And for those who want to read the book in advance, save 30% on Becoming Elijah. Use code ELIJAH at checkout. Limited time only!

Join Hadassah Magazine on Thursday, March 21 at 7 PM ET for a discussion with award-winning author Francine Klagsbrun on Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream, her new biography about Hadassah’s pioneering founder.

At a time of crisis and existential threat for Israel, Klagsbrun, author of several books, including the best-selling 2017 biography Lioness: Golda Meir and the State of Israel, will explore Szold’s belief in practical, pragmatic Zionism as she reveals the person behind the legend.

Considered one of the most important figures in American Jewish history, Szold helped build the infrastructure for Israel’s hospital system, rescued thousands of European children through Youth Aliyah and, through Hadassah, forever changed what it means for hundreds of thousands of women to belong in Jewish America. A recording of the event will be available for those who register. Zoom captioning will be provided. Free and open to all.

For those who want to order the book in advance of the event, save 25% off!
Just use code SZOLD at checkout.

Join Jewish Lives and Park Avenue Synagogue for a FREE in-person or online discussion with author Rachel Shteir about the life and legacy of Betty Friedan.

Betty Friedan, author, activist, and champion for women’s rights, was both a powerful and polarizing figure. As a journalist covering racism, sexism and antisemitism, and later as the author of the groundbreaking work The Feminine Mystique and cofounder of the National Organization of Women (NOW), Friedan fought for important protections for women. Author Rachel Shteir will share how Friedan’s Judaism was essential to her feminism, and how her work leaves a lasting legacy.

Rachel Shteir is an award-winning essayist, writer, and critic, and is head of the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Program at the Theatre School at DePaul University. She is the author of Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show, Gypsy: The Art of the Tease, and The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting.  

This program is in partnership with Park Avenue Synagogue.

Save 25% on Betty Friedan: Magnificent Disrupter. Use code FRIEDAN at checkout.

As we commemorate Israel's 75th anniversary of statehood, join us on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:00 pm online or in person (87th street, NYC) as we explore the life and legacy of Theodor Herzl. 

How did Theodor Herzl, a cosmopolitan and assimilated European Jew, become the leader of the Zionist movement? With his often-conflicting personas (artist and a statesman, rationalist and an aesthete, and stern moralist who also possessed deep, and at times dark, passions), why did scores of thousands of Jews, many of them from traditional, observant backgrounds, embrace Herzl as their leader? Author and historian Derek Penslar draws on Herzl’s vast body of personal and political writing to explore Herzl’s path to Zionist leader and how his short life created his enduring legacy.  

Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard University. His previous books include Jews and the Military: A History and Shylock’s Children: Economics and Jewish Identity in Modern Europe.

This program is in partnership with Park Avenue Synagogue and Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning

Buy Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader and save 30%! Just use code HERZL at checkout.

ISRAEL AT 75 / READING JEWISH LIVES WITH PARK AVENUE SYNAGOGUE

As we prepare to celebrate Israel's 75th anniversary of statehood, join us on Thursday, December 1 at 7:00 pm online or in person (87th street, NYC) as we explore the life and legacy of David Ben-Gurion. 

Casting a great shadow during his lifetime, David Ben-Gurion's legacy continues as one of the most important Zionist icons and the founder of modern Israel. Discover the story of Ben-Gurion's life anew with master historian Anita Shapira and gain new insights into his experience leading the new state of Israel through its early years, focusing on the personal qualities that defined his political leadership. 

Anita Shapira is professor emerita at Tel Aviv University, where she previously served as dean of the Faculty of Humanities and held the Ruben Merenfeld Chair for the Study of Zionism. Her previous books include Israel: A History, winner of the National Jewish Book Award. She lives in Tel Aviv.

This program is free and open to the public. It is presented in partnership with Park Avenue Synagogue and the Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.

To purchase Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel, use code BENGURION for 30% off at checkout.

You’re invited to a Free Author Talk
Virtual + Live
At Park Avenue Synagogue

A Conversation with Wendy Lesser and Rabbi Lori Koffman

Jerome Robbins, born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, declined to join the family business and pursued a life in theater. He went on to become a renowned dancer, choreographer, writer, producer, and director for ballet, Broadway, and film.

 This event is free and open to the public.
This event will take place online and in person at Park Avenue Synagogue.

Save 30% + Free Shipping on Jerome Robins: A Life in Dance by Wendy Lesser.
Use code ROBBINS at checkout.

Download Free Reading Guide

Join the Center for Jewish History for the free virtual book launch of Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation by Daniel C. Matt.

In the Bible, Elijah is a zealous prophet, attacking idolatry and injustice, championing God. He performs miracles, restoring life and calling down fire. When his earthly life ends, he vanishes in a whirlwind, carried off to heaven in a fiery chariot. Though residing in heaven, Elijah revisits earth—to help, rescue, enlighten, and eventually herald the Messiah. 

How did this zealot turn into a compassionate hero, the most popular figure in Jewish folklore, invited into every Jewish home during the Passover Seder? In Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation, his new biography in the Jewish Lives series at Yale University Press, author Daniel C. Matt explores this question, tracing how Elijah develops from the Bible to rabbinic Judaism, Kabbalah, and Jewish ritual (as well as Christianity and Islam). Dr. Matt will be in conversation with Dr. Barry W. Holtz, Theodore and Florence Baumritter Professor of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Save 25% + free shipping on Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation by Daniel C. Matt. Limited time only. Use code ELIJAH at checkout.

You’re invited to a Free Book Launch
Virtual + Live
At Park Avenue Synagogue

A Conversation with Julian E. Zelizer and Rabbi Cosgrove

“When I marched in Selma, I felt my legs were praying.” From his words spoken in 1965 to this day, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel remains a model of the intersection between religion and progressive politics in mid-twentieth-century America. Explore Heschel’s early years and foundational influences; the fortuitous opportunity that brought him to the United States to study at Hebrew Union College and teach at the Jewish Theological Seminary; and his lasting legacy that has endured as a symbol of the fight to make progressive Jewish values relevant in the secular world. 

Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of numerous books, and has written for CNN.com, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. 

Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove is Senior Rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. In 1999 he was ordained at The Jewish Theological Seminary, and subsequently earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Editorial Board of Conservative Judaism. An officer of the New York Board of Rabbis, he is an advisor on interfaith affairs to the Anti-Defamation League and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of ten volumes of sermons and the editor of Jewish Theology in Our Time.

This event will take place online and in person at Park Avenue Synagogue.

This program is presented in partnership with Jewish Lives, Park Avenue Synagogue, and American Jewish University. 

Save 25% + Free Shipping on Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Life of Radical Amazement by Julian E. Zelizer. Use code HESCHEL at checkout.

Join the Center for Jewish History for a free virtual event on October 20 at 6:00 pm EST and discover Judah Benjamin, one of the first Jewish senators, confidante to Jefferson Davis, and champion of the cause of slavery.

Judah P. Benjamin (1811–1884) was a brilliant and successful lawyer in New Orleans, and one of the first Jewish members of the U.S. Senate. He then served in the Confederacy as secretary of war and secretary of state, becoming the confidant and alter ego of Jefferson Davis. In this new biography in the Jewish Lives series at Yale University Press, journalist and scholar James Traub grapples with the difficult truth that Benjamin, who was considered one of the greatest legal minds in the United States, was a slave owner who deployed his oratorical skills in defense of slavery.

Save 25% + Free Shipping! Use code BENJAMIN at checkout.

Join the Center for Jewish History for a free virtual event on September 23 at 6:00 pm EST and discover Man Ray in a new light with Arthur Lubow, author of the new biography Man Ray: The Artist and His Shadows.

Man Ray (1890–1976), a founding father of Dada and a key player in French Surrealism, is one of the central artists of the 20th century. He is also one of the most elusive. In this new biography in the Jewish Lives series at Yale University Press, journalist and critic Arthur Lubow uses Man Ray’s Jewish background as one filter to understand his life and art. How did this son of Russian Jewish immigrants become one of the most radically original maverick artists of his time?

Save 25% + free shipping on Man Ray: The Artist and His Shadows by Arthur Lubow. Use code MANRAY at checkout.

Free Virtual Event
BUGSY SIEGEL: THE DARK SIDE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
A Conversation with Michael Shnayerson

In a brief life that led to a violent end, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel rose from desperate poverty to ill-gotten riches, from an early-twentieth-century family of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side to a kingdom of his own making in Las Vegas. In this captivating portrait, author Michael Shnayerson sets out not to absolve Bugsy Siegel, but rather to understand him in all his complexity.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream by Michael Shnayerson. Use code BUGSY at checkout.

About the Speakers

Michael Shnayerson became a contributing editor at Vanity Fair in 1986 and is the author of eight books on a range of nonfiction subjects, including Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art. He lives in New York City.

Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky joined Park Avenue Synagogue’s clergy as Assistant Rabbi in July, 2014, after being ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also earned a Masters degree in Talmud and Rabbinic Literature. He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and after graduating from Oberlin College with a BA in Classics and Jewish Studies, he studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem before entering JTS.

Free Virtual Event
JULIUS ROSENWALD: REPAIRING THE WORLD
A Conversation with Hasia R. Diner

Julius Rosenwald rose to meteoric wealth at the helm of Sears, Roebuck and Co., yet his most important legacy stands on the pioneering changes he introduced to the practice of philanthropy. His passionate support of Jewish and African American causes continues to influence lives to this day, though he refused to have his name attached to the buildings, projects, or endowments he supported. Hasia R. Diner’s biography of Rosenwald explores topics of tikkun olam, philanthropy, and the importance of partnership in building a better future.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on Julius Rosenwald: Repairing the World by Hasia R. Diner. Use code ROSENWALD at checkout.

About the Speakers

Hasia R. Diner is Paul and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History and director of the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History at New York University. She is a two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award. She lives in New York City.

Rabbi Neil Zukerman came to Park Avenue Synagogue in 2010 as Director of Congregational Education and joined the clergy team as Associate Rabbi in 2014. Rabbi Zuckerman was raised in Harrisburg, PA, and began his Jewish education at the Conservative synagogue there, Beth El. He earned his B.A. from the University of Maryland in English. He attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS), where he earned a Masters degree in Jewish Studies and was ordained a rabbi in 1999.

Free Virtual Event
BEN HECHT: FIGHTING WORDS, MOVING PICTURES
A Conversation with Adina Hoffman

Ace reporter, celebrated playwright, taboo-busting novelist, and “the greatest of American screenwriters” (according to The New Yorker), Ben Hecht wrote the Hollywood we know today. In this exploration of Hecht’s life and work, we’ll explore his most notable screenplays, as well as his role as an outspoken crusader for Jewish communities around the world. Whatever the outrage he stirred, this renaissance man and self-declared “child of the century” came to embody much that defined America — especially Jewish America — in his time.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on Ben Hecht: Fighting Words, Moving Pictures by Adina Hoffman. Use code HECHT at checkout.

About the Speakers

Rabbi Charles Savenor is the Director of Congregational Education at Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. Rabbi Savenor came to PAS from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), where he served as the Director of Kehilla (Congregational) Development (2011 to present) and as Executive Director of its Metropolitan New York District (2008-2011). Prior to USCJ, Rabbi Savenor was the Associate Dean and Director of Admissions at the Jewish Theological Seminary (2001-2008) and Associate Rabbi at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago (1996-2001). Rabbi Savenor’s writing has appeared in the Jewish Week, Hadassah Magazine, and the Jerusalem Post.

Adina Hoffman is an award-winning essayist and biographer. The author of four books, including Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architects of a New City and My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness: A Poet’s Life in the Palestinian Century, she lives in Jerusalem and New Haven.

Free Virtual Event

STAN LEE: A LIFE IN COMICS

The creative mind of Stan Lee provided American pop culture with comic book heroes and imaginative worlds that will forever be his legacy.  Stan Lee: A Life in Comics, focuses both on Lee’s ideas and his unlikely rise to stardom. Was Spider-Man just a reincarnation of Cain? Is the Incredible Hulk simply Adam by another name? Dive into the life of this creative giant, his cultural and religious upbringing, and the impact it has on his work.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on STAN LEE: A LIFE IN COMICS by Liel Leibovitz. Use code STANLEE at checkout.

About the Speakers

Rabbi Neil Zukerman came to Park Avenue Synagogue in 2010 as Director of Congregational Education and joined the clergy team as Associate Rabbi in 2014. Rabbi Zuckerman was raised in Harrisburg, PA, and began his Jewish education at the Conservative synagogue there, Beth El. He earned his B.A. from the University of Maryland in English. He attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS), where he earned a Masters degree in Jewish Studies and was ordained a rabbi in 1999.

Liel Leibovitz is the author of A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen. He is a senior writer for Tablet magazine and a cohost of its popular podcast, Unorthodox. He lives in New York City.

This event is sponsored by:

A Conversation with David Mikics, Author of Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker

Free Virtual Event
Hosted by American Jewish University

Stanley Kubrick’s films unravel failed masteries and collapsed heroes, undermining notions of masculinity and relationships.

In his new biography on the life of the legendary filmmaker, Professor David Mikics offers a fascinating look into Kubrick's view of the world and how his Jewishness affected his idea of himself as an outsider.

Moderator: Dr. Rotem Rozental

For a limited time only, save 40% + free shipping on Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker. US + Canadian orders only. Use code AJUKUBRICK at checkout.

Heinrich Heine: Writing the Revolution
Hosted by American Jewish University

Tuesday, November 24th, 2020
3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST
Free Virtual Event

Virtuoso German poet, satirist, and visionary humanist, Heinrich Heine’s dynamic life story matters urgently today, and can inspire all of us.

Join an illuminating conversation with author George Prochnik and AJU’s Prof. Michael Berenbaum, to launch his latest biography about Heine, and discuss the incredible re-discovery of Heine’s work and his times.

Free Virtual Event

EMMA GOLDMAN: REVOLUTION AS A WAY OF LIFE

Listen to author Vivian Gornick in dialogue with Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky as they discuss her book, Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life. Emma Goldman is the story of a modern radical who took seriously the idea that inner liberation is the first business of social revolution. Her politics, from beginning to end, was based on resistance to that which thwarted the free development of the inner self. The right to stay alive in one’s senses, to enjoy freedom of thought and speech, to reject the arbitrary use of power—these were key demands in the many public protest movements she helped mount.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on Emma Goldman: Revolution as Way of Life by Vivian Gornick. Use code EMMA at checkout.

Enjoy a FREE Reading Guide by Anna Elena Torres, Phd, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago

About the Speakers

Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky joined Park Avenue Synagogue’s clergy as Assistant Rabbi in July, 2014, after being ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he also earned a Masters degree in Talmud and Rabbinic Literature. He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and after graduating from Oberlin College with a BA in Classics and Jewish Studies, he studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem before entering JTS.

Vivian Gornick is the author of, among other books, the acclaimed memoir Fierce Attachments and three essay collections: The End of the Novel of Love, Approaching Eye Level, and, most recently, The Men in My Life. She lives in New York City.

This event is sponsored by:

Free Virtual Event

HOUDINI: THE ELUSIVE AMERICAN
A conversation with Adam Begley

In his biography, notable author Adam Begley explores the life of Houdini, the world’s greatest escape artist. Begley speaks with Rabbi Charles Savenor of Park Avenue Synagogue about the Master Mystifier’s rise to fame and his most famous death-defying feats to uncover why such a talented performed risked his life again and again.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on Houdini: The Elusive American by Adam Begley. Use code JLSUMMER at checkout.

About the Speakers

Adam Begley is the author of Updike and The Great Nadar. He was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow at the Leon Levy Center for Biography, and for many years the books editor of The New York Observer. He lives in England. 

Rabbi Charles Savenor is the Director of Congregational Education at Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. Rabbi Savenor came to PAS from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ), where he served as the Director of Kehilla (Congregational) Development (2011 to present) and as Executive Director of its Metropolitan New York District (2008-2011). Prior to USCJ, Rabbi Savenor was the Associate Dean and Director of Admissions at the Jewish Theological Seminary (2001-2008) and Associate Rabbi at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago (1996-2001). Rabbi Savenor’s writing has appeared in the Jewish Week, Hadassah Magazine, and the Jerusalem Post.

This event is sponsored by:

Free Virtual Event

HANK GREENBERG: THE HERO WHO DIDN’T WANT TO BE ONE
A conversation with Mark Kurlansky

Dive into the inspiring story of a Bronx ballplayer turned role model for the ages. Bestselling author Mark Kurlansky will explore the life of baseball legend Hank Greenberg in conversation with Rabbi Cosgrove. They’ll discuss Greenberg’s spectacular discipline as an aspiring ballplayer, the complexity of his decision not to play on Yom Kippur, and the cultural context of virulent anti-Semitism in which his career played out.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn’t Want to Be One by Mark Kurlansky. Use code JLSUMMER at checkout.

About the Speakers

Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove is Senior Rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. In 1999 he was ordained at The Jewish Theological Seminary, and subsequently earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Editorial Board of Conservative Judaism. An officer of the New York Board of Rabbis, he is an advisor on interfaith affairs to the Anti-Defamation League and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of ten volumes of sermons and the editor of Jewish Theology in Our Time.

Mark Kurlansky has written, edited, or contributed to twenty books, which have been translated into twenty-five languages and won numerous prizes. His previous books Cod, Salt, 1968, and The Food of a Younger Land were all New York Times best-sellers.

This event is sponsored by:

Free Virtual Event

HARVEY MILK: HIS LIVES AND DEATH
A conversation with Lillian Faderman

As the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, Harvey Milk became one of the most recognizable faces of the nascent LGBTQ civil rights movement. A man of many talents, he drew from the values of his Jewish heritage to create a political platform focused on helping the margins of society. Learn about his legacy more than 40 years after his assassination with LGBTQ scholar Lillian Faderman and Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue.

This event will be recorded. The recording will be posted at jewishlives.org/video within 2 weeks after the event.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save 30% + Free Shipping on Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death by Lillian Faderman. Use code JLSUMMER at checkout.

About the Speakers

Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove is Senior Rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. In 1999 he was ordained at The Jewish Theological Seminary, and subsequently earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Editorial Board of Conservative Judaism. An officer of the New York Board of Rabbis, he is an advisor on interfaith affairs to the Anti-Defamation League and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of ten volumes of sermons and the editor of Jewish Theology in Our Time.

Lillian Faderman is a distinguished scholar of LGBT and ethnic history and literature. She has received numerous awards for her previous eleven books, three of which, Surpassing the Love of Men, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, and The Gay Revolution, have been named by the New York Times as Notable Books of the Year.

This event is sponsored by:

He created Spider-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. The son of Jewish immigrants, he changed his name and transformed American pop culture. But Stan Lee’s Jewish roots ran deep. Join author Liel Liebovitz for the launch of his new book, Stan Lee: A Life in Comics and a discussion about the surprising connections between Lee’s celebrated comic book heroes and the ancient tales of the Bible, the Talmud, and Jewish mysticism. Was Spider-Man just a reincarnation of Cain? Is the Incredible Hulk simply Adam by another name? Liel speaks with Unorthodox Podcast co-host Stephanie Butnick about the deeply Jewish and surprisingly spiritual roots of Stan Lee and Marvel Comics.

Special Offer: Save 25% + Free Shipping on STAN LEE: A LIFE IN COMICS. Use code STANLEE at checkout.

Registration: This event is free. Registration is required.

**If you already registered for this event, you do not need to register again.

About the Speakers:

Born in Israel to a rabbinic family, Liel Leibovitz pored over Marvel comic books with the same fiery intensity his ancestors had devoted to studying the Talmud. A senior writer for Tablet Magazine and the co-host of its popular podcast, Unorthodox, Liel received his PhD from Columbia University and is the author or co-author of several works of non-fiction including, most recently, A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen. He lives in New York with his family.

Stephanie Butnick is the deputy editor of Tablet and has written for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She has a Bachelor’s degree in religion from Duke and a Master’s in religious studies from NYU. She lives in New York with her husband and their cat, Cat Stevens.

Presented by: Tablet Magazine, Yale University Press Jewish Lives Series, American Jewish Historical Society & Center for Jewish History