Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew by Jeremy Dauber
Saturday, September 14, 12:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Mel Brooks, born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn in 1926, is one of the great comic voices of the twentieth century. Having won almost every entertainment award there is, Brooks has straddled the line between outsider and insider, obedient and rebellious, throughout his career, making out-of-bounds comedy the American mainstream.
Jeremy Dauber argues that throughout Brooks’ extensive body of work—from Your Show of Shows to Blazing Saddles to Young Frankenstein to Spaceballs—the comedian has seen the most success when he found a balance between his unflagging, subversive, manic energy and the constraints imposed by comedic partners, the Hollywood system, and American cultural mores. Dauber also explores how Brooks’ American Jewish humor went from being solely for niche audiences to an essential part of the American mainstream, paving the way for generations of Jewish (and other) comedians to come. Led by Elizabeth Batson
Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy by Jane Leavy
Saturday, October 19, 12:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
The instant New York Times bestseller about the baseball legend and famously reclusive Dodgers’ pitcher Sandy Koufax, from award-winning former Washington Post sportswriter Jane Leavy. Sandy Koufax reveals, for the first time, what drove the three-time Cy Young award winner to the pinnacle of baseball and then—just as quickly—into self-imposed exile. Led by Judy Paktor
The Sephardi Survivor by Omer Friedlander
Saturday, November 9, 12:45 – 2:00 p.m.
The Shoah is Israel’s eternal tragedy, a living undercurrent coursing through social, political, and religious relationships and national policies. Although the unending impact of six million deaths ripples through contemporary generations of Jewish communities worldwide, Friedlander shines a light on Israel’s cultural emphasis on Ashkenazi suffering and the consequent impact on those who do not share that background. In this story, two elementary-age brothers of Mizrahi heritage scheme to convince an elderly European-Israeli to play the role of their grandfather for Bring Your Family’s Holocaust Survivor to School Day. The group will read the short story together, and then the discussion will be led by Joanne Cornbleet.
The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
Saturday, December 14, 12:45 – 2:00 p.m.
In Berlin, at the time when the world changed, Hanni Kohn knows she must send her twelve-year-old daughter away to save her from the Nazi regime. She finds her way to a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked. Led by Ginny Baird.
2025 upcoming DATES & titles
- January 11 – The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, led by Lori Cinnamon
- February 8 – TBD
- March 8 – TBD
- April 19 – TBD
- May 17 – TBD