20 | NOVEMBER 18 • 2021 

T

he 34th annual Ann 
Arbor Jewish Book 
Festival runs Nov. 
21-Dec. 16, and features 24 
authors online via Zoom. All 
events are free and open to 
the public. Registration is not 
required. 
Noemi Herzig, director of 
Jewish Cultural Arts and Adult 
Education for the Ann Arbor 
JCC, says it’s an eclectic festival 
this year.
“I like to mix it up so there’s 
something for everybody,
” she 
said. “The festival’s purpose is to 

enrich people’s lives and knowl-
edge about subjects they like or 
new stuff they haven’t explored, 
to expand people’s vision and to 
bring the Judaism in the book 
world to people’s homes in an 
easy way.
”
 Author events include one 
with Ami Ayalon, author of 
Friendly Fire, How Israel Became 
Its Own Worst Enemy and Its 
Hope for the Future, and another 

with Daniel Sketch, author of 
Can We Talk About Israel?: A 
Guide for the Curious, Confused 
and Conflicted.
Other events include Jeffrey 
Veidlinger, professor of his-
tory and Judaic studies at the 
University of Michigan, speak-
ing about his book, In the Midst 
of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms 
of 1918-1921 and the Onset of the 
Holocaust. James McAuley, a 
European affairs columnist for 
the Washington Post, will join 
the festival with a presentation 
of his book, The House of Fragile 
Things: Jewish Art Collectors and 
the Fall of France. 
Author Heather Dune 
Macadam will be speaking 
about her book, 999: The 
Extraordinary Young Women of 
the First Official Jewish Transport 
to Auschwitz, which tells the 
story of 999 young, unmarried 
women who were tricked into 
boarding a train that became 

the first official transport to 
Auschwitz. 
 On Dec. 15, former CIA/
FBI agent and Nobel Prize 
winner Tracy Walder takes 
festival-goers on her journey in 
The Unexpected Spy: From CIA 
to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking 
Down Some of the World’s Most 
Notorious Terrorists. 
That same evening, Robert 
Lefkowitz will talk about his 
journey from cardiologist to 
legendary scientist and winner 
of the Nobel Prize with his 
book, A Funny Thing Happened 
on the Way to Stockholm: The 
Adrenaline-Fueled Adventures of 
an Accidental Scientist. 

 

The full schedule of author events, 

including Zoom links, can be found at 

book.jccannarbor.org. For additional 

questions, Noemi Herzig can be reached 

via email at noemiherzig@jccannarbor.

org. 

To listen, call (605) 313-
4107 Access code: 270368#. 

CHANUKAH CONCERT 
AT THE FRANKLIN 
CIDER MILL 
For 43 years, Chabad of 
Farmington Hills has had a 
special relationship with the 
Franklin Cider Mill.
Rabbi Chaim Moshe 
Bergstein’s son Yitzchok saw 
Jack Peltz, owner of Franklin 
Cider Mill, and thought he 
was Jewish. He asked him if he 
wanted to do a mitzvah. Peltz 
said yes and did the blessing 
on the lulov and etrog. Chabad 
of Farmington Hills has been 
blessed with the Peltz family’s 
kindness ever since, continuing 
until today with the third gen-
eration.
On the fourth night 
of Chanukah, Chabad of 
Farmington Hills will sponsor a 

live outdoor Chanukah concert 
at the Franklin Cider Mill and 
the lighting of a huge 12-foot-
high menorah. The event 
cosponsors are Chef Cari, Pro-4 
Marketing, 1-800selfstorage, 
Kidon Security Services and 
Branded Design.
Featured at the concert will 
be the Jewish Frankel Academy 
Shabbatones, under the direc-
tion of Rabbi Boruch Lazewnik, 
and the Rogers Park Band, a 
popular group of singers and 
musicians from Rogers Park in 
Chicago. 
A raffle and free toys for the 
kids will round out the event.
The Dec. 1 concert will begin 
at 5 p.m. The Chanukah lights 
will be lit at 5:30.

CHANUKAH 
WONDERLAND & MORE
Last year, children in the 
community sorely missed the 

Chanukah Wonderland put on 
by Bais Chabad Torah Center 
in West Bloomfield. They will 
be happy to hear that this 
year, it’s back!
This year, all the holiday 
fun, crafts, food and activities 
will take place in a heated tent 
in the shul’s parking lot.
The tent will be open to the 
public Sunday, Nov. 28, and 
Sunday, Dec. 5. Admission is 
$5.
Bais Chabad will also 
hold the Chanukah Parade 
of Love & Light at 4 p.m. 
Thursday, Dec. 2, at Meer 
Jewish Apartments in West 
Bloomfield. Attendees can 
share the festive joy of the 
holiday and decorate their 
cars and wave their Chanukah 
flags as they drive by seniors’ 
windows. Bais Chabad will 
enhance the ride with deli-
cious latkes, donuts and a hot-
dog dinner.
Also, on Dec. 4, at 8 p.m., 

you can enjoy Chanukah on 
Ice at the Novi Ice Arena with 
Bais Chabad. Skate to Jewish 
music, enjoy a kosher dinner 
and a beautiful ice sculptured 
menorah.
Details available at chanu-
kahwonderlandmi.com. 

Rogers 
Park Band

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

2021 Ann Arbor Jewish Book Festival 
promises to be ‘eclectic.’ 

For the Love 
of Books

OUR COMMUNITY

CHANUKAH HAPPENINGS continued from page 18

