An author’s book launch at a Brooklyn store was canceled after staff objected to the rabbi he was to be in discussion with, the New York Times reports.
Joshua Leifer was scheduled to discuss his new book, Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life, with Rabbi Andy Bachman at Powerhouse, a bookstore in Dumbo. Leifer’s book, published Tuesday by Dutton, explores the state of Judaism in America; a critic for Kirkus called the book “candid, intellectual, [and] often pessimistic.”
Leifer said that shortly before the event, his publicist called him to tell him that Powerhouse had decided it was uncomfortable with Bachman being on its stage because the rabbi is a Zionist. Bachman, a progressive, told the Times, “My Zionism demands that we also recognize Palestinian claims on a national homeland. I believe in sharing the land. Full stop. Period.”
Leifer went to the bookstore to see if he could convince the store to change its mind, but was rebuffed by an employee, who said, “The moderator that your publishing team sourced is a Zionist, and we don’t want a Zionist onstage.”
Powerhouse owner Daniel Power told the Forward that the employee who had nixed the event is no longer employed by the store.
“All she was to do was babysit an event,” he said. “Absolutely no one here can get their heads around what the heck she thought she was doing.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
