Talks

The JCC presents a series of conversations with writers, artists and activists discussing their work and related issues. This series is a forum for a spectrum of viewpoints and perspectives, from the varied realms of politics, culture and religion.

The Minsk Ghetto 1941-1943: Jewish Resistance and Soviet Internationalism by Barbara Epstein Drawing from engrossing survivors’ accounts, many never before published, The Minsk Ghetto 1941-1943 recounts a heroic yet little-known chapter in Holocaust history. In vivid and moving detail, Barbara Epstein chronicles the history of a Communist-led resistance movement inside the Minsk ghetto, which, through its links to its Belarussian counterpart outside the ghetto and with help from others, enabled thousands of ghetto Jews to flee to the surrounding forests where they joined partisan units fighting the Germans. About The Author Barbara Epstein is Professor in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of Political Protest and Cultural Revolution: Nonviolent Direct Action in the Seventies and Eighties (UC Press) among other books.* *Courtesy of University of California Press. January 18, 10:00am - 12:00pm

This show has been cancelled A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book by Aliza Lavie A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book is a one-of-a-kind collection that draws from a variety of Jewish traditions to commemorate every occasion and passage in the cycle of life, from the mundane to the extraordinary. This elegant, inspiring volume includes special prayers for the Sabbath and holidays and important dates of the Jewish year; prayers to mark celebratory milestones, such as bat mitzva, marriage, pregnancy, and childbirth; and prayers for comfort and understanding in times of tragedy and loss. Each prayer is presented in Hebrew and in an English translation, along with commentary on its origins and allusions. Culled from a wide range of sources, both geographically and historically, this collection testifies that women’s prayers were—and continue to be—an inspired expression of personal supplication and desire. About the Author Dr. Aliza Lavie is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and also a presenter and editor of television programs on Jewish culture. February 1, 10:30am - 12:00pm

The Stone of the Tenth Realm by Eva Gordon Sophie Katz, a Jew, escapes a Nazi concentration camp. By way of Prague and with the help of a golem and the Kabbalah she is transported into the Tenth Realm, a magical dimension that parallels the world she left behind. Logan Macleod, a man hunted unjustly for a murder, runs to the Bestiary, a forest so dangerous no man dares enter. Drawn by his bagpipes, Sophie and Logan meet. As love ensues, the Tenth Realm’s evil parallels the Third Reich’s atrocities. Together they must join the armies fighting Gustaf Hissler, Adolph Hitler’s doppelganger. Will they survive? About the Author Eva Gordon have written five full-length novels, three fantasy novels, The Stone of the Tenth Realm, Gaea’s Keeper and the sequel to The Stone of the Tenth Realm, Alchemist of the Tenth Realm, science fiction titled Post-Apocalyptic Genome, and Werewolf Sanctuary, a paranormal romance in her Wolf Maiden Chronicles. The Stone of the Tenth of the Realm is her debut novel. Libros International will soon be publishing Eva Gordon’s stand alone novel Gaea’s Keeper. February 15, 10:30am - 12:00pm

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