Special to WJW

The women have hopscotched the map, from Palm Beach, Fla., to Baltimore, to Montreal and now Greater Washington and Howard County.

Their goal: to introduce Jewish women authors to a wider readership and to stimulate discussion about Jewish women's issues.

The outreach program, known as HBI Conversations, is sponsored by The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.

The center's founder/co-director, Shulamit Reinharz, was in the area last week to launch the newest chapters. Part reading club, part author series, the program offers participants a chance to read contemporary Jewish women's texts, meet leading authors and deepen their appreciation of Jewish female perspectives from around the world.

What distinguishes HBI's program from other book groups, says Reinharz, who founded the Women Studies Research Center at Brandeis and also created the world's first Jewish women's studies graduate program there, is the chance to discuss books with authors in a small, intimate setting. "It's an amazing thing, but in every group the participants fall in love with the authors. And it's because they not only know how to write, they also know how to connect."

HBI Conversations was conceived six years ago when a woman in Palm Beach, who was starting a women's book club, asked Reinharz to recommend some texts. Reinharz naturally recommended several books published by her institute, but suggested that the group also fly in the authors to discuss their work. It wasn't too long before the format attracted so many participants that the single group blossomed into four, and Conversations reached other communities as well.

Approximately 25 women gathered in the Bethesda home of Toba Penny to kick off the D.C.-area group. Invited by word of mouth and e-mail, they listened to HBI chair Debra Weinberg describe how the program works: The group will meet three times a year in members' homes; if more than 25 or 30 women wish to join, there is the possibility of forming a second chapter. A $150 fee covers the cost of books, author honoraria and travel fees for the three meetings. An HBI staffer will coordinate book orders and author appearances. Penny and Debbie Vodenos of Bethesda will serve as co-chairs.

The first three texts, selected by HBI, are Ruth Behar's An Island Called Home, a memoir about growing up Jewish in Cuba; On Becoming Judy Chicago, a biography of the artist by Gail Levin; and Vivian Jeanette Kaplan's Ten Green Bottles, a refugee story leading from Vienna to Shanghai. Once the local group gets up and running, Weinberg says, the women will choose their own readings.

"The groups have a great deal of autonomy. They are not restricted to books published by HBI or even to female authors," she explains, "although we hope they will focus on works dealing with Judaism and gender."

Weinberg started HBI Conversations in her hometown of Baltimore three years ago and is credited with formalizing the program to be rolled out to other cities. She was motivated to take on the project after seeing the fascinating scholarship coming out of HBI. "When you go to Brandeis, you feel it's a hotbed of Jewish discussion, there's so much stimulating talk going on," she says. "The challenge then is how to bring all of that back to your own community."

Weinberg enlisted family member Penny and longtime friend Vodenos to co-lead the D.C. chapter, and her family has provided a grant to HBI to help fund the administrative costs. She sees HBI Conversations as a way to bring new ideas into the community and also as a means to build bridges between women.

"It's important for us to recognize that our Jewish experience, living where we live, is not necessarily the Jewish experience for women living around the world," she says.

Rockville freelance grant writer Ellen Nathan was one of the women who attended the kickoff meeting. Newly relocated to the area from San Antonio, she hopes HBI Conversations will offer "the chance to read good books on Jewish content and talk about them with authors, as well as a way to meet new people."

She came to the meeting with Bunny Polmer, a public relations professional from the District, who says she "generally doesn't join book clubs or veggie co-ops because she doesn't like other people telling her what to read or what to eat." However, she plans to join HBI Conversations "because it's only three books a year, the demands aren't extraordinary and it will fill the Jewish piece in my life."

Meanwhile, for Reinharz, what started out as an opportunity to promote HBI titles to a local book club has grown into something much more exciting: the opportunity to build an interactive community of readers. There is talk of creating a blog on the HBI Web site for readers to meet online. And there is already a trip to Israel planned this spring, for HBI Conversations members, friends and family members.

"By supporting Jewish women authors and their scholarship," she says, "we help sustain the Jewish world. Jewish life is fragile and can only be nurtured if we all get involved."