Now an annual fixture on the Melbourne Jewish Book Week calendar, The Beth Din of Books brings together writers and critics Tali Lavi, Elissa Goldstein and Bram Presser as they preside over some of the best new Jewish books around. Fun, irreverent but deeply imbued with a love of the written word, the Beth Din of Books is sure to help you find your next favourite read!
Event Type: Free
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Global Conversations: Hadley Freeman & Irris Makler discuss ‘Blindness: October 7 and the Left’
In her Jewish Quarterly essay ‘Blindness’,Hadley Freeman addresses a most perplexing phenomenon that has arisen out of the Gaza war, rearing its head immediately after October 7: the exponential rise in antisemitism on a world stage. This has been all the more shocking as it has been most evidently propagated within the political left, taking many by surprise.
In this Global Conversation, join Hadley in conversation with foreign correspondent Irris Makler for an examination of the equivocations, contortions and hypocrisy displayed by elements of the left across the political, media, arts and higher education sectors.
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Writing Lives: Katia Ariel on ‘The Swift Dark Tide’
Katia Ariel discusses her 2024 Stella shortlisted sensation, ‘The Swift Dark Tide’, in conversation with playwright and theatre producer, Jessica Bellamy. Ariel’s memoir deftly flows between journal entry and reminiscences of a childhood in Odessa, emigration to Australia, a happy family life, and the urgency and turmoil of a same-sex love affair. The depth and honesty of this ‘Writing Lives’ is both disarming and profound.
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Global Conversations: Richard Cooke & Deborah Stone Discuss ‘Dark Star: Elon Musk’s Dangerous Turn’
In his captivating new essay in the latest issue of the Jewish Quarterly, Walkley award-winning journalist Richard Cooke explores Elon Musk’s spectacular ambition, and how it has shaped his transition from unorthodox liberal to trolling neo-reactionary. How did the richest man in the world transform from a self-described moderate to a staunch advocate for hardline US conservatives? Why did Musk purchase the social media site Twitter, only to welcome back white nationalists and Holocaust deniers, sometimes personally?
Cooke will speak with Deborah Stone, Editor-in-Chief of Plus61J Media, on the roots of this turning in Musk’s rise to power, and what his evolution reveals about a wider shift in the politics of Silicon Valley and beyond.
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Global Conversations: Ben Judah & Tali Lavi Discuss ‘Ivrit: The Language That Makes a People’
When award-winning writer, Ben Judah, embarked on a pandemic-fuelled mission to learn Hebrew, he did not anticipate the immensely personal internal shift that would occur in him. With Hebrew came a deepening of Jewish identity, of connection to religion and culture. To ancestry and community.
It also led him to deep reflection on crucial role of modern Hebrew in defining and reshaping the Jewish people. In this ground-breaking essay featured in the latest edition of the Jewish Quarterly, Judah delves into the remarkable evolution and revival of Hebrew – a language whose trajectory charts the recent history of the Jewish people.
Judah will speak with critic and writer Tali Lavi about his experience of longing for and learning the language, and of his belief in Hebrew as the missing connection between Israel and the Diaspora.
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Writing Lives: Ruth Weiss & Michael Cohen
First in our Writing Lives series, is an interview with Ruth Weiss, human rights campaigner, journalist, and activist in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement. As a child, Ruth fled Nazi Germany with her family, arriving in South Africa only to witness oppression of a different kind. Ruth remains an outspoken voice against hatred in any form and, at 98, is finally receiving international public recognition for a lifetime of activism.
Ruth will be interviewed by South African born educator and historian Michael Cohen.
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Global Conversations: Javier Sinay in Conversation with Elissa Goldstein
The 1994 ‘AMIA Bombing’ was an attack on Argentina’s Jewish centre in which 85 people were killed. Join writer, editor and digital producer, Elissa Goldstein in conversation with award-winning author and journalist, Javier Sinay to discuss his remarkable essay in the May issue of the Jewish Quarterly. The essay examines the ongoing political intrigue surrounding this catastrophic crime and the reasons it remains unsolved.
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Global Conversations: Devorah Baum in conversation with Andrew Dean
Dr Andrew Dean (Deakin University) will interview Devorah on her latest essay, ‘The Myth of the Jewish Literary Mafia’ featured in the Jewish Quarterly.
Devorah Baum is Associate Professor in English Literature at the University of Southampton. Her books include Feeling Jewish: a book for just about anyone (Yale University Press), The Jewish Joke (Profile) and the forthcoming On Marriage (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin). She co-directed the feature films The New Man and Husband. She guest edited the special issue of Granta #146 on ‘The Politics of Feeling’ and she has written for a range of publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Tate and the Jewish Quarterly.
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Global Conversations: Professor Steven Nadler in conversation with Dr. Rachael Kohn
Presented in partnership with The Jewish Quarterly, the latest entry in our series of Global Conversations is only a few weeks away.
Professor Steven Nadler, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has spent a great deal of his professional life researching and writing about Spinoza’s life, philosophy and relationship with his faith. In the current issue of The Jewish Quarterly, in an article titled ‘The Curse on Spinoza’, he provides new insights into Spinoza’s excommunication. He will be probed in this interview by renowned academic, broadcaster and author, Dr. Rachael Kohn, who also brings enormous research and knowledge to the topic.
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Creative Writing Through Circus Skills (for primary-aged children)
Simi Genziuk facilitates a unique creative writing workshop for children by combining her two passions, circus and writing. Participants learn the basis of three to four circus skills and use the experience as the inspiration for creative writing exercises. As part of the event, storyteller Zoe Bell will be doing a reading of Simi’s book, So She Did.
This workshop is one hour in duration, and participants find it extremely gratifying. Most kids leave with a skill and a story!