The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater & Simon Family JCC’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival is an annual celebration of Jewish authors, illustrators, and books, providing the community with opportunities to engage with some of the most popular writers and topics of the year.
Twenty authors, countless stories
This year’s festival features a first responder at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a former US congresswoman, journalists, doctors, novelists, and more.
Something for everyone
Whether it’s the intersection of basketball and the Holocaust, the history of Italy’s Jewish cuisine, the secrets our families keep, or solutions for ending bias in our community, everyone can find something to connect with at this year’s festival.
Connect in your own way
Attend events in person or from the comfort of your home or office. Get inspired at lunch with thought-provoking speakers, join us for free evening programs, or explore moving illustrations in the Leon Family Gallery.
Support the Festival
By purchasing books through BookShop.org, you can receive 10% off the regular retail price. In turn, UJFT and indie bookstores nationwide each receive 10% of the proceeds.
New this year
The Arts + Ideas Book of the Month is a collection of books with intriguing topics, characters, and stories for book-club-style conversations that will allow the community to engage personally with some of this season’s most exciting authors.
Whether joining us at the Simon Family JCC for Dr. Alla Shapiro’s discussion about her experience being dispatched to Chernobyl, at the Chrysler Museum of Art with New York Times bestselling author Lisa Barr to discuss the international art scandal in her novel Woman on Fire, or online with one of our other five Book of the Month authors, we hope you can find a book that speaks to you.
Have questions? Feel free to reach out for more information!
Hunter Thomas Director, Arts + Ideas HThomas@UJFT.org 757-965-6137
UPCOMING EVENTS
Unless otherwise noted, all events are FREE and open to the community and take place at the Simon Family Jewish Community Center on the Reba & Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community. Pre-registration is required for all events.
TUESDAY, JUNE 6
12:00 PM
ABOUT THE EVENT
MEG WAITE CLAYTON
The Postmistress of Paris
Tuesday, June 6, 12:00 PM
This haunting novel revisits the dark early days of the German occupation of France, both a love story and a tale of high-stakes danger and incomparable courage.
In partnership with the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater
REGISTER FOR EVENT
BUY THE BOOK
WEDNESDAY JUNE 14
12:00 PM
ABOUT THE EVENT
TAMAR HASPEL
To Boldly Grow: Finding Joy, Adventure, and Dinner in Your Own Backyard
Wednesday, June 14, 12:00 PM
Journalist and self-proclaimed “crappy gardener” Tamar Haspel shows us that raising or gathering our own food is not as hard as it seems. Haspel will take us on a journey as she goes from cluelessness to competence, learning to scrounge dinner from her surroundings and discovering that a connection to what we eat can change the way we think about food – and ourselves.
Haspel writes the James Beard Award-winning Washington Post column “Unearthed,” which tackles food from every angle: agriculture, nutrition, obesity, the food environment, and DIY. She has also written for Discover, National Geographic’s The Plate, Vox, Slate, Eater, Fortune, and Edible Cape Cod.
REGISTER FOR EVENT
BUY THE BOOK
AUGUST 1 • 12:30PM
ABOUT THE EVENT
IRA ROSEN
Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes
Tuesday, August 1, 12:00 PM
• $12 admission, $6 ages 55+, (lunch included)
• $27 for lunch & signed book
• Special pricing for lunch & book ends July 25
Two-time Peabody Award-winning writer and producer Ira Rosen reveals the intimate, untold stories of his decades at America’s most iconic news show. His story is a 60 Minutes story on 60 Minutes itself. When producer Ira Rosen walked into the 60 Minutes offices in June 1980, he knew he was about to enter television history. His career catapulted him to the heights of TV journalism, breaking some of the most important stories in TV news. But behind the scenes was a war room of clashing producers, anchors, and the most formidable 60 Minutes figure: legendary correspondent Mike Wallace.
Rosen has won every major award in broadcast journalism, including 24 national Emmy Awards, placing him in the top ten all-time news Emmy winners in broadcast history. His report on who is responsible for the opioid epidemic won more awards for 60 Minutes than any segment in the show’s 52-year history.
REGISTER FOR EVENT
BUY THE BOOK
The Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival is held in coordination with the Jewish Book Council, the longest-running organization devoted exclusively to the support and celebration of Jewish literature.
Thank you to the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival Committee
Wendy Juren Auerbach, Chair
Gail Flax
Anne Fleder
Helen Goldsticker Sissel
Anne Kramer
Joan Laderberg
Sandra Porter Leon
Mark Robbins
Judy Rosenblatt
Annie Sandler
Nikki Shapiro Roth
Patricia Shelanski
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS PATRONS OF THE ARTS AND SPONSORS:
Marilyn and Michel Ashe
Karen and Avraham Ashkenazi
Susan P. Barr
Wendy Jo and Ronald Brodsky
Stephanie Calliott and Don London
Armond and Rose Caplan Foundation
Marsha Chenman
Billye Roy and Jeff Chernitzer
Susan and Andrew H. Cohen
Shari Friedman and Andrew King
Cheryl Dronzek
Leora and Nathan Drory
Barbara Dudley
Susan and Jim Eilberg
Lois and Barry Einhorn
Mona and Jeffrey Flax
Anne and Lawrence Fleder
Alan and Esther Fleder Foundation
Alicia and Robert Friedman
Bootsie Goldmeier
Jeri Jo and William Halprin
Marcia Hofheimer
Ellen Hundley
Jaffe Family Fund
Connie Jacobson
Carol and Joel Jason
Betsy and Ed Karotkin
Brenda and Larry Klar
Jodi and Jay Klebanoff
Anne and Edward Kramer
Celia Krichman Charitable Trust
Sierra and Steven Lautman
Ruth and Edward Legum
Robert Lehman
Caren and Stephen Leon
David Leon
Sandra Porter Leon and Miles Leon
Fern and Larry Leibowitz
Betty Ann and Scott Levin
Karen and Richard Lombart
Robin and Matthew Mancoll
Marcia and Burt Moss
Stacie and Marc Moss
Andrew Nusbaum
Elinore Porter
Lisa and Howard Roesen
Sharon and Gene Ross
Shikma and Danny Rubin
Sara Jo and Joel Rubin
Laure and Richard Saunders
Beth Scharlop and Roger Schultz
Lynn Schoenbaum
Miriam Seeherman
Patty and Herman Shelanski
Sandy and Norman Sher
Leslie and Larry Siegel
Helen Sissel
Edward Soltz
Lawrence Steingold
Renee and John Strelitz
Tidewater Jewish Foundation
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Jody and Alan Wagner
Wilks, Alper, Harwood & McIntyre, PC
Amy and Frank Zelenka
Jennifer and Rabbi Israel Zoberman
Get the books from this years events!
PREVIOUS EVENTS
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FESTIVAL, TO SPONSOR, OR TO VOLUNTEER
Contact Hunter Thomas, Director of Arts + Ideas, at HThomas@UJFT.org or (757)965-6137.