Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/739920
48 October 20 • 2016 After exploring how the definition of the term has evolved throughout history, Kenneth Marcus, president and general counsel of the Louis. D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, considers a legal analysis of the meaning of the word, current debate about "anti-Semitism" and what, if anything, separates anti-Zionism from anti- Semitism. 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6 Chanan Tigay: The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt for the World's Oldest Bible $12 ($10 for JCC members) In 1883, a man appeared at the British Museum and made a strange announcement. Moses Shapira, a convert to Christianity and antiquities dealer from Jerusalem, said that he owned the world's oldest copy of the Bible, and he was willing to sell it for 1 mil- lion pounds. So begins a true tale that reads like a clas- sic detective story. At its heart is a curious and tragic figure who met a terrible fate — and may have been one of history's biggest con men, or perhaps the owner of one of his- tory's greatest treasures. 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 7 Claudia Kalb: Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History's Great Personalities Marilyn Monroe was always late to work, preferred going nude and rarely went any- where without her acting coach. After walks around the neighborhood, Albert Einstein often had difficulty finding his own home. Were these simply quirks, the little oddi- ties one could find in just about anyone? Or did many of the world's most interesting figures suffer from anxiety and personality disorders? Health and science journalist Claudia Kalb looks through a lens of modern psychology to consider the lives of 12 leading figures from entertainment to philosophy. 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8 Betsy Lerner: The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir Every Monday, without fail, the "Bridge Ladies" came to the Lerner house for lunch and a game. They were all Jewish. They all dressed in smart sweater sets, and they all were full-time homemakers. Young Betsy Lerner had no interest what- soever in the women she was certain were stodgy and boring. Then many years later, in an effort to better understand her own mother, Lerner returned to her childhood home — where the women still play bridge. What she discovered was not what she expected, and it changed everything. Readers of all ages (bridge players or not) will be drawn into this touching, true story about mothers and daughters, friendship, growing old and the need to be loved. Noon, Sunday, Nov. 13 Steven Gaines: One of These Things Firsts: A Memoir When Steven Gaines was 15, he attempted suicide and landed in a mental institution. He was fine with going — so long as it was a really nice institution. There, he met a collection of characters including a fashion editor who swore she had an affair with JFK, a physician who tried to "cure" him of his homosexuality and a Broadway producer who told him: "Write it all down." So he did. One of These Things First is Gaines' hon- continued from page 47 arts & life b o o k f a i r NONFICTION W hen Leonard Nimoy announced in 1949 that he wanted to be an actor and was leaving Boston for Hollywood, his Russian Jewish parents were stunned. "My grandfather said that he should take up the accordion," says Adam Nimoy, Leonard's son and the director of the new docu- mentary For the Love of Spock. "You could always make money with the accordion. Those were Max Nimoy's words of wisdom to my dad, if the actor thing didn't work out." He needn't have worried. Not because Leonard eventually made it after 15 years of bit parts in movies and TV shows, thanks to Star Trek. Or because his talent and curiosity propelled him into singing, photography, poetry and film directing. Nimoy had a deeply ingrained work ethic, independent of the arts, that perpetually drove him. From folding chairs at the Boston Pops and selling vacuum clean- ers in his hometown to installing aquariums in Los Angeles, Nimoy was determined to support him- self and his family. But his ambitions assuredly lay elsewhere. "He had a tremendous hunger to achieve, which was the dream of his parents coming over here, to achieve something in American society," Adam explains. "This is why he was so able to relate to Spock. My dad felt like an outsider, of a minority, of an immigrant background in a very defined neighborhood of Boston with other immigrants, and with a desire to assimilate himself into the greater culture." Nimoy, who died last year at the age of 83, is front and center in For the Love of Spock, which will screen Saturday, Nov. 12, as part of An Evening of Star Trek at the JCC Book Fair. The public often conflates an actor with a role. The documen- tary is willfully guilty of that, too, delving into Leonard's personal life only so far as it relates to Spock or to Adam's relationship with his dad. But it does include the story of how Nimoy took a childhood memory of seeing elders in syna- gogue making the "shin" gesture and adopted it as a Vulcan greet- ing. "He was very connected to his Jewish roots and very proud of his Jewish roots," Adam says. "He repeated the story of the Spock salute hundreds of times, literally, with great pride about where he got it — that Spock is an embodi- ment of some of Judaism." Nimoy notes, "It's become a universal symbol. My dad, through Spock, has spread this tradition of Judaism to the world. The magnitude of that fact alone, that so many people all over the planet salute my father with a 'shin,' is just mind-boggling to me." Of course, not everything Leonard did endeared him to his son. Driven to make the most of what might be a short-lived gig on Star Trek — NBC canceled the show after three seasons, in fact, although it found greater success in syndication — Leonard accept- ed every personal appearance he was offered. "It took a toll on us, we had challenges we had to deal with without him around, without his involvement in the family," Adam explains. "His career was No. 1. This is what caused a lot of friction between the two of us because I just didn't feel like I had that much of his attention early on. He had a great love and respect for the fans, but trying to get him to look at me was very challenging for me." Alas, that experience continued For The Love Of Spock Leonard Nimoy's son honors the Spock legacy with a film, to be screened at Book Fair. Michael Fox | Special to the Jewish News Leonard and Adam Nimoy