Relinquished
by Robert Yaffe
Tuesday, October 29
12 p.m.
Congregation B’nai Israel, 6525 Sylvania Ave.
$5 – includes kosher luncheon and author presentation
$15 – includes kosher luncheon, author presentation, and book
Kosher lunch will include herb grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, roasted vegetables, coleslaw, rolls, and garden salad.
(Generously funded by Jewish Senior Services Supporting Organization)
Relinquished is the real-life story of Robert Yaffe as he traverses the long and often rocky road to discovering his birth parents. Covering over thirty years of painstaking research, Relinquished is the story of an adoptee brought up in a Jewish household by loving and caring parents, as his Jewish birth mother so deeply desired and requested when she gave Robert up for adoption and signed the papers relinquishing all her rights. Follow Robert as he wrestles with astounding findings and painful conflicts that at times lead to intense guilt, family conflict, and emotional trauma.
Robert Yaffe is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. He began his career as a JAG Officer in the Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps and entered a second career in 1986 in Jewish communal service, serving as an executive director of Jewish Community Centers and synagogues in Toledo, Columbus, Winnipeg, and Chicago. Bob came to Toledo in 1989 as the Assistant Executive Director of the Toledo JCC. In 1992 he was promoted to Executive Director and served for four years until taking the executive director position in Winnipeg in 1996.
While in Toledo, Bob met his future wife Rita, who was working at the JCC at the time. They were married by Rabbi Ed Garsek at Congregation Etz Chayim in November 1990.
RSVP by Monday, October 14 https://form.jotform.com/jewishtoledo/jfgtprograms or to Sherry Majewski at 419-724-0351 or sherry@jewishtoledo.org.
The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie Transformed America
by Larry Tye
**Plus a jazz performance by Ariel Kasler Quartet: Andrew Bishop (Sax), Ariel Kasler (guitar), Jeff Halsey (bass), and Olman Piedra (drums)
Monday, November 4
6 p.m.
Lucille’s Jazz Lounge, 1447 N Summit St., Toledo
Event - $20 per person
Event and book - $45 per person
Event includes author presentation, jazz performance, appetizers, and one drink ticket.
A sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and violence to become the most popular entertainers on the planet. The Jazzmen looks mainly at these three maestros’ lives off the bandstand, and how they wrote the soundtrack for the civil rights revolution. It also explores the Black-Jewish alliance of old— one where each of these African American bandleaders had a Jewish manager and bandmates —and how that might offer a model for today.
Special performance by The Ariel Kasler Quartet. The Ariel Kasler Quintet performs original jazz compositions and arrangements influenced by Middle Eastern, Jewish, and Israeli music.
RSVP by Wednesday, October 30 to form.jotform.com/jewishtoledo/jfgtprograms or Sherry Majewski at sherry@jewishtoledo.org or 419-724-0351.
Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments
by Joe Posnanski
Sunday, November 17
6 p.m.
The Fieldhouse, 1040 N. Westwood Ave (near The University of Toledo)
Event: $18 per person
Event and book: $40 per person
Event includes author presentation, dinner, and one drink ticket.
After his bestselling home run books Why We Love Baseball and The Baseball 100, Joe Posnanski turns from the national pastime to the number one sport in America. Why We Love Football is Posnanski’s newest must-have deep dive into the archives and legends of the sport, and the result is a rousing tale of the 100 greatest moments in football lore.
From Patrick Mahomes's magic to the Ice Bowl, from Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass to a plethora of football "miracles," Why We Love Football is an unforgettable, conversational masterpiece you won’t ever want to end, and a can't-miss take on football from one of the greatest sportswriters of our time.
RSVP by Wednesday, November 13 to form.jotform.com/jewishtoledo/jfgtprograms or Sherry Majewski at sherry@jewishtoledo.org or 419-724-0351.