Jewish Book Festival

2025 Festival Highlights

SPECIAL PROLOGUE
ISRAELI AUTHORS CONNECT OVER THE OCEAN

Sunday, January 19, 1:00pm
MAYA ARAD – The Hebrew Teacher
ESHKOL NEVO – Inside Information

Three Israeli women, their lives altered by immigration to the US, seek to overcome crises. Three stirring novellas—comedies of manners with an ambitious blend of irony and sensitivity.
MAYA ARAD is considered the most accomplished Hebrew-language writer living outside of Israel, and perhaps one of the best Israeli novelists of her generation.
From the internationally bestselling author of The Last Interview, Eshkol Nevo’s darkest, most thrilling novel of psychological suspense weaves together three turbulent and unconventional love stories.
ESHKOL NEVO is one of Israel’s most successful living writers. His novels have all been bestsellers in Israel and published widely in translation.

CHILDREN & FAMILIES: COMING TOGETHER AROUND CHALLAH

In Partnership with PJ Library
Sun Feb 23, 10:30am
SIDURA LUDWIG / Rising
A child and mother wake early every Friday morning to mix and measure, knead and shape dough that will become challah bread. Sidura Ludwig’s debut picture book is a lyrical tribute to the ritual of making challah and preparing for Shabbat, with stunning illustrations by Sophia Vincent Guy.
We will bake challah together at the J!

FOR BOOK CLUBS AND BOOK LOVERS

Tue Feb 25, 8:00pm
LAURIE FRANKEL – Family Family
India Allwood’s new movie is a prestige picture about adoption, but because she is an adoptive mom in real life, she wants everyone to know that pain and regret are not part of her story. So she does the unthinkable — she tells a journalist the truth: it’s a bad movie. Soon she’s at the center of a media storm, battling accusations from protesters on the right and advocates on the left. The one thing she knows for sure is what makes a family isn’t blood. And it isn’t love. No matter how they’re formed, the truth about family is this: it’s complicated.
LAURIE FRANKEL is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of five novels that have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and been optioned for film and TV.

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD

Thur Feb 27, 7:30pm – CLOSING NIGHT
MICAH SIVA/ Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine
“Micah shares a culturally inclusive, plant-based, and most importantly, DELICIOUS take on the foods of her beloved Jewish heritage.” – Adeena Sussman
Food is a central part of Jewish culture, and Nosh is the cookbook for the modern Jewish kitchen, drawing inspiration from history through a 21st century lens.
MICAH SIVA is a trained chef, registered dietitian, recipe writer, and food photographer, specializing in modern Jewish cuisine.

About the JCC Jewish Book Festival

The Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival is one of Vancouver’s leading cultural and literary events, attracting a large and varied audience of over 5,000 people of all ages. This highly popular community-wide event brings together prominent and emerging Jewish writers and non-Jewish writers on Jewish subject matter.

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