34th Annual Toronto Jewish Book Fair

BOOK FAIR OPENING NIGHT
Saturday, October 23
8 PM | $25
David Grossman
To the End of the Land is a major, internationally-bestselling novel of extraordinary power about the costs of war from one of Israel’s greatest writers. David Grossman’s new book was written during a heart-wrenching personal experience – the death of his 20-year-old son Uri, staff sergeant in an Israeli armoured unit, by an anti-tank missile during the Israel-Lebanon conflict in 2006.

David Grossman will be interviewed by author and journalist Noah Richler.

“Very rarely, you open a book and when you close it again nothing can ever be the same. To the End of the Land is a book of this magnitude. Powerful, shattering and unflinching.” – Reviewer Nicole Krauss

Sponsored by the ShaRna Foundation and HaMifgash.

Sunday, October 24
11 AM | FREE
David Brody
David Brody speaks on his novel Mourning and Celebration – Jewish, Orthodox and Gay Past and Present. Yankl lives in a 19th century Polish shtetl. And he’s gay. This is the story of a personal search for validation and human rights, in a context where that concept was not yet understood.

David Brody successfully sued the province of Quebec for the right of gays and lesbians to the survivor pension. He remains a practicing Orthodox Jew and is actively involved in the Jewish community.

Sponsored by Kulanu Toronto.

1:30 PM | $5
Simcha for Simcha in Yiddish and English
It’s Simcha Simchovitch’s 90th birthday! Come celebrate the Yiddish poet and cultural luminary with readings and music by folksinger Batsheva.

Sponsored by Committee for Yiddish, UJA Federation, Friends of Yiddish, United Jewish People’s Order/Winchevsky Centre, Workmen’s Circle/Arbeiter Ring, Max & Beatrice Wolfe Library, Reuben & Helene Dennis Museum, Beth Tzedec Congregation and Borochov Cultural Centre.

2 PM | $5
Jewish Mother Alert: The Line on Motherly Love with the Online Generation
Judith Finer Freedman explores the challenges and realities of today’s online generation as it comes of age in Cracking the Code: Unlocking the Potential for Future Leaders. Reared by their parents to believe that any door of opportunity is open, why does this generation face so many challenges? What advice can Jewish parents now offer their children to help them thrive in a workplace that doesn’t give out trophies for just showing up?

Judith Finer Freedman consults, researches and lectures on the dynamics of work-life effectiveness, generational diversity, gender bias and mentoring.

3 PM | FREE
PJ Library Goes to Book Fair!
Aubrey Davis returns to the Toronto Jewish Book Fair and reads to children ages 2 – 5.  He is the acclaimed author of Bagels from Benny and Bone Button Borscht and many other books.

“One day I was invited to tell a Chanukah tale to a large and very young audience. I couldn’t find a story I liked. In desperation I wrote one myself.” – Aubrey Davis

The PJ Library is a pilot project sending Jewish themed books and CDs to families in York Region with children 6 months to 5½ years.  It is an initiative made possible through the generosity of Gabi Weisfeld, Weinbaum Family Foundation, Phyllis & Ab Flatt, Community Fund of the Jewish Foundation of Toronto and UJA Federation. To register: www.pjlibrary905.ca

3 PM | $5
Panel Discussion on Foster Care in the Jewish Community… Stories of Inspiration
Gabrielle Israelievitch speaks on her new book Where’s Home?, exploring children who have witnessed or experienced violence, abuse or neglect and have been taken from their homes. Israelievitch recreates their feelings of sadness, loss and fear through the character of an animal taken from its home, who can’t “remember what our parents smell like.” Followed by a panel discussion including Jewish Family & Child staff, a foster parent and a youth.

Gabrielle Israelievitch is a practicing child psychotherapist, visual artist and writer.

Sponsored by Jewish Family & Child.

3:30 PM | $5
Parchment
Parchment, Canada’s Journal of Contemporary Jewish Writings, is back! Reading from their works are contributors Ruth Panofsky (editor), Adam Fuerstenberg, Anne Dublin, Kathy Kacer, Seymour Mayne, Merle Nudelman, Pearl Adler-Saban, Ilana Wolfe and Rhoda Rabinowitz-Green.

4 PM | $10
Martin Fletcher
NBC News Bureau Chief in Tel Aviv, Martin Fletcher speaks on his book Walking Israel – A Personal Search for the Soul of a Nation. From Lebanon to Gaza, Fletcher walked the entire coast of Israel, observing facets of life ignored in news reports that reveal a truer story of the country.

One of the most respected foreign correspondents in television news, Fletcher has won five Emmys, a Columbia University DuPont award and several Overseas Press Club awards.

Sponsored by Canada-Israel Committee.

7 PM | $5
David Weiss
David Weiss, co-author of Maimonides’ Cure of Souls: Medieval Precursor of Psychoanalysis asks: What are the characteristics of the soul? What are its diseases? How can we cure our souls? Weiss explores the psychological elements in Maimonides’ work, which precede the later insights of Freud.

David S. Weiss is a Ph.D. Psychologist, a Rabbi, President of Weiss International Ltd, Toronto and author of six books.

Sponsored by National Havurah Community of Canada.

8  PM | $10
George Gilder
Author of the million-copy bestseller Wealth and Poverty, George Gilder speaks on his latest book The Israel Test, in which he asserts that Israel forms “the vanguard of human achievement.” Gilder posits that it is envy of Israel’s successes in science, technology and military strength that fuels contemporary anti-Semitism.

“At the heart of anti-Semitism is resentment of Jewish achievement.” – George Gilder

Sponsored by Canadian Friends of Hebrew University.

Monday, October 25
11 AM | $10
Power, Growth, Insight and Change through Writing
Award-winning author Merle Nudelman discusses the power of writing as a tool in self-discovery and personal evolution. Includes guided writing exercises. 

Nudelman, poetry editor of the Canadian Jewish annual literary journal Parchment, is a poet, editor and teacher of memoir writing. Her latest collection of poems is The He We Knew.

1:30 PM | $5
Walter Pitman
Victor Feldbrill: Canadian Conductor Extraordinaire describes the life of a Canadian cultural hero who gave up a career in the U.K. to serve in the Canadian navy, and went on to a long career with the Toronto and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras. 

Walter Pitman has been a Federal MP and an Ontario MLA, President of Ryerson University, and Director of the Ontario Arts Council. He is a Member of the Order of Ontario, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and the author of Elmer Iseler and Louis Applebaum.

8 PM | $10
Harold Troper
In his new book, The Defining Decade, Harold Troper tackles the 1960s, when longstanding barriers of anti-Semitism eroded, leading to increased access for Jews to the economic, political and social Canadian mainstream. But as Canada became more accepting of Jews, Canadian Jews became more focused on Jewish identity. The decade redefined what it meant to be a Canadian Jew and a Jewish Canadian.

Harold Troper is a professor in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Sponsored by League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada.

Tuesday, October 26
11 AM | FREE
Repairing Our Lives
Lynda Fishman speaks on her new book Repairing Rainbows: A True Story of Family, Tragedy and Choices. Fishman lost her mother and two sisters in a horrific plane crash when she was just 13. On the brink of adolescence, she faced a father in a complete state of shock and the task of managing a household. As we follow her through marriage, motherhood and her own spiritual journey, we learn the crucial difference between “truly living” and the existence that is so often mistaken for being alive.

1:30 PM | $5
Bill Gladstone
Bill Gladstone speaks on The Rise of the Toronto Jewish Community, a 60-year-old manuscript found in the archives of Beth Tzedec Congregation and published by Gladstone’s Now and Then Books. The author is the late Shmuel Mayer Shapiro, editor and publisher of the Yiddish Zhurnal, Toronto’s main Yiddish newspaper for half a century. With over 90 photographs and illustrations, the book offers a detailed account of the evolution of the local Yiddish press, Jewish labour unions, the garment industry on Spadina Avenue, synagogues and rabbis, and the beginnings of Jewish communal and social life until 1950.

Sponsored by The Canadian Jewish News.

8 PM | $10
Gregory Levey
Gregory Levey speaks on his humourous/serious book How to Make Peace in the Middle East in Six Months or Less Without Leaving Your Apartment. His modest goal is to solve the Middle East conflict – all by himself – by setting out on a quixotic and surprisingly illuminating quest to broker a peace deal where a long line of world leaders have failed. Along the way, he meets a cast of characters that would be outright funny if the situation weren’t so dire. The result is a fast-paced, insightful journey through U.S. policymaking in the Middle East.

Gregory Levey is the author of Shut Up, I’m Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government and has written for Newsweek, The New Republic, New York Post, Salon, and other publications. He served as a speechwriter and delegate for the Israeli government at the United Nations and as Senior Foreign Communications Coordinator for Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, and is now on the faculty of Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

Sponsored by New Israel Fund of Canada.

Wednesday, October 27
11 AM | FREE
Repairing Our Lives
Gerald Ziedenberg’s new book Inspiration through Adversity details his life as a child of immigrants, and the decade lost to health problems after a lifetime as an avid runner and cyclist. Despite the challenges, Ziedenberg became a historian, lecturer and recipient of three university degrees. An inspiring story of rising above difficulties to even greater achievements.

Sponsored by Beth Tikvah Congregation.

1:30 PM | $5
Kate Taylor
A Man in Uniform, the latest mystery/history book from Kate Taylor, tells the story of a Paris lawyer, asked to investigate the case of a falsely accused army captain named Dreyfus. The case will alter the lawyer’s life and tear France apart.

Kate Taylor’s award-winning debut novel was Madame Proust and the Kosher Kitchen. She writes about the arts for The Globe and Mail.

Sponsored by Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am Sisterhood.

8 PM | $10
Anna Porter
In The Ghosts of Europe – Journeys Through Central Europe’s Troubled Past and Uncertain Future, one of Canada’s most distinguished writers returns to her roots to explore the consequences of democracy in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, where there are signs of old hatreds and racial tensions returning.

Founder and publisher of Key Porter Books, Anna Porter is the author of Kasztner’s Train, which won a Canadian Jewish Book Award. She is currently the writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto’s Centre for European, Russian, Eurasian Studies (CERES).

Lecture in memory of Molly Willer, Past Chair of Volunteer Operations at Toronto Jewish Book Fair supported by the Steering Committee of the Toronto Jewish Book Fair.

Sponsored by Canadian Jewish Congress.

Thursday, October 28
11 AM | FREE
Frieda Johles Forman
The author of Jewish Refugees in Switzerland During the Holocaust recounts her refugee childhood (1942-46) interned with her family in Swiss Refugee camps. “I was a spirited and perceptive little girl, I was, however, not Heidi of the Mountains.” In contrast to other experiences, Jews were allowed religious and cultural expression, but feelings of displacement and insecurity were common.

Frieda Forman has taught Jewish Studies, Women’s Studies and Philosophy. She is Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Women’s Studies, University of Toronto.

1:30 PM | $5
Judie Oron
Cry of the Giraffe is based on the true story of Wuditu, Judie Oron’s adopted daughter. While in Sudan awaiting passage to Israel, Wuditu tells of how she was violently torn from her family and forced into slavery in Ethiopia at age 13.  Struggling to stay alive and reunite with her family, Wuditu is eventually found and freed by Oron.

Judie Oron is a journalist who risked her life to save Wuditu and take her to safety in Israel. Judie returned to Canada in 2004 and is a free-lance journalist and speaker.

Sponsored by National Council of Jewish Women, Toronto Section.

8 PM | $10
Sarah Taieb-Carlen
The author of The Jews of North Africa speaks on The Jews in Muslim Lands: How Their History Helps Us Understand the Middle East Conflict.

Sarah Taieb-Carlen was born in Tunisia and studied at the Sorbonne, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Toronto and York University, where she teaches today. She has lectured and written on Sephardic Jews and Judaism, identity maintenance and the survival of small minorities.

Sponsored by Sephardic Kehila Centre and Magen David Sephardic Congregation.

Saturday, October 30
8 PM | $10
Marek Halter
Marek Halter’s new epic, The Jewish Odyssey, is the far-reaching story of a people who, despite facing perpetual struggle, have shaped modern civilization. Richly illustrated, the book follows the course of Judaism from its Mesopotamian origins to the present, charting the extent of Jewish suffering to the unparalleled contributions of Jews to history.

Marek Halter is an author, academic and activist who has published over 20 books. As a young child in 1940, Halter escaped with his family from the Warsaw Ghetto. He is the founder of the International Committee for Peace in the Middle East and SOS Racisme.

Sponsored by Na’amat Canada.

Sunday, October 31
11 AM | FREE
Kitty Wintrob
Kitty Wintrob’s dramatist husband Ralph reads excerpts from I’m Not Going Back: Wartime Memoir of a Child Evacuee, in which Wintrob recounts her experience as a child evacuee. From her life with a childless family that made her earn her keep by cleaning and polishing floors, to her time in a wealthy home where she was forced to eat with the maid, Wintrob takes the reader through the harrowing experiences that led her back to her mother in London. And then the bombs began.

Suitable for young readers and adults.

11:30 AM | FREE
Elan Divon
Elan Divon speaks on his new book, Reaching Beyond the Religious, a ground-breaking comparison between Biblical and Hindu Traditions. The book unearths seven universal themes from across the religious spectrum and maps these onto the complexities of modern-day life.

Elan Divon holds graduate degrees from the Harvard Divinity School and Brandeis University. He has worked with Peace Camp Canada, a non-profit organization that promotes dialogue and understanding between Israeli and Palestinian teens.

Sponsored by Julie M. Gallery and HaMifgash.

1:30 PM | $5
Larry Rodness
Your child comes home from school one day and tells you he’s been repeatedly beaten up by a bully. Would you go to the school to complain? Would you go to the parents of the bully? Would you go to the police? Or, after getting no results, would you take matters into your own hands? Larry Rodness’ new coming-of-age novel Today I am a Man is a poignant look at the trials and tribulations of adolescence through the eyes of an adult.

Larry Rodness is a singer, actor, screenwriter and author.

2 PM | $5
Second Generation Writers – Wartime and After
Israeli author Savyon Liebrecht speaks on her latest book, The Women My Father Knew, a literary mystery set in New York City and bohemian Tel Aviv. Liebrecht was born in Munich to Polish Holocaust survivors and felt all her life that her parent’s silence “was terrible… as a child I felt I was growing up in an atmosphere of secrets.”

Joseph Kertes speaks on his award-winning novel Gratitude. Set in 1940s Budapest, the book tells the story of lives and loves saved and lost, and the heightened complexities of the human psyche in its darkest hours.

This program by Second Generation writers is an introduction to the upcoming Holocaust Education Week, November 1 – 9, 2010. For details: www.holocausteducationweek.com

Sponsored by HaMifgash.

3 PM | $5
And Now For Something Completely Different!
There is no book – yet. Come and spend a fascinating hour with Globe and Mail writer Michael Posner. Posner will make the case that Shakespeare’s plays were actually written by Amelia Bassano Lanier (1569-1645), the daughter of a Venetian-born court musician and converso. What if the Shakespeare legacy is a charade designed to conceal the author’s true identity? And what if the real playwright was a Jewish woman who dared not acknowledge her authorship in anti-Semitic Elizabethan England? Have we misunderstood Shylock’s character for centuries?

4 PM | $5
Jewish Fiction.net
Jewish Fiction.net is the only journal devoted exclusively to the publishing of Jewish fiction. Founding editor Dr. Nora Gold reads excerpts from the inaugural issue, including fiction by Elie Wiesel, Chava Rosenfarb, Steve Stern, Nava Semel, Thane Rosenbaum, Yoram Kaniuk, and others.

Sponsored by First Narayever Congregation.

8 PM | $10
Tarek Fatah
Tarek Fatah speaks on his new book, The Jew is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism. Debunking the anti-Jewish writings of Islamic literature and Arab supremacist doctrines, Fatah argues that hating Jews is against the essence of the Islamic spirit.

Tarek Fatah is a journalist, political advocate, and the founder of the liberal Muslim organization, Muslim Canadian Congress. He is a guest host on Newstalk 1010.

Sponsored by Oraynu Congregation for Humanistic Judaism.