For more than 40 years, this annual celebration of Jewish authors, books, and ideas has featured authors from a variety of backgrounds who have written about a diverse array of topics, providing the community with opportunities to engage with bestselling and up-and-coming writers.
Pre-registration or tickets are required for all events. To register, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest.
Rabbi Diana Fersko
Monday, Oct. 23, 7:30 pm
We Need to Talk About Antisemitism
Sandler Family Campus • Free
Self-described “millennial rabbi,” Rabbi Diana Fersko leads a vital discussion on the surge of antisemitism in America, providing communities the tools needed to counter it with solidarity and hope.
Rabbi Fersko will be joined by Esther Diskin, outreach committee chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, for this conversation.In partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
Holocaust Commission
Monday, Oct. 30, 7:30 pm
Celebrating To Life, The Past Is Present: Holocaust Stories Of Hampton Roads Survivors, Liberators, and Rescuers
Sandler Family Campus • Free
This anthology, published by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, explores the arc of Holocaust history as it tells the personal stories of individuals who survived the Holocaust and made their homes in Hampton Roads.In partnership with the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
Benyamin Cohen
Thursday, Nov. 2, 12 pm
The Einstein Effect: How the World’s Favorite Genius Got Into Our Cars, Our Bathrooms, and Our Minds
Sandler Family Campus • $8 for JCC members and adults 55+; $12 for non-members. Lunch included with ticket.
The man behind Albert Einstein’s official social media accounts sheds light on Einstein’s legacy, his status as a pop culture icon, and how his work continues to shape the world.
Dean Cycon
Thursday, Nov. 9, 12 pm
Finding Home (Hungary, 1945)
Sandler Family Campus • $8 for JCC members and adults 55+; $ 12 for non-members. Lunch included with ticket.
Dean Cycon illuminates a little-known piece of the Jewish post-WWII experience: A search for home, community, and family where they no longer exist.
In partnership with the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater in commemoration of the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht.
Jacqueline Friedland
Monday, Nov. 13, 7:30 pm
The Stockwell Letters
Sandler Family Campus • Free
Based on the true story of abolitionist Ann Phillips, The Stockwell Letters takes a deep dive into the obstacles faced by abolitionists who fought tirelessly to eradicate slavery.
Jacqueline Friedland kicks off the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Unsung SHEroes of History series, a celebration of American women whose contributions to history have gone unrecognized. Learn more at JewishVA.org/KCL.
All three events in the series will be moderated by Dr. Amy Milligan, associate professor of Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies and the director of the Institute of Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding at Old Dominion University. Learn more at JewishVA.org/KCL.
In partnership with the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding at Old Dominion University, and ODU’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies.
Marjorie Ingall
Thursday, Nov. 16, 7:30 pm
Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case For Good Apologies
Sandler Family Campus • Free
With her six (and a half!)-step formula for apologizing beautifully, Marjorie Ingall explains how to respond to a bad apology, why a good apology is hard to find, and why it doesn’t have to be.
Rebecca Clarren
Sunday, Nov. 19, 2 pm
The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance
Chrysler Museum of Art • Free
Rebecca Clarren melds investigative reporting with her personal history, revealing the intertwined stories of her family and the Lakota, and a devastating loss of Indigenous land and culture.
In partnership with the Chrysler Museum of Art and the museum’s Native Advisory Council.
Corie Adjmi
Monday, Nov. 20, 12 pm
The Marriage Box
Sandler Family Campus • $8 for JCC members and adults 55+ | $12 for non-members. Lunch included with ticket.
In her debut novel, Corie Adjmi introduces readers to the world of a teenage Jewish Syrian girl growing up in the 1970s, looking for love and a place to belong.
Adina Kanefield and David Makovsky
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 7:30 pm
A celebration of the National Library of Israel
Sandler Family Campus• Free
The National Library of Israel works to preserve the written word of the worldwide Jewish community throughout the ages. Join Adina Kanefield, NLI USA CEO, David Makovsky, NLI USA co-president, and Art Sandler, NLI board member, for a discussion of this important work and an exploration of some of its most valued treasures, shared in the newly published book, 101 Treasures from the National Library of Israel.
Presented by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival as part of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, & Community Partners’ 13th annual Israel Today Series.
Support the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater by purchasing books online. UJFT and Simon Family JCC receive 10% of each purchase made through its storefront at BookShop.org/Shop/JewishVA. Books can also be purchased at the Simon Family JCC; book signings will take place following each author event.
The Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival is funded in part by the citizens of Virginia Beach through a grant from the City of Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission and is held in coordination with the Jewish Book Council, the longest-running organization devoted exclusively to the support and celebration of Jewish literature.
For more information about the festival, or to sponsor or volunteer, contact Hunter Thomas, UJFT’s director of Arts + Ideas, at HThomas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137. To learn more, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest.