Sunday, June 23, 2013
10:00 a.m.

Laemmle's Town Center 5
17200 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91316

Divan

This humorous and insightful documentary follows the quest of a young woman who – after leaving the strict, Hasidic environment of her family for a secular, artistic life in Manhattan – strives to please her beloved father.  Pearl Gluck, the filmmaker, brings us on her journey to Hungary to retrieve a legendary family heirloom, a couch, associated with miracles and magic.  We are witness to Brooklyn Hasidim, Holocaust survivors and ex-communists in Hungary, and other formerly-Hasidic Jews who are helping shape our own quirky and complex modern Jewish culture and society.  77 minutes, in English with occasional Yiddish (subtitles are provided for Yiddish), followed by Q & A with CSUN Jewish Studies faculty. 

Co-Sponsored by Temple Ahavat Shalom, Temple Kol Tikvah, Valley Beth Shalom, and CSUN Hillel

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat (maximum 2 seats per RSVP).

Sunday, January 27, 2013
10:00 a.m.

Laemmle Fallbrook Theatre
6731 Fallbrook Ave.
West Hills CA

Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance after the Holocaust

This is a documentary about the initiative taken by Menachem Daum, an Orthodox Jewish man and son of Holocaust survivors, to address the intolerant and contemptuous attitudes about non-Jews he hears around him. Concerned that his ultra-Orthodox sons hold these same attitudes, he insists that they accompany him to Poland.  There they will try to find the family of the Christian farmers who risked their lives by hiding their grandfather and his brothers for more than two years, saving them from the Nazis.  We are witness to the encounter with the Poles and the transformative effect the journey has on the entire family.  This award-winning documentary is a thoughtful and compassionate exploration of the Holocaust’s effect on faith in God and humanity.  85 minutes, followed by Q & A with CSUN Jewish Studies faculty.  

Co-Sponsored by Temple Ahavat Shalom,
Temple Kol Tikvah, Valley Beth Shalom, and CSUN HilleCo-Sponsored by Temple Ahavat Shalom,
Temple Kol Tikvah, Valley Beth Shalom, and CSUN Hillel

Co-Sponsored by Temple Ahavat Shalom, Temple Kol Tikvah, Valley Beth Shalom, and CSUN Hillel

Limited Seating: Call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat (maximum 2 seats per request)

Thursday, February 7, 2013
6:30 p.m.

CSUN Campus - Location TBA

FREE FILM:   "FOLLOW ME: The Yoni Netanyahu Story"

This is an intimate journey into a young hero’s mind, and a historic telling of the 1976 Israeli raid to free 103 hostages in Entebbe, Uganda. This coming-of-age documentary is a moving glimpse into Yoni Netanyahu’s life, while raising important questions for viewers today: What do you fight for? How does mandatory national service impact on a country and its citizens? What is my relationship to my home country? How do values affect my personal relationships? What makes someone a hero?

A special cut of this film (63 minutes) will be screened with a discussion of the themes of the film after. Kosher snacks will be provided.

For more information: www.818.hillel.org  or call (818) 886-5101

Thursday, February 7, 2013
9:30 a.m.

Jerome Richfield 245

Discovering Israel Through Archaeology: Past, Present, and Future
Presented by Moshe Goldin

Moshe Goldin, a licensed Israel tour guide and former geography teacher, will speak about archaeology in Israel today. In addition to showing examples of pottery and artifacts found in archeological sites, he will also discuss some of the current controversies within present-day Israeli archeology.

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013
7:30 p.m.

Valley Beth Shalom
15739 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91436

The First Annual Maurice Amado Foundation Lecture in Jewish Ethics: "The Ethics of Wealth and Work"

Work helps us to survive, acquire material comforts, and be secure and independent.  We learn conflicting values from American culture and Jewish tradition about wealth and work.  How do we reconcile them in our individual lives and in society?  Dr. Jennifer Thompson, (Ph.D., Ethics and Society, Emory University), the new Maurice Amado Assistant Professor of Applied Jewish Ethics and Civic Engagement at CSUN, will help us explore these issues with the help of a variety of Jewish ethical texts.

Free public lecture.  RSVP please (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu

Sunday, March 17, 2013
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Jack & Florence Ferman Presentation Room
CSUN Oviatt Library

Book Discussion Group
Murder on a Kibbutz, a Communal Case by Batya Gur
Discussion leader, Michele Paskow

Join the Jewish Studies faculty in exploring and discussing interesting books.  Our first meeting will focus on this well crafted murder mystery by Israeli author Batya Gur.  According to one reviewer, "In addition to being an extremely well-plotted mystery, this is a wonderfully written piece of fiction that gives a sociological portrait of kibbutz life, opening up a tiny sector of Israeli society with a pointed lens."

Murder on a Kibbutz is available for purchase at many places online, including Amazon.com.

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun to let us know you will be attending.

The Presentation Room is located in the west wing at the lower level.

Access to the Presentation Room is from the Library’s front main entrance. Continue through the lobby and turn left at the Reference area. Take the main walkway to the west wing of the building. Turn right and go down the curved staircase to the Presentation Room.

Wheelchair users can take the elevator near the restrooms in the west wing from the main floor to the basement level, then proceed to the left.

Monday, March 18, 2013
12:30 - 1:45 p.m.

University Student Union - Lake View Terrace Room

Traditions of Subversion and Subversion of Traditions: Yiddish and Multilingual Performance in the 21st Century

Daniel Kahn is perhaps the foremost interpreter of Yiddish political songs today.  He performs from Istanbul to Los Angeles with his klezmer cabaret band, The Painted Bird.  Psoy Korolenko is the stage and pen name of Russian philologist, essayist, critic, and songwriter, Dr. Pavel Eduardovich Lion of Moscow.  Korolenko is credited with reinventing Jewish music in Russia.

Sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, the Jewish Studies Program, the Anthropology Student Association, and with funding from the Distinguished Visiting Speakers Program, Office of Graduate Studies.

Thursday, March 28, 2013
4:00 p.m.

Sierra Hall 184

Dr. Kori Street, Director of Programs, Shoah Foundation

Dr. Street will be speaking about the collection and current initiatives of the Shoah Foundation, and their applications for educators.  

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013
9:30 - 10:45 a.m.

Sierra Hall 267

Memory and Neighborhood: Poles and Poland in American Jewish Fiction After World War II

Presented by Prof. Lucyna Aleksandrowicz-Pedich, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities

What are the Poles and Poland really like?  Or rather, how have American Jewish authors, who are children or grandchildren of Central or Eastern European Jews, or neighbors of Polish-American immigrants, portrayed the Old World ancestral land and its people?  Join us to hear this visiting Polish professor of English and Cultural Studies expert on American Jewish literature present her description and analysis of references to Poles and Poland in post-World War II American Jewish fiction. 

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Thursday, April 4, 2013
4:00 - 5:15 p.m.

Sierra Hall 184

Contemporary Polish Literary and Artistic Responses to Historic Polish Antisemitism: Jewish Skeletons in Polish Cupboards

Presented by Prof. Lucyna Aleksandrowicz-Pedich, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities

Tomasz Gross’s Neighbors, a study of the 1941 Polish murder of 300+ Jews of the shtetl of Jedwabne, came as a shock to much of the Polish public when it was published in 2000.  For some it was genuinely unbelievable that Poles, themselves victims of German and Soviet aggression, could have murdered their former Jewish neighbors; others simply rejected Gross’s book claiming it was “anti-Polish,” and for most Poles it was a true aspect of the war’s horrors.   Prof. Aleksandrowicz-Pedich will be describing the responses of contemporary Poles to information about Jedwabne and other examples of Polish antisemitism.   She will focus on the play Our Class by Tadeusz Słobodzianek(2009/10) and the film (a thriller genre) called Pokłosie [Aftermath] (2012).   What do these 21st century creations tell us about Polish society now and in the past? 

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Thursday, April 18, 2013
9:30 - 10:45 a.m.

Jerome Richfield 245

Jewish Music with Cantor Mike Stein

Hazzan (Cantor) Mike Stein will present an overview of the history and development of Jewish music by playing the guitar, violin, oud and shofar. You are welcome to join us in learning about diverse and exciting Jewish music from Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Africa.

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
9:30 - 10:45 a.m.

University Student Union, Flintridge Room

The JNF Postcard Project: How a New Musical Culture Was Created for Emerging Jewish Nationalism

Michael Isaacson, Ph.D., presents a fascinating musical and visual history of a fascinating musical and visual history of Jewish folk culture in pre-1948 Palestine.  The Jewish National Fund commissioned distinguished European musicians to compose folk songs celebrating Zionist achievements.  Printed on picture postcards and mailed to Jewish communities around the world, these songs became part of the fabric of Jewish life in the new state and the Diaspora.

About the presenter: Michael Isaacson, founding Artistic Director of The Israel Pops Orchestra, enjoys a distinguished career as a composer, conductor, producer, and educator with over 500 Jewish and secular musical compositions published.  He composed and conducted original scores and arranged for many well known television series, and he has conducted, toured and produced new recordings of symphonic music with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tel Aviv Symphony, the Munich Philharmonic, the Mexico City Philharmonic, the Vermont Symphony and Chorus, the Bulgarian National Symphony, the Czech Chamber Orchestra and the Israel String Quartet.

Thursday, April 25, 2013
4:00 - 5:15 p.m.

Sierra Hall 184

Eva Brettler, Holocaust Survivor

Eva Brettler, a survivor of the Ravensbruck concentration camp, will be speaking about her experiences before, during, and after the Holocaust.

Limited Seating. Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Sunday, April 28, 2013
10:00 a.m.

Laemmle's Town Center 5
17200 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91316

5 Broken Cameras

This documentary provides a close-range view into aspects of Palestinian village life and the efforts of the village of Bil’in to non-violently resist Israeli government actions.  Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son.  For the next few years he documented his family’s development and the upheaval in the village when the Israeli state builds the security fence and the Hareidi settlement Modi’in Illit on land that the village considers its own.  The film shows the involvement of Europeans and Israelis in this grass-roots protest movement, offering an intimate glimpse into events rarely reported in American media.  Co-directed by Burnat and Guy Davidi, an Israeli filmmaker, “5 Broken Cameras” was nominated for Academy Award Best Documentary Feature.  The 90-minute film will be followed by Q & A with CSUN faculty, Jody Myers (Jewish Studies Program) and Jeffrey Auerbach (History Department).  In Arabic with English subtitles.

Co-Sponsored by Temple Ahavat Shalom, Temple Kol Tikvah, Valley Beth Shalom, and CSUN Hillel.

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.

Sunday, May 5, 2013
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

CSUN Hillel
17729 Plummer St.
Northridge, CA 91325

Book Discussion Group
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories by Nathan Englander
Discussion leader, Dr. Audrey Thacker

Brilliant, often hilarious short stories that tackle the question of memory, the differences between the generations, and what one owes to the past.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories is available for purchase at many places online, including Amazon.com.

Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun to let us know you will be attending.