Sunday, October 26 | 10:00 A.M. | Temple Sholom of Ontario | Bagel Brunch

 

RACHEL COCKERELL
Melting Point
Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land

In 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews set sail for a promised land—not New York or Palestine, but Galveston, Texas. Rachel Cockerell’s great-grandfather, David Jochelmann, along with Israel Zangwill, led the now forgotten Galveston movement to provide an alternate port of entry for Jewish refugees. Churchill, Roosevelt, Hemingway, and other memorable figures feature in this innovative retelling of a failed Zionist enterprise. Cockerell lets her sources—interviews, letters, diaries, and newspaper articles—speak for themselves as she asks what it means to belong and whether a promised land can live up to its promises.

Melting Point is historian Rachel Cockerell’s first book. She has presented her research in the US and Israel on CNN, the BBC, TEDx, and at the Texas Jewish Historical Society.