Nicholas Lemann

What if the story of your past could change the way you understand your present?

In this powerful Wisdom Without Walls conversation, Nicholas Lemann takes us on a deeply personal journey inspired by his book RETURNING: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries—tracing his family’s story across generations, continents, and identities. But this is not only his story. It’s a question that belongs to all of us. What does it mean to return—to a place, to a people, to a past that may feel distant or even unknown? For those shaped by Jewish history and experience, “home” is never simple. It is memory and migration, loss and continuity, rupture and renewal. It lives in stories passed down—and in those that were never told.

As Lemann uncovers the layers of his own family’s journey, he invites us to consider our own:

What have we inherited?
What have we forgotten?
And what are we still searching for?

This is more than a conversation about history. It’s about identity, belonging, and the deep human longing to understand where we come from—and where we are going. Expect a rich, thought-provoking evening that will stay with you long after it ends.