Fair Trade

Rich Cohen

The Jewish Community Book Fair, now in its 43rd year, is absurdly sprawling, comprising 14 events between this Saturday and December 9. That’s nearly two months of celebrating books and authors focused on Judaism and Jewish culture, in all its wealth and variation.

The series begins with a talk by Rich Cohen, whose latest book is Israel Is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and Its History. Cohen plots the course of Jewish history through points both obscure and well fixed: from false messiahs to the creators of Superman, from Sam the Banana Man to the founders of the modern state of Israel.

The book fair’s other entry this week is a talk by Alan Morinis, author of Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar and a teacher at the Mussar Institute. Mussar is a series of reflective techniques meant to enables an individual to recognize and remove barriers that hinder spiritual development. Morinis speaks on Tuesday, October 20.

Both lectures take place at 7:30pm at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo’s Benderson Building (2640 North Forest Road, Getzville), and are followed by receptions. Tickets are $12, $5 for students.

The whole two-month program is available at www.jccbookfair.com: James Gardner of the UB Law School, author of What Are Campaigns For?, will argue that we clasp onto unrealistic expectations for out political campaigns on October 27; on October 29, Roslyn Berstein of Barcuh College will read from Boardwalk Stories, 14 tales of lives lived in beach communities like Coney Island and the Jersey Shore between 1950 and 1970; on November 19, David Sax, author of Save the Deli, expounds on the joys of the endangered (at least around here) delicatessen.

There’s a ton more talks worth seeing. Check these pages each week to see what’s upcoming.

—francis boots