United Jewish Federation of Tidewater & the Simon Family JCC’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival 2020–2021*
*events shown only through December 16
All events are open to the community with RSVP or tickets required and will take place virtually until further notice. For more information about the Festival, to register, sponsor, or volunteer, contact Patty Shelanski at 757-452-3184 or Pshelanski@ujft.org or jewishva.org.
To register for events, go to Jewishva.org/bookfest Konikoff Center for Learning Can Robots Be Jewish: Inspirational Rabbis Answer Pressing Questions of Modern Life with Moment Magazine’s editor of “Ask the Rabbis” Amy Schwartz
The Last Kings of Shanghai with author Jonathan Kaufman Monday, December 7, 12 pm, free
PJ Library Going Rogue (At Hebrew School) with author Casey Breton Sunday, December 13, 11:30 am, free
Wednesday, December 2, 7:30 pm, free
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hen Moment Magazine arrives, loyal readers turn to its longrunning “Ask the Rabbis” feature. In this column, rabbis of different denominations consider some of the most provocative questions of the day. Their responses span the range of modern Jewish thought. Sometimes they agree, but not often. In these Solomon-like deliberations, the rabbis answer some of modernity’s pressing questions: Do science and Judaism conflict? Are there things that cannot be forgiven? Is Judaism good for women? Is there a Jewish way to parent? Should we edit our children’s genes? Can a robot be Jewish? Does Jewish law forbid racism? Do Jews believe in an afterlife? Should there be an 11th commandment and if so what should it be? Amy E. Schwartz is a longtime editorial writer and op-ed columnist at The Washington Post , is Moment Magazine’s Books and Opinions Editor, as well as editor of the magazine’s popular Ask the Rabbis section. Schwartz is president of the multidenominational Jewish Study Center in Washington, DC.
n the 1930s two powerful Jewish families, the Sassoons and the Kadoories, rival one another in wealth and influence. Originally from Baghdad, these families stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than 175 years, profiting from the Opium Wars; surviving Japanese occupation; courting Chiang Kai-shek; and losing nearly everything as the Communists swept into power. At the height of World War II, these families joined together to rescue and protect 18,000 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism. Though their stay in China began as a business opportunity, the country became a home they were reluctant to leave, even on the eve of revolution. Jonathan Kaufman is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, editor and author, and served as the Wall Street Journal’s China Bureau Chief, based in Beijing. As a reporter, Kaufman covered race and class issues in the workplace and on college campuses and race and women’s issues in the 2008 presidential campaign.
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en-year-old Avery Green has always hated Hebrew School. And why shouldn’t he? Not only does it mean he has to spend extra time inside of a classroom, but also Hebrew school has absolutely nothing to do with his three most favorite things: Star Wars, science, and football. But everything turns upside down the day Avery begins to suspect that the mysterious new rabbi just might happen to be…an actual Jedi master! Armed with nothing more than a curious mind and an endless supply of questions, Avery sets out to reveal the truth about Rabbi Bob. Casey Breton lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts with her husband and three sons. A former elementary school teacher, Breton is a recipient of the PJ Our Way Author Incentive Award, and the 2020 Storyteller-in-Residence for Gloucester’s Fish Tales, a series of live storytelling events for grown-ups.
Go to jewishva.org/bookfest 32 | Jewish News | November 30, 2020 | jewishnewsva.org
