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An avid reader, I eagerly anticipate the MJCCA’s annual Book Festival. The festival leadership succeeds in bringing top-tier authors to Atlanta each year and I revel at their stories, the behind-the-scenes anecdotes that they share about both the writing process and their subject matter, and the witty banter between the speaker and the audience. But it is truly the books that take my breath away each year.

If you have been in my office – affectionately known as my study – you will notice the walls lined either with windows or books. I’ve never been a kindle guy; I like the feel of a book in my hands, the pages between my fingers. I like folding corners of pages where I find something worth revisiting at a later date. Many of the books in my collection have been purchased over these last 12 years at each of the book festivals that I have been able to attend, and many of the books are written by authors whose name first came to my attention through the MJCCA Book Festival.

Not only am I proud that our community hosts this annual gem, I am also proud – we are ALL proud – of the growing involvement of Sinai members in the festival. While Temple Sinai members have previously chaired or been involved in the festival in some capacity, this year we can highlight a few unique cases:

• First, Sinai member Jason Sheffield will be a featured author (Friday, November 9 at noon)!
• Second, the annual George and Eva Stern lecture, named in honor of beloved Sinai members, will feature Peter Sagal (Sunday, November 18 at 7:30).
• And we are excited to announce that this will be the inaugural year of the Sharon Fagin Joy of Reading Program featuring Sally Field (Sunday, October 21 at 7:30)

Tickets for the Book Festival go on sale on August 31 and you can purchase them via the MJCCA’s website here.

I look forward to seeing you at the festival…and if I don’t see you first, come up and say, “hello.” I’ll be the guy with his nose in a book.

Shabbat Shalom,

Brad