On Dec. 12, all of the books in the Heritage series including, "The Irish Legacy," "The Struggle for Freedom," "Our Stories," and "Nuestra Historia," will be sold at the International Biergarten, 1600 Main St. from 6-8 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD — Agawam Mayor Richard Cohen's family arrived in Springfield more than 100 years ago, his story as well as countless others are highlighted in the latest book of The Republican's Heritage Series.
"Our Stories: The Jews of Western Massachusetts" is a look at the Jewish families, religious leaders, business owners and more that make up the vibrant Jewish community in Western Massachusetts.
The book's editor and lead writer Jane Kaufman met with fellow contributors, friends, family and community members Sunday at the Jewish Community Center to celebrate the release of the book.
"This is one of the most moving projects I've ever worked on," she said. "The most inspiring thing to me was to be able to hear people's stories and to hear how Judaism intersected with their lives and how their lives informed their Judaism, and that is what I hope the book is about."
Cohen was interviewed for the book and was at the JCC event along with his twin brother, Alan Cohen.
"I think it turned out extremely well, and it tells the wonderful stories of Jewish people in Western Massachusetts," he said. " It was an honor to be a part of this story along with other prominent personalities."
Executive Director of the JCC Michael Paysnick has always been supportive of the project.
"One of the wonderful things Jane was able to do was to get a lot of the senior members of our community together to tell their stories and share their vast knowledge of the region," he said.
On Dec. 12, all of the books in the Heritage series including, "The Irish Legacy," "The Struggle for Freedom," "Our Stories," and "Nuestra Historia," will be sold at the International Biergarten, 1600 Main St. from 6-8 p.m.
"We are hoping that as a group these books will tell the stories of the people that live here and some of the good and bad that has happened over the past 375 years," said Wayne Phaneuf, executive editor of The Republican and the creator of the series.