Jerry Rabow, author of The Lost Matriarch: Finding Leah in the Bible and Midrash, will draw on the techniques and disputes of 2,000 years of rabbinic commentary to describe the imaginative interpretations of the biblical story of Leah. His talk promises to be a provocative and entertaining experience in learning how to read Torah as literature.Read more
Noga Weiser, Israel Fellow at Hillel 818, will share some of her experiences about life in Israel today. Her talk will focus on Israeli social diversity, cultures, new technological innovations, and current challenges. Read more
This is an advance screening of a documentary asking whether Jews' awareness of the Holocaust distorts their perceptions of Palestinians. Menachem Daum, an American Orthodox Jewish son of Holocaust survivors, sets out to answer this question by establishing a personal relationship with Yacoub, a Palestinian in Israel. Daum joins the effort to save the ruins of Yacoub's childhood village from Israeli luxury development. This engaging film thoughtfully and sensitively explores important Jewish issues. Read more
Rembrandt, the great 17th century Dutch Calvinist artist, is famous for his portraits; but he also painted or etched many images of biblical stories. Do his scenes from the Hebrew Bible reveal a pattern of borrowing from sophisticated rabbinic interpretations in the Talmud and Midrash? Jerry Rabow will consider the evidence by examining some prominent artworks by Rembrandt together with their related biblical texts and ancient and medieval commentaries. Read more
Dr. Elysha Netsarh, Professor of Plant Sciences and leader of the Madagascar Jewish community, will speak about the religious transformation that culminated this past summer when she and 120 other Malagasies (the term for people of Madagascar) converted en masse to Judaism. Read more
