Grapevine: Meeting Douglas Murray

INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED journalist and bestselling author Douglas Murray, who is a board member of Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, has visited and reported from Israel since October 7, 2023, and this week attracted a large following for an appearance for Herut - The Center for Israeli Liberty. He has done so again for NGO Monitor. Both events were sold out well in advance. As he did this week, he will again share insights and provoke discussion on Wednesday, November 27.

Participation in the discussion is free of charge, but to raise funds for its work NGO Monitor is hosting a reception where guests can meet Murray personally. Participation in the reception is $1,000 per head, and apparently there are a lot of people who’ve been willing to part with that sum for a close encounter with the guest of honor, who, at the public part of the event, will present his views on whether we can stop the groups driving terror, along with anti-Israel and antisemitic activities.

The event is in memory of Joel Golovensky, a New York-born lawyer, essayist, activist, and founder of organizations in New York, Russia, and Israel.

Kafka event at the National Library

■ ONE OF the perks of being a journalist is being invited to previews. It’s not such a big deal to be invited to a preview of a film or a play, but it is a big deal to be invited to a preview of an art exhibition. While it is exciting to attend the actual opening of an exhibition, there are just too many people to enable the proper viewing of the exhibits. You want to stand back from a painting to gain a different perspective, and in seconds a dozen people are standing in front of you and blocking your view. You want to read an explanation in a glass showcase, but you can’t get close enough because too many people are crowding the area.

The powers that be at the National Library understand this and the accompanying frustrations. Therefore, a few days before the official opening of the upcoming Kafka exhibition, titled “Metamorphosis of an Author,” they organized a preview at which participating journalists will learn about the exhibition and about Kafka himself from Tsila Hayun, head of the Culture Department at the National Library; Dr. Stefan Litt, curator of the Humanities Collection at the library; and Neta Assaf and Karine Shabtai, the curators of the exhibition.

The opening date of the exhibition is December 3. The National Library has an extraordinary collection of Kafka documents, most of which had never been on public display and will therefore be of particular interest to Kafka enthusiasts, not to mention members of Israel’s Czech community. This is the centenary year of Kafkas’s death in June 1924. The title of the exhibition is taken from one of Kafka’s best-known works, The Metamorphosis, which is about a man who wakes up one morning to discover he has been transformed into a huge insect.

Good reviews for Gila Fine

■ FAVORABLE REVIEWS of a book are always a balm for the author’s ego, but even more of a balm is the winning of a prestigious prize for the book. Gila Fine, the author of The Mad Woman in the Rabbi’s Attic, had already received several reviews praising her literary skills, creativity, comprehensive knowledge, and talent for Talmudic analysis, but the cherry on top of the cake was winning the Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Book Prize for 2024.

Since the inauguration of the prize in 2022, Fine is the first female to make the list of finalists and to be named the winner of the award. Widely recognized as a teacher and riveting lecturer,

Fine is a faculty member of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, where she makes the stories in the Talmud more accessible and appealing through philosophy, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and pop culture.

Already hailed for her brilliant mind, Fine has taught and lectured around the world and continues to be in high demand.

Launching Az Nashir and Shiva

■ FINE IS not the only Pardes faculty member who is also an author. On Tuesday, November 26, at 7:30 p.m., Pardes will host an evening of reflection and conversation with the launch of Az Nashir and Shiva, two new anthologies by Pardes faculty that relate to the events of Oct. 7 through prayer and poetry. Editors Rachel Sharansky Danziger and Rachel Korazim will discuss how these forms of expression offer ways for processing grief and finding strength. The moderator will be Pardes president Rabbi Leon Morris.

The venue is at Pardes, 29 Pierre Koenig Street, Talpiot.

Mourning Avi Goldberg

■ THE KISLEV Rosh Hodesh luncheon and lecture organized by the Jerusalem Anglo Women’s Rosh Hodesh Lunch Club will take place on Sunday, December 1, at 12:45 p.m., at Kehillat Mevakshei Derech, 22 Sderot Shai Agnon in San Simon. This month’s lunch is sponsored by Rebecca Goldsmith in memory of her stepson, Captain Rabbi Avi Goldberg, who fell in battle in Lebanon on October 26.

Goldberg, who was a beloved teacher at the Himmelfarb School, which has sustained severe losses over the past year, was a great believer in Jewish unity, a model husband, and an adoring father of eight. He always managed to make time for other people and engage in many volunteer activities.

He was also staunchly patriotic and served 250 days as a reservist over the past year.

The guest speaker at the luncheon in Goldberg’s memory will be Prof. Agnes Bankie, the former director of Victorian Clinical Genetic Services and chair of the Royal Children’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee in Melbourne, Australia. She was also president of the Human Genetic Society of Australasia. She has been living in Israel since 2020.

Her topic will be “To Future Healthy Children: Exploring the Possibilities.”

Attendance is by reservation only to roshhodeshwomen@gmail.com. Cost is NIS 50. Gluten-free meals are available if requested in advance.

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