Sheila Kliger is part of the group of congregants at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley that organizes the “Open a Book, Open Your Mind” series, in which a different author comes into the synagogue to discuss a recent release of theirs that relates to Jewish life. The group proposed that Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City be invited — the problem is, as rabbi of “America’s synagogue,” Cosgrove is quite busy. So, Kliger came to the rescue.
“I played the ‘kid card,’” she laughed.
Kliger’s son is a member of Park Avenue Synagogue and knows Cosgrove well. Once that relationship was explained, the rabbi made sure to find a time to travel to the Philadelphia area to talk about his newest book, “For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today.”
Across town at Gratz College, officials were interested in having Cosgrove come to them for their own similar series, called “One Book, One Jewish Community.” Then, they found out that the rabbi was already planning on speaking at Har Zion, and Gratz staff reached out to synagogue leadership to join forces. Now, the event is being held jointly by the two institutions. On Nov. 10, Cosgrove will speak at Har Zion from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. about the aftermath of Oct. 7 and what it means for Jews around the world.
Michael Greenspoon, director of marketing at Har Zion, said that, despite the fact that he has only been at the synagogue a short time, he has seen how impactful the “Open a Book, Open Your Mind” program is.
“Since I have been here, I have attended four or five of the events, and it’s so good for the community. People aren’t just reading from the books, they are really going into the content, and it’s really well received,” he said. “Having someone of the caliber of Rabbi Cosgrove come and speak about something so topical is a big win for us, and we’re happy to have the sheer promotional power of Gratz College to make it available to the wider Jewish community.”
Susan Kochman is Kliger’s sister and a co-founder of “Open a Book, Open Your Mind.” She said that attendance for the series — which has been running for more than a decade — has improved this year, and she thinks Cosgrove’s talk will continue that trend.
“Our numbers have definitely increased from last year. I think people are finally coming back [after the pandemic]. And we also find — not to brag — but if we get someone to come in to one or two authors, they will start to come back more frequently,” Kochman said.
Greenspoon said the sisters are largely to thank for those changes in numbers.
“Sheila and Susan have done a great job with what I’ll call guerilla marketing,” he said. “They use their charm and charisma and get everyone excited about these books. We do a lot of things here, and they have done a lot of marketing for these events over the last 12 years. As far as ‘Open a Book, Open Your Mind,’ this [will be] one of the bigger events that we have and we’re very excited about it.”
Cohen said that the students at Gratz, as well as the faculty, are excited. She has enjoyed what she has read of the memoir to this point.
“Reading the book is like listening to him just kind of talking out loud about things that have happened in the world…it’s about how to be Jewish in the world [today],” Cohen said.
For Kliger, this iteration of “Open a Book, Open Your Mind” is, like the others, a great chance to bring people together.
“We’re getting people responding who have never been to any of our programs,” she said. “We think it’s really worthwhile — it’s educational, and you learn something. You come for a little snack, you talk. But the point is really to get out into the community,” she said.
The event is in-person only, and has two different price points for entry. Those interested can purchase an $18 ticket that gets you admission to the talk as well as breakfast, or a $36 ticket that gets you a copy of Cosgrove’s newest work in addition to entry and food.
Koffman said that this event will help return the series to the momentum it had before things changed in 2020.
“We have had a number of top-notch authors in the past where they have drawn 200 or 300 people in attendance, but it’s been a while since we have done that because of the pandemic,” she said. “To bring the people into the building for this kind of program, it’s really exciting to us.”
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