The College of Jewish Studies Spring 2025 Series will offer an in-person lecture by graphic novelist Solomon J. Brager discussing his new book, “Heavyweight: A Family Story of the Holocaust, Memory, and History,” on Thursday, April 17, at 6 pm. The lecture, which is also sponsored by the Binghamton Judaic Studies Department, will take place in Room 258 of the Fine Arts Building at BU. The lecture is free and open to the Binghamton University and College of Jewish Studies communities.
Brager’s debut graphic novel, “Heavyweight” (William Morrow, 2024), has been acclaimed by Publisher’s Weekly as a “brilliant and incisive work.” Kirkus called it “an intense, brilliantly conceived graphic memoir announcing the arrival of a new talent to watch.” Autostraddle, a comic fanzine, noted that it is “a boundary-breaking, accessible, and meticulously researched… book that could aid many peoples’ understandings of both the tragedies of the past and the savagery of our current moment.” Presenting a composite family memoir of Holocaust victimization and survival, Brager’s images “are woven together with historical reflections and glimpses into the artist’s present-day.”
In addition to his work on “Heavyweight” and other comics, Brager is a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artists Fellow, and a member of the Pinko magazine editorial collective. More information about Brager can be found here: https://solomonbrager.com
The College of Jewish Studies provides opportunities for adult Jewish education for the Broome County community by offering fall and spring programs. Drawing on local resources and inviting scholars and experts from a range of universities and cultural and religious institutions, CJS sponsors a wide array of programs dealing with Jewish history, culture, religion and politics.
The College of Jewish Studies, founded in 1986, is an informal coalition between the Judaic Studies Department of Binghamton University and several area Jewish sponsoring institutions: the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton, Beth David Synagogue, Temple Concord, and Temple Israel.  Programming for CJS would not be possible without the additional financial support of a generous grant from The Community Foundation for South Central New York – David and Virginia Eisenberg Donor Advised Fund, the Jacob and Rose Olum Foundation, the B’nai B’rith Lectureship Fund, the Victor and Esther Rozen Foundation, an endowment fund from the former Temple Beth El of Endicott, a grant from the JoyVel Charitable Fund, and the generous donations of individual sponsors.
Anyone who is not already an individual sponsor of CJS is asked to consider making a donation so that the CJS can continue bringing programs to the community. For more information on how to become an individual sponsor or to make a donation, e-mail bingcjs@gmail.com. The College of Jewish Studies is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.