Dani Shapiro, Signal Fires

An ancient majestic oak stands beneath the stars on Division Street. And under the tree sits Ben Wilf, a retired doctor, and ten-year-old Waldo Shenkman, a brilliant, lonely boy who is pointing out his favorite constellations. Waldo doesn’t realize it but he and Ben have met before. And they will again, and again. Across time […]

Debby Applegate, Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age

In Roaring Twenties New York City, when the nightclubs closed down, the in-crowd didn’t go home. Everyone went to Polly’s place, the “speakeasy with a harem” run by “The Female Al Capone,” as the newspapers dubbed her. Polly “Pearl” Adler was a diminutive dynamo whose Manhattan brothels were more than oases of illicit sex; they […]

Hollywood and the Jewish Experience

Join Izzi Abrams for an informative and stimulating course that examines Hollywood’s portrayal of the American Jewish experience through films with Jewish themes and characters such as Gentleman’s Agreement, Goodbye, Columbus, Crossing Delancey, The Chosen and Annie Hall. Four Classes on Thursdays, Oct. 26, Nov. 2, 9, 16Drop-in: $20 per class Members, $25 per class […]

JCCNS Women’s Book Club

We will be discussing The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver