This week marked the 27th annual JBC Network conference. At a time when our communities’ own sense of security and belonging is threatened, the act of coming together, sharing our stories, and amplifying Jewish voices is both meaningful and necessary. Member sites across North America heard from over 270 authors, exceptional stories ranging across all genres. We had the pleasure of hearing a particularly meaningful conversation on "Navigating Jewish Communal Programming in This Moment" with Founder and President of CANVAS Compendium Lou Cove, CEO of the Shalom Hartman Institute מכון שלום הרטמן of North America Rachel Jocoby Rosenfield, and President and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network Andrés Spokoiny, facilitated by the CEO of Jewish Book Council Naomi Firestone-Teeter. (fb)

After seeing the news today, we are turning to Richard Chess' poem on loss and sorrow. Read it here. https://bit.ly/3STGSEB This piece is a part of our Witnessing series, which shares pieces from Israeli authors and authors in Israel, as well as the experiences of Jewish writers around the globe in the aftermath of October 7th. You can read more from the series here.https://bit.ly/4gQueje (fb)