November 2–16
by Leslie Shroyer
Fresh books and colorful book covers means book festival time at the Simon Family JCC. The Cardo area of the Sandler Family Campus will be filled with books of all shapes and sizes, as the JCC presents The Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival 2014 next month.
Books of all types, including adult novels, non-fiction, local interest, cookbooks, books for children, as well as the works of the nine authors who are making presentations will be sold.
Author presentations reflect the diversity of the categories of books on display, and range from learning to play the cello to opposing the Harlem Globetrotters, to a new generation of kosher recipes.
Young children will have Shabbat fun and older children and teens will be engaged at a presentation about a how to be “plugged in” to social media without neglecting the necessity and power of physical, human interaction. And, people of all ages will learn about having organic, meaningful relationships in The Green Bubbie, the author book event presented for the Global Day of Jewish Learning on Sunday, Nov. 16. Christianity’s involvement in widespread anti-Jewish sentiment and action during the Holocaust will be explored and the teachings of Menachen M. Schnerson will be discussed.
The book committee works closely with the JCC’s cultural arts department, producing one of the JCC’s largest cultural arts undertaking each November, carefully selecting books to sell and authors to present interesting topics. The authors are chosen after a Jewish Book Council meeting in June.
Sponsors of the Book Festival include the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel (providing authors’ accommodations), Barnes & Noble (supplying most of the books for sale), and Beth Sholom Village (catering events).
Events are free, with the exception of two luncheons. For more details about the Book Festival and to see the full schedule of events, click here or call 757-321-2336.
*of blessed memory The Simon Family JCC is a constituent agency of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.