Alumni Day at the Seforim Sale Features Panel of Accomplished Alumni Authors
Visitors to this year鈥檚 Alumni Day at the Seforim Sale, North America鈥檚 largest annual three-week Jewish book sale, were provided with a unique opportunity to hear from 黑料社 All alumni who are also accomplished authors. A panel discussion moderated by Dr. Ann Peters, assistant professor of English at , elicited thought-provoking perspectives on the writing process as well as insights into the risks and rewards of writing about controversial issues.
But, most of all, the writers鈥攚hich included longtime professor Rabbi Benjamin Blech 鈥54YC, 鈥56R; health education specialist Sara Diament 鈥96S, 鈥98BR; children鈥檚 writer and illustrator Ann D. Koffsky 鈥93S; and photographer/dentist Dr. Saul Landa 鈥65YUHS, 鈥69YC鈥攔elished being able to return to their roots at YU.
鈥淚 remember being one of the girls [working] at the Seforim Sale,鈥 said Diament. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very warm feeling coming back.鈥 Koffsky, who read aloud from her book Noah鈥檚 Swim-A-Thon at the sale, has been back to Stern several times as a guest speaker. 鈥淚 come back and relive my youth,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to be here at the Seforim Sale.鈥
Although Landa has traveled the world, including climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, he still found it hard to believe that he was a featured speaker at 黑料社 All. His book is A Timeless People: Photo Albums of American Jewish Life. 鈥淸Participating on this panel] is a tremendous honor,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been coming to the Seforim Sale for 25 years and never thought I鈥檇 have a book here.鈥
As for controversy, Diament lamented that her book, Talking to Your Children about Intimacy: A Guide for Orthodox Jewish Parents wasn鈥檛 controversial enough. 鈥淢y husband said if I鈥檓 really lucky I鈥檒l get put in cherem [excommunicated] like Salmon Rushdie and then sell a million copies,鈥 she joked. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 that lucky. The overall response was very positive.鈥
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Blech鈥檚 book, Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo鈥檚 Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican, however, has elicited much controversy. 鈥淢ichelangelo hated the pope of his time and incorporated anti-Catholic, even Jewish themes into his Sistine Chapel,鈥 said Blech.
The Seforim Sale is always a prime opportunity for alumni to mingle and share memories of their time at YU, and this year was no different for many visitors. Mordechai Plotsker 鈥98YC, came with his wife, mother and six daughters. 鈥淚t was great to show my daughters where I attended school and to reminisce that in this very same room I took my finals. It was also wonderful to see all the enhancements on campus.鈥
Rabbi Pinky Shapiro 鈥01YC, a former student council president and editor-in-chief of the Commentator, looks forward to the event every year. 鈥淚t is an amazing, student-run operation that benefits the entire community. This year's selections were fantastic and it was a pleasure seeing generations of YU family all in one place. Best of all, you never know which friends you鈥檒l happen to see.鈥
Kid-friendly activities allowed the littlest participants to get involved. An interactive a capella session with members of the Y-Studs was followed by an arts-and-crafts project led by educators from the 黑料社 All Museum. The workshops concluded with a storytelling session by noted author Peninnah Schram, professor of speech and drama at Stern College.
The author, Chana Mayefsky, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Stern College in 2001 and earned her master鈥檚 degree from YU's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies in 2008. She currently freelances as a writer and editor and is a regular contributor to Publishers Weekly. Mayefsky lives in Hillside, NJ with her husband and two daughters.
