Rivals, a Love Story: Israeli and American Jews with Ruby Namdar

Join AJC ACCESS* Philadelphia for an intimate conversation with award-winning Israeli-American author Ruby Namdar, who will speak about his novel, The Ruined House, and his observations about the growing rift between Israeli and American Jews. Namdar is an Israeli native of Iranian-Jewish heritage who has lived in New York City since 2000. The Ruined House was awarded the Sapir Prize, Israel’s most prestigious literary honor, in 2015.

The book tells the story of Andrew P. Cohen, a professor of comparative culture at New York University whose world begins to crack when he is visited by a series of strange and inexplicable visions involving an ancient religious ritual that will upend his comfortable life.

Using his novel as a background, Namdar will draw from his own experiences as both an Israeli native and an American Jew to lead a dialogue about the tensions between Israeli and American Jews. Your thoughts and opinions are welcome and encouraged to elevate this important conversation. We hope you’ll join us.

General admission for the program is $10, while you can also pay $20 for admission and a copy of The Ruined House signed by the author. Very limited space is available for this program.

This program funded in part by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Israeli Cultural Grant.

*ACCESS AJC is the place for young Jewish professionals who want to work with peers from across the globe to change the world.