During Kallah Weekend (January 23–24), Scholar-in-Residence Howard Blum will discuss two of his books, The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation & World War II, and The Eve of Destruction: The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War.

Friday, January 23 at 8:15 PM
The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation & World War II
An epic true story of three remarkable men and one woman who set out to fight a war and, in the process, help to create a nation. The year is 1944, and the war in Europe is drawing to a close when the British government finally agrees to send a brigade of five thousand Jewish volunteers from Palestine to Europe to fight the German army. When the savage hand-to-hand combat is finished, the men of the brigade emerge triumphant. At a time when Jews were victimized, these soldiers—yellow Stars of David emblazoned on their uniform sleeves—show the world that a Jewish army can fight back and win. But, when the war ends and the soldiers witness firsthand the horrors their people have suffered in the concentration camps, the men launch a brutal and calculating campaign of vengeance, forming secret squads to identify, locate, and kill Nazi officers in hiding. Their own ferocity threatens to overwhelm them until a fortuitous encounter with an orphaned girl sets the men on a course of action—rescuing Jewish war orphans and transporting them to Palestine—that will not only change their lives, but also forever alter the course of world history, provoking debate about the moral elements of justice, the dividing lines between good and evil, and the possibility of redemption.

Saturday, January 24 at 10:45 AM
The Eve of Destruction: The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War
On October 6, 1973—Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar—the Arab world launched a bold and ingeniously-conceived surprise attack against Israel. After three days of intense, bloody combat, an unprepared Israel was fighting for its survival while the Arabs, with massive forces closing in on the Jewish heartland, were poised to redeem the honor lost in three previous wars. Based on declassified Israeli government documents and revealing interviews with soldiers, generals, and intelligence operatives on both sides of the conflict, The Eve of Destruction weaves a suspenseful, eye-opening story of war, politics, and deception. It also tells the moving human tale of the men and women who fought to maintain love and honor as their lives and destinies were swept up in the Yom Kippur War.

HOWARD BLUM is the author of the New York Times bestseller and Edgar Award winner American Lightning, as well as such bestselling books as Wanted!, The Gold Exodus, and Gangland. He is currently a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. While at the New York Times, he was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

The full schedule of events is as follows:

Friday:
Services: 6:30 PM
Dinner: 7:15 PM ($18/plate, RSVP by 1/16)
Lecture: 8:30 PM
Q&A: 9:15 PM
Dessert: 9:30 PM

Saturday:
Services: 9:00 AM
Lecture: 10:45 AM
Luncheon: 12:00 PM
Q&A: 12:30 PM

For more information on the event, and to RSVP for the dinner, please contact New City Jewish Center at ncjc@newcityjc.org or 845.638.9600.