Sitting on a Suitcase

Sitting on a Suitcase: Psychoanalytic Stories contains eighteen moving tales of disparate Jewish lives.

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 attacked a kibbutzim on October 7, 2023 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.

Acknowledgements

About the editors and contributors

Preface by Rowan Williams

Prologue by Halina Brunning and Olya Khaleelee

Introduction: I did not know by Claudia Nagel

Part I Orthodox beginnings

CHAPTER 1 On being: Hated and loved Susan Kahn

CHAPTER 2 My father's tears James Krantz

CHAPTER 3 Roots and migration, belonging and identity fragments Shmuel Erlich

CHAPTER 4 The Talmud and beyond Larry Hirschhorn

Part II Sitting on the boundary: Marginality and belonging

CHAPTER 5 Breaking the silence: Finding my words and group of belonging Marlene Spero

CHAPTER 6 Outsider insider Vega Zagier Roberts

CHAPTER 7 Assimilation and emancipation-a ""lived experience"" Louisa Diana Brunner

CHAPTER 8 Displaced: A Jew in the diaspora Stan Gold

CHAPTER 9 What's in the suitcase? A tale of three (or four) countries Eliat Aram

Part III Emigration and identity

CHAPTER 10 Written in stone, moving like water Leslie B. Brissett

CHAPTER 11 How Eros won over Thanatos Halina Brunning

CHAPTER 12 Rising from the ashes Olya Khaleelee

CHAPTER 13 The attic and the cellar Franca Fubini

CHAPTER 14 Discovering identity: Reflections on an American life Edward R. Shapiro

CHAPTER 15 The risk of being oneself: Will history repeat itself? Alicia E. Kaufmann

Part IV Will history repeat itself?

CHAPTER 16 I have no other country Mira Erlich-Ginor

CHAPTER 17 My literal suitcase and my suitcase-in-the-mind Mannie Sher

CHAPTER 18 Fragments from elsewhere: Finding a voice in the babel of tongues Leila Djemal

Conclusions by Dorothee von Tippelskirch-Eissing

Epilogue by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg

Index

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Acknowledgements

About the editors and contributors

Preface by Rowan Williams

Prologue by Halina Brunning and Olya Khaleelee

Introduction: I did not know by Claudia Nagel  

Part I
Orthodox beginnings  

CHAPTER 1
On being: Hated and loved
Susan Kahn

CHAPTER 2
My father’s tears
James Krantz

CHAPTER 3
Roots and migration, belonging and identity fragments
Shmuel Erlich 

CHAPTER 4
The Talmud and beyond
Larry Hirschhorn

Part II
Sitting on the boundary: Marginality and belonging  

CHAPTER 5
Breaking the silence: Finding my words and group of belonging
Marlene Spero 

CHAPTER 6
Outsider insider
Vega Zagier Roberts

CHAPTER 7
Assimilation and emancipation—a “lived experience”
Louisa Diana Brunner

CHAPTER 8
Displaced: A Jew in the diaspora
Stan Gold  

CHAPTER 9
What’s in the suitcase? A tale of three (or four) countries
Eliat Aram

Part III
Emigration and identity  

CHAPTER 10
Written in stone, moving like water
Leslie B. Brissett  

CHAPTER 11
How Eros won over Thanatos
Halina Brunning

CHAPTER 12
Rising from the ashes
Olya Khaleelee

CHAPTER 13
The attic and the cellar
Franca Fubini

CHAPTER 14
Discovering identity: Reflections on an American life
Edward R. Shapiro

CHAPTER 15
The risk of being oneself: Will history repeat itself?
Alicia E. Kaufmann

Part IV
Will history repeat itself?

CHAPTER 16
I have no other country
Mira Erlich-Ginor

CHAPTER 17
My literal suitcase and my suitcase-in-the-mind
Mannie Sher

CHAPTER 18
Fragments from elsewhere: Finding a voice in the babel of tongues
Leila Djemal

Conclusions by Dorothee von Tippelskirch-Eissing

Epilogue by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg

Index

• Edited by Halina Brunning
• Edited by Olya Khaleelee

‘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.’

— Gilles Amado, emeritus professor of organisational psychosociology, HEC Paris; founding member, International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations

‘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.’

— Renate Grønvold Bugge, licensed clinical psychologist; crisis and disaster management consultant

‘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.’

— Dame Ruth Silver, consultant educationalist and policy adviser; president, Further Education Trust for Leadership

‘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.’

— Kathleen Pogue White, PhD, William Alanson White Institute, Black Psychoanalysts Speak

'Simply, I love this book. I don't know if you are meant to be so emotional in a book review, but that is my reaction to the book. It's a book that deserves attention and to be read. It feels like an act of generosity and a piece of legacy writing from many, if not all, of the authors ... Where I have landed it is a book for now and an extremely important and moving one at that.'

— Sarah Miller, Psychoanalyst and Organisational Consultant, BPA, IPA, in the British Journal of Psychotherapy (08 March 2026)