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Jewish Community Book Fair

A nine-week exploration of Jewish identity and culture

For the 42nd consecutive year the Jewish Community Center sponsors the Jewish Community Book Fair and Cultural Arts Festival. This event lasts nine weeks and explores a variety of topics concerning Jewish culture, using the arts as a platform to promote discussion. Novels, nonfiction works, and theater will be used as jumping-off points to discuss how Jews determine their identities America.

Self Portrait and Still Life by Ary Stillman, whose work will be discussed by Barry Lack on October 23 at the JCC Amherst.

Every Sunday through November 9, from 11am to 1pm, there will be weekly discussions of Jewish life and identity in America in the 20th century. Discussions considering Jews in the arts will focus on how it is, from the early 20th century through today, that Jewish culture has been viewed in the mainstream, what has been appropriated, and what that means to the Jewish community. This weekly forum features local experts but will comprise an informal discussion, rather than a lecture followed by questions. These discussions take place at the JCC Amherst (2640 North Forest Road, Getzville).

On Thursday, October 23, Barry Lack, the executive director of the Stillman-Lack Foundation, will discuss a collection of essays on the work of Ary Stillman entitled Ary Stillman: From Impressionism to Abstract Impressionism. This collection of essays from international scholars discusses the prolific travels of this Russian-born Jewish émigré. Stillman went from Russia to the Midwest to Paris and back to New York. Through his travels his identity shifted, as did his technique. From being a Russian immigrant, to an American expatriate, to a New York intellectual, to a international humanist, Stillman has meant many things to many people. This well illustrated collection of essays documents these shifts. An introduction will be given by the chief curator of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Douglass Dreisphoon, and an original Stillman drawing from the gallery will be on display. This lecture takes place at the JCC Amherst.

On Tuesday, October 28, renowned nature writer Diane Ackerman will discuss her book The Zookeeper’s Wife. This book documents the heroics of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo during the Nazi occupation. Using journal entries, Ackerman recounts the couple’s experience through the eyes of Antonina. These two saved the lives of hundreds of Jews, hiding them in the zoo, often in the animal cages, sparing them from the concentration camps that claimed the majority of Warsaw Jews. Ackerman will be introduced by award-winning journalist and news anchor Rich Kellman. Ackerman’s lecture will be given at Temple Beth Tzedek.

Tuesday, November, Theodore L. Steinberg will discuss his nonfiction work, Jews and Judaism in the Middle Ages. Steinberg examines the more quotidian aspects of Jewish life in both Christian and Muslim communities, exploring some of the causes of anti-Semitism and the affect that it had on the average Jew during the Middle Ages. Although the great suffering of the Jewish community is addressed in his work, Steinberg focuses on the accomplishments of Jews and the Jewish community in the face of such hardships. The Library Journal has described this book as a “well-researched, scholarly yet highly accessible overview of medieval Jewry,” which “fills a significant gap in the literature of the field.” Steinberg’s lecture will take place at Temple Sinai (50 Alberta Drive, Amherst).

All these lectures begin at 7:30pm. For more information or to order tickets to specific events, visit www.jccbookfair.com. All books to be discussed are sold at Talking Leaves Bookstore (3158 Main Street location).

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