FICTION THURSDAY SERIES

Jean Meltzer

MR.

Perfect On Paper

Mr. Perfect on Paper is a witty romance novel about one woman’s search for her perfect man. However, the novel tackles heavier subjects, such as generalized anxiety disorder and grief. What’s most remarkable is the fact that Jean Meltzer incorporates humor in a way that brings levity without diminishing the gravity of the circumstances.

About the Author

Jean Meltzer studied dramatic writing at NYU Tisch and has earned numerous awards for her work in television, including a daytime Emmy. She spent five years in rabbinical school before her chronic illness forced her to withdraw, and her father told her she should write a book –just not a Jewish one because no one reads those. She is the author of the acclaimed Hanukkah romance, The Matzah Ball.

Mr. Perfect on Paper is her second novel.

Lynda Cohen Loigman

THE MATCHMAKER’S GIFT

Is finding true love a calling or a curse?

Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: She is a seeker of soulmates and a maker of matches. But among the pushcartcrowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men – men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. Two generations later, Sara has passed away and bequeathed her journals with all the details of her matches, to her granddaughter, Abby, a successful Manhattan divorce attorney. This is a heartfelt and magical story of two extraordinary women from two different eras who defy societal expectations.

About the Author

Lynda Cohen Loigman grew up in Longmeadow, MA. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English and American literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Sponsor:

Dan Grunfeld BY THE GRACE OF THE GAME: ONE MAN’S QUEST TO FIND THE SILVER LINING IN MISFORTUNE

In By the Grace of the Game, Dan Grunfeld, once a basketball standout himself at Stanford University, shares the remarkable story of his family, a delicately interwoven narrative that doesn’t lack in heartbreak yet remains as deeply nourishing as his grandmother’s Hungarian cooking, so lovingly described. The true improbability of the saga lies in the discovery of a game that unknowingly held the power to heal wounds, build bridges and tie together a fractured Jewish family.

About the Author

Dan Grunfeld was a two-time Academic AllAmerican as a member of Stanford University’s men’s basketball team. He played professionally around the world, including a year in Germany, three in Spain and four in Israel, with a brief stint with the New York Knicks. Grunfeld received his MBA from Stanford, and his writing has appeared in outlets including Sports Illustrated, Huffington Post, Jerusalem Post and SBNation.

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Aryeh I. Dori, Avi & Francoise Jacobs Family, Mark & Ben Sack and Park Synagogue

Isabel Vincent

OVER TURE OF HOPE: TWO SIS TERS’ DAR ING PLAN THAT SAVED OPER A’S JEW ISH STARS FROM THE THIRD REICH

Schindler’s List meets The Sound of Music as best-selling New York Post investigative journalist Isabel Vincent delves into pre-WorldWar-II history to recover the amazing story of two British spinsters who masterminded a plan to spirit dozens of Jewish stars and personnel of the German and Austrian opera to England and save them from a terrible fate under the Third Reich.

About the Author

An award-winning investigative journalist for the New York Post and the author of nationally best-selling memoir Dinner with Edward. Her book Hitler’s Silent Partners, an account of the Swiss bank accounts left dormant after the Nazi era, won the Yad Vashem Award for Holocaust History. Vincent grew up in Canada. She began as a foreign correspondent in South America covering drug car tels, and later the conflicts in Kosovo and war in Angola.

Sponsor: Kol Israel Foundation

Margorie Margolies AND HOW ARE THE CHIL DREN: TIME LESS LESSONS FROM THE FRONT LINES OF MOTHERHOOD

Marjorie Margolies’ Jewish father always said that you should aspire to change another’s life. That concept of tikkun olam was instilled in her from an early age and she was determined to apply the concept to her own family, which grew exponentially. She adopted two girls from Vietnam and Korea, married a Jewish Congressman with four daughters, and sponsored a Catholic refugee family from Vietnam, bringing the number of kids under her roof to 11.

Margolies had a Jewish home, but one of her priorities was to instill in her kids’ respect for all faiths. They celebrated Hannukah and Christmas. Sunday mornings meant Sunday school– both Catholic and Jewish. It was an organic way to make everyone feel included yet tolerant of other belief systems. Her book is the story of this journey.

About the Author

Marjorie Margolies is a former member of Congress, a journalist, a women’s rights advocate and a serendipitous mother many times over. She is currently a faculty member at the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fiction Thursday Series

Jane L. Rosen A SHOE STORY

Esme Nash is eager to begin her post-grad life: A move to NYC, an apartment with her college boyfriend and a job at an art gallery. But when tragedy strikes, she must leave her dreams behind. Seven years later, Esme takes a dog-sitting job in Greenwich Village giving her access to her long-buried hopes and dreams, and an epic collection of designer shoes.

Amongst others, Esme befriends an old Jewish man named Sy Katz– aka The Sturgeon King of New York. Sy makes it his duty to show Esme around while retelling his own cautionary tale of lost love.

About the Author

Jane L. Rosen is an author, screenwriter and Huffington Post contributor. She lives in New York City and Fire Island with her husband and three daughters.

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Community Partner: Adoption Network Cleveland

Sponsor: Kol Nashim, The Women of Suburban Temple-Kol Ami