• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Daniella Levy

Author, Translator, Educator

  • About Me
    • Press & Media
    • Get in Touch
  • Writing
    • Books
  • Blogs
    • My Author Blog
    • Letters to Josep
    • The Rejection Survival Guide
  • For Book Clubs & Educators
  • עבריתעברית

For Book Clubs & Educators

Disengagement

Disengagement is a work of literary fiction that weaves together perspectives spanning the entire political and religious spectrum to tell the story of the evacuation of a fictional Jewish settlement in Gaza. The book offers an in-depth, nuanced, and comprehensive view of a major Israeli political crisis that has gone largely under-explored, but the lessons regarding the importance of empathy and listening to the Other’s stories resonate deeply with the political climate we see in the world today. It is thought-provoking and challenges the reader to face his or her own biases. Click here to read more about the book.

Disengagement Book Club Discussion Guide

A list of discussion questions can be found at the back of the book. Here you can download an expanded discussion guide that includes excerpts, discussion questions, and an author interview (and no spoilers!):

  • Email-friendly version
  • Print-friendly version

The guide stands alone and can be used with groups that include individuals who have not read the book.

By Light of Hidden Candles

By Light of Hidden Candles is a historical novel that explores themes relating to Sephardic Jewish and Spanish culture, interfaith relationships, and religious and moral dilemmas of the 15th and 21st century. It can serve as an entertaining and valuable educational resource for middle school, high school, and college students as part of a curriculum in history, religious education, cultural education/social studies, or literature. Click here to read more about the book.

By Light of Hidden Candles Discussion Guide

The By Light of Hidden Candles Discussion Guide for book clubs and classrooms was developed to stand alone, so participants don’t need to have read the book to take part in the discussion. Click here to view and download the printable PDF. It includes excerpts, discussion questions, and an author interview (and no spoilers!).

Additional Resources

I’ve published a series of blog posts on this website with additional background information on the process of writing and researching By Light of Hidden Candles, including a song playlist, deleted scenes, and fascinating resources about 15th-century Lorca. Click here to browse the relevant posts.

Letters to Josep: An Introduction to Judaism

Letters to Josep: An Introduction to Judaism is a collection of letters from an Orthodox American-Israeli Jew (a.k.a. yours truly) to a Catholic friend from Barcelona, describing the basic concepts of Judaism and Orthodox Jewish life. Its relaxed, humorous style and the warmth it draws from the real friendship that inspired it make it a perfect resource for beginners, especially teens and young adults. It can be used as part of a religious studies curriculum focusing on the Jewish faith and culture. Click here to read more about Letters to Josep: An Introduction to Judaism.

The book was compiled from the individual posts on the Letters to Josep blog. You can use the search function to explore the posts on a wide variety of topics relating to Judaism.

A discussion guide is forthcoming. In the meantime, feel free to be in touch with me about using Letters to Josep as an educational resource or discussing it with your book club.

Meet the Author

I’d be delighted to speak or video chat with your class, community, or book club. Be in touch to discuss this possibility.

Subscribe to Updates






Disengagement

Disengagement

In other times, they would never have met. They come from different corners of Israeli society, rooted in their own beliefs, busy with their own troubles. Farmers and fishermen, skeptics and believers, immigrants and natives, children and grandparents struggle with faith, loss, jealousy, hope—and the turmoil around them only deepens the rifts that divide them. […]

$12.95

View Book

Follow Me on Instagram

daniellalevy.author

 181    197


  • A message for our times, from The Rejection Survival Guide. Link to new post--"Hope in the Time of Coronavirus"--in bio.
    2 years ago
    A message for our times, from The Rejection Survival Guide. Link to new post--"Hope in the Time of Coronavirus"--in bio.
  • A very happy memory from the good old days when you could still travel to visit family and see stuff
    2 years ago
    A very happy memory from the good old days when you could still travel to visit family and see stuff
  • After some COVID-related delays, including the narrator getting stuck in another state (!) and having to set up a whole
    2 years ago
    After some COVID-related delays, including the narrator getting stuck in another state (!) and having to set up a whole
  • Reading the eyewitness accounts from the Dizengoff shooting last night reminded me of this moment from Disengagement: a throwback to
    4 months ago
    Reading the eyewitness accounts from the Dizengoff shooting last night reminded me of this moment from Disengagement: a throwback to
  • Just sold the very last copy of #LetterstoJosep in my personal stock. Don
    2 years ago
    Just sold the very last copy of  #LetterstoJosep  in my personal stock. Don't worry, it's still freely available online, and
  • They always said I was a strange bird #happypurim #whenlifegivesyoumasks #makeapurimcostume #pandemicpurim
    1 year ago
    They always said I was a strange bird  #happypurim   #whenlifegivesyoumasks   #makeapurimcostume   #pandemicpurim 
  • #LetterstoJosep is being featured in the Zionist Book Festival at the University of Missouri next week, hosted by the MU
    2 years ago
     #LetterstoJosep  is being featured in the Zionist Book Festival at the University of Missouri next week, hosted by the MU
  • Dose 2 V for vaccine & victory against COVID-19! Blessed is He who has given us life and sustained us
    1 year ago
    Dose 2 V for vaccine & victory against COVID-19! Blessed is He who has given us life and sustained us
  • 15 years. What have we learned?⁣ ⁣ I don
    2 years ago
    15 years. What have we learned?⁣ ⁣ I don't know about the nation as a whole. But this book is
  • A week ago, just before Shabbat/Succot, I welcomed my fourth child--first daughter--into a crazy, upside-down world. Waiting for her arrival
    2 years ago
    A week ago, just before Shabbat/Succot, I welcomed my fourth child--first daughter--into a crazy, upside-down world. Waiting for her arrival
  • Just gonna take this #santjordi2020 opportunity to shamelessly brag that @carlespuigdemont, former president of Catalonia, has a copy of my
    2 years ago
    Just gonna take this  #santjordi2020  opportunity to shamelessly brag that  @carlespuigdemont , former president of Catalonia, has a copy of my
  • I was truly devastated to learn of the passing of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks זצ"ל yesterday. Rabbi Sacks was a
    2 years ago
    I was truly devastated to learn of the passing of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks זצ"ל yesterday. Rabbi Sacks was a
  • #shabbatshalom
    1 year ago
     #shabbatshalom 
  • Yesterday, what is probably the loveliest, most touching "fan letter" I
    2 years ago
    Yesterday, what is probably the loveliest, most touching "fan letter" I've ever received arrived in my inbox. A reader happened
  • A clip from the fascinating conversation I was privileged to participate in last Thursday on The Round Table Talk Show
    9 months ago
    A clip from the fascinating conversation I was privileged to participate in last Thursday on The Round Table Talk Show
  • Sound on to hear a preview from my conversation with Rav Mike Feuer on The Jewish Story about my new
    2 years ago
    Sound on to hear a preview from my conversation with Rav Mike Feuer on The Jewish Story about my new
  • This is the moment Grandpa always mentioned, every time I saw him as an adult: me, 5 years old, hoisted
    1 year ago
    This is the moment Grandpa always mentioned, every time I saw him as an adult: me, 5 years old, hoisted
  • Did I ever imagine I would get my picture on the front page of the @nytimes ? No, I did
    10 months ago
    Did I ever imagine I would get my picture on the front page of the  @nytimes  ? No, I did
  • Mood. #sunset #judeanhills #chodeshtov #elul
    12 months ago
    Mood.  #sunset   #judeanhills   #chodeshtov   #elul 
  • Sound on for a little taste of Lori
    2 years ago
    Sound on for a little taste of Lori's wonderful performance of  #ByLightofHiddenCandles . The  #audiobook  comes out on Audible and Amazon

Find me on Facebook

Find me on Facebook

© 2022 · Daniella Levy · Built by Kasva Press