NONFICTION
Opening Night
NOVEMBER 9
Noa Tishby
ISRAEL: A SIMPLE GUIDE TO THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD COUNTRY ON EARTH
About the Author
Author, producer, actress, activist and mom, Noa Tishby is Israel’s first Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism and Delegitimization. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tishby got her start in the Israeli entertainment industry. After years of speaking and writing about Israel, both publicly and privately, Tishby has deciphered how to explain the complexities of Israel in a clear and relatable way. This is her first book, which has been heralded as a “must-read” and earned praise from thought-leaders across the political spectrum.
Dessert reception following
B’nai Jeshurun Congregation
27501 Fairmount Blvd., Pepper Pike
$36 (Student discount available)
Co-presenter:
Sponsor: The Iris Bialosky Zahler Lecture Series of the Mandel
VIP reception prior to the event at 6 pm
Tickets: $75
SUNDAY MORNING
COOKING CLUB SERIES
Benedetta
Jasmine Guetta
COOKING ALLA GIUDIA: A CELEBRATION OF THE JEWISH FOOD OF ITALY
Cooking alla Giudia is the ultimate tribute to the wonderfully rich, yet still largely unknown, culinary heritage of the Jews of Italy.
With a collection of kosher recipes from all regions of Italy, including plenty of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options, author Benedetta Jasmine Guetta is on a mission to tell the story of how the Jews changed Italian food, to preserve these recipes and to share with home cooks the extraordinary dishes prepared in the Jewish communities of Italy.
FREE
Facebook Live Cook Along
Thurs, November 10 at 7 pm
Join Nancy Zimmerman, The J’s Director of Jewish Life and Culture, for a live virtual cooking demonstration featuring a recipe from the book at facebook.com/MandelJCC.
Lisa Barr
WOMAN ON FIRE
Lisa Barr’s newest novel is a New York Times bestseller. This is a gripping tale of a young, ambitious journalist embroiled in an international art scandal centered around a Nazi-looted masterpiece – forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, history and truth. Actress Sharon Stone is set to produce and star in the film adaptation of Woman On Fire.
About the Author
Lisa Barr served as an editor for The Jerusalem Post, managing editor of Today’s Chicago Woman, managing editor of Moment magazine and as an editor/reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Sponsor:
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
Sponsor: Sharon and Joel Freimuth Memorial Fund
NONFICTION
Jen Maxfield
MORE AFTER THE BREAK: A REPORTER RETURNS TO TEN UNFORGETTABLE NEWS STORIES
Based on her two-decade career as a local TV news reporter in New York City, Jen Maxfield takes readers on a dramatic ride-along with her in the live truck, from the moment she gets the call to head to breaking news, to arriving at chaotic scenes, to knocking on doors of families who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
Returning to the families years– even decades–after their stories were featured on the news gives Maxfield an opportunity to ask the burning question she had always pondered: What happened after the live truck pulled away?
About the Author
Jen Maxfield is an Emmy-award winning TV news reporter and anchor who has covered New York City for two decades. Maxfield is also an adjunct professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
Beachwood Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library
25501 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood
FREE (limited seating)
Sponsor: Cuyahoga County Public Library
Jonathan Dunsky A DEATH IN JERUSALEM
This historical mystery takes place in Jerusalem in January 1952. It is rich in historical background, including life in a Jerusalem divided in two, with barricades and walls between West and East Jerusalem.
About the Author
Jonathan Dunsky is the author of the Adam Lapid historical mysteries series and the standalone thriller The Payback Girl. Before turning to writing, he served for four years in the Israeli Defense Forces and worked in the high-tech and internet industries. He resides in Israel with his wife and two sons.
Community partner: Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Andy Dunn
BURN RATE: LAUNCHING A STARTUP AND LOSING MY MIND
The co-founder of the menswear startup Bonobos opens up about the struggle with bipolar disorder that nearly cost him everything in this gripping, radically honest memoir of mental illness and entrepreneurship.
About the Author
Andy Dunn co-founded the ecommerce-driven menswear brand Bonobos in 2007 and served as CEO through its 2017 acquisition by Walmart. As an angel investor and through his venture capital firm Red Swan, Dunn has backed more than 80 star tups, including Warby Parker, Oscar and Coinbase. Named to For tune’s 40 under 40 list in 2018, he is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Bruce Henderson
BRIDGE TO THE SUN: THE SECRET ROLE OF THE JAPANESE AMERICANS WHO FOUGHT IN THE PACIFIC IN WORLD WAR II
A gripping true tale of courage, bravery and adventure from a master storyteller, historian and New York Times bestselling author. Bruce Henderson tells the untold saga of the Japanese American U.S. Army soldiers who fought in the Pacific theater, in Burma, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, fighting two wars simultaneously– their ancestral nation and back home in America, with their families, under U.S. Executive Order 9066, facing suspicion and racial hatred, held behind barbed wire in government internment camps.
About the Author
Bruce Henderson is the author of more than 20 nonfiction books. An award-winning journalist who has taught reporting and writing at University of Southern California School of Journalism and Stanford University, Henderson lives in northern California. FREE
Sponsors:
Shelly & Scott Lewis, Lisa & Josh Mayers, Jill Pupa and Audrey & Ethan Weiss
Sponsor: Men’s Club of the Mandel JCC
NON-
Jessica Nordell
THE END OF BIAS: A BEGINNING
The End of Bias is a transformative, groundbreaking exploration into how we can eradicate unintentional bias and discrimination, the great challenge of our age. With nuance, compassion and 10 years’ immersion in the topic, Jessica Nordell weaves gripping stories with scientific research to reveal how minds, hearts and behaviors change.
About the Author
Jessica Nordell is a science and culture journalist whose writing has appeared in the Atlantic, the New York Times, the New Republic and many other publications. A former writer for public radio and producer for American Public Media, she graduated from Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The End of Bias: A Beginning is her first book.
Daniel Levin
VIOLINS AND HOPE: FROM THE HOLOCAUST TO SYMPHONY HALL
NONFICTION
Author and photographer Daniel Levin’s book explores master violin maker Amnon Weinstein’s effort to restore violins that survived the Holocaust. Levin is the first photographer to depict Weinstein’s workshop in Tel Aviv, his one-of-a-kind collection of violins and his artful process for restoring them, fulfilling his dream of transforming tragedy into triumph by bringing violins of the Holocaust back to life.
About the Author
Daniel Levin is a contemporary artist, photographer, professor and author. He holds an MFA in Visual Art from the Vermont College of Fine Art, and a BFA in Documentary Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Sponsor:
Myron Guren Memorial Fund
Community partner: Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland
FICTION THURSDAY SERIES
Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman
THE THREAD COLLECTORS: A NOVEL
Inspired by the authors’ own family histories, The Thread Collectors is a rich historical novel set during the Civil War about two women – one Black and yearning for freedom in New Orleans, the other a Jewish abolitionist in New York –whose resourceful sewing to support their communities leads them on unexpected, dangerous journeys as they fight to bring their beloveds home from the front.
About the Authors
Shaunna J. Edwards has a Bachelor of Arts in literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from NYU School of Law. A former corporate lawyer, she now works in diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a native Louisianian, raised in New Orleans, and currently lives in Harlem with her husband. The Thread Collectors is her first novel.
Alyson Richman is the USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of several historical novels. Richman graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in art history and Japanese studies. She is an accomplished painter and her novels combine her deep love of art, historical research and travel.
FREE
Sponsor:
SUNDAY MORNING COOKING CLUB SERIES
Faith Kramer
52 SHABBATS: FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS INSPIRED BY A GLOBAL JEWISH KITCHEN
Let Kramer’s book, 52 Shabbats, be your guide if you have ever thought about starting, sharing or expanding your celebration of Shabbat. Explore Shabbat traditions, the symbolism of foods in Judaism and the global Jewish pantry. The cookbook won gold in the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for 2021.
About the Author
Faith Kramer learned to love Shabbat from her grandmother, who was a terrible cook, and how to improvise recipes from her mother, who was a fearless one. Now Kramer is a writer, recipe developer and speaker on Jewish foodways. She is cooking columnist for j., the Jewish News of Northern California.
Mandel JCC Stonehill Auditorium
$18 (includes book talk, Q&A, spice workshop with homemade spice blends to take home)
Facebook Live Cook Along
Thurs, February 16 at 7 pm
Join Nancy Zimmerman, The J’s Director of Jewish Life and Culture, for a live virtual cooking demonstration featuring a recipe from the book at facebook.com/MandelJCC.
SPICE WORKSHOP
With custom blended spices to make and take home
Join food columnist and author Faith Kramer for a spice workshop as we mix and create exotic spice blends for you to take home to enhance your culinary adventures. Hear about her travels to Jewish communities from around the world on her journey to discover the best Shabbat recipes.
Mandel JCC Stonehill Auditorium and gym
