The Betsy Hotel and Jewish Book Council are thrilled to announce Liz Kleinrock as the inaugural winner of our Jewish Book Month writer’s residency contest.
The Writer’s Room at The Betsy is a working studio space for visiting writers and artists to create, develop their craft and share their work through community programs, The Writer’s Room pays homage to the many “writing rooms” that existed in pre-war hotels where guests recorded memories and linked to home. Alumni from the program can be found here and more information on The Betsy Hotel can be found here.
In answer to the contest question of what is your favorite Jewish book and why, Kleinrock wrote the following:
I adore The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs by Chana Stiefel. It addresses the Holocaust and antisemitism in a way that’s accessible for children, and transitions into a story of resilience, culture, and power. Far too often, Jewish history is solely viewed through a lens of oppression and victimhood, and I refuse to be defined only by the worst things that have been done to our community. I view this book as a reclamation of our history, honoring the past while creating hope for the future.
