Book Group

Beth Jacob's Contemporary Jewish Fiction, Memoir and History Reading Group meets bi-monthly at the synagogue on Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.  

A light supper (salad, bread and cheese) plus pot luck dishes are served. Contact Michele Clark or Marcy Shaffer Hale for additional information. 

October 11: Number Our Days: A Triumph of Continuity and Culture Among Jewish Old People in an Urban Ghetto by Barbara Myerhoff

Dec 13: Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1,000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America by Ruth Gruber

A powerful account of a top-secret mission to rescue 1,000 European refugees in the midst of WWII

The refugees were housed in the barracks at Ft Ontario, Oswego, NY - it was the only refugee center in the United States during WWII.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171587.Haven

https://safehavenmuseum.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1eptVZhoCk

Feb. 14: The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Set in London in the 1660s and the early 21^st century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history.  

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40776163-the-weight-of-ink

April 11: The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew--Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Tabari Idliby,  Priscilla Warner, and Suzanne Oliver

The Faith Club weaves the story of 3 women, 3 religions, and their quest to understand one another.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/115033.The_Faith_Club

https://www.thefaithclub.com/

June 13: Men Giving Money, Women Yelling: Intersecting Stories by Alice Mattison

Short Story collection in which the characters lives are told in tales that overlap or echo one another. Vermont connection: The author teaches fiction in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Writing at Bennington College

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/226282.Men_Giving_Money_Women_Yelling

http://www.alicemattison.com/

Aug 8: An Improbable Friendship: Two Prominent Women, a Palestinian and a Jew, Join Hands to Fight for Peace by Anthony David

The dual biography of Israeli Ruth Dayan, Moshe Dayan's wife for 37 years, and Palestinian journalist Raymonda Tawil, Yasser Arafat's mother-in-law. It reveals for the first time the two women's surprising and secret 40-year friendship and delivers the story of their extraordinary and turbulent lives growing up in a war-torn country.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24694004-an-improbable-friendship

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34346621