Jewish Community Center Cultural Arts & Book Series

Discover the untold story of first-generation Jewish American toymakers who helped manufacture “the century of the child.” In 1902, Morris and Rose Michtom stitched together the first Teddy Bear in the back room of their Brooklyn candy store, sparking the Ideal Toy Corporation and a booming toy world created by fellow immigrant pioneers like Hasbro, Mattel, and Lionel Trains. In Playmakers, Michael Kimmel traces how Jewish founders, designers, and storytellers shaped an idealized American childhood—from Barbie and G.I. Joe to Superman and Mr. Potato Head. He reveals how outsider tenement life fueled a culture of imagination, acceptance, and endless fantasy.

Join us for a unique evening of poetry and music at the “CJCE Café.” Immerse yourself in the beatnik world, where we will delight your senses with performances by local Jewish poets and musicians.

Saving Abigail is a gripping true story of courage, resilience, and the extraordinary power of family in the face of unimaginable tragedy. On October 7, 2023, three-year-old Abigail Mor Edan’s world was shattered when Hamas terrorists attacked her Israeli community, murdering her parents and abducting her into Gaza. Alone, vulnerable, and held hostage amid a rapidly escalating conflict, Abigail became one of the many innocent victims caught in a devastating geopolitical crisis. Refusing to accept the unthinkable, Abigail’s great-aunt, Liz Hirsh Naftali, launched an urgent and relentless campaign to bring her home. With no diplomatic training, political influence, or blueprint to follow, Liz navigated the highest levels of government, rallied bipartisan support, and captured international attention with Abigail’s heartbreaking story. Part thriller, part testament to human determination, Saving Abigail reveals how one woman’s unwavering love and persistence helped rescue a child from captivity and inspired hope in the darkest of times.

The Last Free Women is a powerful true story of survival, courage, and second chances set against the dramatic fall of Afghanistan in August 2021. As the Taliban swept into Kabul, dreams that had taken years to build vanished overnight. For young women like Marwa, Mursal, Maryam, and Samira, the future they had envisioned was suddenly replaced by fear, uncertainty, and a desperate race to escape. At the center of this extraordinary story is Rebecca Blumenstein, a senior journalist who helped orchestrate one of the largest privately sponsored refugee evacuations in modern American history. Working against impossible odds, she led efforts that brought hundreds of Afghans to safety and helped them begin anew in the United States. Through the intertwined journeys of four remarkable women, The Last Free Women explores resilience, identity, and hope. It is a moving portrait of lives uprooted by conflict and the determination to rebuild, belong, and thrive in a new world.

As Speakers of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic dwindle, Samantha Ellis fears more than the loss of a language — she fears the loss of an entire inheritance. The daughter of Iraqi Jewish refugees, she embarks on a heartfelt journey to preserve the stories, sayings, recipes, and traditions that shaped her family’s identity. From ancient artifacts and rare language archives to treasured family memories and beloved foods, Samantha explores how culture survives across generations. Warm, witty, and deeply moving, Always Carry Salt is a celebration of resilience, belonging, and the ties that connect us to our ancestors while guiding what we pass on to those who come after us.

In a time of deep division and rising tensions, Professor Roberta Rosenthal Kwall explores the growing fractures within American Jewish life and the challenges they pose for the future. Examining debates over religious identity, Israel, antisemitism, politics, and generational change, she reveals how differing values and experiences have intensified polarization, particularly following the October 7 attacks and the Israel-Hamas war. Drawing on law, history, sociology, psychology, and Jewish tradition, Kwall offers both a compelling diagnosis and a hopeful path forward. This timely and thought-provoking book presents a blueprint for rebuilding a strong, inclusive center where respectful dialogue can flourish despite profound disagreement.

Drawing on 3,500 years of Jewish wisdom, Rabbi Shira Stutman offers a fresh, practical guide to living with greater purpose, joy, and connection. Rooted in the belief that life is both challenging and beautiful, Judaism provides timeless tools for becoming just a little better each day. Stutman shows that these teachings are not only for Jews but for anyone seeking meaning in a complex world. Exploring themes such as kindness, love, rest, health, learning, and community, she translates ancient traditions into accessible everyday practices. The Jewish Way to a Good Life is an uplifting road map to a richer, more intentional, and fulfilling life.

Drawing on centuries of Jewish learning, Two Minute Torah makes ancient wisdom accessible through brief, thought-provoking reflections designed for modern life. Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank distills teachings from the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, and other sacred texts into daily readings that can be absorbed in just minutes yet resonate far beyond the page. Exploring themes of truth, integrity, faith, curiosity, relationships, and personal growth, the book reveals how timeless Jewish insights can guide everyday decisions and deepen our understanding of the world. Inspiring, practical, and welcoming to readers of all backgrounds, Two Minute Torah offers a meaningful path to spiritual discovery and lifelong learning.

At the height of the Cold War in 1985, four American musicians arrived in Moscow carrying more than instruments and sheet music. Members of the Klezmer Conservatory Band were recruited for a daring intelligence mission that relied on creativity rather than spy training. Under constant KGB surveillance, saxophonist Merryl Goldberg devised an ingenious method of concealing and transporting secret information through musical notation, turning performances into acts of espionage. Cowritten with Vince Houghton, this remarkable true story uncovers a little-known chapter of Cold War history where courage, music, and ingenuity intersected.

When Annabelle Gurwitch is unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, she refuses to follow the script of the inspirational survivor. Instead, she becomes a self-proclaimed “cancer slacker,” meeting fear and uncertainty with humor, honesty, and irreverence. As she navigates illness, mortality, and the flaws of the healthcare system, she finds comfort in unexpected places: mythology, comedy, friendship, small pleasures, and life’s everyday absurdities. With warmth, wit, and remarkable candor, Gurwitch celebrates resilience not through grand, heroic gestures but through ordinary moments of joy and connection.