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.
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