The Library’s events are free of charge and open to all. Some are presented via Zoom, and some in person. Click on an event below for registration information. Events are also listed on the Library’s Facebook page and in our printed brochure.
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East End Jews, with Vivi LachsVirtual
Click here to register for this free online program, co-presented by KlezCalifornia and the Workers Circle / Arbeter Ring of Northern California. Vivi Lachs will introduce her new book with a lively presentation with performed readings and a couple of Cockney Yiddish songs. East End Jews is a book of sketches from the London Yiddish press. It offers an unparalleled […]
Kavkazi “Mountain Jews,” with Valeriya NakshunVirtual
Please register for this free online program. The Jewish community of the Caucasus, the mountainous region between the Black and Caspian Seas, is known by many names. The term “Kavkazi,” derived from the Russian word for Caucasus, and “Mountain Jews” have been used interchangeably. Traditionally, however, this community has called themselves “Juhuro,” meaning “Jews” in […]
Reviewing Fagin, 1948-2005, with Charles DrazinVirtual
Click here to register for this free online program. David Lean’s 1948 adaptation of Oliver Twist provoked so many protests against perceived antisemitism in Alec Guinness’s portrayal of Fagin that the film was withheld from release in the United States until cuts had been made. Yet twenty years later, in Carol Reed’s musical version of […]
Austrian Again: Reclaiming a Lost Legacy, with Anne HandVirtual
Please register to receive the Zoom link for this free online program, as Anne Hand presents her new book, Austrian Again. In this captivating memoir, Anne Hand embarks on a deeply personal journey to uncover her family’s hidden history during the Holocaust while pursuing Austrian citizenship. As Austria opens the door to reparation citizenship for […]
West of the Ghetto: Jewish Women, Old San Francisco, and American Literary Culture, with Lori Harrison-KahanVirtual
Please register to receive the Zoom link for this free online program. Blending history, collective biography, and literary criticism, Lori Harrison-Kahan repositions the American West as a generative space for turn-of-the-twentieth-century Jewish women’s literature. West of the Ghetto portrays how California-based writers Emma Wolf, Bettie Lowenberg, Harriet Lane Levy, Miriam Michelson, and Anna Strunsky played […]
Always Carry Salt: A Memoir of Preserving Language and Culture, with Samantha EllisVirtual
Please register to receive the Zoom link for this free online program. Samantha Ellis’s mother tongue is dying out. The daughter of Iraqi Jewish refugees, Ellis grew up surrounded by the noisy, vivid, hot sounds of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic. A language that’s now on the verge of extinction. The realization that she won’t be able to […]
Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America, with Michael KimmelVirtual
Please register to receive the Zoom link for this free online program. In 1902, Morris and Rose Michtom invented the Teddy Bear—bound by clothing scraps, stuffed with sawdust, and given button eyes with a sad, longing expression—in the back room of their Brooklyn candy store. Together they launched the Ideal Toy Corporation, joining a set […]
Sefardi Herbalism, with Naomi SpectorVirtual
Please register to receive the Zoom link for this free online program. Sefardi Herbalism: An Introduction to Earth, Water and Plant-Based Folk Traditions of the Sefardim explores the earth-based folk culture and healing tradition of the Jews of Spain and Portugal. Weaving together diverse sources, such as Judeo-Spanish medical texts, memoirs, interviews, testimony from inquisition […]
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