Cleveland Jewish Book Festival
Cleveland Jewish Book Festival
Jeannie Emser Schultz
As The Stage Turned
THE FRONT ROW
Sammy Davis, Jr. opened it. Luther Vandross closed it. During the 19 years in between, a who’s who of the world’s top entertainers performed on the novel revolving stage of the Front Row Theatre, from Liberace to Alice Cooper, Jay Leno to Jerry Seinfeld, Marlene Dietrich to Dolly Parton, Presidents Ford and Carter and culinary grand dame Julia Child. The legendary Roy Orbison, would unknowingly perform the final concert of his life there. This memoir captures the dynamic energy that sprung from one of the most unique entertainment venues in the country, located in the sleepy suburb of Highland Heights, just outside of Cleveland. Memorabilia from the Front Row will be on display.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeannie Emser Schultz’s career began as a Cleveland Plain Dealer feature writer and Sunday columnist. As a Beverly Hills entertainment publicist, Schultz’s client roster included Frank Sinatra, Bob Newhart, Debbie Reynolds, and various films and national syndicated TV shows. Jeannie returned to Cleveland to accept the position of Director of Marketing & Publicity for rock promoter Belkin Productions. The opening of the Front Row Theatre began her 19-year tenure as its Marketing/Publicity Director. She is also the author of Playhouse Square: An Entertaining History.
Daniel Sokatch
CAN WE TALK ABOUT ISRAEL?
A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted
REVISED AND UPDATED
Can We Talk About Israel? is the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, grappling with a century-long struggle between two peoples that both perceive themselves as (and indeed are) victims. And it’s an attempt to explain why Israel (and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) inspires such extreme feelings. As Sokatch asks, is there any other topic about which so many intelligent, educated, and sophisticated people express such strongly and passionately held convictions, and about which they actually know so little? This book is an easy-to-read yet penetrating and original look at the history and basic contours of one of the most complicated conflicts in the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel Sokatch has served as the CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009. Before joining NIF, Daniel served as the CEO of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Prior to his tenure at the Federation, he was founding Executive Director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance (now Bend the Arc). Sokatch holds an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a BA from Brandeis University.
FREE Mandel JCC Members • $10 Community
FREE Mandel JCC Members • $5 Community
Sponsor: Deedra Dolin – IMO Larry Dolin
Sponsors: PRISM Project; with support from The Myron Guren Memorial Fund
FICTION
KEYNOTE NOVEMBER 10 • 7:30 PM • MANDEL JCC
Lihi Lapid
I WANTED TO BE WONDERFUL A Novel
This book begins where most love stories leave off: at the beginning of real life. I Wanted to Be Wonderful follows the lives of two women in their first years of motherhood. One is a fictional character trying to live the happily-ever-after life we all imagined for ourselves. The second woman is the author herself, relating her real life story. It’s a story of metamorphosis, from independent working woman to mother, helpless in the face of the discovery that there’s something wrong with her small daughter – something very seriously wrong. In trenchant, thoughtful, and often laugh-out-loud-funny prose, Lihi tells a true-life story of women and – men – struggling to live up to modern pressures: a story about shattered dreams, and about finding the strength to gather up the pieces and to learn to smile again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lihi Lapid is an author and journalist whose books deal with contemporary women’s issues. She has written two bestselling novels in Israel, Secrets from Within and Woman of Valor, and a third novel On Her Own; a cookbook entitled Lihi Lapid’s Favorite Recipes, and a bestselling children’s book, The Magic Whisper. Prior to becoming a writer, Lapid was a professional photographer. Educated at the prestigious Camera Obscura School of Art and Tel Aviv University, she served in the Israel Defense Forces as a photographer for its Bamachane magazine. She lives with her husband, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, in Tel Aviv.
$18 Mandel JCC Members • $25 Community • $75 VIP Reception and Main Event
Sponsors: Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland; The Iris Bialosky Lecture Series of the Mandel JCC
VIP Sponsor: Barbara Meckler IHO Shelly Lewis
Judy Stonehill Lev
BETHLEHEM ROAD
Stories of Immigration and Exile
Bethlehem Road in Jerusalem, after the 1967 Six-Day War, provides the stage for Judy Lev’s immigrant characters. On this main artery they work through their quandaries of who they are, what they left behind and who they can become by immigrating to Israel. A pregnant woman walks to Bethlehem because she believes she is carrying a savior. A single woman buys an apartment on Bethlehem Road and, through a surprising meeting, learns the property comes with a tragic political history. The binding of Isaac and the Holocaust still echo on Bethlehem Road and its biblically named side streets, confounding and confusing immigrants to Israel from Englishspeaking countries. Some leave. Those who stay struggle with the challenges of belonging and longing, of immigration and exile.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Judy Lev is also the author of Our Names Do Not Appear, a memoir. She is a writing teacher, mentor, and Pushcart Prize nominee. A former Clevelander, she has lived in Israel since 1967, where she is mother to three and grandmother to five.
Ron Schwarz
THE QUIET STRENGTH OF RESILIENCE
A Holocaust Survival Story Spanning Four Generations
In The Quiet Strength of Resilience, Ron chronicles his late father’s journey: from his boyhood in pre-war Germany amid a rising wave of Nazi antisemitism to the teenage years spent in hiding, moving constantly to avoid the fate of so many millions of his fellow Jews at the hands of the Nazis, to the post-war reunion with his family, finally finding happiness and success in America. Drawing on research spanning thousands of pages from archives all around Europe, along with hours of interviews with his father, Schwarz paints a compelling picture of resilience and endurance in the face of the greatest adversity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FREE Mandel JCC Members • $10 Community Kosher Dairy Lunch will be provided. RSVP required by November 6.
Sponsors: Sharon and Joel Freimuth Memorial Fund; Cleveland Israel Arts Connection, a program of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland;
Ron Schwarz graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education. He taught high school math in Managua, Nicaragua and Cali, Colombia for three years before going on to pursue his MBA from the University of Texas, Austin. Since then, Schwarz has founded a myriad of companies, mainly in the information services arena. He serves on the Advisory Board to the Director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas-Dallas and to the dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas and Park City, Utah.
NONFICTION
David Denby
EMINENT JEWS:
Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer
Celebratory yet candid, at times fiercely critical, Denby presents these four figures as egotistical and generous – larger-than-life, all of them, yet vulnerable, even heartbreaking, in their ambition, ferocity, and pride. Brilliant, brash, yet soulful, they were 100 percent Jewish and 100 percent American. They upended the restrained culture of their forebears and changed American life. They worked in different fields and, apart from clinking glasses at parties now and then, they hardly knew one another. But, they shared a historical moment and a common temperament. For all four, their Jewish heritage was electrified by American liberty.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Denby is The New York Times bestselling author of Great Books. His other books include American Sucker and Lit Up. He was a film critic for New York Magazine and The New Yorker, where he is now a staff writer. His essays have appeared in The New Republic and The Atlantic He lives in New York City with his wife, novelist Susan Rieger.
Emily Raij
KIDS DAY
JUST SAY WELCOME!
Just Say Welcome is a modern-day story for young children, illustrating the Jewish value of welcoming the stranger. Young Tilly and her Jewish-American family open up their home to an Iraqi refugee family while they settled in the community. Both families learn and experience kindness from each other and the larger community. Synagogue members bring over clothes, neighbors share food, and the Iraqi boy, Youssef, teaches Tilly’s little brother soccer tricks. Everyone realizes they have more in common than not.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emily Raij has written 40-plus children’s books and edited dozens of K-12 educational resources and nonfiction books. She also works as a journalist, focusing on local communities and people. Raij is a native of Chicago, where she earned her journalism degree from Northwestern University. She lives in Florida with her husband, daughter, and son.
Join us for a fun morning with kid-friendly activities, a community service project, yummy food and lots of story-telling. Ideal for families with children ages 3-8.
Suburban Temple, 22401 Chagrin Blvd, Beachwood FREE
Sponsor: Kol Nashim, The Women of Suburban Temple-Kol Ami
FREE
Kosher Dietary Laws observed
Support from: A Shoresh Grant, powered by the Jewish Education Center Community Sponsor: PJ Library
Heidi Friedman
LOVE LESSONS
104 Dates and the Stories That Led Me to True Love
Have you ever wondered what true love looks like? How would it feel to meet your actual partner? How do you know that the relationship you are in is the right one for you? How can you be sure you do not settle? Love Lessons: 104 Dates and the Stories that Led Me to True Love shares the results of a research project designed to help answer these questions. Friedman also shares her personal story about love after surviving 104 dates over ten years until she was fixed up with the love of her life. The book is full of practical, tangible wisdom that will provide support to any person evaluating their current relationship, looking for love for the first time, or giving love a second try with the hope of finding the one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heidi Friedman, formerly Goldstein and born Eisman, is a successful attorney and partner in a large law firm specializing in environmental law and ESG counseling. Love Lessons is her first book, but she has written regularly for Bloomberg, Law 360 and other publications about her professional life and her experiences as a female lawyer.
Rachel Simons
SESAME
Global Recipes & Stories of Ancient Seed
Join entrepreneur Rachel Simons, founder of Seed & Mill in New York’s Chelsea Market, and author of the new cookbook Sesame, as she shares her transformation from lawyer to successful entrepreneur in the artisanal food industry. In Sesame, Simons celebrates the world of sesame from halva, tahini to sesame oil and shares the evolution, history and diversity of this classic ingredient, with 80+ vegetarianforward recipes. Come for a fabulous time with stories, dinner ideas and recipe demos.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Simons is the founder of Seed+Mill, the first store devoted to sesame products in the United States. Its high-quality tahini and halva are favorites of chefs and home cooks and are carried in over 1,700 stores, including Whole Foods Markets, Sprouts, and beloved specialty stores across the US. Seed+Mill has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, Food52, Bon Appétit, and more. Simons was born in Australia, but now lives in New York with her family and beloved Dachshund, who is partial to tahini too!
Park Synagogue, 27500 Shaker Blvd, Pepper Pike
Pre-event cooking demonstration at 2:30 pm includes recipe demonstrations and tasting, main talk and a copy of Sesame. Limited space. $54
Main talk: $5 Mandel JCC and Park Members
$10 Community
Sponsors: 2025 Book Festival Co-Chairs Dan Borison and June Scharf
Sponsors: The Park Synagogue Robert Leitson Family Lecture Fund; The Park Synagogue Leonard Senkfor Library
Refugees, Refuge, and the Jewish Identity
TWO-AUTHOR PRESENTATION
Diane Botnick
BECOMING SARAH A Novel
Sarah Vogel invented herself. She had no choice. Born in Auschwitz to a mother who died, and sustained by numerous other women out of sheer will and hope, Sarah has no roots or history she can remember. Liberated at age three, adopted at six, Sarah goes on to live a determined, practical existence. To navigate it, she lets people believe the life story she tells. Better to have a past than none, right? Can she call herself a survivor if she remembers nothing? Could this grainy photo in a book be her mother? But then her granddaughter, Moll, demands to know the truth. Told in multiple voices, and spanning 1945 into the near future, this is a story of generations of women struggling to understand their history, each other, and themselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diane Botnick was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. She called New York City home for years, writing while working for various organizations in support of the arts. Becoming Sarah is her debut novel. She and her husband currently live in Cold Spring, New York.
Barbara Stark-Nemon
ISABELA’S WAY
In early-seventeenth-century Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany, dangers are plentiful, especially for those of Jewish heritage. NonCatholics have been expelled from Spain, and the Inquisition has come to Portugal to impose its prohibitions. Fourteen-year-old Isabela, an obedient “New Christian” with a talent for needlework, believes she has nothing to fear from the Inquisition. When a mysterious woman arrives with a message from Isabela’s absent father, the girl must leave her home and embroider her way along the clandestine network of sanctuaries created to conduct Conversos, to safety. A host of supporters, and one special young man, assist Isabela as she escapes and makes her way across countries and cultures. As she travels, she learns of the danger and importance of her work and is shocked to discover her family’s true origins. In this enthralling coming-of-age tale of resistance, love, and danger, Isabela employs her talent and fierce determination to find her way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara Stark-Nemon is an award-winning author of short stories, essays, the historical novel Even in Darkness, and the contemporary novel Hard Cider. Barbara lives, writes, swims, cycles, and does fiber art in Ann Arbor and Northport, MI.
HISTORICAL FICTION
Miriam Flock
WILD GRAPES
Historical Fiction
When her husband, Sender, fails to send money to bring Bluma Rappaport and her three daughters to America in 1918, Bluma takes matters into her own hands. She and her girls show up on Sender’s doorstep, which turns out to be broken, just one of the problems with the derelict farm he purchased. Though inspired by the Jewish back-to-the-land movement, Sender has been spending more time studying Torah than he has plowing and harvesting. Worse, her hopes for her daughters are soon shaken. Can Bluma protect them from the hollow marriage and lack of education that have been her own fate? Facing many challenges, Bluma relies on her wits and wry sense of humor to pull the family through.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wild Grapes is Miriam Flock’s first novel, but her poetry has appeared widely including in Poetry, Salmagundi, and Chicago Review, and in specifically Jewish publications such as Berru, CCAR: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, and Lifecycles: Jewish Women on Biblical Themes in Contemporary Life. Her chapter book, The Scientist’s Wife, was published in 2021. She is the winner of an Academy of American Poets Prize and the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Prize for poems on the Jewish experience. Flock earned her bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and two master’s degrees, one in journalism from Columbia and one in creative writing from Stanford.
Shari Rabin
THE JEWISH SOUTH
An American History
The Jewish South tells the story of Jews in the American South, from the colonial period through the civil rights era. Rabin sheds new light on the complicated decisions that southern Jews made – as individuals, families, and communities – to fit into a society built on Native land and enslaved labor and to maintain forms of Jewish difference, often through religious innovation and adaptation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shari Rabin is associate professor of Jewish studies and religion and Chair of Jewish Studies at Oberlin College. She is also the author of Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth-Century America, winner of a National Jewish Book Award. She received her PhD from Yale University in Jewish Studies. She currently serves as vice president (and president-elect) of the Southern Jewish Historical Society.
Congregation Mishkan Or, 26000 Shaker Blvd, Beachwood FREE Mandel JCC Members & Congregation Mishkan Or $5 Community
Sponsor: Congregation Mishkan Or
MEMOIR
Bonny Reichert
HOW TO SHARE AN EGG
A True Story of Hunger, Love and Plenty
A moving culinary memoir about the relationship between food and family, sustenance and survival, from a chef, award-winning journalist, and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Reichert avoided everything to do with the Holocaust until she found herself, in midlife, typing those words into an article she was writing. The journalist had grown up hearing stories about her father’s near starvation and ultimate survival in Auschwitz Birkenau, but she never imagined she would be able to face this epic legacy head-on. Then, a chance encounter with a perfect bowl of borscht in Warsaw set Reichert on a journey to unearth her culinary lineage, dish by dish. Stepping into the kitchen to connect her past with her future, cuisine is an anchor and an identity, a source of joy and a signifier of survival.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bonny Reichert is a National Magazine Award winning journalist. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and lives in Toronto with her husband Michael. She holds an MFA in creative non-fiction and teaches creative writing. In 2022, an excerpt of How to Share an Egg won the Dave Greber award for social justice writing.
B’nai Jeshurun Congregation, 27501 Fairmount Blvd, Pepper Pike
FREE
Sponsors: The Ida & Sam Zelwin Family Fund for Holocaust Education; B’nai Jeshurun Congregation; Kol Israel Foundation
Christine Kuehn
FAMILY OF SPIES
A propulsive, never-before-told story of one family’s shocking involvement as Nazi and Japanese spies during WWII and the pivotal role they played in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Kuehns, a once prominent Berlin family, saw the rise of the Nazis as a way out of the hard times that had befallen them. When Christine’s Aunt Ruth met Nazi leader Joseph Goebbells at a party, the two hit it off, and they had an affair. But Ruth had a secret – she was half Jewish, and Goebbells found out. Rather than having Ruth killed, Goebbels instead sent the entire Kuehn family to Hawaii, to work as spies half a world away. There, Christine’s grandparents and her Aunt Ruth established an intricate spy operation from their home, and passed secrets to the Japanese, leading to the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine Kuehn was cocooned in the sanctity of a quiet suburban life when a mysterious letter in 1994 pierced that bubble, sending her on a thirty-year quest to discover the truth behind a horrendous family secret kept hidden for half a century. Following a career in journalism, public relations, and nonprofits, Christine now lives in Maryland with her husband, close to their three grown children.
FREE – Watch at Mandel JCC or register to get a Zoom link Sponsor: Mandel JCC Men’s Club WATCH together with the Mens Club at The J or online.
BOOK FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE
Events are free, unless otherwise noted.
TUES, OCT 21 • 7:30 PM
Jeannie Emser Schultz
Mandel JCC
Free Mandel JCC Members;
$5 Community
SUN, NOV 9 • 3 PM
Daniel Sokatch
Mandel JCC
Free Mandel JCC Members; $10 Community
KEYNOTE
MON, NOV 10 • 7:30 PM
Lihi Lapid
Mandel JCC
$18 Mandel JCC Members;
$25 Community;
$75 VIP Reception and Main Event
TUES, NOV 11 • NOON
Judy Stonehill Lev
Mandel JCC
Free Mandel JCC Members; $10 Community
WED, NOV 12 • 1 PM
Ron Schwarz
Maltz Museum
WED, NOV 12 • 7:30 PM
David Denby
Suburban Temple-Kol Ami
KIDS DAY
SUN, NOV 16 • 10 AM
Emily Raij
Mandel JCC
MON, NOV 17 • 11 AM
Christine Kuehn
Mandel JCC & Virtual
WED, NOV 19 • 7:30 PM
Heidi Friedman
Mandel JCC
SUN, JAN 25 • 3:30 PM
Rachel Simons
Park Synagogue
$5 Mandel JCC and Park Synagogue Members;
$10 Community
THUR, MAR 12 • 7:30 PM
Diane Botnick
Barbara Stark-Nemon
Mandel JCC
TUES, MAR 17 • 7:30 PM
Miriam Flock
Mandel JCC
WED, MAR 18 • 7:30 PM
Shari Rabin
Congregation Mishkan Or Free Mandel JCC & Congregation Mishkan Or members;
$5 Community
THUR, MAR 19 • 7:30 PM
Bonny Reichert
B’nai Jeshurun Congregation
OCT 28 • 7 PM
THE LAST DEKREPTIZER
Park Synagogue
27500 Shaker Blvd., Pepper Pike
Please email Julie Moss jmoss@parksyn.org to RSVP
Special Community Zoom NOV 18 • 1:00 PM
Register at jewishbookcouncil.org/events
Book Sales
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
Your generous support is greatly appreciated. To make a donation visit engage.mandeljcc.org/bookfestival2025
Tickets
For tickets and registration, visit clevelandjewishbookfest.eventive.org/welcome Limited tickets available at the door.
Group Tickets
Discount tickets are available for groups of ten or more. Please contact Beth Rosenthal at 216-593-6216 or brosenthal@mandeljcc.org.
Major Supporters
Cleveland Israel Arts Connection
The Henry & Eugenia Green Family Foundation
Iris Bialosky Zahler Lecture Series of the Mandel JCC
Barbara Meckler – IHO Shelly Lewis
Thank You to Our Sponsors *
Literary Agent
Linda Angart
Peter & Aliki Rzepka
Publisher
Miriam Vishny & Mark Cohen
Shelly & Scott Lewis
Ida & Sam Zelwin
Family Fund for Holocaust Education
Editor
Deedra Dolin, – IMO Larry Dolin
Nancy & Michael Greff
Sharon & Joel Freimuth Memorial Fund
Abbie Nagler Sender
Reader
Susan & Daniel Borison
Berinthia & Mark LeVine
Jody & Tod Podl
Jill Pupa
Erica & Erick Remer
June Scharf
Sandy Zieve
Writer
Noreen KoppelmanGoldstein & Barry Goloboff
Barbara & Barry Epstein
Eliana & Josh LeVine
Myron Guren Memorial Fund
Aly & David Jaffe
Lisa & Josh Mayers
COMMUNITY SPONSORS
Shawna & Matt Rosner
Sally & Larry Sears
Judy & Tom Spaulding
Book Worm
Janice Adell
Jeremy Adell
Terri & Stuart Kline
Laura Simon & Steve Moss
Audrey & Ethan Weiss
Judi & Marshall Wolf
Friend
Elaine Bolasny
*as of 9/14/25
We regret any errors or omissions
26001 S. Woodland Road Beachwood, OH 44122
www.mandeljcc.org/Book-Festival
Bruce Rosenbaum, Board Chair Jesse Rosen, 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!
2025 Community Readers & Steering Committee
Cheri Shapiro Jessica Semel Abbie Sender Laura Simon Judy Spaulding Jennifer Stern Michelle Sudow Cynthia Tancer Tracy Thomas Amy Viny Audrey Weiss Ethan Weiss Judi Wolf Nancy Zimmerman We regret any errors or omissions
Co-Chairs Dan Borison June Scharf Susan Gordan Nancy Greff Laura Halpert Ingrid Halpert Cheryl Isaacson Betsy Kohn Eliana LeVine Mark LeVine Shelly Lewis Beth Lockshin Ruth Mardell Julie Moss Anna Novik Jill Pupa
Janice Adell Edna Akrish Linda Angart Faye Bass Betty Bauman Amy Bilsky Dan Borison Grace Brower Fran Bulloff Jill Cappy Mark Cohen Lisa Cynamon
Mayers Wendy Dahar
Shawna Rosner Susan Ringel
Shelley Fishbach Bonnie Goodman