To celebrate the paperback version of Chutzpah: A Memoir of Faith, Sexuality and Daring to Stay, we are delighted to welcome author Yehudis Fletcher in conversation with Toby Lichtig.
As the daughter of a rabbi raised in an Orthodox Jewish community, Yehudis struggled to conform to the strict expectations placed upon her and her siblings. Outspoken, curious and desperate to know more about G-d, she felt fenced in by what she saw as arbitrary rules and questions left unanswered.
As Yehudis grew older, these restrictions intensified and her questions for G-d hung heavier than ever. Repeatedly let down by those who were supposed to protect her and pushed on a path that seemed to take her further away from who she really was, she began to yearn for a life in which she could embrace all facets of herself.
When Yehudis’s sexuality came up against the expectations of her family and her community, the pressure to inhabit a binary position reached fever pitch. Confronted with either losing the faith she loved or losing herself, Yehudis made the most daring decision of all: she decided to stay.
Books will be available for purchase and signing on the night.
Toby Lichtig is a journalist, broadcaster and the Fiction and Politics Editor of the Times Literary Supplement. He writes for a range of publications, including the TLS, Wall Street Journal, Jewish Chronicle and New Humanist, and has appeared as a guest critic on various television and radio programmes. He has also worked as a documentary producer, specialising in arts and serious factual.