An event in a bookstore in Brooklyn, which was canceled because an employee objected to the “Zionist” moderatorwhich sparked widespread protests, has been postponed to another location until next week.
The event for “Tablets Shattered,” a new book about Jewish life in America by journalist Joshua Leifer, will take place on Monday evening at the Center for New Jewish Culture in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
Monday’s discussion will be moderated by Rabbi Andy Bachman, who was scheduled to host the first event at the Powerhouse Arena, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood. Leifer is a Jewish journalist who has written for a number of left-wing publications, including Jewish Currents and +972, and Bachman, who previously led Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope and describes himself as a Zionist, is a progressive and critic of the Israeli government.
The event at the Powerhouse Arena was originally scheduled to take place last Tuesday. But shortly before it began, Leifer learned that the event had been canceled because Bachman is a Zionist.
The bookstore “told me that they were not willing to have the conversation with Andy because they would not allow a Zionist into the premises,” Leifer wrote on X.
The bookstore’s owner, Daniel Power, told New York Jewish Week that a dishonest employee canceled the event and was being fired over the incident. “This is abhorrent, it is inappropriate and it was completely unauthorized,” he said.
On Thursday, the bookstore published a public statement He condemned the employee’s decision to cancel the event, confirmed her dismissal and acknowledged “anti-Semitic hostility”.
“Bookstores, in particular, cannot fulfill their fundamental right to exist without an unconditional commitment to the free and open exchange of ideas,” the statement said.
The cancellation sparked sharp criticism from Jewish leaders and public officials, including New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander (who also identifies as a Zionist) and New York City Representatives Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres.
“We know and respect both Josh and Rabbi Bachman very well, so from a community perspective, it’s a no-brainer for us,” said Rabbi Matt Green, co-founder of the Center for New Jewish Culture, about why the venue chose to host the event.
“The Center for New Jewish Culture is based on the idea that we need to have difficult conversations, and I would say we need to have conversations that really concern the Jewish people right now, and this is obviously one such conversation,” he added.
The term “Zionist” has become pejorative in parts of the American left, with progressive groups, Entrepreneur And College students actively seeks to exclude “Zionists” from public spaces. Polls show that most Jews in the United States feel a connection to Israel.
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The cancellation was the latest case since October 7 in which Jews have been isolated in the art world because of Israel. The controversy over the war between Israel and Hamas has other literary spaces since 7 Oct. A viral list Reports against “Zionist” authors circulated on the Internet, a Jewish sponsor of the National Book Awards withdrew from the ceremony because of efforts to declare a ceasefire and PEN America an annual festival cancelled due to disputes over the war.
Last month, the manager of Chicago bookstore City Lit pulled the popular book “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin from a book club selection because she claimed that Zevin — who has not been public about her views on Israel — was a “Zionist.” The bookstore later apologized for the decision but did not apologize to Zevin.
An online petition The campaign launched earlier this week calling for greater representation of Jewish and Zionist groups in independent bookstores like Powerhouse has collected more than 700 signatures.
