Archive: September 2019

America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today

Posted on September 25, 2019

September 25th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – Instructor: Pam Nadell In this groundbreaking new history, noted scholar Pamela Nadell asks: What does it mean to be a Jewish woman in America? Weaving together stories from the colonial-era matriarch Grace Nathan and her great-granddaughter poet Emma Lazarus to union organizer Bessie Hillman and the great justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Nadell shows two threads binding the […]

Security and Sacred Spaces: A Community Conversation

Posted on October 30, 2019

October 30th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – Rabbi Aaron Alexander, Gerald Garfinkel and community voices What do we do when there is a conflict between the need to keep Jewish spaces safe and the need for those spaces to feel sacred, open and welcoming? Ever since the tragic events in Pittsburgh, Jewish communities of all shapes and sizes have been grappling with […]

Before Gloria: American Jewish Women on the Barricades, 1900-1960s

Posted on December 11, 2019

December 11th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – The Janice Garfunkel Memorial Lecture Lecturer: Dr. Lauren Strauss Explore American Jewish women’s activism in the early decades of the century, from campaigns to legalize birth control and control human trafficking, to establishing Jewish women as leaders of the labor movement, of rent strikes, and consumer protests, as well as Jewish women’s opposition to fascism in […]

Get Cozy and Read! Jewish Study Center Book Club – Dorit Rabinyan

Posted on December 18, 2019

December 18th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – For the fall meeting of the JSC book group, join us for a lively discussion of acclaimed Israeli author Dorit Rabinyan’s controversial novel, All the Rivers. Banned from classrooms by Israel’s Ministry of Education for its portrayal of a passionate but untenable love affair between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, the novel has […]

The Media’s Role in an Era of Rising Anti-Semitism: Are We Up to the Task?

Posted on December 25, 2019

December 25th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – A Conversation with Nadine Epstein How do you cover anti-Semitism in today’s America? If this once seemingly vanquished hatred is really on the rise again—and it’s hard to think otherwise in 2019—does journalism have a special responsibility? How can the media in all its forms—old and new, physical and virtual, mainstream and fringe, secular and […]

When Rabbis Rule on Rent Control: Jewish Law and Public Policy

Posted on December 25, 2019

December 25th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – Instructor: Thomas Timberg In 1957, Rabbi Eliyahu Henkin, then the most authoritative decisor, or “posek,” in the strictly Orthodox community of New York City, issued a rabbinical responsa (legal decision) endorsing rent control. The responsa has been extensively discussed, precisely because it addresses the controversial question, “To what extent are Jews bound by secular law?” […]

Are There Jewish Witches?

Posted on December 25, 2019

December 25th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – Instructor: Marilyn Cooper What’s a Jewitch? How are neo-paganism and witchcraft compatible with traditional Jewish practice? What’s the role of the modern Hebrew priestesses? A growing movement of secular Jews—mainly, but not exclusively women—are reclaiming the divine feminine and goddess worship. With strong ties to eco-feminism, practitioners are using new liturgies and rituals to create […]

Untangling the Psalms

Posted on December 25, 2019

December 25th, 2019 @ 8:15 pm – Instructor: Amy Schwartz The 150 religious poems that make up the Book of Psalms are deeply familiar and deeply strange. Entwined in both Jewish and Christian tradition, they form the backbone of the liturgy and yet speak to us in a modern, sometimes perplexing voice. We’ll read, compare translations and trace the powerful imagery in […]

Chanukah Party

Posted on December 26, 2019

December 26th, 2019 @ 6:00 pm – A Special Chanukah Celebration Co-Sponsored by the Museum, the Jewish War Veterans and the Jewish Study Center! Eat, drink, sing, light candles, and tour the Museum. 6:30-8:30 p.m. FREE!

Beyond Chicken Soup and Brisket: Jewish Comfort Food Around the World

Posted on December 31, 2019

December 31st, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – With Susan Barocas Comfort food is personal, often connected to the food of our families and cultural traditions. For many American Jews, that means Ashkenazic favorites like chicken soup, brisket, kugel, bagels and babka… but what about other Jewish food traditions? Join the incomparable Susan Barocas to explore delicious, cozy comfort foods of yesterday and […]