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For the Love of Books
OUR COMMUNITY For the Love of Books
2021 Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival promises to be ‘eclectic.’
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DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
The 34th annual Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival runs Nov. 21-Dec. 16, and features 24 authors online via Zoom. All events are free and open to the public. Registration is not required.
Noemi Herzig, director of Jewish Cultural Arts and Adult Education for the Ann Arbor JCC, says it’s an eclectic festival this year.
“I like to mix it up so there’s something for everybody,” she said. “The festival’s purpose is to enrich people’s lives and knowledge about subjects they like or new stuff they haven’t explored, to expand people’s vision and to bring the Judaism in the book world to people’s homes in an easy way.” Author events include one with Ami Ayalon, author of Friendly Fire, How Israel Became Its Own Worst Enemy and Its Hope for the Future, and another
CHANUKAH HAPPENINGS continued from page 18
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CHANUKAH CONCERT AT THE FRANKLIN CIDER MILL
For 43 years, Chabad of Farmington Hills has had a special relationship with the Franklin Cider Mill.
Rabbi Chaim Moshe Bergstein’s son Yitzchok saw Jack Peltz, owner of Franklin Cider Mill, and thought he was Jewish. He asked him if he wanted to do a mitzvah. Peltz said yes and did the blessing on the lulov and etrog. Chabad of Farmington Hills has been blessed with the Peltz family’s kindness ever since, continuing until today with the third generation.
On the fourth night of Chanukah, Chabad of Farmington Hills will sponsor a live outdoor Chanukah concert at the Franklin Cider Mill and the lighting of a huge 12-foothigh menorah. The event cosponsors are Chef Cari, Pro-4 Marketing, 1-800selfstorage, Kidon Security Services and Branded Design.
Featured at the concert will be the Jewish Frankel Academy Shabbatones, under the direction of Rabbi Boruch Lazewnik, and the Rogers Park Band, a popular group of singers and musicians from Rogers Park in Chicago.
A raffle and free toys for the kids will round out the event.
The Dec. 1 concert will begin at 5 p.m. The Chanukah lights will be lit at 5:30.
CHANUKAH WONDERLAND & MORE
Last year, children in the community sorely missed the Chanukah Wonderland put on by Bais Chabad Torah Center in West Bloomfield. They will be happy to hear that this year, it’s back!
This year, all the holiday fun, crafts, food and activities will take place in a heated tent in the shul’s parking lot.
The tent will be open to the public Sunday, Nov. 28, and Sunday, Dec. 5. Admission is $5.
Bais Chabad will also hold the Chanukah Parade of Love & Light at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, at Meer Jewish Apartments in West Bloomfield. Attendees can share the festive joy of the holiday and decorate their cars and wave their Chanukah flags as they drive by seniors’ windows. Bais Chabad will enhance the ride with delicious latkes, donuts and a hotdog dinner.
Also, on Dec. 4, at 8 p.m., you can enjoy Chanukah on Ice at the Novi Ice Arena with Bais Chabad. Skate to Jewish music, enjoy a kosher dinner and a beautiful ice sculptured menorah.
Details available at chanukahwonderlandmi.com.
with Daniel Sketch, author of Can We Talk About Israel?: A Guide for the Curious, Confused and Conflicted.
Other events include Jeffrey Veidlinger, professor of history and Judaic studies at the University of Michigan, speaking about his book, In the Midst of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms of 1918-1921 and the Onset of the Holocaust. James McAuley, a European affairs columnist for the Washington Post, will join the festival with a presentation of his book, The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France.
Author Heather Dune Macadam will be speaking about her book, 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz, whichtells the story of 999 young, unmarried women who were tricked into boarding a train that became the first official transport to Auschwitz. On Dec. 15, former CIA/ FBI agent and Nobel Prize winner Tracy Walder takes festival-goers on her journey in The Unexpected Spy: From CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists.
That same evening, Robert Lefkowitz will talk about his journey from cardiologist to legendary scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize with his book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm: The Adrenaline-Fueled Adventures of an Accidental Scientist.
The full schedule of author events, including Zoom links, can be found at book.jccannarbor.org. For additional questions, Noemi Herzig can be reached via email at noemiherzig@jccannarbor. org.
