Books on the Beach returns for 10th year

Hadassah Rhode Island (Roberta Schneider, president) and Hadassah Southern New England Region (Jody Fredman, president) have again worked to invite two well-known and recently published authors to the area of Newport for our summer reading enjoyment! Books on the Beach will be held for the 10th time this year, and the authors who will join us on Aug. 6, 2025, are Marilyn Simon Rothstein (most recently the author of “Who Loves You Best”) and Tova Mirvis (most recently the author of “We Would Never”).

Books on the Beach will begin on 11 a.m. with a sponsor reception hosted by Region and Chapter members, Lorraine Rappoport, of Cranston, and Sue Mayes, of Middletown, and by Kathy Hershfield, of Boston, Massachusetts. Kathy, a past Hadassah national vice president, is a member of the board of the Hadassah Foundation and is a past president of the Southern New England Region and a member of the Hadassah national board. Currently she serves in the Advocacy Division of Hadassah and as an antisemitism and anti-Israel specialist. She strives to empower girls and women in Israel and in the US through various leadership roles and by confronting gender-based violence. This pre-event offers those who pledge a sponsorship a personal meeting with featured guests, including the authors.

Tova Mirvis is also the author of several previous novels, including “The Book of Separation,” “The Ladies Auxiliary,” “Visible City” and “The Outside World.”

According to a review in Hadassah Magazine, “We Would Never,” is the perfect read for a beach vacation.

Marilyn Simon Rothstein is the author of “Crazy to Leave You,” “Husbands and Other Sharp Objects,” “Lift and Separate” and, most recently, “Who Loves You Best.”

Her books blend humor with heart-touching memories.

A luncheon at noon will follow the Sponsor Reception, and an introduction to and conversation with Mirvis and Rothstein will immediately follow the luncheon.

The event will take place at the Wyndam Newport Hotel, in Middletown. To learn more about the importance of being a sponsor of Books on the Beach, and to be invited to the reception, please contact chapri@hadassah.org or call 857-404-0599.

With over 300,000 members and supporters (including male Associates), Hadassah is strong across the generations. Hadassah supports women’s health and equity in the U.S. and in a strong Israel, and instills Jewish values in future generations of leaders. Hadassah helped to create the medical system in Israel through the hospitals that it imagined and constructed – Mt. Scopus and Ein Kerem. To save lives, Hadassah assists the Israeli population with treatments and scientific breakthroughs, and through connections to Israel, Hadassah helps to bring healing and justice to the world.

The Books on the Beach event supports the continued construction and the use of the Gandel Center, which opened in January 2024, just three months after the horrific events of Oct. 7. There had been a severe shortage of rehabilitation beds in Jerusalem, and the decision to accelerate construction of the Center, which had already been planned, became a national necessity.

Treatment for soldiers, security personnel and civilians has helped many of them to return to their pre-injury lives and to demonstrate inspiring recoveries.

According to the Mayor of Jerusalem, the Gandel Center, Jerusalem’s only acute rehabilitation provider, has already become the largest and most advanced rehabilitation center in the Middle East, with over 300 war-wounded patients having been (and continuing to be) treated, along with a daily treatment rate of over 75 outpatients. Using numerous advanced rehabilitation services, hope can be restored, and the unbreakable Israeli spirit survives.

The fund-raising goal for Books on the Beach 2025 is to provide equipment that will enable a patient to be able to stand, which is a meaningful step in the rehabilitation process, paving the way to build physical skills and capabilities, and thereby building confidence and independence.

To register for this exciting Books on the Beach event, please contact chapri@hadassah.org or call 857-404-0599. The deadline for registration is Wednesday, July 23.          

Groups for table seating may be pre-arranged, and book clubs are encouraged to attend and register to be seated as a group.