A Reason To Rise

A Reason To Rise with Rabbi Jeremy Barras
In Conversation With Les Standiford

We invite you for an intimate evening with Rabbi Jeremy Barras to celebrate the launch of his debut novel, A Reason To Rise. Special guest moderator and New York Times best-selling author Les Standiford will guide our discussion of the inspiration behind the novel, insights gleaned from Rabbi Barras’s writing process, and the how the book serves a vessel to convey his deeply held belief that Zionism animates the soul of every Jew.

Featuring live Israeli music and a reception to follow.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the program will begin promptly at 7:00 PM.

There is NO COST to attend but please RSVP to reserve your spot today.

Parking is available at the venue for no cost.

Our Speakers

Rabbi Jeremy Barras is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida, the largest Jewish synagogue in the Southeast United States. He is an active member of AIPAC’s National Council, a board member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and AJC Miami. He serves as a leader on the executive board of the Rabbinic Council of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and has been recognized for his volunteerism in helping support Jewish orphans in the former Soviet Union. Rabbi Barras descends from a long line of distinguished rabbis who have passed on the traditions of Jewish scholarship throughout the generations. Rabbi Barras is married to the light of his life, Jodi, and has two children, Ella and Ethan. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf, tennis, reading, and writing. Rabbi Barras has published many educational pieces. This is his first work of fiction.

Les Standiford is the author of twenty-five books, including the critically acclaimed works of non-fiction, Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean –a History Channel Top Ten Pick & the One Read choice of more than a dozen public library systems; Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America, and Washington Burning: How a Frenchman’s Vision for Our Nation’s Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army–both publisher’s nominees for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awards; The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived our Holiday Spirits (a New York Times Editors Choice); Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction that Changed America (a New York Times best-seller); Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles (a featured alternate of the History Book Club); Miami Noir: The Classics; and Battle for the Big Top: P.T. Barnum, James Bailey, John Ringling, and the Death-Defying Saga of the American Circus.

He is also the author of ten novels, including the acclaimed John Deal mystery series as well as the stand-alone thrillers Black Mountain and Spill (adapted as a feature film).

He has received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, the Frank O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is Founding Director of the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University in Miami and was appointed holder of the Peter Meinke Chair in Creative Writing at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg for the Spring of 2016.

He and his wife Kimberly, a psychotherapist and artist, are the parents of three children, Jeremy, Hannah, and Alexander. They live in Pinecrest, Florida, in a home built of native Florida pine and maintained by the spirit of John Deal.