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OCTOBER 2022 PROGRAMS
CSP
The Walnut Street Synagogue is pleased to be a partner congregation of the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program. Please join us at an upcoming program!
Desperately Seeking Psalms
Part 1 -Thursday, October 6, 3:30 pm EDT
Part 2 -Thursday, October 13, 3:30 pm EDT
Part 3 -Thursday, October 20, 3:30 pm EDT
Part 4 -Thursday, October 27, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
What would Jewish prayers be without the Psalms? The lyrics of King David and other psalmists can open our hearts and help us to reflect on what we most value. Language, rhythm and poetry come together to form powerful texts that can transport us. This series unpacks the history, meaning and usage of four psalms from the book of Tehillim in our religious services: (1) Psalm 23 (Learning to Trust), (2) Psalm 27 (Hoping to Repent), (3) Psalm 49 (Finding Meaning in Mourning), and (4) Psalm 137 (Fatal Attraction).
Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum is Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS) and holds the Rabbi Sacks Chair in Modern Jewish Thought at the school. He is a rabbinic leader, lecturer and author with a passion for teaching traditional Jewish texts and innovative educational programming for young and old. Rabbi Dr. Zarum earned a PhD in Theoretical Physics from King’s College London, leading to the publication of a number of papers on Quantum Chaos Theory. He also completed an MA in Adult Education, with distinction, at the Institute of Education in London. As well as Dean of LSJS, Rabbi Dr Zarum currently serves as the Scholar-in-Residence at the Central Square Minyan in Hampstead Garden Suburb. He studied at Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem and the Kollel of the Judith Lady Montefiore College in London where he received rabbinic ordination. Rabbi Dr Zarum is a graduate of the prestigious Jerusalem Fellows program at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Israel. He was the first Head of faculty of the Florence Melton Adult Mini School UK and was Director of Text-Based Jewish Education at the UJIA Centre for Informal Jewish Education. He is the creator of the Torah L’Am crash course and is the author of the ‘Torat Hadracha’ and ‘Jampacked Bible’ educational study guides.
Defending Diaspora: How Have Jews Thought About Their Wanderings?
Wednesday, October 26, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
The majority of Jews have lived in “exile” from the time of the Babylonian Exile (6th century BCE) until recent modernity, and Judaism as we know it is, to a significant extent, a product of the Diaspora experience. Yet we have been taught that Jews always lamented their “exile,” longing to return to the Promised Land. The truth is far more complex, as Jews have often defended and even celebrated their Diaspora existence. In this session, we shall consider and discuss some outstanding examples of this phenomenon.
David Kraemer has been part of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) community since 1977 when he enrolled at the Graduate School after completing his undergraduate degree at Brandeis University. He began teaching as a graduate student in 1980, receiving his PhD in 1984. Dr. Kraemer’s focus as a professor is on the literary analysis of rabbinic literature, rabbinic ritual, and the social and religious history of Jews in late antiquity. He accepted the position of Librarian in 2004 and has since played a crucial role in forging policy and expanding the impact of the Library’s world-renowned collections and programs. Dr. Kraemer is a prolific author and commentator. His books include: The Mind of the Talmud (1990), Responses to Suffering in Classical Rabbinic Literature (1995), The Meanings of Death in Rabbinic Judaism (2000), and Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages (Routledge, 2007, 2009), among others. His most recent book is A History of the Talmud (Cambridge U. Press, 2019). Dr. Kraemer is presently working on a book on the history of Jewish understandings of Exile/Diaspora, to be published in early 2023.
Program video
Menasseh Ben Israel: The Most Famous Jew in the World
Tuesday, October 25, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657) was, for a time, the most famous Jew in the world. One of the rabbis of the Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam, he was also the first printer of Hebrew books in Amsterdam, with clients all across Europe. Menasseh’s own writings on theology and philosophy were especially admired by gentile scholars. They sought him out as a Hebrew teacher and as a reliable source on Jewish customs, law and history. He also collaborated on several projects with Rembrandt. In the early modern Republic of Letters, Menasseh was the go-to source for all things Jewish. And yet, Menasseh felt he was never given the respect he deserved by the leaders and other rabbis of his own Sephardic community; he was right.
Steven Nadler is the Vilas Research Professor and William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die (Princeton, 2020), A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age (Princeton, 2011), The Philosopher, the Priest and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes (Princeton, 2013), Spinoza: A Life (Cambridge, 1999; 2nd ed. 2018; winner of the Koret Jewish Book Award for Biography), and Rembrandt’s Jews (Chicago, 2003, which was named a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction). He also published, with his son Ben Nadler, the graphic book Heretics! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy (Princeton, 2017). He has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, the University of Amsterdam, the Ecole des hautes études en science sociales (Paris), and the Ecole normal supérieure (Paris). He has also been a scholar-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome. His biography of Menasseh ben Israel was published in the “Jewish Lives” series (Yale University Press) in the fall of 2018. In 2020 he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Program video
Part 1 of “Art as Language” Series – Gallery Tour
Monday, October 24, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Join artist Tobi Kahn as he takes us on an exhilarating virtual tour of multiple galleries featuring exhibitions of world renowned artists. Throughout the tour we will view exhibitions, virtually meet artists, curators and art historians and hear about their perspectives on the works viewed. Participants will be introduced to what is new and important in the art world. The goal of the tour is for participants to view art critically. Tobi Kahn’s gallery tours were ranked #1 in New York Magazine’s “Best Bets”.
Tobi Kahn is a painter and sculptor whose work has been the subject in over 70 solo museum exhibitions since he was selected as one of nine artists to be included in the 1985 Guggenheim Museum exhibition, New Horizons in American Art. For close to four decades, Kahn has been steadfast in the pursuit of his distinct vision and persistent in his commitment to the redemptive possibilities of art. In paint, stone, and bronze, he has explored the correspondence between the intimate and monumental. While his early works drew on the tradition of American Romantic landscape painting, his more recent pieces reflect his fascination with contemporary science, inspired by the micro-images of cell formations, the environment and satellite photography. For over four decades, he has taught fine arts workshops at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He also designed the art curriculum for several high schools in the New York area and co-founded and facilitates the Artists’ Beit Midrash at the Streicker Center of Temple Emanu-El. Kahn lectures extensively at universities and public forums internationally on the importance of visual language and art as healing. Kahn received his BA in Photography and Printmaking from Hunter and an MFA in Painting and Sculpture from Pratt Institute.
Program video
Key Trends and Developments in Israeli Society and Economy
Sunday, October 23, 1:00 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
This overview presentation – also known informally as “Israeli Society and Economy 101” – offers the most up-to-date findings on key social policy issues in Israel, including education, welfare, labor markets, healthcare, and macroeconomics, and the demographic shifts that affect all of these areas. This presentation addresses how Israel’s social and economic landscape has changed over time, how it compares with other developed countries, and how trends differ between Israel’s diverse population groups. It is the Center’s most widely requested presentation and is considered a must-see for Israelis and all those with an interest in Israel.
Professor Avi Weiss is an authority on the Israeli economy and the array of social issues facing Israel today. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1987, and is the President of the Taub Center of Social Policy Studies in Israel, as well as a Professor of Economics at Bar-Ilan University. Professor Weiss’ fields of interest include Applied Microeconomics, and Behavioral and Experimental Economics. He served as Chair of the Economics Department at Bar-Ilan University, and is the editor of The Economic Quarterly, the journal of the Israel Economic Association. He also served as Chief Economist and Deputy Director of the Israel Antitrust Authority, and served on other public committees such as the Anti-Dumping Commision and the Trajtenberg (Trach-ten-berg) Committee. Avi is also a member of the Ministry of the Economy’s Committee on Productivity tasked with uncovering the impediments to increased productivity in the trade and services sectors. In December 2019, The Marker, one of Israel’s leading business papers, included Avi, in his role as President of the Taub Center, in their list of the 100 people most likely to influence Israelis in 2020.
The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel is one of the country’s leading socioeconomic think tanks, based in Jerusalem. Now celebrating its 40th year, the Center provides decision makers and the public with research and analysis on some of the most critical issues facing Israel in the areas of education, health, welfare, labor markets and economic policy in order to impact policy that advances the well-being of all Israelis. The Center recently expanded its focus areas to include demography and early childhood, as well. In order to maintain its independence and trusted reputation across the political spectrum, and by the general public, the Center does not accept any government funding and is supported by individuals, foundations and Federations from Israel and around the world. The Taub Center has been named by the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tank Index Report as one of the top 50 think tanks in the Middle East and North Africa.
Program video
America’s Jewish Women – A History From Colonial Times to Today
Wednesday, October 19, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
What does it mean to be a Jewish woman in America? Weaving together stories from the colonial era’s matriarch Grace Nathan and her great-granddaughter poet Emma Lazarus to union organizer Bessie Hillman and the great justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Prof. Pamela Nadell will discuss the threads that bind the scores of activists, workers, wives, and mothers who left deep footprints in the history of the nation they call home.
Professor Pamela Nadell holds the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History at American University where she directs the Jewish Studies Program and received the university’s highest award, Scholar/Teacher of the Year. Her books include Women Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Women’s Ordination, 1889-1985. A past president of the Association for Jewish Studies and the recipient of the American Jewish Historical Society’s Lee Max Friedman Award for distinguished service, her consulting work for museums includes the National Museum of American Jewish History and the Library of Congress.
Program video
Jewish Majorca
Wednesday, October 12, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
When U.S. native Dani Rotstein moved to the Spanish isle of Majora for work he didn’t expect there to be much of a Jewish life. However, upon further investigation, he discovered not only a local shul but an entire history of secret Jews and their centuries old battle of survival against the inquisition. Intrigued, Dani began investigating, meeting the descendants of these Jews known as “Chuetas” and even giving Jewish history tours for interested travelers.
Dani Rotstein is originally from New Jersey but fell in love with Spain when he spent his junior year of college studying in Madrid. He moved to the island of Majorca in 2014, where he learned of the taboo history of the island’s descendants of Jewish-Conversos – named “Chuetas.” He became involved with the local Jewish community of the Balearic Islands and in 2018, together with his wife Carla, founded Limud Majorca. Dani has been an elected member of the synagogue board since August 2018 and founded Jewish Majorca – an educational tourism company that offers walking, cycling, and driving routes to Jewish heritage sites around the island.
A Sukkah of One’s Own: On Tents, Tabernacles, and the True Miracle of Sukkot
Sunday, October 2, 1:00 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Where’s the great miracle of the festival of Sukkot? When did the Israelites ever dwell in booths? And what has this to do with the different homes of the Bible? Understanding the significance of Sukkot – the holiday and the habitat – through an exploration of biblical architecture.
Gila Fine is a teacher of Aggada at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, exploring the tales of the Talmud through philosophy, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and pop-culture. She is also a faculty member of the London School of Jewish studies, the Nachshon Project, and Amudim Seminary, and has taught thousands of students at conferences and communities across the Jewish world. Gila’s dynamic literary method and unique intertextual approach – ranging from folktales to fiction to film – bring the stories of the Talmud to life, revealing their relevance for our time. Haaretz has called her “a young woman on her way to becoming one of the more outstanding Jewish thinkers of the next generation.”
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Life of Barbara Streisand
Part 1 – Monday, October 24, 7:30 pm EDT
Part 2 – Monday, November 7, 7:30 pm EST
(online program presented by the Lappin Foundation)
The Walnut Street Synagogue is pleased to be a community partner of the Life of Barbra Streisand program, presented by the Lappin Foundation. “Edutainer” Ellen Katz will lead us on an entertaining and educational exploration of Barbra Streisand’s multifaceted roles as singer, actor, producer and philanthropist, highlighting the personal attributes that have taken her to the top.
Life of Barbra Streisand (Event flyer)
“Chelsea Loves Arnie Day”
Sunday, October 2, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm EDT
(in person program and exhibit at the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave. in Chestnut Hill)
Chelsea residents and guests are invited to view the current exhibition, Arnie Jarmak: Photographing Chelsea in Transition, 1977–89. Docent tours will be available along with the opportunity to meet Arnie Jarmak and exhibition co-curator, Diane Larson. The exhibition runs through December 4.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Yad Chessed
Sponsor meals for those in our community who are struggling with economic hardship and isolation and help to support other needs through Yad Chessed. Yad Chessed serves as a safety net for Jewish individuals and families and is rooted in the Jewish values of kindness (chessed) and charity (tzedakah). They are committed to helping those in need navigate a path toward financial stability while preserving their privacy and dignity. Questions can be directed to info@yadchessed.org.
Support Yad Chessed