San Francisco: Hidden Jewish Heritage, April 26

How would you react if you realized an important family secret had been kept from you?

What happens when adults discover their hidden Jewish heritage?

Find out on Monday, April 26, at 7.30pm, at a program co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Library (JCL) and the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society (SFBAJGS), at the JCL, 1835 Ellis St., San Francisco.
Four people from very different backgrounds discuss the discovery of their Jewish heritage, the circumstances surrounding the revelation, and how it affected their lives, their relationships, and their identities.

"Sudden Jews: When Adults Discover Their Hidden Jewish Heritage" brings together Marny Hall, Irene Reti, Jim Van Buskirk and Cecilia Wambach to discuss this topic, at the Jewish Community Library, 1835 Ellis Street, San Francisco.

Irene Reti is the daughter of two Holocaust refugees who hid their Jewish identities. She is the author of "Keeper of Memory: A Memoir and Kabbalah of Stone," a novel about hidden Jews (conversos) in 15th century Spain. Reti is the director of the oral history research office at UC Santa Cruz.

Jim Van Buskirk, book group coordinator at the Jewish Community Library, is the co-editor of "Identity Envy: Wanting to Be Who We're Not." He is currently working on an intergenerational family memoir about discovering his Jewish heritage at age 54, "My Grandmother's Suitcase."

Marny Hall discovered she was Jewish at age 30. She is a sex therapist and author whose books include The Lavender Couch, Sexualities, and The Lesbian Love Companion. Hall is also the co-author of Queer Blues.

Cecelia Wambach is professor emeritus of mathematics education at San Francisco State University. For almost eight years, she has been involved in a project to research her father's ancestry, which has taken her to the Czech Republic, Israel and Uruguay and is the subject of her forthcoming book, "Hide and Go Seek: The Search for My Father's Family."

The discussion is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit the JGS San Francisco website.