A longtime participant at Yidstock is Eleanor Reissa, a New York actress, singer, and playwright who has a long history with the book center. This year Reissa sang as part of her own ensemble and with another group as well, and she’ll also read from her family memoir, “The Letters Project: A Daughter’s Journey.”

The book explores letters her mother and father, both of whom narrowly survived the Holocaust, exchanged when they were courting shortly after the war; discovering those letters years later prompted Reissa to explore her family roots in depth.

“This journey of discovery is riveting, told with tender insight, at times heartbreaking and at times heartwarming just like the Yiddish songs that have delighted Ms. Reissa’s audiences,” says one reviewer.

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