Rabbi Isador Signer (1900-1953) was born in Romania, raised in Montreal, and ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, after which he served pulpits in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Sommerville, Massachusetts; and Manhattan Beach, New York. He delivered weekly sermons throughout his 20's prior to the Great Depression and the Holocaust. A century later, his granddaughter, Aliza Arzt, has selected and annotated over two dozen of Rabbi Signer's sermons delivered between the years 1923 and 1949 in Turning the Pages: Conversations through Time with Rabbi Isador Signer. The book includes contemporary responses to each sermon, reflecting on Rabbi Signer's words from the perspective of a century's hindsight. Respondents include rabbis, professors, writers, and other deeply engaged Jews. Taken together, the sermons and responses in this volume provide an illuminating window on American Judaism in both the early 20th and early 21st centuries. Join Aliza to dive into her newly released book and discuss how the wisdom of the past can provide insight on modern events.  Books signed by Aliza will be available for purchase.

Aliza Arzt has been a member of Havurat Shalom in Somerville, Massachusetts for many years. She considers herself to be a Hebraist and Bible investigator by avocation, having studied both these subjects as well as linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania and the Jewish Theological Seminary. She works professionally as a health care provider but has reduced her hours in order to focus on her other passions: revising the liturgy, reptile keeping, ceramics and combating food insecurity in her city. She is the granddaughter of Rabbi Isador Signer.