book club

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More about Aviva Rubin’s Visit on June 5th and her book entitled: WHITE

The Beth Israel Book Club

Organizers request that everyone RSVP here so we have numbers for food and drink. The event is at the synagogue at 6:30pm. 
 
Please join us for a visit from Toronto author, Aviva Rubin, who will discuss her book, WHITE, (no, you don’t have to have read it) and it’s relevance in our world today. Aviva is an engaging and entertaining speaker and all are welcome to attend. Come and show your support for a local Jewish author. You can read about her: avivarubin.ca and look for her on social media.
 
As written up on Aviva’s website, here are more details about WHITE:

Sarah Cartell grew up in the 1980’s and 90’s in a White supremacist family, controlled by her grandfather whose beliefs and violence mark them all. When an unexpected friendship with a Black boy, and the Jewish town librarian, open her mind and expose those beliefs as vile lies, Sarah begins digging up everything she can about the haters her family celebrates . . . and her grandmother and aunt who fled long ago.

Determined to dismantle the White supremacist network in Canada, Sarah infiltrates a Neo-Nazi gang. As she races to stop the tide of hate crimes, new friends are put in danger and a horrifying family secret begins to emerge. This unravelling lands her in a psychiatric ward, where her therapist forces the resistant Sarah to dig into pain she has ignored, and acknowledge being trapped in the belief that she is unworthy of the world she is fighting for. Can she ever escape the bonds of a hateful family?

Why WHITE is relevant today:

The book peels back the layers of hate and exposes the intimate and complex destruction it unleashes on believers, as much as those who are targeted. Any direction Sarah Cartell turns, something is lost. To choose empathy is to forfeit family and a sense of belonging. Merging two genres – domestic and political fiction – WHITE explores anti-Semitism, racism and the trauma of growing up with hate. What has changed dramatically since the 80’s and 90’s is the legitimacy of white nationalist beliefs and permission to wave that flag. What has not changed is clinging almost desperately to intolerance out of a misguided notion that it guarantees safety for those who fear losing their supposed birthright. In an increasingly polarized world, understanding hate and the divisions it perpetuates as not simply evil, is key to choosing trust over building walls. For Sarah, strong convictions battle her reticence to trust either others or herself. In times that drive us protectively inward, reaching across difference still remains the best way forward. But how do we do that when we feel under threat?

Link to the event post:  https://jccpeterborough.com/bookclub-2/

Kindly RSVP here so we have numbers for food and drink.

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Beth Israel Book Club Hosts Toronto Author Aviva Rubin – NEW DATE to be confirmed

Please join us as the Beth Israel Book Club hosts Toronto author Aviva Rubin, who will discuss her book, White (no, you don’t have to have read it), and its relevance in our world today. Aviva is an engaging and entertaining speaker and all are welcome to attend. Come and show your support for a local Jewish author. For more information on Aviva, her book, and its relevance today, click here. Organizers request everyone kindly RSVP here so we have numbers for food and drink.

Details about Aviva Rubin and her new book, WHITE, can be found here:  https://jccpeterborough.com/bookclub-aviva/

To RSVP for Book Club, please email us.

And save the date: Thursday, July 10th, 6:30 p.m. for a discussion of The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden.

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NEW DATE:  BIC Book Club: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

After a wonderful and engaging discussion of The Art of Leaving, the Beth Israel Book Club is off and running, and invites you to join us to read and discuss The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, which tells the tale of an American Jewish couple’s struggle and the Black community who unite to help them. The book is available from the Peterborough Public Library in print and electronically. Join us to discuss over snacks at Beth Israel on Thursday, January 30th at 6:30 p.m. RSVP via email appreciated, but not required.