Book Chat – “Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries”

Join us for an in-person discussion at Beth El of Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries. This multi-layered and moving memoir by renowned author-journalist Nicholas Lemann, former dean of the Columbia School of Journalism, follows Lemann’s life journey. He grew up in an ultra-assimilated New Orleans Jewish home, shaped by Mardi Gras balls (and Jews’ exclusion from them) and now, somewhat unpredictably, is a committed Conservative Jew who negotiates a complicated balance between his Jewish allegiances and a challenging career in the secular world.

Beyond Lemann’s personal story, the book is a treasure-trove of intriguing and unusual topics. Some of the book’s most thought-provoking elements are Lemann’s reflections on the anxieties of Jews in America today, drawn from his role as co-chair of the Columbia University Task Force on antisemitism following October 7.

This program is sponsored by the Library Committee, the Women of Beth El, and Men’s Club.

Questions? Please contact Robin Jacobson at librarian@adasisrael.org.