Cleveland Jewish Book Festival 2024-2025
Cleveland Jewish Book Festival
Mandel JCC
OPENING NIGHT
NOVEMBER 7 • 7:30 PM • MANDEL JCC
Stuart Eizenstat
THE ART OF DIPLOMACY:
HOW AMERICAN NEGOTIATORS REACHED HISTORIC AGREEMENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Based on interviews with over 60 key figures in American diplomacy, including former presidents and secretaries of state, and major political figures abroad, Eizenstat covers every major contemporary international agreement, from the treaty to end the Vietnam War to the Kyoto Protocols and the Iranian Nuclear Accord. Written from the perspective that only a participant in top-level negotiations can bring, Eizenstat recounts the events that led up to the negotiation, the drama that took place around the table and draws lessons from successful and unsuccessful strategies and tactics.
About the Author
Stuart E. Eizenstat has served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union and deputy secretary of both Treasury and State. He is also the author of President Carter: The White House Years (2018), The Future of the Jews: How Global Forces are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United States (2012) and Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II (2003). He is an international lawyer in Washington, D.C.
$25*; $75 VIP reception and Main event *includes dessert reception in honor of the Book Festival’s 25th anniversary
Sponsors: The Iris Bialosky Lecture Series of the Mandel JCC and Myron Guren Memorial Fund
Yardena Schwartz
CONFLICT
GHOSTS OF A HOLY WAR: THE 1929 MASSACRE IN PALESTINE THAT IGNITED THE ARAB-ISRAELI
The 1929 massacre of the ancient Jewish community of Hebron was one of the most seminal events in the Arab-Israeli conflict – until October 7, 2023. One century apart, the echoes of 1929 in 2023 are key to understanding the complexities of what is, at its core, a holy war between Abraham’s children. Through the never-before-told story of a young American who moved to what was then Palestine in 1928, Schwartz expertly weaves 100 years of history in the Holy Land to demonstrate how the issues today cannot be fully understood without the context of ground zero of this century-old war.
About the Author
Yardena Schwartz is an award-winning freelance journalist and Emmy-nominated producer who lived in Israel from 2013 – 2023, reporting for various publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, TIME, The Economist, Foreign Policy and National Geographic. She previously worked at NBC News. Free
Sponsor: Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Sponsor: Sharon and Joel Freimuth Memorial Fund NONFICTION
HISTORICAL FICTION
Lauren Grodstein
WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES
A story inspired by a little-known piece of history in the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II, a project with the code name “Oneg Shabbat.” In 1940, Adam Paskow becomes a prisoner in the Warsaw Ghetto, cut off from his former life and awaiting an uncertain fate. Weeks later, he receives a surprising request: would he join a secret group of archivists preserving the truth of what is happening? Its mission was to record interviews with confined Jews, collect their testimonies, archive them and preserve them for posterity. Told with immediacy and heart, We Must Not Think of Ourselves is a piercing story of love, determination and sacrifice.
About the Author
Lauren Grodstein is the author of five novels including The New York Times bestseller A Friend of the Family and the Washington Post book of the year, The Explanation for Everything. She is a professor of English at Rutgers University-Camden, where she teaches creative writing in the MFA program.
$12 Community $10 Mandel JCC Members
Sara Holly Ackerman
CHALLAH FOR SHABBAT TONIGHT
This sweet, rhyming, beautifully illustrated picture book celebrates Jewish joy and intergenerational love as it follows a girl and her grandmother preparing for Shabbat dinner by baking traditional challah from scratch. Join us for a fun morning where we read stories, sing songs and bake challah.
About the Author
Sara Holly Ackerman is a children’s book author and school librarian in Brooklyn, New York. She loves the smell of homemade challah filling her apartment, but the challah from the neighborhood bakeries tastes every bit as good. She is the author of Not Just the Driver! and the co-author of The Gabi that Girma Wore.
Dietary laws observed
Dr. Alex Kor A BLESSING
NOT A BURDEN: MY PARENTS’ REMARKABLE HOLOCAUST STORY AND MY FIGHT TO KEEP THEIR LEGACY ALIVE
By all accounts, Dr. Alex Kor’s life has been a miracle. The son of two Holocaust survivors who narrowly escaped death, Kor grew up in Indiana – a state with Midwestern charm and an ignominious history of prejudice. He details his incredible journey, from his unique upbringing to his present-day mission of carrying on his parents’ inspiring legacy. From his mother’s controversial stance on forgiving the Nazis to his father’s unbridled optimism, Kor shares life lessons that have helped him overcome his own hardships along the way. The book is co-authored by Graham Honaker.
About the Author
Originally from Terre Haute, Indiana, Dr. Alex Kor is the son of two Holocaust survivors (Michael and Eva Mozes Kor). He received his D.P.M. (Doctor of Podiatric Medicine) from the Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago. Since 1985, he has traveled to Auschwitz more than 20 times with his late mother. He is a member of the CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center Board of Directors.
Sponsors: The Ida & Sam Zelwin Family Fund for Holocaust Education at B’nai Jeshurun Congregation and Mark Sack & Etti Berkman in honor of Holocaust Educators everywhere
Robin Judd
FICTION
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS: JEWISH WAR BRIDES AFTER THE HOLOCAUST
Historian Robin Judd, whose grandmother survived the Holocaust and married an American soldier after liberation, introduces us to the Jewish women who lived through genocide and went on to wed American, Canadian and British military personnel after the war. She offers an intimate portrait of how these unions emerged and developed – from meeting and courtship to marriage and immigration to life in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom – and shows how they helped shape the postwar world by touching thousands of lives.
About the Author
Robin Judd is an associate professor of history at The Ohio State University, where she directs the Hoffman Leaders and Leadership in History Fellowship program. She serves on the State of Ohio’s Commission for Holocaust and Genocide Education and Memorialization and is the immediate past president of the Association for Jewish Studies, the largest international society for scholars interested in Jewish studies.
$12 Community $10 Mandel JCC Members
R. Derek Black
THE KLANSMAN’S SON: MY JOURNEY FROM WHITE NATIONALISM TO ANTIRACISM
The Klansman’s Son is an astonishing memoir of a childhood built on fear and of breaking from a community of hate. Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Their father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started Stormfront , the internet’s first white supremacist website. Derek built the kids’ page. David Duke was also their close family friend and mentor. Racist hatred was all Derek knew. Derek traces a unique insider account of the rise of white nationalism and how a child indoctrinated with hate can become an anti-racist adult, committed to combating antisemitism.
About the Author
R. Derek Black (they/them) is a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Chicago. Since 2016, they have spoken to many audiences at universities, foundations, institutions, museums, synagogues and churches. They received the Elie Wiesel Award and a humanitarian award from the Anti-Defamation League. The Klansman’s Son is their first book.
Suburban Temple, 22401 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood FREE
Sponsors: 2024 Book Festival Co-Chairs Dan Borison, Jill Pupa and Ethan Weiss
Sponsor: Kol Nashim, The Women of Suburban Temple Kol Ami Community Partner: Facing History and Ourselves
Celebrating 25 Years
The J has showcased Jewish authors and Jewish-themed books for 25 years. Bringing unique ideas and perspectives to the forefront, the Cleveland Jewish Book Festival has sparked dialogue among generations of booklovers.
Opening Night/Keynote Speakers OVER
THE YEARS
Rabbi David J. Wolpe 2008
Martin Fletcher 2009
Walter Isaacson 2007
Dr. Daniel Gordis
Dennis Prager 2005
Charles Strouse 2008
Mort Mandel (obm) 2013
Ambassador Dennis Ross 2015
Joel Grey 2016
Chuck Todd 2017
Michael Solomonov & Steven Cook 2018
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin 2014
Faye, Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman 2014
Bob Mankoff 2019
Alexandra Silber 2018
Ira Rosen 2021
Tovah Feldshuh 2021
Judith Viorst 2019
Mitch Albom 2023
Noa Tishby 2022
JEWISH LIFE PROGRAM
YOM
LIMMUD:
Day of Jewish Learning
Join us for an engaging Yom Limmud (Day of Jewish Learning), with sessions for people of all ages and Jewish backgrounds. The theme is "Finding Light in the Darkness," which will be both tied to Chanukah and to our times. We will explore hope, healing, mental heath, light and repair in Judaism, and Chanukah itself. Some of the sessions will be lectures, text studies or more traditional learning opportunities, and some will be hands-on workshops, crafts and more. Instructors include a range of rabbis and educators from across the Cleveland Jewish community. Family-friendly as well as adult sessions will be offered for each time slot. Lunch and refreshments will be served.
$12 Community $10 Mandel JCC Members
Register at mandeljcc.org/programs or scan the QR code
Ilan Evyatar
TARGET TEHRAN:
Join the Men’s Club at The J to watch together
HOW ISRAEL IS USING SABOTAGE, CYBERWARFARE, ASSASSINATION –AND SECRET DIPLOMACY – TO STOP A NUCLEAR IRAN AND CREATE A NEW MIDDLE EAST
Evyatar and his co-author Yonah Jeremy Bob describe how Israel has used cyberwarfare, targeted assassinations and sabotage of Iranian facilities to great effect, sometimes in cooperation with the United States. Even as it takes lethal action, Israel has managed to alter the politics of the Middle East, culminating in the Abraham Accords of 2020. Drawing from interviews with top confidential Israeli and U.S. sources, including from the Mossad and the CIA, the authors tell the thrilling inside story of the tumultuous, and often bloody, history of how Israel has managed to outmaneuver Iran – so far.
About the Author
Ilan Evyatar is a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Report, and a former news director, columnist and senior contributor at The Jerusalem Post. He has edited and translated several books and has worked as a speechwriter and ghostwriter. Born in Israel and raised in London, he has interviewed top intelligence officials, as well as leading political, business and cultural personalities. FREE
Sponsor: The Retreat Institute of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland
Sponsors: Mandel JCC Men’s Club and Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Daniel Schulman
THE MONEY KINGS:
THE EPIC STORY OF THE JEWISH IMMIGRANTS WHO TRANSFORMED WALL STREET AND SHAPED MODERN AMERICA
This book tells the incredible saga of the GermanJewish immigrants – with now familiar names like Goldman and Sachs, Kuhn and Loeb, Warburg and Schiff, Lehman and Seligman –who profoundly influenced the rise of modern finance. Schulman unspools a sweeping narrative that traces the interconnected origin stories of these financial dynasties. He chronicles their paths to Wall Street dominance, as they navigated the deeply antisemitic upper class of the Gilded Age, and the complexities of the Civil War, World War I and the Zionist movement that tested both their burgeoning empires and their identities as Americans, Germans and Jews.
About the Author
Daniel Schulman is The New York Times bestselling author of Sons of Wichita, a biography of the Koch family that was a finalist for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. He is the deputy Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones
Park Synagogue, 27500 Shaker Blvd., Pepper Pike FREE
Sponsors: The Park Synagogue Robert Leitson
Family Lecture Fund; The Park Synagogue Leonard Senkfor Library
Community Partner: The Laura & Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program
Jonathan Santlofer
THE LOST VAN GOGH: A NOVEL
From celebrated artist, legal counterfeiter and award-winning Jewish author Jonathan Santlofer comes The Lost Van Gogh, a spellbinding thriller of masterpieces, masterminds and the mysterious underbelly of the art world. In this highly-anticipated sequel to The Last Mona Lisa (a People Magazine Best Book of Summer), Santlofer turns his attention to one of the most revered artists of all time, spinning a riveting tale based on rumors that Van Gogh completed a final self-portrait before his death, one that has since been lost to time – or the black market
About the Author
Jonathan Santlofer is an artist and USA Today best-selling author. He has received two National Endowment for the Arts grants, was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, serves on the board of Yaddo and founded the Center For Fiction’s Crime Fiction Academy. His art has been exhibited worldwide, including in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Maltz Museum, 2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood $12 Community $10 Mandel JCC & Maltz Museum Members
Community Partner: The Maltz Museum in conjunction with the exhibit “Degenerate! Hitler’s War on Modern Art”
YOGA WORKSHOP MEMOIR
Jennifer Lang
YOGAPROSE:
USING YOUR PRACTICE TO WRITE YOUR STORY
Join author and yoga instructor Jennifer Lang for an inspiring experience of play and work. The workshop will incorporate pranayama, asana, meditation and writing exercises. We will explore how using the body, focusing the breath, emptying the mind and practicing physical poses can help us see clearer and enrich your writing. This program is for all levels of yoga practitioners and open to anyone who journals, yearns to write or wrestles with writing, feels blocked or craves inspiration.
About the Author
Jennifer Lang is the author of Places We Left Behind: A Memoir-in-Miniature and Landed: A Yogi’s Memoir in Pieces & Poses. She is originally from California and lives in Tel Aviv, where she runs Israel Writers Studio. A Pushcart Prize and Best American Essays nominee, she holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and serves as Assistant Editor for Brevity Journal When not at her desk, she’s often on a yoga mat, practicing since 1995, teaching since 2003.
$12 Community $10 Mandel JCC Members
Margalit Fox
THE TALENTED
MRS. MANDELBAUM: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN ORGANIZED-CRIME
BOSS
In 1850, Fredericka Mandelbaum came to New York in steerage and worked as a peddler on the streets of Lower Manhattan. By the 1870s she was a fixture of high society and an admired philanthropist. How was she able to ascend from tenement poverty to vast wealth? In the intervening years, “Marm” Mandelbaum had become the country’s most notorious “fence – a receiver of stolen goods – and a criminal mastermind. Combining deep historical research with a narrative flair, Fox tells the unforgettable true story of a once-famous heroine whose life exemplifies America’s cherished rags-to-riches narrative while simultaneously upending it entirely.
About the Author
Margalit Fox was a senior writer in The New York Times’s Obituary News Department where she wrote the front-page public sendoffs of some of the leading cultural figures of our age. She is the winner of the William Saroyan Prize for Literature and author of four previous books.
South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch Public Library
1876 S. Green Road, South Euclid FREE
Sponsor: Cuyahoga County Public Library
CLOSING NIGHT
MARCH 19 • 7:30 PM • CONGREGATION
Rabbi Sharon Brous
THE AMEN EFFECT:
ANCIENT WISDOM TO MEND OUR BROKEN HEARTS AND WORLD
In a time of loneliness and isolation, social rupture and alienation, what will it take to mend our broken hearts and rebuild our society? Brous makes the case that the spiritual work of our time, as instinctual as it is counter-cultural, is to find our way to one other in celebration, in sorrow and in solidarity. The Amen Effect translates foundational ideas into simple practices, offering a blueprint for a meaningful life and a more connected and caring world.
About the Author
Sharon Brous is the senior and founding rabbi of IKAR, a leading-edge Jewish community based in Los Angeles. In 2013, Brous blessed President Obama and VP Biden at the Inaugural National Prayer Service. She has also blessed President Biden and VP Harris, and led the White House Passover Seder and the Hanukkah candle lighting. She was named #1 on the Newsweek/The Daily Beast list of most influential Rabbis in America and has been recognized by The Forward and Jerusalem Post as among the most influential Jews alive today. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post, and her TED talk, “Reclaiming Religion,” has been viewed by more than 1.5 million people.
Congregation Mishkan Or, 26000 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood
Tickets: $15
Sponsor: Congregation Mishkan Or
BOOK FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE
OPENING NIGHT
THURSDAY, NOV 7
Stuart Eizenstat
7:30 pm
Mandel JCC
$25 includes event admission
$75 includes VIP reception prior to talk
TUESDAY, NOV 12
Yardena Schwartz
7:30 pm
Mandel JCC
Free
THURSDAY, NOV 14
Lauren Grodstein
7:30 pm
Mandel JCC
$12 Community
$10 Mandel JCC Members
SUNDAY, NOV 17
Sara Holly Ackerman
10 am
Mandel JCC
Free
MONDAY, NOV 18
Dr. Alex Kor
7:30 pm
Mandel JCC
Free
TUESDAY, NOV 19
Robin Judd
7:30 pm
Mandel JCC
$12 Community
$10 Mandel JCC Members
WEDNESDAY, NOV 20
R. Derek Black
7:30 pm
Suburban Temple Free
MONDAY, MAR 3
Ilan Evyatar 11 am
Mandel JCC & Virtual Free
TUESDAY, MAR 4
Daniel Schulman
7:30 pm
Park Synagogue Free
Tickets
Reservations are required for virtual events. For in-person events, the preferred method for reservations is online. Tickets also available at the door.
For tickets and to register for free events, visit mandeljcc.org/bookfest
Book Sales
WEDNESDAY, MAR 5
Jonathan Santlofer 7:30 pm
Maltz Museum
$12 Community
$10 Mandel JCC & Maltz Museum Members
TUESDAY, MAR 11
Jennifer Lang 6 pm
Mandel JCC
$12 Community
$10 Mandel JCC Members
TUESDAY, MAR 18
Margalit Fox
7 pm
South Euclid-Lyndhurst
Public Library Free
CLOSING NIGHT
WEDNESDAY, MAR 19
Rabbi Sharon Brous 7:30 pm
Congregation Mishkan Or $15
= virtual
Group Tickets
Discount tickets are available for groups of 10 or more. Please contact Beth Rosenthal at 216-593-6216 or brosenthal@mandeljcc.org.
Books can be purchased from our local partner Mac’s Backs Books in store at 1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, or online at macsbacks.com.
To Make a Donation
The Mandel JCC Cleveland Jewish Book Festival is made possible by donors like you. Your generous support is greatly appreciated.
To make a tax-deductible donation visit support.mandeljcc.org/bookfestival.
Major Supporters
Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
Cuyahoga County Public Library
Friends of Jewish Lifelong Learning
The Henry & Eugenia Green Family Foundation
Iris Bialosky Zahler
Lecture Series of the Mandel JCC
Thank You to Our Sponsors *
Silver Anniversary
Literary Agent
Peter & Aliki Rzepka
– IMO Nathan & Esther Rzepka
Publisher
Miriam Vishny & Mark Cohen
– IHO Bill Schonberg’s birthday
Shelly & Scott Lewis
Editor
Nancy & Michael Greff
Sharon & Joel Freimuth Memorial Fund
Reader
This program is made possible, in part, by Ohio Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Linda Angart
Susan & Daniel Borison
Deedra Dolin – IMO of Larry Dolin
Ida & Sam Zelwin Family Fund for Holocaust Education at B’nai Jeshurun Congregation
Eliana LeVine & Josh Polster
Berinthia & Mark LeVine
Lisa & Josh Mayers
Jody & Tod Podl
Jill Pupa
Erica & Erick Remer
Mark Sack & Etti Berkman
Audrey & Ethan Weiss
Sandy Zieve
Writer
Noreen KoppelmanGoldstein & Barry Goloboff
Barbara & Barry Epstein
Myron Guren Memorial Fund
Aly & David Jaffe
Merle & Robert Kiwi
Nancy M. Levy – IMO Howard Levy
Enid & David Rosenberg
COMMUNITY SPONSORS
Sally & Larry Sears
Sharon Weinstein
Book Worm
Jeremy Adell
Rina Frankel
Terri Kline
Lawrence Mack
Barbara Meckler – IHO Shelly Lewis
Shawna & Matt Rosner
Margo Roth
Robbie Schonfeld
Laura Simon & Steve Moss
Abbie Nagler Sender
Judy Spaulding
Judi Wolf
Friend
Elaine Bolasny
Laurie Goetz
*as of 9/16/24
We regret any errors or omissions
COMMUNITY PARTNERS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
MEDIA SPONSOR
26001 S. Woodland Road Beachwood, OH 44122 www.mandeljcc.org/bookfest
Bruce Rosenbaum, Board Chair Rabbi Carnie Rose, President and CEO Beth Rosenthal, Arts & Culture Program Associate
Thank You Thanks to our volunteers for their hard work and dedication in making this festival a success!
Susan Ringel Shawna Rosner Kelly Rubanenko Mia Rutsky Sarah Sager June Scharf Steph Schecter Jessica Semel Abbie Nagler Sender Laura Simon Judy Spaulding Jen Stern Judy Swirsky Ali Tannenbaum Tracy Thomas Amy Viny Janet Voight Stacy Weber Audrey Weiss Judi Wolf Nancy Zimmerman We regret any errors or omissions
Sallie Fine Shelly Fishbach Alison Galinsky Laurie Goetz Marissa Griesmar Laura Halpert
Debra Hollander Aly Jaffe Betsy Kohn Ruchi Koval Laura Kuntz Eliana LeVine Mark LeVine Shelly Lewis Beth Lockshin Amy Maneker Lisa Cynamon Mayers
Joshua Mayers
Julie Moss Anna Novick
Jody Podl Anita Pupa
Co-Chairs
Dan Borison Jill Pupa Ethan Weiss 2024 Community Readers & Steering Committee Janice Adell Edna Akrish Gail Arnoff Leah Avner
Mindi Axner Amy Bilsky
Betty Bouman Elise Braverman- Plotkin
Becky Brouman Grace Brower Fran Bulloff Jill Cappy
Mark Cohen Wendy Dahar