Jewish book week
London’s international literary festival

Festival 2020 Saturday 29 February - Sunday 08 March | Tickets now on sale

Saturday Night Double Bill

Sam Bourne, Jay Rayner, Jonathan Freedland, Hirsh Goodman, Jonathan Kaplan, Jeff Barak

04/03/2006 5:00 pm
,

SESSION ONE : Suspense

Jonathan Freedland presented Sam Bourne, the author of an exciting thriller set in the New York Jewish community.
Moderated by award-winning journalist, writer and broadcaster Jay Rayner.
SESSION TWO : Don’t Tell Me Miracles Can’t Happen!
“I have seen the end of Apartheid and witnessed modern Israel rising from the ashes of the Holocaust. Don’t tell me miracles can’t happen”. Concludes Hirsh Goodman at the end of his autobiography.
Both Hirsh Goodman and Jonathan Kaplan grew up in South Africa and fled apartheid.
Goodman went to Israel in search of his paradise. His work as a journalist in constant dialogue with Israel’s leaders helped him closely follow the evolution of the country. He saw his son leave the country after his military service in the West Bank to move to the new South Africa.
Kaplan travelled the world to work for medical charities in areas of conflict – Burma, Eritrea, Angola, Baghdad – experiencing riots, tropical fevers and political upheavals.
They discussed what kept them going, the price they paid and the challenge of retaining their ideals.
Sam Bourne

Jay Rayner


Jay Rayner is a journalist, writer, broadcaster, food critic and jazz musician. His documentary The Truth About Food Prices was watched by 2.2 million people. He has appeared as a judge on MasterChef and the Great British Waste Menu and has sat on the judging panel of Top Chef Masters in the US. He chairs BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet. Jay’s first album A Night of Food and Agony examined the relationship between jazz and two key themes in his life: food and drink. His one man show My Dining Hell which documents bad reviews and his worst dining experiences, was performed in London and Edinburgh. Jay is the regular food critic for The Guardian and Observer.

Jonathan Freedland


Jonathan Freedland is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster. He writes a weekly column for The Guardian, where he is executive editor, Opinion. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series The Long View and has also written seven books.

Hirsh Goodman

Hirsh Goodman is the founder of the Jerusalem Report, former vice president of the Jerusalem Post, and currently senior research associate at the Jaffe Centre for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. He has also been a contributing editor to U. S. News and World Report and the New Republic, a special correspondent for the London Sunday Times and forCBS News. He has recently published his autobiography: Let Me Create a Paradise, God Said to Himself: A Childhood in South Africa and a Life in Israel. 

Jonathan Kaplan

Jonathan Kaplan studied medicine in Cape Town before coming to the United Kingdom and USA to acquire specialist surgical qualifications. After ten years of clinical experience and research work he left the secure career of hospital surgery to travel as a doctor, journalist and documentary film maker. His first book The Dressing Station won both the Alan Paton Award and the South African Booksellers Choice Award. His new book Contact Wounds has just been published.

Jeff Barak

Jeff Barak is Managing Editor of the Jewish Chronicle.