Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, Christians and Muslims of every period, and even the secularists of modernity have used Judaism in constructing their visions of the world. An expert on relations between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, David Nirenberg is the Jannotta Professor of History and Social Thought at the University of Chicago. Our New Albany campus will host author Francesca Segal on Tuesday, October 22, at 7pm, when Segal will discuss her work, The Innocents. A novel that brings humor and insights on modern life and the written and unwritten social rules of the Jewish community, The Innocents is a gently satiric and irresistible look at manners for the 21st century. A dazzling contemporary recasting of Edith Wharton’s classic novel The Age of Innocence, Segal’s debut portrays modern-day Jewish life with both wit and empathy, guiding us effortlessly through a contemporary cultural milieu whose social rules are just as claustrophobic as those of 19th-century New York. Segal has been a features writer at Tatler and for three years wrote the Debut Fiction Column in The Observer. The Innocents won the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction in 2013, as well as the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. Nicki Bloch captures the innerlife of five women trying to find themselves in her novel, Women of the Metro Ballet, a nontraditional narrative geared toward women ages 35-80. Bloch, who studied dance in her youth and now transports her two daughters to and from dance classes in Bexley, is a co-president of the Columbus section of the National Council of Jewish Women. She will join us for a discussion of her book, and growing up Jewish and female in today’s often-hectic world, on Thursday, October 24, at 7 pm at the JCC. Bloch will also be a part of our Local Author Expo, which will take place at the JCC on Sunday, October 27, at 11 am. Then, on Tuesday, October 29, at 7pm, Edward Farber will talk about his book, Raising the Kid You Love With the Ex You Hate, a book that gives powerful advice for divorcing couples about how they can reduce conflict and protect their children’s well-being through co-parenting. Dr. Edward Farber is a licensed clinical psychologist in
celebrating a century of the Jewish Community Center
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Virginia and Maryland, and founded the Reston Psychological Center and Reston Family Center to provide pre-divorce counseling, parent coordination interventions, and psychotherapy. Bring your beauty bag and a bag of questions to Andrea Pomerantz Lustig’s discussion of her work, How to Look Expensive: A Beauty Editor’s Secrets to Getting Gorgeous without Breaking the Bank. On Thursday, February 6, 2014, at 7pm at the JCC, we’ll learn how to look gorgeous on any salary. Pomerantz Lustig has distilled 20 years of industry experience to bridge the gap between what women want to look like and what they can afford. Since its debut, How to Look Expensive has become the must-have beauty encyclopedia for anyone looking to stage their own personal “celebrity makeover.” Unlike generic beauty guides, How To Look Expensive gives readers specific product recommendations and actionable tricks to look enviably polished on a realistic income. Andrea Pomerantz Lustig is known around the offices of Glamour as the “Beauty Sleuth,” thanks to the popular beauty column and articles she wrote for the magazine for the last decade. She is cherished by readers for her original tips, ideas, and solutions. Prior to Glamour, she was editor-in-chief at Sephora.com and spent 10 years as beauty and fitness director at Cosmopolitan. Author Jessica Soffer will discuss her work, Tomorrow There Will be Apricots, on Thursday, March 20, 2014, at 7pm at the JCC. In it, two women meet and bond over their love of food and cooking, before realizing their connection to each other. But there is more to their relationship than meets the eye. This is a story about the people we love—the people we have to love and the people we choose to love. It’s the story of two women in New York, a widow and an almost-orphan, each searching for someone she’s lost. Both women have lives built around food: Victoria ran an Iraqi Jewish restaurant with Joseph for many years on the Upper West Side; Lorca has resolved to replicate her mother’s ideal meal in order to win her respect and attention. They come together when Lorca enrolls in the cooking lessons that Victoria has begun to teach in her home. It is a story about how we create families, about how we have to accept our families