Tenenbaum Lecture Focuses on Holocaust Memory
Israeli writer David Grossman will address questions about the meaning of the Holocaust today, the ways to preserve its memory, and the place of art in that effort during the annual Tenenbaum Family Lecture in Judaic Studies.
Presented by the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies, the lecture, titled “The Holocaust’s Carrier Pigeon: Reflections on Writing and Memory,” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, in Room 208 of White Hall and will be followed by a reception and book sale.
Grossman will sign purchased books.
He has written eight novels and several nonfiction and children’s books. He has received Israel’s most prestigious literary awards, the Sapir Prize and the Bialik Prize, and many international honors. His writing has examined such difficult aspects of Israeli and Jewish identity as the struggle with Holocaust memory and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
His latest novel, “A Horse Walks Into a Bar,” is set in a comedy club in a small Israeli town, where an audience awaits an evening of amusement. Instead, the crowd sees a comedian falling apart onstage but cannot boo, whistle or leave, in awe of the spectacle. Ultimately, the book deals with human suffering, society, truth and love.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available on the Emory campus.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Tenenbaum Family Lecture in Judaic Studies, named for the family of Meyer W. Tenenbaum of Savannah, who arrived from Poland at age 13 knowing no English and graduated from the Emory School of Law 11 years later in 1932. He went on to head Chatham Steel.
This year’s program has the backing of the Waxman Support Fund, which promotes scholarly research, teaching and public programming at Emory on topics related to anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and relations between Jews and other communities.
For more information on the lecture and on the Tam Institute, visit www.js.emory.edu.
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