KOH Artist Lecture/Reception

The KOH Library and Cultural Center is proud to announce that we will have the great privilege to view the art of acclaimed artist Barbara Mendes and hear her talk on Sunday, January 9, 2010. Her exhibit will be open through February 25, 2011 but you will not want to miss the opportunity to hear this woman, who is as vibrant as her paintings, speak at her opening about her life journey, philosophy about art and the path of ‘Teshuva’ that led her return to her heritage and faith. The center piece of this art exhibit will be the six foot by sixteen foot ‘Vayikra Mural’ which is a vibrant visual narrative depicting each of the 27 chapters (859 verses) of Leviticus. This piece alone took over three years to complete. Barbara Mendes has become known internationally for her epic paintings – large canvases filled with hierarchal, narrative imagery and brilliant colors; woven into intricate compositions.

Barbara Mendes will also speak about her familial ties to Dona Gracia Mendes who was the fifteenth century heroine of the Sephardic Anusim and is universally venerated for her strength and courage. Like her ancestor, Barbara Mendes believes in the courage of one’s convictions. She has devoted her life and art to the study, practice and celebration of Torah Judaism. To quote Ms. Mendes, “Torah is meant to be a light to the nations; these paintings are attempts to reveal in that light.”

Please mark your calendars and join us in the KOH Library and Cultural Center on Sunday, January 9, 2011 beginning at 4:00pm. To learn more about Barbara Mendes go to www.BarbaraMendes.org.

KOH Fiction Book Club, 2011 Books/Dates

The following is a list of books, dates, and reviewers for 2011. Anyone is welcoming to attend any of our meetings. Our meetings start at 7 p.m.

1-18-11 The Fruit of Her Hands by Michelle Cameron
Simone Clay - reviewer

2-15-11 City of Thieves by David Benioff
Devi Eden - reviewer

3-15-11 Sarah/Sara by Jacob Paul
Carol Crowe - reviewer

April - No Book Club Meeting

5-17-11 Day After Night by Anita Diamant
Ruth Baron - reviewer

6-21-11 Peep Show by Joshua Braff
Harlan Goodson - reviewer

7-19-11 The Frozen Rabbi
Leslie Cohen - reviewer

8-16-11 Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Soni Meyers - reviewer

September - No Book Club Meeting

10-18-11 Friendly Fire by A.B. Yehoshua
Ben Glovinsky - reviewer

11-15-11 Siegfried Follies by Richard Alther
Valla Hoffman - reviewer

12-13-11 Book Exchange and choose books for 2012

Please order the January book yourself through Amazon.com. You can
buy used copies for a few dollars plus shipping. I will have
the other books available for purchase the month before they are
scheduled. I wish you all a very Happy 2011!

First Annual Sacramento Jewish Chess Tournament!

KOH Library and Cultural Center is proud to sponsor the first annual Sacramento Jewish chess tournament. All skill levels are welcome. Final four and championship matches. The final match will be held Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 10 a.m. in the KOH Library and Cultural Center.

Participants need to register in advance by contacting Hillel Damron at shalomhd@comcast.net. You may also contact Hillel to learn more about this event.

KOH New Arrivals!

Come and check out our new books:

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
Palestine Betrayed by Efraim Karsh
Refugees and Reforms: Turkey's Journey by Arnold Reisman
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick
Comedy in a minor key by Hans Keilson
The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership by Yehuda Avner
When They Come For Us We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry by Gal Beckerman
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg

All books are now available for checking during regular library hours.

KOH Library Hours December 2010

The KOH Library and Cultural Center will be closed from December 20th until January 5th. Regular hours will resume January 6, 2011. Anyone needing library assistance during these dates, please contact Barbara Gibson in the Mosaic Law Congregation's main office. (916) 488-1122.

Upcoming Event!

John M. Efron, Koret Professor of History and Jewish Studies at UC Berkeley, will be speaking at the KOH Library and Cultural Center on Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 7:00pm. The opportunity to hear this highly respected scholar, author and teacher is provided through the Martin London Lifelong Learning Series. Professor Efron will base his presentation on his book, "Medicine and the German Jews", as he traces the historical relationship between the Jews of Germany and the medical profession. This program will be a lecture of revealing insights into history followed by time for questions and answers. There will be no admission charge and everyone is welcomed. For more information please contact Andy Baron atABaron9936@aol.com.

KOH New Arrivals!

Come check out our latest books and DVD's:

Books:

Rhyming Life & Death by Amos Oz
To The End of the Land by David Grossman
The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter
97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement by Jane Ziegelman
A Curable Romantic by Joseph Skibell
Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World by Harold Kushner
My Mother's Sabbath Days by Chaim Grade
The Measure of His Grief by Lisa Moss
Prisoner of his Mind by Ruth Rapaport
Great House by Nicole Krauss

DVD's:

Waltz With Bashir
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
O Jerusalem
Among The Righteous: Lost Stories From the Holocaust in Arab Lands

KOH Fiction Book Club Meeting

Please join us on December 14th at 7 PM to discuss "Isaac's Torah", by Angel Wagenstein.

Bulgarian author and screenwriter Wagenstein devotes his powerful novel to an affable Jewish tailor from a small town in Eastern Europe who survives the reigns of Hitler and Stalin. Wagenstein himself escaped from a concentration camp and was saved from execution when Soviets entered Bulgaria. Half a century later, he creates self-effacing narrator Isaac Jacob Blumenfeld, threading Jewish jokes throughout the narrative not only to sweeten the bitter material but also because they encapsulate the humanistic foundation of Isaac's philosophy. Isaac's mesmerizing voice charms through every disaster, and engages and delights the reader without distracting from Wagenstein's profound insights into life's absurdities.

Simone Clay will facilitate the discussion.

After our book discussion, we will be choosing our books for 2011.

November Book Club Meeting

This month we will meet on November 16th at 7 p.m. Ruth O'Riva will lead our discussion of the book, "A Day of Small Beginnings" by Lisa Rosenbaum.

In rural Zokof, Poland, in 1906, young Itzik Leiber protects three small Jewish boys from a beating, resulting in the accidental death of a menacing Polish peasant. Itzik hides in a Jewish cemetery where he unknowingly draws the soul of Friedl Alterman—who died the previous year at 83. Friedl, childless in life, protects Itzik as he flees Zokof for Warsaw, then America. Fast forward 86 years as Itzik's son, Nathan Linden (name change), a scholar of international law, is a guest of the Polish government. He is drawn to his father's hometown (via a still-protective Friedl), and there he comes upon Rafael Bergson, "the last Jew in Zokof," who forces Nathan to confront his ambiguous feelings about religion and begs him to help restore Friedl's spirit through prayer and ritual. But it may be up to Ellen, Nathan's free-spirited choreographer daughter, to come to Poland to liberate Friedl's soul. Friedl's voice retreats after the early chapters, and Rosenbaum handles the shifts in voice, time and place smoothly.

Newcomers always welcome!

History and Art at the KOH Library and Cultural Center

Please join us for two special events this week at the KOH Library and Cultural Center:

First, an informative evening of local Jewish history on

Wednesday, November 3rd
7-9 PM

JEWISH MERCHANTS OF THE GOLD RUSH

With Guest Speaker, VICTORIA FISCH, Northern California Editor of the Western States Jewish History Journal.

For more information please go to jewsofthegoldrush.blogspot.com


Next, Art Exhibit Opening Reception on

Monday, November 8th
7-9 PM

Please join us to welcome local artist and educator, MARIA WINKLER at the opening reception of her exhibit in the KOH Art Gallery.

Maria Winkler, a contemporary painter and book artist, will be available to discuss her work and answer questions.

Additional information available at www.mariawinkler.com


(The current exhibition of work by Sam Liberman ends on Thursday, 11/4/10)

KOH Library New Arrivals

The following books and DVD's have arrived and are available for check out during library hours:

BOOKS:

With Strength and Splender: Jewish Women as Agents of Change by Lisa Kogen
The Trials of Zion by Alan Dershowitz
If We Could Hear Them Now: Encounters With Legendary Jewish Heroines by Alice Becker Lehrer
Sarah/Sara by Jacob Paul
Nemesis by Philip Roth
Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant

DVD'S:

Off and Running
Autism: The Musical
The Sephardic Jews and the Pike Place Market

October Book Club Meeting

Please join us on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 7 p.m. as we welcome Barry Broad to speak about his book, "Eve of Destruction". A review and synopsis of his book is below:

This is a spy thriller set in the present about a set of circumstances that is all too realistic. At the same time that an Iranian-led team of terrorists is plotting to set off a radiation-heavy dirty bomb in Los Angeles, a U.S. team is working clandestinely inside Iran to set up what looks like a Chernobyl-style accident at a secret nuclear weapons site to discredit and set back the Iranian nuclear program and foment unrest against the government. We're taken through the training and back stories of the various operatives on all sides, and they emerge as reasonably full-bodied characters rather than stick figures in an action plot. The book is so intricately plotted and credibly researched that it is difficult to believe that this is a first book for the author, a labor lobbyist in Sacramento. Like any number of spy stories, this is a diversion that will hold your attention, but will also be informative for most readers, especially as to just how vulnerable the United States, and particularly its ports, still is after a half-dozen years of bureaucratic homeland security efforts.

Mr. Broad will autograph his book which is available for purchase in the library for $15.00.

Second Annual Used Book Sale

Coming Soon - Mark the dates for KOH's second annual used book sale:

Sunday, October 10- Wednesday, October 13.
Sunday: 10 am - 12 pm
Monday: 10 am - 12 pm
4 pm - 6 pm
Tuesday: 10 am - 12 pm
Wednesday: 7 pm - 9 pm

KOH Library's Used Book Room has an extensive and eclectic collection of gently used books, all of which are available for purchase during regular hours as well as at our upcoming Sale.

Most books are priced between .50 to $2.00.

Visit kohusedbooks.gamaserve.com (no need for www or http) to preview many of the sale selections.

For additional information, please contact Ruth O'Riva at (510) 551-6332 or ruth2@oriva.net.

KOH Art Gallery Presents Renouned Local Artist

Please join us on Sunday, September 26, 2010 at 4 p.m. for the opening and reception for artist Sam Liberman. Mr. Liberman will speak about his work and answer questions.

Sam Liberman has been painting colorful art work for over 35 years. He now works primarily with pastels, while also fashioning a number of oils each year and drawing on an almost daily basis.

His work is primarily landscapes, including seascapes, skies, mountains, flowers, swamps, architecture and almost any outdoor setting you can imagine. In the past two years he has also been painting figures on a regular basis.

Sam's work has been exhibited in over 50 competitive national and international art exhibitions. In June, 2009, he had a one person exhibition at The Butler Institute of American Arts, probably the top national venue for pastel artists in this country.

For a preview of his work, please visit his website at: http://samlibermanart.com

His work will be displayed at the KOH Library and Cultural Center through November 3, 2010. All work (originals and prints) is for sale, with a percentage going to the KOH Library and Cultural Center.

KOH New Arrivals

KOH New Arrivals!

We are pleased to share some of our newest book and DVD arrivals with you. All of the following titles are available for check out during our regular library hours.

DVDs:

The Jewish People...a Story of Survival
Visions of Israel
A Yiddish World Remembered
Rafting to Bombay
The Darien Dilemma

Books:

Now I see the Moon: A Mother, a Son, a Miracle by Elaine Hall
Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: War and National Security
Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: Social Justice
The Violin of Auschwitz by Maria Angels Anglada
Dreams of Nationhood by Henry Srebenik

September Book Club Meeting

Please join us on September 21 st at 7 PM to discuss "Isaac's Torah", by Angel Wagenstein.

Bulgarian author and screenwriter Wagenstein devotes his powerful novel to an affable Jewish tailor from a small town in Eastern Europe who survives the reigns of Hitler and Stalin. Wagenstein himself escaped from a concentration camp and was saved from execution when Soviets entered Bulgaria. Half a century later, he creates self-effacing narrator Isaac Jacob Blumenfeld, threading Jewish jokes throughout the narrative not only to sweeten the bitter material but also because they encapsulate the humanistic foundation of Isaac's philosophy. Isaac's mesmerizing voice charms through every disaster, and engages and delights the reader without distracting from Wagenstein's profound insights into life's absurdities.

Simone Clay will facilitate the discussion.

We look forward to seeing you.

Introducing Music CDs

Music, Music, Music!

Thanks to Steve Turtletaub, the KOH Library now has a large and eclectic collection of musical CDs available for check-out. Enjoy Klezmer, Isaeli, Hebrew, Yiddish, contemporary or traditional music in the comfort of your home when you borrow any of these CDs. Artists and genres range from Even Sh'siyah (modern Hebrew Rock), to symphonic arrangements by Ofer Ben-Amots, to The Yeshiva Choir, and more.

While finding a CD, take time to browse our ever-expanding collection of books, DVDs, periodicals and used books.

Calling all "Gamesters"!!!

Calling all "gamesters":

There is so much more to the KOH Library and Cultural Center than books, DVDs, programs and Art Exhibits.

Do you enjoy playing cards? Are Jigsaw Puzzles your 'thing"? How about Board Games?

KOH Library is establishing a "Game Center". We will assist you in finding like-minded people to enjoy enthusiastic, but quiet, time playing card games, Cribbage, Scrabble, Backgammon, Mahj and more. Puzzle enthusiastic can spend a few minutes - or hours - adding those recalcitrant pieces to the current puzzle.

After enjoying your game-time, please take advantage of our facility and browse our fine collection of books and DVDs.

For more information, please come in during regular hours or call us at 485-4143.

KOH New Arrivals!

For your reading and listening pleasure, I am proud to list below some new arrivals in books and DVD's. They are available for checkout during regular library hours:

DVD's: A Secret
Sixty Six
The First Basket

BOOKS: The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern
Torah In The Observatory: Gersonides, Maimonides, Songs of Songs by
Menachem Kellner
Something Red by Jennifer Gilmore
The Servants' Quarters by Lynn Freed
The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine
Nechama Leibowitz: Teacher and Bible Scholar by Yael Unterman
God's Water by Berel Arrow
When Money Was In Fashion: Henry Goldman, Goldman Sachs, and the Founding of
Wall Street by June Breton Fisher
Dreams of Nationhood: American Jewish Communists and the Soviet Birobidzhan
Project, 1924-1951 by Henry Felix Srebrnik

Introducing: KOH Used Book Room

KOH's Used Book Room holds a treasure trove of gently used books of many genres - all with a Jewish connection. Peruse the shelves for novels, coffee table books, Judaic studies, Biblical and Rabbinic texts, biographies, memoirs, humor antholgies and more. Bargain prices start at 50 cents each.

You can browse our collection online at kohusedbooks.gamaserve.com or during regular library hours.

SAVE THE DATE: Second Annual Used Book Sale 10/10 - 10/13/2010.

Books for Israel Project!

The KOH Library and Cultural center is joining with The Jade Bar Shalom to provide direct help to Israel's students and teachers (http://booksforisrael.wikispaces.com).

Israel has had to divert funding from its schools to National Defense. The Israeli public schools need English language books and educational materials to help the children prepare for life in our global community.

We are collecting new or gently used PAPERBACK children's books (pre-k through 12th grade). We hope to send our first shipment to Israel in December.

For more information, please contact Arlene Pearl at: kohbooksforisrael@yahoo.com

Donations to defray shipping costs are always welcome!

Famed International Artist Coming to KOH!

Please join us in welcoming Norwegian artist, Daniel Eish, on Monday, August 23, 2010 at 7 p.m.

Daniel Eish was born in Israel and began drawing as a child prodigy with his parents' support. By the time he commenced his formal art studies at Haifa University's rural extension in 1981, his family home was covered with portraits and abstract works in various media - pencil, charcoal, pastels, oils, and acrylic. After completing his fine art studies in 1984, he continued to study the teaching of art at Beit Eshkol in Afula, Israel for two years before emigrating to Bergen, Norway.

Daniel has exhibited his paintings internationally in Israel and Holland, as well as Norway. His most recent exhibits were at the Sarvi Gallery in Oslo and the Vox Gallery in Bergen.

For a preview of his work, check out his website at: www.danieish.com

Questions about this event? Contact Mehrnaz Halimi at: KOHartsprogram@gmail.com

AJL Accreditation Celebration!

Following our monthly library board meeting this morning, we had a celebratory luncheon in honor of our recent accreditation by the Association of Jewish Libraries. On July 5, 2010, Jolie Baron represented the Kashenberg-Ostrow-Hayward Library and Cultural Center at the 45th annual AJL convention held in Seattle, Washington. During a special awards ceremony, she accepted our accreditation certificate. The certificate is now framed and on display in the KOH Library and Cultural Center.

Upcoming Lecture and Book Signing!

On Sunday, August 22nd at 2pm, Dr. Daniel Khazzoom, author of No Way Back - The Journey of a Jew from Baghdad, will be speaking in the KOH Library and Cultural Center. There are several First Edition, leather-bound copies available for purchase in the library, which Dr. Khazzoom will autograph on the 22nd.

Our blog features an excerpt from this upcoming publication. Click here to read it!

Please RSVP to Taliah Berger at taliah@thecenterat2300.com or (916) 488-4912.

Introducing the KOH Art Gallery

Did you know that the KOH Library and Cultural Center is also a rotating art gallery?

Approximately every six weeks, we feature the work of local and international Jewish artists. Every exhibit opens with a reception and artist meet-and-greet. The works are available for viewing during regular library hours. Many of the displayed works are also for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the KOH Library and Cultural Center.

We have already featured the following artists:
Ellen Hulls, ceramics
Pamela Baron, watercolor
Jennifer Berg, multi-media
Arlene Toder, oil painting
Bar Schacterman, sculptor

Our next artist will be Norwegian painter Daniel Eish - keep an eye on this space for more information!

August Book Club Meeting

Please join us on Tuesday, August 24th at 7pm for our monthly book club meeting.

This month we are discussing All Other Nights by Dara Horn

How is tonight different from all other nights? For Jacob Rappaport, a Jewish soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, it is a question his commanders have already answered for him - on Passover, 1862, he is ordered to murder his own uncle in New Orleans, who is plotting to assassinate President Lincoln. After this harrowing mission, Jacob is recruited to pursue another enemy agent, the daughter of a Virginia family friend. But this time, his assignment isn’t to murder the spy, but to marry her. In this eagerly awaited third novel, award-winning author Dara Horn brings us page-turning storytelling at its best. Layered with meaning, she presents the most American of subjects with originality and insight.

Jolie Baron will be facilitating our discussion.

All Other Nights is available for check out at the KOH Library.

Hope to see you there!

Introducing the KOH Fiction Book Club!

We are a Jewish Fiction Book Club. Our members are men and women of all ages from the greater-Sacramento area Jewish community. We meet monthly to discuss a fiction book chosen by our members. Each December, we choose our books for the following year. Each month we invite a different member of our book club to serve as the facilitator.

So far, we have read and discussed:

Davita's Harp by Chaim Potok
The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Songs for the Butcher's Daughter by Peter Manseau
Portnoy's Complaint by Phillip Roth
Holding my Breath by Sidura Ludwig
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
The Golems of Gotham by Thane Rosembaum
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The River Midnight by Lilian Nattel
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

Our meetings are a combination of lively discussion, laughter, and debate. We welcome newcomers! We hold our meetings on Tuesday evenings from 7pm-8:30pm. Keep an eye on this space for the exact dates and the announcement of our book for the month. Hope to see you there!