Book Club

More than 2,000 years ago, remnants of one of the lost tribes of Israel appeared on the shores of India. They became known in India as the Bene Israel.

A handful of the tribe’s descendants band together to live in a communal housing complex, known as the Shalom India Housing Society. Nestled amidst their Hindu and Muslim neighbors, the residents find ways to laugh and love while keeping faith with their Jewish roots. Esther David has penned a delightful read, named for the community.

The Book Circle will meet again on Thursday, March 19, 3:30 p.m. on CTI’s Zoom. The group meets monthly to explore books on Jewish themes and by Jewish writers. For more information, email Susan Rosenstreich at ctigreeenport@gmail.com/.

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman is a fictional retelling of the Siege of Masada (70-73 CE) through the eyes of four resilient women — Yael, Revka, Asisa and Shirah — who find refuge there, each bearing secrets and past traumas. When the Romans besiege the fortress, only two women and five children survive the brutality and loss, leading to the tragic historical outcome.  

The members of the Book Circle will meet on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 3:30 p.m., on Zoom, to explore the lives of women — how they survived and how the experience affected them.

The Book Circle meets monthly to examine the work of Jewish authors writing on Jewish themes. For more information, email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Susan Rosenstreich, coordinator of the group.

Of course, those of us of a certain age read it, and saw ourselves in it, and the Book Circle is entering those days once again. In Herman Wouk’s powerful coming-of-age novel, a starry-eyed, 19-year-old beauty named Marjorie Morgenstern leaves home to accept the job of her dreams — working in a summer stock company for Noel Airman, its talented and charismatic director. Released from the social constraints of her traditional Jewish family, and thrown into the glorious and colorful world of theater, Marjorie, now Morningstar, finds herself entangled in an affair with the man destined to become the greatest — and the most destructive — love of her life.

The members of the Book Circle will meet on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 3:30 p.m., on Zoom, to revisit that time in their lives and the love story they all shared with Marjorie. The Book Circle meets monthly to explore the work of Jewish authors writing on Jewish themes. For more information, email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Susan Rosenstreich, coordinator of the group.