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Sandra Seltzer Silberman HBI Conversations Series

A statue of a woman sitting in front of a bookshelf full of books

Want to explore Jewish women's lives through new and thought-provoking literary fiction, memoir and more? Want to connect first hand with those who create it? The Sandra Seltzer Silberman HBI Conversations Series, dedicated in honor of our beloved Conversations friend, Sandy Silberman, z"l, brings us together in a warm, online setting to share stories that explore the diversity of Jewish women's experiences across the world from yesterday and today.

"When I first read your book, I was inspired by your story and your writing. Listening to you describe some of your experiences personally yesterday was a treat, and added even more depth to your story for me." — Rabbi Beth Naditch, sharing her thoughts with a HBI Conversations author

We encourage you to purchase the books, read in advance, and bring your thoughts and questions to discuss with our authors.

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What types of books are selected?

We select both literary fiction and nonfiction, including memoirs, biographies and scholarly essays. These include research supported by HBI, whether written by HBI Scholars-in-Residence or recipients of HBI research awards, and books published in the HBI Series on Jewish Women. All of our books will focus on themes related to Jews and gender.

See a partial list of authors who have participated in the HBI Conversations Program.

Which authors are joining the Sandra Seltzer Silberman Conversations Series this year? When are the events?

2024-25 HBI Conversations Authors

Francine Klagsbrun, Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream

September 2024

Watch here

Award-winning author Francine Klagsbrun reveals the complex life and work of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah and a Zionist trailblazer. In her work with Hadassah, Szold used a combined ethical and pragmatic approach aimed at improving the lives of both Jews and Arabs. She later moved to Mandate Palestine to help shape education, health, and social services there. The pinnacle of her career came in her 70s, when she took on the task of directing the Youth Aliyah program, which rescued thousands of young people from the Nazis and resettled them in Palestine.

Using Szold’s copious letters, diaries, essays, and more, Klagsbrun traces Szold’s life and legacy with an eye to uncovering the person behind the Zionist icon. She reveals Szold as a complex human being who had to cope with controversy and criticism, a workaholic with an outsized sense of duty, and an idealist who fought for her beliefs even as she questioned her own abilities.

Francine Klagsbrun is the author of numerous books, including the award-winning Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel.

Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream is available at Amazon, Bookshop, and your local bookseller.

Ayelet Tsabari, Songs for the Brokenhearted

November 13, 2024

12:30 pm EST | Online

Award-winning Israeli author Ayelet Tsabari joins HBI to discuss her debut novel, Songs for the Brokenhearted, which explores the experience of contemporary Yemeni Israeli women, the art of Yemeni women’s music, and the terrible legacy of the Yemenite babies’ affair. Tsabari is the author of the memoir The Art of Leaving, finalist for the Writer’s Trust Hilary Weston Prize and The Vine Awards, winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for memoir, and an Apple Books and Kirkus Review Best Book of 2019. Her first book, the story collection The Best Place on Earth, won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish Fiction.

“Ayelet Tsabari has written a gorgeous, gripping novel that asks layered questions about history and politics, nation and borders, even as it pays rapt attention to the fabric of daily life. Filled with unforgettable characters, each as flawed and fully human as the next, Songs for the Brokenhearted is a gift.”—Elizabeth Graver, author of Kantika

Songs for the Brokenhearted is available at Amazon, Bookshop, and your local bookseller. Available September 10, 2024.

While this event will be recorded and shared with registrants, it will not be available to view on the HBI website.

Jay Prosser, Loving Strangers: A Camphorwood Chest, A Legacy, A Son Returns

December 11, 2024

12:30 pm EST | Online

Loving Strangers is Jay Prosser’s search for belonging and identity through a unique family and historical archive. In this memoir of his mother and grandmother, Prosser explores the rich history and complex understanding of intermarriage in the Singaporean Jewish community, exploring his family’s roots in China and amongst Baghdadi Jews from India. Jay Prosser teaches and researches at the Centre for Jewish Studies and the School of English at the University of Leeds. Loving Strangers was winner of the Hazel Rowley Prize (US, 2020) and shortlisted for the Tony Lothian Prize (UK, 2019).

Prosser’s “...odyssey to reclaim his Jewish identity through the memorabilia of his mother’s complex family history is both moving and compelling. A shimmering memoir of love’s work, healing for our fractured times.” — Nancy K. Miller, Author of What They Saved: Pieces of a Jewish Past

Loving Strangers is available at Amazon, Blackwell's (with free shipping to the US), and your local bookseller.

This event will be recorded and shared with registrants. It will also be available to view on HBI’s website.