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Date: 10/5/2022
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Jewish Community Center (JCC) is kicking off their fall 2022 Adult Education series on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Goldstein Auditorium. The first event will feature a discussion between Longmeadow-based author Lynda Cohen Loigman and Leverett-based author Jennifer Rosner.
This talk is part of Literatour, the JCC’s community-wide celebration of Jewish books. The two authors will be discussing Loigman’s most recent novel “The Matchmaker’s Gift.”
The event is presented in partnership with the Richard Salter Storrs Library and is free to the public. The JCC is asking for all interested attendees to pre-register for the event on their website at https://www.springfieldjcc.org/.
“The Matchmaker’s Gift” is the story of Abby, a successful Manhattan divorce attorney, who inherits her grandmother’s journals. These journals are the professional records of a woman who was a female matchmaker in New York’s Lower East Side in 1910. As Abby reads, she finds more questions than answers in the pages.
After the discussion, there will be time for an audience Q&A. The JCC will then host a small refreshment reception. Odyssey Bookshop will be in attendance with copies of “The Matchmaker’s Gift” for those interested in purchasing the novel.
Craig Kazin, director of adult programs at the JCC, said that he is excited about the opportunity to get the community together again to celebrate a local author.
“Everybody knows that it’s been a real slog for the last two and a half years. We’re meeting our constituents now where they want to be and they’re getting more comfortable about coming out. It’s our first large, in-person event, so that is exciting,” said Kazin. “It’s a really cool story, so I’m excited to have people get together to discuss it and let them know that we’re back in business here at the Springfield JCC with these programs.”
According to Kazin, this discussion can be enjoyed whether attendees come from a Jewish background or not.
“Whether you’re Jewish or not, this novel can resonate with you because it’s an accessible and easy read. For the people who have grown up this way and have lived their lives in the Jewish community, it will bring back a lot of ‘warm sweater feelings’ because it discusses comforting things to us,” he said.
The Literatour series will then feature two more events. A discussion with Fred Sokol, author of “Silver Birch Summer,” will take place on Nov. 9 and a discussion with Norbert Goldfield, author of “Peace Building through Women’s Health: Psychoanalytic, Socio-psychological, and Community Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” will take place on Dec. 7.
“We want to promote these all up and down the valley because even though we’re located on the Springfield/Longmeadow border, these programs are open to the entire Western Mass. and northern Connecticut community,” said Kazin.