Synagogue Library

LIBRARY HOURS
The Library is normally open from 9 - 11 a.m. on Sundays, except from July 1 - end of the Yomim Tovim and during the winter and spring public school breaks.

THE LIBRARY COMMITTEE PRESENTS

A Community Event Program

On Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ganz Family Social Hall

Former speechwriter for the Israeli delegation at the United Nations and later Senior Foreign Communications Coordinator and English Speechwriter for Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, Gregory Levey will share his three year journey into the nerve center of Middle Eastern politics during one of the most turbulent times in Israeli history.

A contributing writer for Salon, Gregory has also written for The New Republic, The New York Post, The Globe and Mail, The Jerusalem Post, and others. He is on the faculty of Ryerson University in Toronto.

The Library Committee and the Continuing Education Committee present

A Holocaust Education Week Program

Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ganz Family Social Hall

March 1944: War's darkest period descends upon Hungary's Jews. By the time it ends in January '45, over half a million Hungarian Jews will have been murdered. Gratitude tells the story of that period, through a group of people whom terrible circumstance has thrown together. Joseph Kertes explores brilliantly and with deep humanity the complexities of the human psyche in its darkest hour, and offers a rich and unforgettable portrait of a European Empire's last days.

Joseph Kertes was born in Hungary but escaped with his family to Canada after the revolution of 1956. He studied English at York University and the University of Toronto. He is currently Humber's Dean of Creative and Performing Arts and is a recipient of numerous awards for teaching and innovation.

BOOKS & BAGELS

The first installments of the Toronto Murder Mystery series:

Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. in the Boardroom

"Buffalo Jump" by Howard Shrier

This book will introduce you to Toronto PI Jonah Geller. Jonah would not call himself a nice Jewish boy. He never finished college, he works as a private detective for an agency that largely does surveillance work, he likes ham and eggs for breakfast and doesn't call his mother enough. He suffers from intense and troubling nightmares about his service in the Israeli army, as a result of which he has a profound reluctance to fire a gun.

Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. in the Board Room

"Season of Iron" by Sylvia Warsh

A historical literary mystery that follows two stories: Dr. Rebecca Temple in Toronto's Kensington market in 1979 and, in alternating chapters, Dr. Frederika Eisenbaum, a Jewish doctor in 1930s Berlin during the Nazi rise to power.

NEW BOOKS

The Library Committee is pleased to announce the following fiction and non-fiction acquisitions for the Library:

A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev
Intertwining two love stories with Israel's fight for independence, the novel offers a compelling portrait of Israel's period before statehood to the present day. A must read.

Golda by Elinor Burkett
A solidly researched, astounding portrait of one of the most commanding political presences of the twentieth century: Golda Meir.

The Koch Papers by Edward I Koch
The former Mayor of New York describes his battles against anti-Semitism.

Queenmaker by India Edghill
Turning inside out the traditional view of David as a beloved king and gentle author of the Psalms, Edghill's well-written debut novel, "Queenmaker" paints a dark picture of the lauded biblical hero as seen through the eyes of his first wife, Michal.

The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs
A secular Jewish humorist decides to follow all of the rules in the Bible for one year and record the results.

NEW FILMS

Reviewed by Lew Lightstone

Arranged | Comedy. A Muslim young lady and her Jewish friend are both in the process of getting arranged marriages.

Divan | Trying to reconnect with her roots, filmmaker Pearl Gluck travels to Hungary to retrieve an ancestral heirloom. In English, Yiddish and Hungarian with English subtitles.

Next Stop, Greenwich Village | Larry Lapinsky moves to Greenwich Village to escape from his clingy Brooklyn mother.

The Six Day War | The History channel reveals the depth of preparation needed for Israel to achieve this stunning six day victory.

The Unknown Soldier | The ordinary German soldier's part in war time atrocities is explored in this documentary. In German with English subtitles.

THE LIBRARY CORNER

The period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is designated for spiritual and moral self-examination. To help you get sealed in the Book of Life, the Library has acquired two holiday companion volumes: Rosh Hashanah Readings and Yom Kippur Readings, to be read in preparation for the High Holidays or on each of the holidays as a supplement to the machzor. Subtitled Inspiration, Information, Contemplation and edited by Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, the collections contain several hundred essays related to the themes and texts of each holiday, written by an impressive array rabbis, professors, communal professionals, activists and writers.

For a different perspective on the Fall Holiday season and the month of Elul, Rabbi Alan Lew's This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation describes seven stages of spiritual contemplation, repentance, and renewal, from Tisha B'Av to the festival of Sukkot.

In-step with this season of renewal, the Library Committee is in the process of reviewing renovation plans for both the Library and the Reference Library rooms. The books culled from the collection during its reorganization will be put on sale, with the proceeds supporting this project; date TBA.

To facilitate borrowing and returning books to and from the library, we have received permission to apply the very successful model of Shabbat lending used by the Youth department. Details will be announced in an upcoming edition of The Shabbat Shalom.

Your Library co-chairs, Amit Bitnun and Lew Lightstone, wish you a year of health, happiness and good reads. May you be inscribed in the Book of Life!