My Machberet

Home » Blogs » My Machberet

“Machberet” is the Hebrew word for notebook. Since it’s also (appropriately) one of the very first words I learned in my first Hebrew school in Brooklyn (and, until I returned to language study well into adulthood, one of the few conversational Hebrew words I still remembered), I’ve chosen it to title this blog, where I offer write-ups on Jewish news (especially of the literary sort) and occasional commentary.

Jewish Literary Links: Anniversary Edition

by Erika Dreifus on October 7, 2026

Screenshot of the "After October 7" list that I have curated over on Bookshop.org.

Each week (usually Thursdays), the My Machberet blog publishes a curated set of links drawn from the world of Jewish books and writing. This week, that curation is coming one day early—with a dedicated focus.

From salonnière Julie Zuckerman, an invitation to “join Literary Modiin to hear readings from different writers commemorating three years since October 7.” The free online session will take place Sunday, October 11. Readers include Hannah Wacholder Katsman, Jessica Steinberg, William Kolbrener, and Vivian Cohen-Leisorek.
Over on the 18Forty website, Sophie Panzer considers the (fairly limited, to this point) portrayal of October 7 in fiction.
Turning to another genre (and another free online event): “Join Israeli cartoonist Asaf Hanuka, co-creator of The Day Everything Changed: Ten Stories from October 7th, and writer and actor Omri Rose, co-author of Echoes of October, for a conversation about telling the stories of October 7 through graphic novels.” Jonathan Sandler will moderate this Jewish Literary Foundation session next Tuesday, October 13.
From Jewish Book Council: a reminder about short-form work they’ve published in their “Witnessing” series since October 7, 2023, along with a selection of books of “poetry, memoir, journalistic reporting, and history.”
And last, but not least, a twofer: my own “After October 7” booklist-in-progress, which I maintain over on Bookshop.org (screenshot provided above); and, icymi, “Breaking News,” a flash essay/micro-memoir from my archive.