Jewish Book Fair tells Nov 8-16 highlights

Center for Jewish Culture logoLA JOLLA, California (Press Release) – San Diego’s internationally recognized San Diego Jewish Book Fair celebrates its 20th year with headliner Ari Shavit.  Book Fair events will run from November 8 through November 16, and are presented by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS. North County events are scheduled for November 8 through November 10 at Temple Solel in Cardiff. From November 13 through November 16, including the free-of-charge Family Day Book-a-Palooza, on Sunday, November 16, from 10am-1pm, will be held at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla.

Ari Shavit, hailed as the most influential journalist writing about Israel today, will discuss his book, “My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel,” in essence, the culmination of his life’s work. Shavit—a columnist, reporter, and board member of Haaretz—pulls from sources including personal interviews, family histories (his own included), road trips into the far reaches of the country, history books, and more, and filters it all through his own discerning eye. Join the author as he shares the story behind what many consider to be a definitive examination of Israel: its formative years, its complications and contradictions (then and now), and—most importantly—its possible futures. Shavit will appear Monday, November 10, at Temple Solel, 7:30 pm. Tickets: $18.50; JCC Member Price: $15.50

Additional Headliners:

Carol Leifer, author, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying.”  Like Seinfeld? Want to meet the “real Elaine?” Enjoy a rare opportunity to spend time with a brilliant comedienne who has written for Seinfeld (the character Elaine Benes was partially based on her) and SNL among other pop-culture touchstones.  Leifer will leave everyone in the auditorium laughing as she shares dirt and details about what it takes to make it—and make it out of—Hollywood in her latest book, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Crying. Her previous book, When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win, was a national bestseller, and this latest collection of essays—fueled by 30 years in the entertainment industry, from being discovered by David Letterman to being “fired” from Celebrity Apprentice—is likely to be as well. Leifer will appear at Temple Solel, Saturday, November 8, 7:30 pm. Tickets: $20.50; JCC Member Price: $17.50

*

Tova Mirvis, author, Visible City.  Join Tova Mirvis—a young, highly acclaimed novelist some compare to Meg Wolitzer and Allegra Goodman whose work has been published in the New York Times and the Boston Globe, and also been read on NPR—as she discusses Visible City. This contemporary novel lets us peek into the life of a young mother, Nina, who has recently been peeking into the lives of her neighbors using her son’s toy binoculars. But when she begins meeting the people she has been viewing from afar in person in the streets of their Upper West Side neighborhood, things change in a hurry, and Nina is soon forced to turn her prying eyes inward. Meet Mirvis for lunch and a talk, Monday, November 10, 12 noon, at Temple Solel. Tickets: $21.50; JCC Member Price: $18.50

*

Ayelet Waldman, author, Love and Treasure. Meet the bestselling author of Bad Mother and Love & Other Impossible Pursuits (which was made into a movie starring Natalie Portman) for a lunchtime discussion of her latest novel, “Love and Treasure.” This multigenerational tale is centered on the true story of the Hungarian Gold Train, which was filled with valuables stolen from countless Hungarian Jews lost in the Holocaust. A stolen treasure, a post-war love affair in “the picturesque corpse” of Salzburg, the search for a missing painting by a contemporary Israeli art dealer—Ayelet Waldman’s spellbinding storytelling powers are at their peak as she weaves multiple plot lines together over the decades following WWII. Waldman will speak at a 12 noon luncheon at the JCC, Thursday, November 13.
Tickets: $21.50; JCC Member Price: $18.50

*

David Wolpe, author, David: The Divided Heart. Spend an evening with “the most influential the Psalms, the greatest Torah scholar of his generation, beloved by God… and an adulterer, deceiver, and tragically flawed man. Rabbi Wolpe—leader of the Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, author of the bestselling Making Loss Matter, a public speaker who has appeared on The Today Show and Face the Nation, and a leader of Conservative Judaism who has debated Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Steven Pinker—will present us with a fresh look at David, whose reign established Jerusalem as the center of the Jewish Kingdom. Rabbi Wolpe will speak on Thursday, November 13, 7:30 pm, at the JCC.  Tickets: $18.50; JCC Member Price: $15.50

*

Rabbi Edward Feinstein, author, The Chutzpah Imperative: Empowering Today’s Jews For A Life That Matters.  From Webster’s: chutzpah (noun): personal confidence or courage that allows someone to do or say things that may seem shocking to others. So why does Rabbi Edward Feinstein—an engaging storyteller and the author of The Chutzpah Imperative and  Tough Questions Jews Ask—call chutzpah an imperative? Perhaps because he sees this level of confidence as central to transmitting the message of Judaism, as empowering Jewish people to reshape the world, as essential to Jewish education, activism, and living. Join us for an uplifting discussion on the tenets of today’s Judaism and the origins and myriad expressions of chutzpah. Rabbi Feinstein will close out the Book Fair, appearing Sunday, November 16, 7:30 pm, at the JCC.   Tickets: $20.50; JCC Member Price: $17.50

*

GENERAL INFORMATION: The book fair is open to the entire San Diego community.  Access to the bookstore, Family Day and a variety of afternoon lectures are free of charge. For a complete list of programs and prices, visit www.sdjbf.org or call the JCC Box Office at 858-362-1348.

BOOK FAIR VENUES: Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037

Temple Solel, 3575 Manchester Avenue, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA 92007

THE BOOKSTORE: The Bookstore will offer hundreds of titles for sale and is open to the public 9am throughout the day during event hours.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS – PLEASE VISIT WEBSITE: http://www.sdcjc.org/sdjbf

FAMILY DAY BOOK-A-PALOOZA SCHEDULE:  Sunday, November 16, 10am-1pm

For Kids Up to 8 Years Old – FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center,
JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS
4126 Executive Drive
La Jolla, California 92037

10am- 1:00pm: Children’s books store and Book Nook open
Spend some quiet time with your child and read a book!

10am-11am: Kidzone Activity Stations

-Obstacle course
-KidVentures
-Craft Station
-Art Soup

10:30-11am: Activity sponsored by PJ Library

11am-1pm
On Stage:
-Diane Rauchwerger: Dinosaur Goes to Israel
-On the Town and As One J*Company’s singing ambassador troupes perform musical selections
-Caryn Yacowitz: I know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Dreidel

12:00pm- 1:00pm
Family Day Concert
Craig Parks in Concert

*
Preceding provided by the Center for Jewish Culture