Beth Sholom Sisterhood

The Buffet Alone Was Bursting With Good Will

Last night I spoke at a large, beautiful, and very gracious Conservative Synagogue in Roslyn Heights, on Long Island: Beth Sholom. The Sisterhood invited me—and Wende Jager-Hyman coordinated it all very brilliantly. I was received so warmly, people were so eager to hear me preach the Word, so to speak, that it was a genuine pleasure to be with them. Initially, they wanted me to speak about the issues raised in An American Bride in Kabul but I was then implored to also talk about The New Anti-Semitism and about my new book, Living History: On The Front Lines for Israel and the Jews, 2003-2015.

I did so, both during my lecture and in the QNA afterwards.

The main sanctuary was crowded; you could literally hear that proverbial pin drop. The President of the Sisterhood, Miriam Furman Silverman asked the first question and it was about honor killings. I spoke on about this—it is the first thing you will hear on the tape. Afterwards, Jews from Iran and Morocco were the first to come and speak with me; I had a glorious conversation with not one—but two!—opera singers; with a woman who had grown up in London and who had joined the same Zionist youth group that I had and also at a very young age; most definitely with Wende, and with so many other smiling, worried, thoughtful, grateful people.