Sitting on a Suitcase: Psychoanalytic Stories contains eighteen moving tales of disparate Jewish lives from Eliat Aram, Leslie B. Brissett, Louisa Diana Brunner, Halina Brunning, Leila Djemal, Shmuel Erlich, Mira Erlich-Ginor, Franca Fubini, Stan Gold, Larry Hirschhorn, Susan Kahn, Alicia E. Kaufmann, Olya Khaleelee, James Krantz, Vega Zagier Roberts, Edward R. Shapiro, Mannie Sher, and Marlene Spero. The book begins with a thought-provoking preface from former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and ends with a sensitive epilogue from Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, both providing societal containment for what comes between them. The contents also include two non-Jewish German writers, Claudia Nagel and Dorothee von Tippelskirch-Eissing, who between them provide a bravely honest introduction and conclusions to the stories contained within. Also contained within the book are black and white photographs of the contributors’ young selves that provide an additional evocative layer to the words contained within. Plus four black and white line drawings to illustrate each of the four parts of the book: Orthodox beginnings, Sitting on the boundary: Marginality and belonging, Emigration and identity, and Will history repeat itself?
This was not an easy book for its authors to write, revisiting the past unlocked painful memories and re-awoke fears of persecution. The manuscript was nearing completion when Hamas launched the October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli soil and the war in Gaza followed. Incidents of anti-Semitism increased worldwide and questions were raised whether the book should be held back. However, its themes became more relevant than ever and these stories need to be read. Themes such as issues around having a voice, or finding a voice during formative years; finding a family through friends; a sense of not belonging because of constant relocation, or finding a sense of belonging through family and friends. Aspects of life that resonate with us all alongside the deeper theme of the impact of Jewish identity on every facet of life.
This is a book full of emotion and meaning that needs to be read by all with an interest in humanity and fostering connection and understanding across nations.
Halina Brunning is a chartered clinical psychologist, freelance organisational consultant, and executive coach. Halina has published extensively on clinical and organisational issues, has edited several books for Karnac, including Executive Coaching: Systems-Psychodynamic Perspective (2006). She conceived the idea of a trilogy of books which examined the contemporary world through a psychoanalytic lens: Psychoanalytic Perspectives on a Turbulent World (2010), Psychoanalytic Reflections on a Changing World (2012), and Psychoanalytic Essays on Power and Vulnerability (2014). This approach continued in her latest books co-written with Olya Khaleelee: Danse Macabre and Other Stories: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Global Dynamics (2021) and The Covid Trail: Psychodynamic Explorations (2023), published by Phoenix Publishing House (now Karnac). Halina is a member of OPUS: An Organisation for Promoting Understanding of Society and the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO).
Olya Khaleelee is a corporate psychologist and organisational consultant with a particular interest in leadership, and organisational transition and transformation. She is the chairwoman of a charity—OPUS: An Organisation for Promoting Understanding of Society—which promotes development of the reflective citizen. She is a professional partner of the Tavistock Institute and was the first female director of the Leicester Conference on the theme of “Authority, Leadership and Organisation”. Olya has published extensively in the areas of leadership and system psychodynamics in organisations, and beyond, into society. She has co-authored two books with Halina Brunning, the first entitled: Danse Macabre and Other Stories: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Global Dynamics, published in 2021, and in 2023, they co-edited a second book entitled The Covid Trail: Psychodynamic Explorations, both published by Phoenix, now Karnac.
Gilles Amado, emeritus professor of organisational psychosociology, HEC Paris; founding member, International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations –
‘The moving, intimate, and courageous life stories of eighteen renowned Jewish clinicians helps us understand, through an amazing international kaleidoscope, how Jewish roots may have shaped one’s own thinking and professional practice; in particular, how the complex experiences of loss, emptiness, silence, and marginality can be metabolised into curiosity, tolerance, reparation, and containment processes (for oneself and for others), with the help of psychoanalysis. These stories offer so many pieces of learning that their scope seems universal.’
Renate Grønvold Bugge, licensed clinical psychologist; crisis and disaster management consultant –
‘Sitting on and going with a suitcase because of exclusion and uncertainty is again part of everyday life for many Jews. In this worldwide climate, this book has an important mission: it focuses on individuals telling their life story and how their experiences have contributed to and formed their professional life. Reading the book evoked many of my own memories.’
Dame Ruth Silver, consultant educationalist and policy adviser; president, Further Education Trust for Leadership –
‘This is a remarkable, wonderful book of multiple frames: social history, personal biographies, an inheritance from the horror of persecution, to the courage of love in a time of terror and genocide. Heartrendingly clear versions from those of different ages, countries, and class, while all holding in common their faith, their fear, their hope, and their religion. It is not just about past vile atrocities and suffering but it also alerts us to the presence of murderous repetitions in today’s wars and oppressions. And yet, in closing the cover, I know I have also read a love story and a book for our times.’
Kathleen Pogue White, PhD, William Alanson White Institute, Black Psychoanalysts Speak –
‘I strongly recommend the brilliantly crafted book Sitting on a Suitcase. This engaging collection of personal and professional stories explores Jewish individuals’ intricate identities and experiences, highlighting how the impact of collective trauma significantly influences personal and professional decisions. I found it thoroughly captivating and relatable.’