Archive: February 2025

(25w3) Escape from Iraq – History of the Last Jews of the Babylonian Exile (5 Feb 2025)

Posted on February 5, 2025

February 5th, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm –   The recording of this class is at https://youtu.be/dZuPwiKH4B0 As government upheaval spread through Iraq in the 1940’s, its 140,000 Jews started to leave the country, with a mass Aliyah to Israel in 1950-1951.  But Maurice Shohet’s family stayed in Iraq 20 more years until it had to flee the country with the majority of […]

(25w4) Sephardic Origins: An overview of the history of Iberian Jewry (9 Feb 2025)

Posted on February 9, 2025

February 9th, 2025 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – The recording of this class is at https://youtu.be/yOsQkriM2KI This class will provide a glimpse into the glories and tragedies of Iberian Jewry, how its end marked so many new beginnings, and how the ripple effects of its destruction are so strongly felt to this day.  Join us in a voyage through time to uncover … […]

(25w5) Kabbalistic Tu b’Shvat Seder

Posted on February 12, 2025

February 12th, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The recording of this class is at https://youtu.be/942o7uzI1lY. Handouts discussed in class are at https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1GA5MUjTP5g6H6_OYfU_wINb4O2wAmofk Experience the deep spiritual significance of this mystical holiday while we ceremoniously eat our fruits and drink our cups of wine.  Learn about Kabbalah and experience an authentic Tu b’Shvat Seder.  Enjoy live music of Machaya Klezmer Band, a leading […]

(25w6) Introduction to Kabbalah

Posted on February 19, 2025

February 19th, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm –   The recording of this class is at https://youtu.be/0Vy5doaVCUY. Kabbalah is a Jewish theology built on the premise that, although G-d is unknowable, we can experience spirituality by receiving the emanations from this unknowable source.  Through these we become partners in ongoing creation, we receive the capability to feel holiness, we receive guidance on ethics […]

(25w7) Max Ticktin Memorial Latke-Hamentasch Debate

Posted on February 26, 2025

February 26th, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm – The recoding of the debate is at https://youtu.be/R3KyPXSpJDI Our MOST POPULAR and MOST FUN event is back. The merits and demerits of the traditional Hanukkah and Purim foods will be debated.   There will be actual delicious Latkes and Hamantaschen to enjoy for those attending in-person at Adas Israel Congregation, 2850 Quebec St NW, Washington, DC […]

(25w8) A16th Century Jewish Heroine: Dona Gracia Nasi

Posted on March 2, 2025

March 2nd, 2025 @ 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm – A Lecture Celebrating Women in Jewish History The recording of this class is at https://youtu.be/f-rwlFKG1QQ She was born in Lisbon in 1510 to a New Christian family less than two decades after the forced conversions in Portugal and the end of organized Jewish life in the Iberian Peninsula.  Dona Gracia Nasi was at the center […]

(25w9) Leopoldstadt: Good Theater but Bad History?

Posted on March 5, 2025

March 5th, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm – Assimilation and Identity in Jewish Vienna before World War II The recording of this class is at https://youtu.be/oJcaALnvavs. Large numbers of Jews migrated to Vienna in the decades before World War I.  They migrated from other places in the Habsburg Monarchy: from Bohemia and Moravia (today’s Czech Republic), from Hungary, and from Galicia (today half […]

(25s1) Kabbalistic Second Night Seder (13 Apr 2025)

Posted on April 13, 2025

April 13th, 2025 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – A recording of this event is at https://youtu.be/o9BUr61vdiA   Join the Jewish Study Center, Fabrangen Huvurah and the Contemporary Kabbalah Institute to learn and experience a spiritual approach to Passover and observing the Seder.  This second night seder will be a traditional seder with kabbalistic interpretations and live music.             […]

(25s2) Completing the Circle: Jewish Wisdom for End-of-Life Decisions (27 April & 4 May 2025)

Posted on April 27, 2025

April 27th, 2025 – May 4th, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The recordings of the two sessions are at https://youtu.be/Kg0H6XCjCms and https://youtu.be/87ALYqy8ui8. Two-Session  Community Workshop on Bioethics and Jewish Values When faced with complex end-of-life decisions—about life support, organ donation, or the moment of death—how do we know what’s right? Join us for a 2-session interactive workshop exploring how Jewish ethical principles can guide us through […]

(25s4) People of the Book: What’s happening in Jewish Publishing?

Posted on May 11, 2025

May 11th, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm –   A recording of this class is at https://youtu.be/rgW855SijLI. Jewish Publication Society (JPS) Editor-in-Chief Malka Simkovich and Jewish Study Center President Amy Schwartz discuss the state of Jewish publishing, the current challenges that Jewish writers are facing, and the unique opportunities of the current moment.  JPS is best known for publishing Jewish religious text together […]