Dena Schusterman’s new memoir explores faith, family, Chabad life, and the stories that shape who we become
Every family has stories that get told again and again. Some are shared at the Sabbath table. Some are repeated at simchas, Some are passed down quietly, through habits, expectations, and the way parents and grandparents live. Over time, those stories become part of how we understand who we are. That is the heart of Stories Carry: We All Carry Them. Some Even Carry Us, Dena Schusterman’s memoir.
Schusterman is an Atlanta-based writer, educator, community leader, and mother of eight. Raised in Berkeley, California, as the daughter of Chabad emissaries, she later built her own life of shlichus (Chabad outreach work) with her husband, Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman, at Chabad Intown in Atlanta.
For Orthodox Jewish readers, Stories Carry speaks in a language that feels familiar. It is about Sabbath tables, busy family life, guests at the door, family history, chinuch (Jewish education), marriage, community responsibility, and the quiet pressure of living with purpose. It is also about the stories passed from parents and grandparents to children, the kind that shape how we understand faith, resilience, sacrifice, and belonging.
The memoir moves through four generations, from California and New Mexico to present-day Atlanta. Along the way, Schusterman reflects on life inside Chabad-Lubavitch, not as an outsider looking in, but as someone formed by that world and still living within it. She writes about the beauty of tradition, the weight of expectation, and the work of making inherited values personal.
That question gives the book its strength. Which stories do we carry forward because they give us courage, and which ones do we need to understand more deeply before passing them on? Every family has stories of survival, mesirut nefesh (devoted self-sacrifice), faith, pride, pain, humor, and love. Some are told at the table. Some are absorbed without words. Schusterman asks what it means to receive those stories with gratitude, while also growing into your own voice.
Early praise has come from several notable readers. Melissa Fay Greene called the book “enchanting and enlightening.” Jonah Platt praised its portrait of life inside the Chabad community, saying it brings “new humanity and relatability” to a world often seen from the outside. Mayim Bialik noted that Schusterman’s dedication to transmitting her family’s legacy feels “as relevant now as ever.” Rabbi David Wolpe described the memoir as “a charming and inspiring journey.”
Stories Carry is a memoir about living with faith, family, and tradition in a real and honest way. Schusterman writes from inside the world that shaped her, with respect for its values and a clear eye for its challenges. For readers who care about family legacy, Jewish identity, and the stories that shape a home, it offers a thoughtful and timely read. Stories Carry: We All Carry Them. Some Even Carry Us will be published in September 2026 by Mercer University Press.
