Welcome to the 53rd JCC Book and Arts Fair. Programs begin in May with a photography exhibit at the Bunis Family Art Gallery in the Benderson Family Building by Robert Hirsch, Ghosts: French Holocaust Children. The JCC Holland Family Building will host two events, a concert and an author event with Buffalo native Sandra Block presenting her newest novel, What Happened That Night. We are excited to two include Judge Rachel “Ruchie” Freier, dubbed by the New York Times as the ‘Chassidic Superwoman’ and the first Hasidic woman to become a judge, and Cantor Barbara Ostfeld, the first ordained woman cantor in Jewish history. Included in the line-up is the theatrical debut screening of the film Risking Everything: Stories of Niagara’s Freedom Seekers and the Making of a Monument, a compelling documentary on Niagara’s “Freedom Seekers” by the award-winning photographer Isadore Bleckman and his wife, Mary G. Roseberry. We invite you to join us often as we celebrate the arts, and continue to strengthen our community by educating, empowering and exploring diversity, culture and social change
Book & Arts Fair at a Glance
May 6- June 24, 2019
Click on event for more details or tickets.
Ghosts: French Holocaust Children Opening Night Reception
Monday, May 6 | 7:00pm
Location: Bunis Family Art Gallery and Lippman Lounge at the JCC Benderson Family Building
Ghosts: French Holocaust Children photography exhibit by artist, curator, educator and historian Robert Hirsch, former Executive Director and Chief Curator of CEPA Gallery, founder of Southern Light Gallery, and co-founder of North Light Gallery. Hirsch is an author those books include Seizing the Light: A Social & Aesthetic History of Photography. The exhibit will be on display from Monday May 6 – Friday June 28, 2019.
Enjoy a light reception, tour the gallery and meet the artist. Free event open to the public.
This is a free event, reservations recommended.
Film Screening and Discussion: Sarah's Key
Tuesday, May 7 | 6:00pm
Location: Board Room, on the 2nd Floor at the JCC Benderson Family Building
Presented with the American Association of Teachers of French of Western New York. Sarah’s Key (2010), takes place in present-day Paris, as an American journalist researches for her article to write about the 60th year anniversary of the “Vel d’Hiv” (huge stadium which was used for indoor cycling) jewish round up in Paris in 1942.
The Screening of Sarah’s Key will be in conjunction with the photography exhibit Ghosts: French Holocaust Children.
This is a free event, reservations recommended.
Photographic Historian Robert Hirsch to Present, Ghosts: An Artistic Meditation on the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism.
Wednesday, May 22 | 7:00pm
Location: Lippman Lounge, JCC Benderson Family BuildingRobert Hirsch will examine the artistic, cultural, political, and personal principals that informed his art exhibit, Ghosts: French Holocaust Children. He will discuss how he created the installation, the history that informs the project, and Israel’s place on the world stage. Additionally, Hirsch will review the interconnections involving photography and history. The exhibit Ghosts: French Holocaust Children is on display in the Bunis Family Art Gallery at the JCC Benderson Family Building.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Chris Vasquez, Moshe Shulman and Ivan Docenko in Concert
Sunday, June 2 | 7:00-9:30pm
Location: Lobby, Holland Family Building
Enjoy a wonderful night of music as Chris Vasquez (vocals), Moshe Shulman (violin) and Ivan Docenko (piano) present you with tangos, boleros, American and Yiddish songs. Spend this evening surrounded with love, good memories and beautiful music!
Dessert Reception to follow
Tickets: $12/general $5/student
Sponsored by Mark Goldman
Author Sandra Block, What Happened That Night
Tuesday, June 4 | 7:00-9:00pm
Location: Leonard and Ellen Freed Conference Room, Lower Level, Holland Family Building
An unfortunately prescient story of sexual abuse in an elite institution – an issue brought to the forefront in the Kavanaugh hearings. The Supreme Court fight revealed a country divided not only across political lines, but gender lines as well. What does this tell us about #metoo as a movement? How far have we come, and where do we go from here?
Dessert Reception/Book sale and signing to follow.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Sponsored by Hodgson Russ LLP
Film: Bashert
Wednesday, June 12 | 7:00-9:00pm
Location: Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre, in the Benderson Family Building
Rick Kollins, a retired educator and journalist from Toronto, will present this 25-minute documentary on the startling discovery of his family roots during a visit to the shtetl of his paternal ancestors in Ukraine. The film will be followed by a discussion and Q&A session about genealogical research and online resources for tracing your ancestry and building your family tree.
Dessert Reception to follow.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Sponsored by Congregation Havurah
Author Cantor Barbara Ostfeld, Catbird: The Ballad of Barbi Prim
Thursday, June 13 | 7:00-9:00pm
Location: Sanctuary at Congregation Shir Shalom
Barbara Ostfeld is the first ordained woman cantor in Jewish history. She served congregations in New York from 1975 to 2002 and then spent ten years working for the American Conference of Cantors.
Dessert Reception/Book sale and signing to follow.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Sponsored by Temple Beth Zion and Congregation Shir Shalom
Speaker: Judge Rachel Freier
Sunday, June 16 | 2:30-4:00pm
Location: Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre, JCC Benderson Family Building
Rachel ‘Ruchie’ Freier, a 53-year-old mother of six and grandmother many times over. Freier made headlines in 2016 when she was elected as a judge for the Kings County 5th Judicial District in New York, making her the first Hasidic woman to be a judge and the first Hasidic woman to be an elected office-holder of any kind in the U.S.
Reception to follow.
Tickets: $18
Sponsored by The TELLL Fund and Cheryl Stein Law Firm
Staged Reading: Are You Jewish?
Monday, June 17 | 7:00-9:00pm
Location: Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre, JCC Benderson Family Building
FIVE SHORT PLAYS THAT MAKE AUDIENCES LAUGH AND BELIEVE.
“Well-crafted plays of depth and heart, with irresistible characters that deliver the laughs.” John DriverCo-Artistic Director, Innovative Stages, Westchester County, NY
Dessert Reception to follow.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Of Mad Dogs , Shepherds and Sheep
Wednesday, June 19 | 7:00-9:00pm
Location: Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre, JCC Benderson Family Building
Originally written to keep a silent promise to a fellow prisoner, Miklos’ manuscript was never published during his lifetime. It became his eldest son’s mission, David Hauer MD, who will be the presenter at this event, to fulfill that vow and share one man?s remarkable story of self-discovery during one of the darkest times in recorded history.
Dessert Reception/Book sale and signing to follow.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Sponsored by Concierge Dental
Izzy Bleckman: On The Road, Behind the Lens
Sunday, June 23 | 2:00-4:00pm
Location: Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre, JCC Benderson Family Building
A Multimedia event with legendary CBS (“On the Road”) cameraman, Isadore “Izzy” Bleckman. The program features archival news-story footage and the theatrical debut screening of the film Risking Everything: A Story of Niagara’s Freedom Seekers, a compelling documentary on Niagara’s “Freedom Seekers”.
Dessert Reception to follow.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Sponsored by Congregation Havurah
Author Reyna Gentin, Unreasonable Doubts
Monday, June 24 | 7:00-9:00pm
Location: Maxine and Robert Seller Theatre, JCC Benderson Family Building
After graduating from Yale College and Yale Law School, Reyna Gentin practiced as a juvenile rights attorney with the Legal Aid Society, and then as a criminal appellate attorney with a nonprofit public defender’s office for nearly eighteen years. That job, and a number of the clients she represented, inspired the story of Unreasonable Doubts. But the novel is more than a legal thriller. Rather, it’s the story of Liana Cohen, a young woman grappling with what it means to salvage her idealism in an often harsh world, and learning how to find friendship, faith, and love in the right places.
Dessert Reception/Book sale and signing to follow.
Tickets: $10/general $5/student
Sponsored by Samuel and Sophie Weinstein Book Fair Endowment Fund at the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies
Thank you to our Sponsors!
People of the Book
Please help keep our JCC Book & Arts Fair strong by becoming a People of the Book supporter! People of the Book is a special Jewish Center Endowment Fund, administered by the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies and founded by Rabbi Shay and Lila Mintz. Call Katie Wzontek at 204-2084 for more information.