sign in sign up
<<
Home , Evan Handler, Galveston Movement, Holocaust Museum Houston

Open to the entire community

Supported by the Underwritten by JCC Patrons of the Arts The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation The Jewish Community Center of – Milton Levit Family Campus 5601 S. Braeswood • Houston, 77096 • 713-729-3200 • www.jcchouston.org BOOKSTORE HOURS 2008 JEWISH BOOK & ARTS FAIR STEERING COMMITTEE SUNDAY - THURSDAY CHAIRPERSON CO-CHAIRPERSON 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM Barbara Winthrop Rose Carol Goldberg FRIDAY Book Club Family Day Patron Brunch 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Lisa Estes Lauren Vines Martha and Don Freedman SATURDAY Barbara Marcus Film Patron Campaign 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM Bookstore Set Up Sue Goott Rosita Gaon Book signing after each program Martha Barvin Mignon Wolf Patron Dinner Bookstore Volunteer Hospitality Patricia & Mark Rauch ADVANCE TICKET Managers Carolyn Kaplan PURCHASE RECOMMENDED Linda Chess Patron Events Robin Greenspan Hosts Stella Blumenthal ONLINE: Louise Kershman Susan Altschuler Annette Kavin Judy Arfa www.jcchouston.org Ruth Morris Program IN PERSON: Sheila Sack Inside the David Bell Visit the JCC Information Desk Carol Sternberg Authors Studio Deborah Kaplan Cynthia Stetzer Doug Freedman Norri Leder or the Box Office 30 minutes Beverly Sufian Esther Steinfeld Daniel Musher prior to the start of a program. Brochure Library Liaison Program Volunteers BY PHONE: Nancy Ehrenkranz Isabelle Mayer Sherrie Eisenman Renee Stern Lolly Friedman Miller Purchase your tickets by Library/Archives calling 713-551-7255 Children & Teen Books Ruth Morris Set Design Purchase a Series Ticket Ellen Leventhal Ellen Trachtenberg Susan Schneider Mignon Wolf for admission to all the Community Partners Special Needs Book & Arts Fair programs Patti Hanfling Literacy Mentors Sarah Braham Mindy Mitzner Kathy Parven Diane Brezner SPECIAL RATES FOR THIS YEAR’S Marsha Schooler Linda Meyerson Day Chairs ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION! Teri Walthen Adele Croft Logo Design $40 JCC Member/$60 Public Cheryl Levy Brad Gaber Synagogue Liaison Susan Schneider Linda Suib $2 Discount for Donna Frankoff Seniors/Students Memorial Lecture Music on single tickets Richard Frankoff Joyce Gilbert

Unless otherwise specified all programs JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER take place in the IW Marks Theatre Center President Arts & Culture Assistant Development Director and the Oshman Gymnasium at the Jewish Community Center, Joe Weingarten Bldg. Ed Schreiber Judy Weil Tim Roseborough Milton Levit Family Campus • 5601 S. Braeswood Executive Vice President Bookstore Manager Development Jerry Wische Barbara Lindenberg Assistant Our thanks to our Corporate Sponsors Cynthia Whittington Arts & Culture Dance Director Steering Committee Maxine Silberstein Graphic Designers Susan Farb Morris Kim Osborn Marketing Director Michael Mayor Program Director Renee Harris Arts & Culture Website Coordinator Marilyn Hassid Marketing Daryl Freedman Coordinator Arts & Culture Sarah Talisman Theatre Manager Program Coordinators Jerry Lynch Jennifer Handy Public Relations Brittany Horwitt Michelle Groogan COMMUNITY PARTNERS Alexander Institute of Jewish Family Service • American Jewish Committee American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) • American Society for Technion • Anti-Defamation League Robert M. Beren Academy • Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University • Camp Young Judaea Texas Chevra Kadisha • Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston Congregation Beth El • Congregation Beth Yeshurun Brotherhood Congregation Beth Yeshurun Sisterhood • Congregation Brith Shalom Adult Education Committee Congregation Brith Shalom Sisterhood • Congregation Emanu El Sisterhood Congregation Jewish Community North • Congregation Or Ami • Congregation Shaar Hashalom Sisterhood Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest • The Emery/Weiner School • Freeman Center for Strategic Studies • Houston Chapter of Hadassah • Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism Houston Jewish Day School Consortium • Houston Hillel • Inprint • Jewish Family Service Jewish Feminist Reading Group • Jewish Information Center of Houston Murder By the Book • National Council of Jewish Women - Greater Houston Section The Jewish Herald-Voice Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services • State of Israel Bonds • Temple Beth Torah TORCH • United Orthodox Synagogues Sisterhood • West Houston Lodge of B’nai B’rith WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) • Yiddish Vinkel Hoffer Furniture As of print deadline 2 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org NOVEMBER 2008 OPENING NIGHT 2 SUNDAY 7:30 PM Alan Zweibel 2:00 PM Clothing Optional and Other Ways to Read These Stories Film One of the original and lead writers for Saturday Night Live , Orthodox Stance Alan Zweibel is the writer of U.S.A., 2007, 80 minutes, Documentary award-winning films, plays, Director: Jason Hutt television shows, books and short pieces for an impressive Although the term “Jewish boxer” has been an oxymoron for the array of periodicals. His latest last 60 years, Dmitriy Salita, a 25-year-old Russian immigrant, is work, Clothing Optional , is a making history as a top professional boxer and a rigorously observant collection of personal Jew. Orthodox Stance paints an intimate, three-year portrait of the narratives, essays, stories, trials and tribulations faced by this up-and-coming boxer, and the and even drawings that seemingly incompatible cultures and characters working together Steve Martin calls “laugh out to support his rare and remarkable devotion to both Orthodox loud” funny. Taking off from his Judaism and the pursuit of a professional boxing title. In the end, life in the arts, Zweibel spins the film is about more than just boxing and religion; it is a story hysterical tales that recall his e about a young man’s search for meaning in life. t n start writing one-liners for a l l a

Free to Series Ticket Holders • $6 JCC Member • $8 Public P Catskills’ comedians. Clothing g e r

G Optional includes tributes to : y

b and mentors and the o t o

h improbable imaginings of 4:30 PM P Zweibel’s unique mind. Zweibel was the recipient of the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor for his novel The Other Schulman . He wrote and created It’s Garry Shandling’s Bob Morris Show and was a writer for Curb Your Enthusiasm and Monk . Zweibel’s television work has earned him five Emmys and Writer’s Guild of America Assisted Loving awards. His theater credits include Bunny Bunny-Gilda Radner: A Sort of True Tales of Double Dating With My Dad Love Story , based on his best-selling memoir; the Tony-Award winning 700 Sundays , written with Billy Crystal; and the Broadway hit Fame In this warm and often hilarious tribute to Joe, his 80-something father, Becomes Me , with Martin Short. A frequent Bob Morris—long-time writer of the “Age of Dissonance” column in guest on the David Letterman Show , the Sunday New York Times —describes how father and son come to Zweibel’s writings have appeared in Esquire, terms with their grief following the death of Morris’s mother, Joe’s wife. The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, As Joe enters the dating scene, Morris finds himself in the role of advisor, MAD Magazine , and many comedy confidante, and matchmaker. With humor and tenderness, Morris anthologies. Zweibel is currently finishing touches on the complexities of senior romance, a new Broadway show, Saturday Nights his own issues with commitment and intimacy at 8:00 , and a television pilot with and love at every age. Ultimately, the memoir is Bob Newhart. a story of the love between a son and his complicated, sometimes exasperating, and Zweibel’s unique approach to the world, always human father. filled with insight and wit, produces both laughter and reflection. His opening night Patron Sponsors: Judy and Ken Arfa audience will understand why The New Regina J. Rogers York Times reports that Zweibel “has earned Free to Series Ticket Holders a place in the pantheon of American $9 JCC Member • $13 Public pop culture.” Underwritten by The Pulaski Rauch Fund Patron Sponsors: Roslyn and Ricky Haikin • Nancy and Steve Lerner ROCK! Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public A Celebration of Rock and Roll's Jewish Heritage from the Archives of Photojournalist Janet Macoska Sunday, November 2 - Opening Reception at 6:30 PM Underwritten by a bequest of the Kaye and Sonia Marvins Trust

Become a JCC Patron of the Arts at www.jcchouston.org 3 s k r 3 MONDAY o w t e N e m i t w o h S -

7:00 PM s d r a w d E

6:30 PM Reception • Cocktails and Light Bites k r i K :

Inside the Authors Studio y b o t o

A private event for young adults (ages 21-35) h Don’t Bring Your Mom! – ID’s checked at the door! P Evan Handler It's Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive Classically-trained actor, screenwriter, and journalist, Evan Handler is probably best known for his role as Harry Goldenblatt in the HBO series , that he reprised in this year’s film of the same name. Others will recognize him from a very long list of roles on the stage and in movies and on television, including Angels in America, Biloxi Blues, Californication, Natural Born Killers , The Chosen , and Studio 60 . Handler is also an accomplished memoirist. His first book, Time on Fire , chronicled his terrifying four-year journey through acute myeloid leukemia. Now in It’s Only Temporary , Handler describes what he’s learned about life from that experience and the 20 years since his miraculous recovery. The book is a series of funny and heartfelt autobiographical stories, meditations on love and relationships, triumphs and mistakes—all told with blunt honesty and humor. $15 (includes his book) Patron Sponsor: Jay Steinfeld/Blinds.com

12:00 NOON Preview for our 36+ crowd Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public

8:00 PM Edgar Bronfman Hope, Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance In conversation with Deborah Lipstadt and co-author Beth Zasloff In Hope, Not Fear , internationally renowned philanthropist and community leader Edgar M. Bronfman proposes a new direction in Jewish life for the open societies of North America… a direction in which Judaism will not merely survive but will in fact flourish. Arguing that the Jewish future cannot be grounded in fear of and intermarriage, Bronfman reexamines important texts and interviews Jewish leaders to identify a new course for revitalizing the faith. His program includes celebration of Jewish diversity, openness to innovation and young leadership, and welcome of intermarried families and disengaged Jews. At the same time, he advocates the traditional Jewish pursuits: study of sacred texts and engagement in healing the world. Bronfman is the former president of the World Jewish Congress, and current chairman of the board of Hillel. He has been recognized for his leadership by organizations, universities, and governments around the world and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. The provocative ideas of this distinguished Jewish leader and his co-author, Beth Zasloff, a young alumna of the Bronfman Youth Fellowships, will challenge everyone interested in the future of Judaism. Noted professor and author Deborah Lipstadt will moderate the program. Professor Lipstadt is the Director of the Rabbi Donald A. Tam Institute for Jewish Studies and Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. Among her many distinctions, she has received numerous teaching awards including Emory’s student government association’s award for being the teacher most likely to motivate students to learn about new and unfamiliar topics and the Emory Williams award for her courses on modern Jewish and Holocaust studies.

Underwritten by the Rosita and Albert Gaon Jewish Heritage Fund and The Travelers Insurance Companies and GEM Insurance

Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public

4 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org 4 TUESDAY 5 WEDNESDAY ELECTION DAY 8:00 PM Bookstore open regular hours Refreshments and Results Martin Fletcher Join friends and watch the results Breaking News: A Stunning and Memorable Account of Reporting from Some of the Most Dangerous 5 WEDNESDAY Places in the World When Egypt and Syria invaded Israel just five days into his assignment there, Martin Fletcher began a 35-year career on the front lines of 10:30 AM nearly every major conflict and natural disas ter. Wherever there was a hot spot—Rhodesia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, South Africa, Rwanda, and Israel during both the first and second Intifadas, Fletcher Literacy Mentorship 101 dodged bullets and reported the story, documenting both the major events and the human stories that accompanied them. Breaking News By Literacy Advance is both an eye-witness account of some of the most tumultuous moments of our time and an Learn about the variety of volunteer opportunities available to you in intimate personal story of a young literacy organizations including how to become a volunteer tutor. man’s ambitious, daring, and Explore how your talents and hobbies can make a positive impact on sometimes hilarious quest for the serious literacy challenges facing our community. adventure. Currently NBC News Bureau Chief in Tel Aviv, Fletcher has won five Emmys, a Columbia University Dupont Award, several Overseas Press Club awards, and a 6:15 PM cameraman’s award from Britain’s Royal Society of Television. Tom Brokaw calls Breaking News Gregory Levey “a stunning and memorable Shut Up, I’m Talking: account of the risks, rewards, l complexities, and enduring lessons e k l e And Other Diplomacy o of reporting from some of the most V u

y dangerous places in the world.” Lessons I Learned in the R : y

b Patron Sponsors: Lorraine and Sid Brown • Theba and Buster Feldman o t

Israeli Government— o

h Beverly and Gerald Fanarof P A Memoir Free to Series Ticket Holders Private Event at Rice University for university $9 JCC Member • $13 Public and post-grad students Journalist, speechwriter, and contributing writer for Salon , Gregory Levey describes his three years inside the Israeli government during the AUDITORY EQUIPMENT turbu lent period of the Second Intifada in this AVAILABLE smart, hilarious in sider’s look at Israeli politics. FOR HEARING IMPAIRED Shut Up, I’m Talking covers a brief, but eventful time: Yasser Arafat dies, Hamas is elected to power, If you need assistance in hearing clearly, equipment is now and Ariel Sharon is replaced by Ehud Olmert. available to enhance your ability to hear the program. By his own admission, he was seriously under-qualified for his jobs as speechwriter Just ask at the Box Office when you arrive and it will be and Israeli delegate to the United Nations and then provided for you with courtesy and sensitivity. as foreign communications coordinator and English speechwriter for two prime ministers. Levey offers a behind-the-scenes Made possible through the generosity of The Center for ENT examination of the casual, even improvisational workings of govern ment. Doctors Weber, Moses, Hung, and Powitzky Underwritten by a grant from the Yako Nesim Polikar Goldstaub Community Special Needs Fund Memorial Fund of the Houston Jewish Community Foundation Sharla and Henry Wertheimer Family Philanthropic Fund Free

Become a JCC Patron of the Arts at www.jcchouston.org 5 6 THURSDAY 7 FRIDAY 6:15 PM 1:00 PM Ezra Cappell Film American Talmud: The Powder & the Glory The Cultural Work of Jewish American Fiction U.S.A., 2007, 90 minutes, Documentary “What’s Jewish about Jewish-American writing?” Directors: Ann Carol Grossman and Arnie Reisman This is the question Dr. Ezra Cappell addresses in The Powder & the Glory reveals the American Talmud , his scholarly but accessible personalities behind the“make-up” study of the Jewish-American tradition in fiction of arch-rivals Helena Rubinstein writing. Cappell, who is Assistant Professor of and Elizabeth Arden, two cultural English and Director of the Inter-American icons who dared to develop an Jewish Studies program at the industry in a man’s world – at a University of Texas at El Paso, time when only performers and explores the writings of prostitutes wore cosmetics. One Henry Roth, Bernard Malamud, hundred years ago, both women Saul Bellow, Rebecca Gold stein, Allegra Goodman immigrated to the United States, and others for connections to the long textual tradition starting with next to nothing, and created what is today the $150 billion in Judaism that begins with the Bible and Rab binic global health and beauty industry. Their competing companies defined texts. Rather than defining Jewish-American writing the business of beauty, making cosmetics both newly respectable and, as work that contains explicitly Jewish content—a ultimately, indispensable. That Madame Rubinstein chose to keep her Passover Seder or morning prayers, Cappell suggests that what counts obviously Jewish name makes her triumph all the more remarkable. is the often implicit relationship to the ancient texts. His surprising The film tells an inspiring story about perseverance, creativity and reinvention. conclusion: much modern American writing is filled with allusions to these texts, and in a sense, Jewish-American writers are reworking Each attendee will receive a gift from our own Houston based cosmetics company, Laura Mercier Cosmetics, founded by Janet Gurwitch. these stories in a modern continuation of Talmudic dialogue. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Patron Sponsor: Deborah Kaplan Free to Series Ticket Holders • $6 JCC Member • $8 Public 8:00 PM

NO

n V

o 2 . s

l - Ariel Sabar e 16 N 20 y 0 d 8 n

My Father’s Paradise: A : y b o A Son’s Search for his Jewish t o h Past in Kurdish Iraq P Ariel Sabar’s father, Yona, was born in a mud hut in The 36th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair the town of Zakho where Jews, Christians, and Muslims is proud to partner with had lived peacefully for nearly 3,000 years. With the Taping For The Blind, Inc. mass exodus of 120,000 Iraqi Jews follow ing Israel’s War of Independence, their ancient culture and in a new initiative for this anniversary year. language rapidly vanished. Yona eventually emigrated Three books and the corresponding author to the United States where he became a professor of programs have been selected for audio access Near Eastern Languages at UCLA, world- renowned expert on Aramaic and keeper of the an cient heritage. Clothing Optional and Other Ways But Sabar, proudly American, rejected this heritage— to Read These Stories (Alan Zweibel) until the birth of his own son led him to recapture his fam ily’s story. In a Breaking News (Martin Fletcher) deeply moving, vividly told history, award-winning journal ist Ariel Sabar My Father's Paradise (Ariel Sabar) brings the ancient town, its varied inhabitants, and its improbable history of tolerance to life. My Father's Paradise is a stir ring tale of hope and redemption. For people with print and visual handicaps, Underwritten by The Maurice Amado Foundation please contact Taping For The Blind, Inc. Patron Sponsors: Paula and Irving Pozmantier for information on audio book access Betsy and Ed Schreiber for featured authors. Free to Series Ticket Holders 713-622-2767 • www.tapingfortheblind.org $9 JCC Member • $13 Public 6 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org OLIVER FA LAPIN MILY D Sund AY ay, Nov 9:0 ember 0 AM - 9 5:30 PM , Concert, Authors Books & Fun!

9:00 AM Sarah Gershman - Music and Movement 9:00 AM & 1:00 - 4:00 PM Joel Stern Animated Origami Faces and Jewish Holiday Origami 10:00 AM Renee Suchowiecky - Lollipup and Luvable 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Sheila Aron - I’m Glad I’m Me heldon Low Performer, S Weaving the Thread of Love From Generation to Generation (Book Signing) 11:00 AM Malka Drucker - Portraits of Jewish-American Heroes 2:00 PM Ellen Leventhal & Ellen Rothberg with Illustrator Bill Megenhardt HAYFEST. . . It’s Not for Everyone 4:00 PM Sheldon Low - Family Concert All events take place at JCC Houston • 5601 S. Braeswood All family events are FREE and open to the public (with exception of Sheldon Low Concert) Patron Sponsor For concert tickets or information Shari Riesenfeld call 713-551-7255 or visit www.jcchouston.org

*Adult Programming continues throughout the day Mad Science of Houston Family Day is endowed in loving memory of Oliver Lapin by his family Sheldon Low Concert is underwritten by the Barbara and Mark Paull Families and the Goldye and Sam Spain Children’s Performing Arts Fund 8 SATURDAY 9 SUNDAY 6:30 PM 9:00 AM Family Havdalah Sarah Gershman Sarah Gershman: Music and Movement The Bedtime Sh’ma For ages 2 - 5 Family event for all ages • PJ’s optional! Wake up early and join Sarah Gershman in a sing-a-long featuring Join Sarah Gershman, author of The Bedtime Sh’ma , songs from her award winning Shabbat songbook, Ain Sof as Jonathan Fass, JCC Director of Jewish Living and Learning, well as other delightful kid friendly tunes. You don't want to and Barbara Loeser, BJE Community Outreach Coordinator miss your chance to bring your children to this exciting event! as we end Shabbat and enter the new week with a family Havdalah cere mony. The evening begins with Havdalah, Free followed by a book reading with Gershman. The Bedtime Sh’ma is a lovely child-friendly adaptation of traditional prayers that gives children a sense of peace and comfort before drifting off to sleep. The book was honored with the Sydney Taylor Book Award for 2007. PJ Library Among her many accomplishments, Gershman is a Jewish educator at the is dedicated to the promotion Washington D.C. Jewish Community Center. of Jewish content books and music for children ages six months to seven years. Educator Linda Meyerson will teach children and their families how to “sign” the Sh’ma, and children will make their own bedtime Sh’ma teddy bear. The 36th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair is pleased to partner with the $15 per family includes one make-your-own teddy bear, signed book, Bureau of Jewish Education and refreshments of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston to create greater awareness of this program. RSVP by Nov. 3 • 713-551-7255 To learn more, visit the PJ Library display in the bookstore. 8:00 PM 9:00 AM Concert Joel Stern Yuval Ron Ensemble Animated Origami Faces 7:30 PM Pre-show talk with and Jewish Holiday Origami Aaron Howard 9:00 AM - For ages 6 - 10 Oscar winning composer, Yuval Ron (West Bank Story) , and his ensemble 1:00 - 4:00 PM - For all ages showcase their unique fusion of the Enjoying origami since childhood, sacred Judaism, Sufism (Islamic mysti cal Joel Stern has conducted nationwide tradition) and Armenian Church origami workshops in camps, schools, musical tradition in their Houston community centers, synagogues, and premier. A Cum Laude graduate of libraries. He has written and designed Berklee College of Music, Yuval Ron three books, including Animated has been an educator for more than 20 years. In 1999, he formed Origami Faces and Jewish Holiday The Yuval Ron Ensemble, whose diverse group of musicians strives to create Origami , that were recently recognized musical bridges between people of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths, internationally with an Award of Excellence by the and is dedicated to fostering an understanding of Middle Eastern cultures Society for Technical Communication. through music and education. Stern will tell the story of Noah's Ark using origami models as props. The Yuval Ron Ensemble was featured at the Dalai Lama’s symposium Participants will have origami paper “Seeds of Compassion” in Seattle 2008, the International Oud Festival in to create a "Story-gami," telling Jerusalem 2007, the World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles 2002 stories with origami, using the and 2005, and the International Peace Festival 2005 . folding actions to represent events Underwritten by The Maurice Amado Foundation in the story. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $15 JCC Member • $20 Public Free

8 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org 9 SUNDAY 11:00 AM Liz Robbins 10:00 AM A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Streets Renee Suchowiecky of New York This narrative of the 2007 Lollipup & Luvable Marathon is filled with history For ages 2 - 5 and drama and the timeless story of human Lollipup and Luvable is a tale of two dachshunds that striving. Acclaimed New York Times sportswriter o c l Liz Robbins captures the enormity of the race a

make a dynamic duo as friends. The book was F l e through the prism of five representative a

conceived from Suchowiecky’s sheer delight of h c i athletes—professionals and beginners, winners being around children, especially her grandson, Cole. M :

y and losers—and the experiences that brought b o

Lollipup’s trademark is his trusty knapsack. t o them to the starting line. She also captures the h Luvable is never without her endearing red heart collar. Together they set out P spirit of a great city through the neighborhoods each day to see what do-good dogs can do. They’re all heart and ‘dig’ and local characters whose paths the race crosses. From the race’s helping others. Join this loving twosome as they dash from one end of charismatic founder, Fred Lebow, a Romanian Holocaust survivor town to the other. With their gusto for action and gung-ho spirit, they who directed the race through Brooklyn to honor his traditions and come to the aid of many. Lollipup and Luvable will steal your heart! enliven the neighborhood, to the new generations of recreational Free runners who join the competition each year, A Race Like No Other captures the excitement and meaning of a world class event. Patron Sponsor: Vicky and Michael Richker 11:00 AM Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Malka Drucker Portraits of 2:00 PM Jewish-American Heroes For ages 6 - 10 Ellen Leventhal Malka Drucker is a rabbi and the author of many award-winning books for children and adults. Her book, Portraits of Jewish-American Heroes , profiles twenty-one Ellen Rothberg individuals who have enriched our country and lives with Illustrator, through their achievements. In such areas as science, sports, filmmaking, and civil rights, readers meet male and female heroes whose struggles and triumphs Bill Megenhardt have set an example and made a positive difference in the world. Each individual’s likeness, spirit and contribution are captured in a distinctive color portrait HAYFEST ... It’s Not For Everyone created with a variety of media by award-winning artist Elizabeth Rosen. For ages 6 - 10 Free Both Ellen Leventhal and Ellen Rothberg are Houston author/educators. With a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education and a Masters Degree in Special Education, Leventhal has worked with children for more than 30 years. Rothberg has her Masters Degree in Counseling 11 AM - 1 PM and is currently a Guidance Counselor in Fort Bend County. Their latest book, HAYFEST...It's Not Sheila Aron For Everyone , teaches children about having I'm Glad I'm Me tolerance for other Weaving the Thread of Love From cultures with an Generation to Generation understanding that not everyone Book Signing in the Bookstore celebrates the same Sheila Aron will be signing her hot-off-the-press, holidays. Illustrator beautifully illustrated book. You don't want to miss Bill Megenhardt your chance to receive your personal copy of this joins this interactive incredibly told story about sharing your unconditional presentation. love with your family across the generations. Free

Become a JCC Patron of the Arts at www.jcchouston.org 9 9 SUNDAY 9 SUNDAY 4:00 PM 7:30 PM Family Concert Joshua Rubenstein Sheldon Low The Unknown Black Book: A Children’s Performing Arts The Holocaust in the German-Occupied Series Event Soviet Territories Sheldon Low is the newest face in Jewish music, performing rock concerts and Shirley and Bill Morgan Family leading artist-in-residency weekends in Holocaust Memorial Program Jewish communities throughout the Nearly half of the Jews murdered by the United States. Low has an undeniable Nazis during World War II died in appeal to youth and family audiences, territories controlled by the Soviet Union. not only as a musician, singer/songwriter, and entertainer, but most The Unknown Black Book provides, for importantly, as a Jewish educator and role model. Sing, dance, and clap the first time in English, a revelatory your hands to Low’s music that is fast becoming familiar repertoire for compilation of testimonies from Jews who Jewish children of all ages. survived open-air massacres and other atrocities in the Soviet arena of the German Underwritten by the Barbara and Mark Paull Families and assault. These documents are first-hand the Goldye and Sam Spain Children’s Performing Arts Fund accounts by survivors and they convey what cannot be learned from Free to Series Ticket Holders • $8 JCC Member • $12 Public official accounts. Collected under the direction of two renowned Soviet Jewish journalists, Vasily Grossman and Ilya Ehrenburg, these accounts tell of Jews who lived in pits, walled-off corners of apartments, attics, and basement dugouts, unable to emerge due to fear that their neighbors would betray them, which often 4:30 PM occurred. Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Unknown Black Book is edited by Ilya Altman and Joshua Rubenstein, an Evan Fallenberg activist, scholar, and journalist with expertise Light Fell in Soviet affairs and the northeast regional 6 director of Amnesty International. Literature professor Joseph Licht celebrates a n

his 50th birthday by hosting his five sons and a Patron Sponsors: Susan and David Morris h a

new daughter-in-law at a specially prepared K Mitzi Shure and Jerry Wische i d r

Shabbat dinner in his Tel Aviv penthouse. a Edith and Bob Zinn V : y

He hopes their Shabbat together will begin b

o Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public t

to mend the damage he caused two decades o h earlier when he fell in love with brilliant and P charismatic Rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig, abandoning his wife and children— and his entire previous life. Through fully-realized characters, this ambitious debut work by Evan Fallenberg explores 10 MONDAY obsession, spirituality, and the power of forgiveness in what The Miami Herald has described as “an intensely moving and honest story…. an astonishingly 10:00 AM accomplished first novel, wisely attuned to life’s infinitely strange turns.” Fallenberg is a native of Cleveland Preschool Concert who has lived in Israel since 1985. The noted translator of Meir Shalev’s Sheldon Low A Pigeon and a Boy (see Sun. Nov. 16), Gather your youngest children and head to the JCC for a concert by Ron Leshem’s Beaufort , and numerous Sheldon Low geared specifically for pre-schoolers. Don’t worry, other works, Fallenberg earned the they have the day off from Jewish preschools. So while their teachers PEN Translation Prize for 2007. are busy learning at in-services the children can have some fun with this outstanding Jewish children’s performer. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Free to Series Ticket Holders • $8 JCC Member • $12 Public

10 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org 10 MONDAY 10 MONDAY o n a l o S n

12:00 NOON 8:00 PM h o J : y b o t o h Lois Ramondetta David Wolpe P The Light Within: Why Faith Matters: God and the New Atheism The Extraordinary Friendship of Donna Frankoff Memorial Lecture a Doctor and Patient Brought In this thoughtful exploration of the nature of faith, Rabbi David Wolpe responds to the New Atheists, the harsh defenders of atheism who dismiss Together by Cancer believers as intellectually weak. Without denying the dark moments of personal Patients and doctors who battle cancer tragedy or religiously inspired and sanctioned violence, Wolpe guides the reader together sometimes develop uncommon through an examination of the origins and nature of faith. He addresses the bonds. The Light Within describes just such a perspective of a number of traditions, the compatibility connection—the “extraordinary friendship” of God and science, and the role of the Bible in between Lois Ramondetta, a young oncolo gist contemporary culture. In the literary tradition of at M.D.Anderson Cancer Center, and C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton, Why Faith Matters is an Deborah Rose Sills, a middle-aged professor articulate, nondenominational defense of established of religion and ovarian cancer patient. religion as a positive force that, rather than providing easy Though they have little in common, the two answers, leads believers to struggle with the most difficult women forge a bond that over the course of questions. Rabbi Wolpe is a lecturer in Modern Jewish a decade includes their husbands, children, careers and eventually, Thought at the University of Judaism and Senior Rabbi trips together across the country and abroad. Together they explore of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. He is the author of the intersection of doctors, patients, and spirituality and openly Why Be Jewish?, Teaching Your Children About God , and Healer of Shattered Hearts. search with honesty and intimacy for answers to life’s ultimate Underwritten by The Donna Frankoff Book Fair Endowment Fund questions. This luminous memoir chronicles a relationship that becomes a celebration of life rather than a confrontation with death. Patron Sponsors: Carol and Michael Goldberg • Karol and Daniel Musher Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public 6:15 PM 11 TUESDAY Andrei Cherny The Candy Bombers 10:00 AM The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America’s Finest Hour Sherre Hirsch In June of 1948, a small group of Americans, with few resources and We Plan, God Laughs against all expectations, took on the much larger 10 Steps to Finding Your Divine Path n a

m forces of the Soviet Union, who had cut off access

r When Life Is Not Turning Out Like You Wanted e t e

P to West Berlin in a bid to extend its power. While

k In collaboration with Congregation Beth Yeshurun r

a most top U.S. officials were prepared to abandon the

M Sisterhood at Congregation Beth Yeshurun • 4525 Beechnut :

y city, considering the mission hopeless, President b Anyone who has faced disappointments—and that includes o t

o Harry Truman and an unlikely group of supporters h just about everyone—will find comfort and guidance in P improvised a response. The Candy Bombers Rabbi Sherre Hirsch’s new book, We Plan, God Laughs . Hirsch is a former describes the unprecedented combination of military and moral force pulpit rabbi who is well-known for her appearances on Naomi Judd’s that characterized the airlift, which fed half the city for more than a New Morning , Today , Tyra , and PBS’s Thirty Good Minutes . In addition, she year, avoided World War III, won the hearts of America’s defeated serves as the spiritual life consultant at Canyon Ranch. Hirsch argues that too enemies, and inspired people around the world to believe in America’s often our plans are limited to the strategies we think up at bedtime, inherit from fundamental goodness. Journalist, author, and a former Senior Fellow our parents, or devise to build a resume. She takes readers through ten basic at the Harvard University Kennedy School, Cherny was at 21 the youngest steps for formulating a plan that reflects who we are now and who we want to White House speechwriter in American history. The Candy Bombers be. Hirsch teaches the importance of letting go and recognizing that even the brings to life the tension and drama of those times in a book that most ordinary life is extraordinary in the eyes of God. She does not promise that Walter Isaacson describes as“exciting, inspiring, and wonderfully-written.” life will turn out as we plan, but shows that with hope, faith, and belief, we can Underwritten by Dr. Kelli Cohen Fein and Martin Fein change our lives for the better and make a positive difference in the lives of others. Patron Sponsors: Sylvia and Aubrey Farb • Barbara Winthrop Rose Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Reservations for lunch call 713-551-7255 by November 7. Become a JCC Patron of the Arts at www.jcchouston.org 11 11 TUESDAY 12 WEDNESDAY 6:15 PM 12:00 NOON Reed Farrel Coleman Peter Zheutlin Redemption Street Around the World on Two Ex-New York City cop, Moe Prager travels to a Wheels: Annie Londonderry’s decaying Borscht Belt hotel to uncover the truth Extraordinary Ride about a fire that killed 17 people, including his high school crush, decades before. The cast of In 1890 Boston, Annie Cohen Kopchovsky—a fiercely locals he encounters includes a washed-up come dian, independent and free-thinking 23-year-old Jewish an ambitious politician, a corrupt cop, and a immigrant, working mother of three and wife of a crazed dictatorial leader of a mysterious Jewish peddler, reinvented herself as Annie Londonderry cult. Though all of them to embark on what was called at the time “the most seem intent on keeping the extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a painful past buried, Moe is determined to discover woman,” a trip around the world by bicycle. the truth and set things right. Redemption Street is Although she had never ridden before, Annie the second in Reed Farrel Coleman’s series of proved a resourceful competitor, a master of public relations, a clever award-winning Moe Prager novels—mysteries self-promoter, and a skillful creator of her own myth—the first sports that combine the classic whodunit with gritty superstar. This fascinating but forgotten story is a window into the page-turner procedurals. His hero is “…the thinking transitional mo ment in American life when women began to move man’s PI….a straight-ahead ex-cop who’s willing beyond the constraints of the Victorian era into a time of new to spend some mental energy on questions of loyalty, freedoms—from corsets to bloomers. Peter Zheutlin is an avid cyclist love, and religion.” (S.J. Rozan) and freelance journalist whose work appears regularly in the Boston Globe and the Christian Science Monitor . He is the great Patron Sponsor: Joan Morgenstern grand-nephew of Annie Kopchovsky. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public 8:00 PM 6:15 PM Caroline B. Glick Yael Goldstein Love Shackled Warrior: The Passion of Tasha Darsky Israel and the Global Jihad The Passion of Tasha Darsky draws readers into In foreign policy, the perspectives of the realist and the glamorous and competitive world of classical idealist almost always clash. But Jerusalem Post music, capturing its harsh demands and magical r

power to move performers and audiences alike. e columnist and deputy managing editor k n i

The story involves Natasha Darsky, world-renowned P

Caroline B. Glick manages to vigorously embrace n e

violinist, and a cast of other unforgettable v e both sides. Her new book, Shackled Warrior , is a t S

characters— her brilliant, : y

carefully structured collection of five years of Post b o

fragile daughter, her t columns that is both nuanced and unrelenting in o h its assessment of the dangers that loom in the fame-obsessed parents, P Middle East. Refusing to offer false comfort, Glick a Polish filmmaker who believes he betrayed his asserts that the “Palestinian goal today is genocide” country, and the beautiful, half-mad composer and concludes that no incentives will move either who haunts all their lives. With rare mastery, Hamas or Fatah from this position. The book covers Harvard graduate, Yael Goldstein Love, offers a the major challenges that Israel has faced and continue sweeping tale of female ambition, unflinchingly to affect Israel and the free world: the 2006 war with rendered in all its danger, confusion, and passion that is Hezbollah, the threat from Iran, U.S. foreign policy “nothing short of magnificent.” ( Charleston Post and failures, and the ongoing struggle between the West Courier ) Love’s writings have appeared in many national and international and extreme Islamists. Senior Fellow for Middle East ern journals and anthologies. The Passion of Tasha Darsky is her first novel. Affairs at the Center for Security Policy, Glick is Underwritten by Yael Shani in honor of Albert Gaon al ways probing and eloquent—and often provocative. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Patron Sponsors: June and Leonard Goldberg • Sheila and Gordon Sack Calling all book clubs! Sign up for this year’s Book Club Pick by emailing [email protected]. Purchase this book at the JCC and receive Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public a FREE ticket to the program, including a private reception and priority position in the book signing queue. 12 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org 12 WEDNESDAY 7:00 PM Literacy Mentorship 101 By Literacy Advance (See program description p. 5) 8:00 PM Stephanie Klein Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp GIRL’S NIGHT OUT! Dish It Up with Stephanie Klein at a pre-lecture ice cream reception at 7:15 PM With acerbic wit and captivating insight, Stephanie Klein offers a powerful and beautifully stark portrait of adolescence in her new memoir. Klein was an eighth grader with a weight problem. It was a problem at school, where the boys called her “Moose,” and it was a problem at home, where her father reminded her, “No one likes fat girls.” Klein’s parents enrolled her for a summer at fat camp. In the ever-shifting terrain between fat and thin, childhood and adulthood, cellulite and starvation, Moose reveals the stark details of what it truly feels like to be an overweight child or an outsider of any kind. Stephanie Klein is an acclaimed writer and photographer whose work has been published widely. Her blog, “Greek Tragedy,” is visited by more than 400,000 readers a month. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public 13 THURSDAY h c a b l e k n e h c

1:00 PM S n i w r E : y b o James L. Kugel t o h How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture Then and Now P At the Merfish Teen Center, 9000 S. Rice James Kugel contends that modern readers of the Bible are caught between two opposing ways of understanding the text: the approach of the ancient interpreters and that of modern scholars. As a scholar, Kugel cannot ignore what is known about the Bible today. As a man of traditional faith, he must come to terms with both ways of reading the Scriptures. As a master of both approaches, he is ideally suited to the task. How to Read the Bible is his guide to the Hebrew Bible. Chapter by chapter, Kugel attempts to find the key to solving the dilemma of reading the Bible today by explaining the original meaning of the Bible’s stories as it has been explicated by modern scholarship and then by examining the interpretations of the commentators who lived at the end of the biblical period. Kugel’s “magnificent” work is“certainly one of the best popular books on the Bible in many years.” (Ha’aretz). Kugel was for many years professor of Hebrew Literature at Harvard University, where more than 900 students regularly enrolled in his undergraduate classes on the Hebrew Bible. Author of a dozen books and more than 50 articles, Kugel is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Optional lunch at 12:30 PM $8 prepaid with reservation made by Nov. 10. Call 713-729-3200 x 3258. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public 6:00 PM In collaboration with Humanities Texas, Film the state affiliate of the Berga: Soldiers of Another War National Endowment for the Humanities U.S.A., 2002, 85 minutes, Documentary • Director: Charles Guggenheim The late documentary filmmaker Charles Guggenheim sought to uncover the truth about the death of a fellow army friend from the American 106th Infantry Division, that was largely destroyed in the December, 1944 Battle of the Bulge. What he uncovered became the basis for Berga: Soldiers of Another War , which reveals Nazi atrocities inflicted on 350 American 106th P.O.W.s who were “classified” as Jews and sent via boxcars without food or water to Berga, a satellite camp of Buchenwald. Until now, the surviving soldiers’ stories remained untold. Guggenheim, a four-time Academy Award-winner, wrote and directed the film, and because of his personal connection, narrated the film for the first and only time in his distinguished career. Post film discussion led by Producer Grace Guggenheim Free to Series Ticket Holders • $6 JCC Member • $8 Public Become a JCC Patron of the Arts at www.jcchouston.org 13 13 THURSDAY 15 SATURDAY 8:00 PM 9:00 PM Elie Kaplan Spitz Film Healing from Despair: Choosing Circumcise Me preceded by The Tribe Wholeness in a Broken World Circumcise Me Despair can lead to a dark, lonely place where we are completely overwhelmed and deeply depressed. But within U.S.A., 48 minutes, Documentary this misery, we may discover that we possess the power to Directors: David Blumenfeld and Matthew Kalman choose—to move toward healing, to listen to a message of “Is it hot in here, or am I the only one dressed for Poland hope, to create our true identity and to find goodness in our in the 17th century?” Yisrael Campbell looks more like a lives. Healing From Despair is a book of hope and comfort, a rabbi than a come dian, but don’t be fooled by the big black wise exploration of personal suffering and the potential for hat, frock coat and Hasidic side-curls. Born Chris Campbell, personal crisis to be a source of strength and renewal. the son of an ex-nun (which makes Jesus his uncle, by Through the personal journeys of biblical and historical church doctrine) and a Catholic schoolteacher, he converted to figures such as Moses, Maimonides, Abraham Lincoln, and Judaism not once, but three times – Reform, Conservative Martin Buber, as well as his own harrowing experience with and Orthodox. His spiritual journey began as a drug-drenched depression, Rabbi Elie Spitz looks at brokenness as an teenager in Philadelphia and ended in Jerusalem among the inescapable element of the human condition that can progress from desperation suicide bombs of the Palestinian Intifada. So what’s to laugh to healing, that moment when knowledge of suffering can be transformed into about? It’s the way he tells it. Now a stand-up comedian with blessing. Spitz serves as Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin, CA, and is the a wife, three children and a unique perspective, Circumcise Me author of many articles on spirituality and Jewish law and of the book Does the Soul is a hilarious, searching and moving story of one man’s Survive? A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives and Living with Purpose. quest for spiri tual enlightenment against the bewildering Patron Sponsors: Joan and Stanford Alexander • Rosita and Albert Gaon backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Cathy and Joe Jankovic Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public 15 SATURDAY 7:00 PM The Tribe Motti Lerner U.S.A., 2006, 15 minutes, English Playwright and Filmmaker Director: Tiffany Shlain In collaboration with the Consulate of Israel to the Southwest Barbie – like you’ve never seen her before! What can the Motti Lerner is a playwright and screenwriter. Born in Israel most successful doll in 1949, he teaches playwriting at Tel Aviv University, has on the planet show us been active in the peace movement in Israel since 1973 and about being Jewish frequently lectures at European and American universities today? Narrated by on playwriting, Israeli theatre, and especially the Israeli Peter Coyote, the film theatre and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most of his plays and films deal with mixes old school political issues. His play, The Murder of Isaac, about the assassination of Prime narration with a new Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was produced at the Heilbron Theatre in Germany (1999) school visual style. and had its American premier in Centerstage Theatre in Baltimore (2006). The Tribe weaves His TV feature film Altalena premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July 2008. together archival footage, graphics, animation, Barbie His feature film, Spring 1941 with Joseph Fiennes and Claire Higgins in the title dioramas, and slam poetry to take audiences on an electric roles, was released in August 2008. He is a recipient of the Meskin Award for the ride through the complex history of both the Barbie doll best play (1985), and the Israeli Motion Picture Academy Award for the best TV and the Jewish people – from Biblical times to present day. drama in 1995 and in 2004. In 1994 he won the Prime Minister’s Israel Award for By tracing Barbie’s history, the film sheds light on what it his creative work. means to be an America Jew today. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Free to Series Ticket Holders • $6 JCC Member • $8 Public

14 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org 16 SUNDAY 2:00 PM Film 11:00 AM Match and Marry U.S.A., 2006, 86 minutes, Documentary Meir Shalev Director: Suzannah Warlick Match and Marry A Pigeon and a Boy takes a fresh look into Award-winning Israeli the ancient tradition writer Meir Shalev’s of matchmaking, sixth novel, A Pigeon from the philosophy and a Boy , tells two and roles of men parallel love stories—one present and one and women in an past. Yair Mendelsohn, the contemporary Orthodox Jewish protagonist, is tired of his job as an Israeli marriage to the tour guide and of his unsatisfying marriage. concept’s integration When his mother advises him to go off and in today’s modern find the only two things a person really times. Filmed primarily in Brooklyn and Manhattan, the film highlights needs—a story and a place of one’s own— tales, anecdotes and sur prises of matchmaking, dating and marriage in Yair begins a quest for home that leads to traditional Jewish culture. A charming mosaic of the many issues the tale of a young pigeon handler’s extraordinary gift in 1948 and involved in “finding that special someone,” Match and Marry’s universal the discovery of a lost love. At the novel’s end Yair has discovered theme is an enlightening, educational and enjoyable treat. Meet real life what he needs: “I built and was built, I loved and was loved, my soul Houston “matches” who will host the film. grew a new skin, a roof, a floor, a wall.” The combination of beguiling language and absorbing storytelling, evoking both the very particular Underwritten by Abraham Hakakian/Plants n Petals Israeli experience and universal themes, makes this novel “a true liter ary Free to Series Ticket Holders • $6 JCC Member • $8 Public feast” (Ha’aretz). A Pigeon and a Boy received the Brenner Prize, Israel’s highest literary recognition. Evan Fallenberg’s (see Nov. 9) translation won the 2007 National Jewish Book Award for fiction. Shalev also will present in Hebrew at 8:00 PM 4:30 PM

Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public u n a c Patron Sponsors: Zahava Haenosh • Iris and Uriel Mushin o M a

Joel Schechter n i t n e r o l

Messiahs of 1933: F : y b o

How American Yiddish Theatre t o

1:00 PM h Survived Adversity through Satire P Joel Schechter has rediscovered the funny and often politically-charged Nili Scharf Gold plays of the American Yiddish theatre of the 1930’s. In Messiahs of 1933 he celebrates the once-famous writers and actors and their satire, their Yehuda Amichai: The Making of radical imagination, and their commitment to social change. Israel’s National Poet Schechter greatly enlarges our understanding Using newly discovered material, including a of Yiddish theatre and culture in the previously unknown cache of love letters, Nili United States. He examines the innovative Scharf Gold offers a profound reinterpreta tion stage performances created by the Artef of the work and life of Yehuda Amichai, one Collective, the Modicut Puppeteers, and of the 20th century’s—and Israel’s—leading the Yiddish Unit of the Federal Theatre poets. Yehuda Amichai: The Making of Israel’s Project. He introduces contemporary National Poet reveals what was really happening readers to some of the most popular in the poet’s life and verse at the end of the theatre actors of the 30’s. The book includes 1940’s and argues for the influence of photographs and contemporary comic strips, Amichai’s German past on every aspect of along with the first English-language his work, despite his attempts to conceal it. publication of excerpts from the featured In her careful analysis, Gold exposes much plays. Joel Schechter is professor of theater about the nature of poetry and about the important early years in arts at San Francisco State University Israel’s national history. The book has been called “innovative,” and has written many books about “impassioned,” and “inspiring.” Gold is associate professor of Modern satirists and circus clowns. Schechter Hebrew Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. writes the “Radical Yiddish” column for the journal Jewish Currents . Patron Sponsor: Leah Lax Underwritten by Ziggy Gruber/Kenny and Ziggy’s Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public

Become a JCC Patron of the Arts at www.jcchouston.org 15 16 SUNDAY CLOSING NIGHT 5:30 PM 7:30 PM Michele R. B. Friedman Jonathan Alter Chef’s Confidential Between the Lines….Election 2008 Chef’s Confidential contains 100 mouth Harvard graduate, award-winning columnist and television analyst, watering Kosher recipes from the world’s Jonathan Alter has served as Newsweek Senior Editor for nearly two most famous chefs. Jacques Pepin, decades, examining politics, media, Thomas Keller, Jean-Georges, and many more social, and global issues in his widely have contributed recipes to this volume. French acclaimed column. For more than a Culinary Institute Chef Michele Friedman decade, he has worked as a contributing has adapted them specifically for the home correspondent to NBC News. He is cook. This is the ultimate insiders’ guide to the originator and author of the recipes and tips from the most famous chefs weekly “Conventional Wisdom cooking today. Recipes feature current food Watch” that uses up, down, and trends and plating techniques so explicit you sideways arrows to measure and will feel as if the chefs are guiding you in lampoon the news. As editor, he your home. Friedman will demonstrate a few of helps shape the magazine’s overall these recipes and there will be “tastes” for all news coverage. The 2008 campaign who attend. All proceeds from the sale of this marks the seventh election Alter has book benefit Emunah’s programs for children covered for Newsweek . He frequently in Israel. interviews American presidents and other world leaders, regularly breaks news and has authored more Free to Series Ticket Holders than 50 Newsweek cover stories. Beyond politics and media, he has $9 JCC Member • $13 Public written extensively about terrorism, anti-Semitism, at-risk children, national service and a wide variety of other issues. His 2006 book, The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope , was a national bestseller. His latest release, Between the Lines: A View Inside American Politics, People, and Culture , is a collection of his Newsweek articles chronicling the last quarter-century of American political history. Known for his insight, wit, and first-hand anecdotes, Alter’s presentation will offer an incisive, entertaining, and compelling view of national and world affairs. His presentation The Jewish Community Center of Houston will be as fresh as the day’s headlines! Jewish Book & Arts Fair is a member of the Patron Sponsor: Susan and Stanley Schneider Jewish Book Fair Network. Free to Series Ticket Holders • $9 JCC Member • $13 Public The following authors appear in cooperation with the Jewish Book Council The Jewish Community Center Edgar Bronfman Gregory Levey Ezra Cappell Yael Goldstein Love Andrei Cherny Bob Morris Evan Fallenberg Liz Robbins Martin Fletcher Joshua Rubenstein Evan Handler Ariel Sabar Become a JCC Patron of the Arts and Rabbi Sherre Hirsch Rabbi David Wolpe Stephanie Klein Peter Zheutlin receive a free Series Ticket when you James L. Kugel Alan Zweibel opt for the benefits.

16 advance ticket purchases online at www.jcchouston.org JCC 36th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair JEWS ROCK! Broadening its Reach A Celebration of Rock and Roll's Jewish Heritage from the Archives of Photojournalist Janet Macoska November 2 – 30 More than 60 years after the birth of rock and This year the JCC 36th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair roll, the importance of has forged many new partnerships in an effort to continue Jews in the evolution and to broaden its reach. popularity of this genre of contemporary music • “Inside the Authors Studio” was launched as a private is a joyous discovery that event for young adults ages 21 - 35 deserves recognition. • With Taping For The Blind, Inc., books will be Jews Rock! reveals some of rock and roll’s key “radio read” and author presentations will be broadcast Jewish icons--musicians, for individuals with visual, physical, or learning disabilities song writers and • The JCC auditory equipment is available for assistance promoters--through the award-winning photographs of photojournalist to clearly hear programs. Captioning will be available Janet Macoska and behind the scenes anecdotes of the Jewish influences in their rise to stardom. The companion book with text by at selected programs Rabbi Brian Leiken is available for purchase in the bookstore. • Our newest community service component with Literacy Advance, aims to recruit new literacy mentors Sunday, November 2 • The Sponsoring Organizations are now named Opening Reception at 6:30 PM “Community Partners”, which they indeed are Gallery Hours • Archives of the 36 years of the Jewish Book & Arts Fair will serve as a springboard for a library that features Monday – Thursday • 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM highlights from our past and future. Selected author Friday & Sunday • 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM programs will be videotaped and housed in the library. Underwritten by a bequest of Also included will be highlights from JCC Arts & Culture Programs throughout the years the Kaye and Sonia Marvins Trust We invite you to join the celebration this year The Deuster Art Gallery Season is funded in part by the JCC Patrons of the Arts and for years to come!

FILM SCREENING Too Early to be Quiet, Too Late to Sing Special Guest Chava Alberstein, First Lady of Israeli Song Too Early To Be Quiet, Too Late To Sing is a personal film in which Chava Alberstein perpetuates the last living Yiddish poets and gives expression to her endless love of poetry and Yiddish. Her highly acclaimed CD "The Well," where she set to music 15 poems of the greatest Yiddish poets of the 20th century, sprang from this film and is a collaboration with the New York City based band, the Klezmatics. The JCC will present the Klezmatics in concert March 8, 2009. Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30 PM • Kaplan Theatre – IW Marks Theatre Center FREE Call 713-551-7255 to reserve tickets CONCERT SPA celebrates the 60th Anniversary of Israel with Chava Alberstein Thursday, November 20 at 8:00 PM • Wortham Center's Cullen Theater CenterPoint Energy Music Series Arts Talk! sponsored by Invesco Aim 7:00 PM • Cullen Theatre Alcove H-E-B Performance Prelude 7:30 PM • Grand Foyer, Wortham Center Tickets and information at www.spahouston.org

Become a JCC Patron of the Arts at www.jcchouston.org 17 Center for Jewish Living & Learning special events Dialogues: Jewish Conversations at the JCC Dialogues: Jewish Conversations at the JCC An Evening with Dr. Jonathan Sarna on his New Book The Festival of Light: Experiencing Hanukkah Anew A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew Sunday, December 14 · 3:00 PM Tuesday, December 2 · 8:00 PM Kaplan Theatre – IW Marks Theatre Center Kaplan Theatre – IW Marks Theatre Center Our third Dialogues program will include community Best known for his writings on the history of American rabbis in a three-part discussion of the central Judaism, Jonathan Sarna returns to the JCC to themes of Hanukkah. Join us for an illuminating share his newest book about some of the most conversation that will shed new light on traditions difficult challenges facing the Jewish community. and meaning of this winter holiday. Participants will Unlike his other works, Sarna addresses these include Rabbi David Lyon and Rabbi David Rosen. challenges in a series of letters to his daughter Free Rabbi Lyon Rabbi Rosen Leah. “Readers will feel as if they have been privy to a private conversation between a leading historian Eggrolls and Latkes: and his lucky daugh ter,” writes Deborah E. Lip stadt A Hanukkah Celebration for Families with ShirLaLa in her praise of this new work. Thursday, December 25 · 3:00 PM • Concert Begins at 4:00 PM A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew Kaplan Theatre – IW Marks Theatre Center is the Jewish Community Center’s community read Join us at 3:00 PM for a family Hanukkah celebration with selection for 2008. You are encouraged to crafts, games, and a dreidel spin-off contest. At 4:00 PM we purchase a copy at the 36th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair and return with will gather for a concert with singer/songwriter Shira Kline your read copy to Sarna’s talk on Tuesday, December 2. Free and her band ShirLaLa as we celebrate the start of Hanukkah’s fifth night. It’s traditional to eat oily foods on The initial program offerings of the Center for Jewish Living & Learning at the JCC have been created by the vision of a small group of visionary leaders and funders who are dedicated to Hanukkah, so we’ll celebrate with Latkes and Eggrolls. increasing the quality and diversity of Jewish learning opportunities and celebratory experiences. The CJLL requires additional support by individuals and families who wish to make A Children’s Performing Arts Series Event a lasting, positive impact on strengthening Jewish identity and involvement. Tickets: $8 JCC Member & Patrons of the Arts / $12 Public Please contact Jerry Wische at [email protected] . $2 per person for Eggrolls and Latkes kulanu: an adult jewish learning collaborative

We invite you to join Kulanu, a new initiative for adult Jewish learning developed in cooperation with Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Congregation Brith Shalom, Congregation Emanu El, and United Orthodox Synagogues. Kulanu, which means “all of us,” is designed to offer learning opportunities for adults of all backgrounds and interests. Dialogues: Jewish Conversations at the JCC is a program of Kulanu. In addition, the following mini-courses will be offered in November/December 2008:

A T aste of Yiddish Through its Most Influential Writers To Learn and To Teach, To Preserve and To Act: Instructors: Dr. Julia Mazow and Susan Ganc Four Principles to Living a Jewish Life This four-session class will give participants an opportunity to become familiar Instructor: Rabbi Todd Doctor with the rich literature of Yiddish in English translation. Participants will focus The class will explore each of these verbs in relation to living a Jewish life. on short stories by Y.L. Peretz, Sholem Aleichem, Kadia Molodowsky, and Participants will examine how each of these verbs has the potential to impact Chava Rosenfarb. Participants are asked to read a short story in advance of our lives and bring us closer to God and purposeful living. Each session will be each class. A class reader will be provided with registration. A knowledge of devoted to one verb. The class will use both Biblical and Rabbinic Texts. Yiddish is not required. A knowledge of Hebrew is not required. Julia Wolf Mazow, Ph.D. has studied Yiddish at Oxford and the YIVOprogram. Shehas Rabbi Todd Doctor received both his rabbinic ordination and his Masters Degree in Jewish lecturedon Yiddish women writers and taught as part of the faculty of the Houston Florence Education from the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. A Houston native, he has taught Melton Adult Mini-School. Her writings and translations have appeared in many periodicals both in Jewish day schools and adult education classes throughout the city. He recently including Bridges, Lilith Magazine, Moment Magazine, Jewish Book World, and Sojourner. founded Minds of Tomorrow, an organization that helps individuals reach their full potential through education and counseling. Susan M. Ganc holds a Masters Degree in Education from Yeshiva University. She has served as a teacher in the New York City public schools, HISD, Shlenker School, and Beth Yeshurun Four Sessions beginning Tuesday, November 18 · 7:00 – 8:00 PM Day School.In addition, she has taught adult education classes in Spanish, Yiddish, and (No class Tuesday, December 2) Jewish culture. Registration Fee: $36 JCC Member / $48 Public Four Sessions beginning Monday, November 17 · 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Registration Fee: $36 JCC Member / $48 Public Jewish American Women Writers from 1990 to Today Instructor: Professor Ann Nunes Visions of a Prophet: The Book of Ezekiel in its Historical Context Instructor: Dr. Avner Ramu This four-session mini-course will explore the short stories of contemporary writers including Rebecca Goldstein, Tova Mirvis, and Allegra Goodman, whose works have The Book of Ezekiel, with its complicated narrative and enigmatic visions, is one challenged readers on the intersection between Jewish, American, and women’s of the most challenging prophetic works of the Bible. This four-week course will identities in contemporary society. Participants are asked to read a short story explore several of the book’s themes including the historical and cultural background in advance of each class. A class reader will be provided with registration. of the prophet as well as the unique challenges in understanding this book’s Dr. Ann Nunes is a first generation American whose grandparents came here with their complex literary style. Knowledge of Hebrew is not required. children because of the .She received her M.A. and a Ph.D. in English Dr. Avner Ramu was born in Jerusalem. In addition to his interest in the prophet Ezekiel, literature at the University of Houston.She currently works as adjunct faculty for various he is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Pharmacology and Medicine, colleges; her most recent college course offering was a semester of Jewish American and has served on the faculty of the Hebrew University, Uniformed Services University of Literature at the University of Houston. the Health Sciences, and Baylor College of Medicine. Four Sessions beginning Friday, November 21 · 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Four Sessions beginning Monday, November 17 · 7:00 – 8:00 PM (No class Friday, November 28) Registration Fee: $36 JCC Member / $48 Public Registration Fee: $36 JCC Member / $48 Public For more information or to register for the programs of the Center for Jewish Living & Learning please contact Naomi Barancik at 713-729-3200, ext. 3258 or [email protected] 36th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair Calendar SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEEDDNNEESSDDAAYY THUURRSSDDAAYY FRIDDAAYY SATURDDAAYY NOVEMBER 2 NOVEMBER 3 NOVEMBER 4 NOVEMBER 5 NOVEMBER 6 NOVEMBER 7 NOVEMBER 8 2:00 PM 12:00 NOOONN ElecttiionnDDaayy 1:00 PM FILM - Previieeww(For aggeess3366++)) Bookstoorree 10:30AAMM FILM - OrthoddooxxSSttaannccee Evan Haannddlleerr Open allllddaayy LiterraaccyyMeennttoorrsshhipip110011 The PoowwddeerraannddtthheeGGlolroryry 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 6:15PM 6:15 PM Bob Moorrrriiss Evan Handler GregorryyLLeevveeyy Ezra Caappppeelll 6:30 PM Evan Handler FAMILY HAVDALAH AssisteeddLLoovviinngg:: InsideetthheeAAuutthhoorrssSStutuddioio Shut upp,,II’m’mTTaalklkiinngg:: AmerriiccaannTTaallmmuudd:: FAMILY HAVDALAH True TaalleessooffDDoouubbleleDDaatitningg (For aggeess2211--3355)) and OtthheerrDDiipplolommaaccyyLLesessosnosns The CuullttuurraallWWoorrkk BedtiimeeShh’m’maa:: of Jewish American Fiction with MyyDDaadd It’s OnnllyyTTeemmppoorraarryy: : I LearrnneeddiinntthheeIIsIrsaraeleili of Jewish AmericanFiction A GoooddNNiigghhttBBooookk with Sarah Gershman The GooooddNNeewwssaannddBBaaddNNewews s Goveerrnnmmeenntt with Sarrah Gershman OPENING NIGHT Of BeeiinnggAAlliivvee (For sttuuddeennttssaattRRiciceeUUnnivievresristyit)y) 7:30 PM EVENING AlanZZwweeiibbeell 8:00 PM EPVreEsNidIeNnGtial Results 8:00PM 8:00 PM 8:00 PM ClotthiingOOppttiioonnaal:l: EdgarrBrroonnffmmaannwwitihth PanredsiRdeefnrteisahl mReesnutlstsin the MarttiinnFFlleettcchheerr AriellSabaarr CONCERTT and OtherrWWaayysstotoRReaeadd DeborraahhLLiippssttaaddtt aBnodokRsetforersehments in the BreakiinnggNNeewwss::AASStutunnnniningg My Faattheerr’s’sPPaarraaddisiese: : Yuvall RoonnEEnnsseemmbblele and Memorable Account of A Son’s Search for His Jewish (7:30 PM Prree--CCoonncecertrtTTaalkl)k) TheseeSttoorriieess Hopee,,NNoottFFeeaarr:: Bookstore andMemorable Account of A Son’s Search for His Jewish A Patth ttooJJeewwiisshhRReennaaisisasanncece ReporrttiinnggfffrroommSSoommeeofotfhtheeMMosotst Past inKKuurrddiisshhIIrIaraqq DanggeerroouussPPllaacceessininththeeWWWorolrdld NOVEMBER 9 NOVEMBER 10 NOVEMBER 11 NOVEMBER 12 NOVEMBER 13 NOVEMBER 14 NOVEMBER 15 Family Daayy 10:00 AM 9:00 AM - 4::00 PM Bookstorree CONCERTT--SShheellddoonnLLooww 10:00 AM Open reeggullaarrhhoouurrss 11:00 AM (For Prreesscchhoooolleerrss)) Sherre Hiirrsscchh Liz Robbiinss 12:00 NOOONN We Pllan,, GooddLLaauugghhss:: 12:00 NOOONN 1:00 PM A Race LiikkeeNNooOOtthheerr:: Lois Ramonnddeettttaa How tto FiinnddYYoouurrDDiivviinneePPaathth Peter Zheuuttlliinn James L. KKuuggeell 26.2 MiilleessTThhrroouugghh The LiighttWWiitthhiinn:: When LiiffeeiissNNoottTTuurrnniinnggOOuutt Around tthe WWoorrlldd How tto ReeaaddtthheeBBiibbllee:: the StreeeettssooffNNeewwYYoorrkk Like you Waanntteedd A Guide ttooSSccrriippttuurree,, The ExttrraaoorrddiinnaarryyFFrriieennddsshhipipooff (at ConggrreeggaattiioonnBBeetthhYYeesshhuurruunn)) on Two Whheeeellss:: 4:00 PM a Docttorr and PPaattiieennttBBrroouugghhtt Annie Loondoondeerrrryy’s’s Then and NNooww CONCERTT TogetherrbbyyCCaanncceerr ExtraordiinarryyRRiiddee (at the MeerrfifisshhTTeeeennCCeenntteerr)) Sheldon Loww 6:15 PM 6:15 PM 6:15 PM 6:00 PM 4:30 PM AndreiiChheerrnnyy Reed FarrrreellCCoolleemmaann Yael GolldsteeiinnLLoovvee FILM Evan Falllleennbbeerrgg The CanddyyBBoommbbeerrss::TThhee RedempttiioonnSSttrreeeett The Passssiion ooffTTaasshhaaDDaarrsskkyy Berga:: SoollddiieerrssooffAAnnootthheerrWWaarr Light Feellll Untolld SttoorryyoofftthheeBBeerrlilninAAirirlilfitft 7:00 PM and Amerriiccaa’’ssFFiinneessttHHoouurr 7:00 PM 7:30 PM Literacy Meennttoorrsshhiipp110011 Mottii Lerrnneerr Joshua Ruubbeennsstteeiinn 8:00 PM 8:00 PM 8:00 PM 8:00 PM The UnknowwnnBBllaacckkBBooookk::TThhee David Woollppee Caroline B..GGlliicckk Stephaniie Klleeiinn Elie KapllaannSSppiittzz 9:00 PM HolocaussttiinntthheeGGeerrmmaann--OOcccuuppieided Why Faiitth MMaatttteerrss Shacklled Waarrrriioorr:: Moose:: A MeemmooiirrooffFFaattCCaammpp Healing ffrroommDDeessppaaiirr::CChhoooosisningg FILMS SovietTeerrrriittoorriieess Israell and the GllobbaallJJiihhaadd Wholleneessss iinnaaBBrrookkeennWWoorrldld The Triibee//CiirrccuummcciisseeMMee NOVEMBER 16 Due to circumstances beyond our control programs are subject to change. 11:00 AM --MeeiirrSShhaalleevv ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE RECOMMENDED BOOKSTORE HOURS A Pigeon and a Booyy 1:00 PM - Nili ScharrffGGoolldd ONLINE: SAVE MONEY Yehuda Amiicchhaaii::TThheeMMaakkiningg SUNDAY - THURSDAY of Israell’’ssNNaattiioonnaallPPooeett 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM ON PROGRAMS 2:00 PM - FILM Match and MMaarrrryy IN PERSON: Buy a Book & Arts Fair 4:30 PM - Joel Scheecchhtteerr Visit the JCC Information Desk or come to the box office FRIDAY Series Ticket Messiahssooff11993333::HHoowwAAmmeerricicaann 30 minutes prior to the start of a program. Yiddish ThheeaattrreeSSuurrvviivveedd 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM AdverssiittyytthhrroouugghhSSaattiirree BY PHONE: 5:30 PM SATURDAY Michelle RB Frriieeddmmaann Purchase your tickets by calling 713-551-7255 Chef’’ss Coonnfiddeennttiiaall 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM CLOSING NIGHT Special rates for htihsisyeyaera’rs’sAAnninvievresrasrayryeClCeberleabtrioant!ion! 7:30 PM - JoonnaatthhaannAAltlteerr $$4400JJJCCCMMemembebre/r$/$6600PPubulbiclic Book signing after Between ttheeLiinneess::AAVViieeww $2 Discount for seniors & students on single tickets each program Inside AmeerriiccaannPPoolliittiiccss,, $2 Discount forsesniors & students on sinegltickets Peoplle,, and Cuullttuurree CELEBRATE OUR 36 th YEAR!

36 AUTHORS 3 CONCERTS 5 FILMS

• Book and CD signings follow all presentations • A bookstore featuring 4,000 titles available for purchase • Literacy mentorship programs Come be a part of it! www.jcchouston.org for tickets and information

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #6217 Houston, Texas

The Jewish Community Center of Houston 5601 S. Braeswood Houston, Texas 77096-3907 713-729-3200