.m.
“Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn’t belong. Not with his mother’s new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father’s wife. Not at school, where he’s an outcast. After his best friend moves away, Raymond has only two real connections: to the feral cat he’s tamed and to a blind ninety-two-year-old woman in his building who’s introduced herself with a curious question: Have you seen Luis Velez? Mildred Gutermann, a German Jew who narrowly escaped the Holocaust, has been alone since her caretaker disappeared. She turns to Raymond for help, and as he tries to track Luis down, a deep and unexpected friendship blossoms between the two. Despondent at the loss of Luis, Mildred isolates herself further from a neighborhood devolving into bigotry and fear. Determined not to let her give up, Raymond helps her see that for every terrible act the world delivers, there is a mirror image of deep kindness, and Mildred helps Raymond see that there’s hope if you have someone to hold on to.”–Back cover. By Catherine Hyde, led by Betty Becker