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Stories from the Christmas City’s Jewish Community
Join us on September 6 from 2 – 4 PM or December 6 from 11 AM – 1 PM for a book talk with Bethlehem author Jennifer Lader at the 1810 Goundie House, celebrating her 2025 book Belonging to Bethlehem: Stories from the Christmas City’s Jewish Community. Published by Bright Communications, LLC, this 302-page work blends personal storytelling with community history, offering an intimate look at the Jewish community in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Lader Book Talk Topics
On September 6 from 2 -4 PM at the 1810 Goundie House, Lader’s talk will focus on the topic “American as Apple Kugel: Stories from the Christmas City’s Jewish Community”.
On December 6 from 11 AM – 1 PM at the 1810 Goundie House, Lader’s talk will focus on the topic “That Star Up On the Hill: Stories from the Christmas City’s Jewish Community”.
About Jennifer Lader
Jennifer Lader is local author and award-winning writer who creates space for people to share their stories. She got her start writing for The Bethlehem Press, which is also where Belonging to Bethlehem began. For this project, she drew on her degree in anthropology to shine a light on the ways people connect through story.
For the book, Jennifer interviewed 100 people in and around the city’s Jewish community. She wove their stories together into a narrative arc that spans a century, from the 1890s to the 1990s. The book combines first person narratives and journalistic storytelling, and features photo illustrations. Belonging to Bethlehem is a universal story as much as it is a story of this one community.
This event is free to attend, but pre-registration encouraged.
