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JUNE 2024 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!
Legacy, Leadership & Scholarship: A Conversation with Prof. Susannah Heschel
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)We are excited to invite you to an engaging conversation with Professor Susannah Heschel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. As a leading scholar, Professor Heschel’s work spans Jewish and Protestant thought during the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on areas such as the history of biblical scholarship, Jewish scholarship on Islam, and antisemitism. Her notable publications, which include Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus and The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany, have garnered national awards and widespread acclaim. A forthcoming book, The Woman Question in Jewish Studies, co-written with Sarah Imhoff, is eagerly anticipated. Professor Heschel has held prestigious fellowships worldwide, received numerous honors including the Mendelssohn Prize and five honorary doctorates, and is currently a Guggenheim Fellow. This conversation promises deep insights into Professor Heschel’s impressive career and her profound impact on Jewish studies.
Professor Heschel will be in dialogue with Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz, a spiritual leader and scholar specializing in topics of spirituality and Judaism, who teaches, writes and speaks to a wide range of audiences. He served as the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin, California, for over three decades and served as member of the Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Law and Standards for twenty years. Rabbi Spitz is author of Duets on Psalms: Drawing New Meaning from Ancient Words, co-authored with Rabbi Jack Riemer, Healing from Despair: Choosing Wholeness in a Broken World; Does the Soul Survive? A Jewish Journey to Belief in Afterlife, Past Lives & Living with Purpose and Increasing Wholeness: Jewish Wisdom and Guided Meditations to Strengthen and Calm Body, Heart, Mind and Spirit (all Jewish Lights) and many articles dealing with spirituality and Jewish law. Rabbi Spitz spent the past 17 months teaching the Psalms with half-hour presentations for each Psalm (recently completing all 150 Psalms!).
Program video
Breaking Boundaries, Building Faith: The Pioneering Journey of Women in the Rabbinate
Thursday, June 27, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Judaism was transformed by the 1972 ordination of the first woman rabbi in America, Rabbi Sally Priesand, which opened the way for nearly 1,500 women rabbis of all movements who have transformed Jewish tradition, worship, spirituality, scholarship, education, and pastoral care. Experience the impact of 24 pioneering women rabbis across all denominations of Judaism, as evoked by 24 leading Jewish contemporary women artists who capture their mission, vision, and values.
Jean Bloch Rosensaft is Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Over the past four decades, she has organized over 150 exhibitions and scores of traveling exhibitions at venues throughout North America and in Jerusalem. A founder and Vice-President of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Vice President of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, she serves on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Education Committee, and chairs the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture’s Panel on Art and Photography.
Sketching Community: Honi’s Story and Our Circles
Tuesday, June 25, 1:00 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Taking inspiration from the Talmudic story of “Honi the Circle Maker,” this session examines friendships and the role of the individual within the community. What circles do we belong to, and what will remain of us after we have gone? Combining text study and art we’ll explore a known story from a new angle and see how it connects to each of us personally. Please have basic drawing materials (pen, pencil, paper) at hand if you want to engage with the optional drawing prompts. No prior drawing experience needed.
Jacqueline Nicholls is a London based artist, award-winning visual poet and Jewish educator. She uses her art to engage with traditional Jewish ideas in untraditional ways. Her recent drawing project, Draw Yomi, completed in January 2020, Jacqueline drew the Talmud, following the Daf Yomi schedule. She coordinates arts and culture events at JW3 London, and regularly teaches at the London School of Jewish Studies. Jacqueline’s art has been exhibited in solo shows and significant contemporary Jewish Art group shows in the U.K., U.S. and Israel. Jacqueline has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins. Art. Recent residencies include ‘Wasted Books’ at The London Library, ’50 Jewish Objects’ Jewish Studies Department, Manchester University, and Beit Venezia, where she was the lead artist for the Deck of Esther project, reimagining Megillat Esther as a pack of playing cards.
Program video
The Sound of Now – Israel’s Musical Response to a National Tragedy
Sunday, June 23, 1:00 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Since October 7th the Israeli music scene has been mourning, grappling, responding, creating and supporting. How are the radio stations thinking about the music choices? What kinds of realities are reflected in Israeli music in the months since then? In this session we’ll listen to and analyze six songs from the past months to learn about the voices of different communities and explore the tapestry of reactions and sentiments that exist in contemporary Israel.
Artist and educator artist Shirel Horovitz creates performances and installations exploring cities, communities and the relations between people and space. She earned her BFA from Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, and her MA from the interdisciplinary art program in Tel Aviv University. Her works were exhibited in museums and galleries in Israel and the U.S. She is recipient of the Rabinovich Prize 2018 and the Weismann Art Grant for 2023. A new series of her drawings are part of a new exhibition at ANU Museum and she is currently working on new sculptures in her studio in Tel Aviv. Alongside her art practice, Shirel teaches art, lectures and creates educational programs and is the creative director of CSP.
Frank Stella’s Artistic Odyssey – Exploring Jewish Themes and Cultural Reflections
Thursday, June 20, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Discover how Frank Stella, the celebrated American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, has found inspiration in Jewish themes throughout his career, from his earliest minimalist paintings influenced by the Nazi propaganda newsreels of his childhood, his mixed-media “Polish Wooden Synagogue” works commemorating “the obliteration of a culture,” and his Had Gadya narrative abstractions, illustrating the popular Passover Seder song and expressing a universal, aspirational message of justice and hope.
Jean Bloch Rosensaft is Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Over the past four decades, she has organized over 150 exhibitions and scores of traveling exhibitions at venues throughout North America and in Jerusalem. A founder and Vice-President of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Vice President of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, she serves on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Education Committee, and chairs the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture’s Panel on Art and Photography.
Antisemitism, Zionism & Anti-Zionism
Part 1 – Tuesday, June 4, 1:00 pm EDT
Part 2– Tuesday, June 11, 1:00 pm EDT
Part 3 – Tuesday, June 18, 1:00 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Both in the past and present, Antisemitism, Zionism, and Anti-Zionism are interrelated and even symbiotic phenomena—and understanding their historical relationship is a critical step toward meeting the challenges they may pose for the Jewish future. To fully understand the current problem of Anti-Zionism, we must first gain a better understanding of both Antisemitism and Zionism, and hence our first lecture, on “Antisemitism,” examines the origins and dynamics of modern Jew-hatred; the second, “Zionism,” takes a closer look at the dialectic of Antisemitism and Jewish nationalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and the third, “Anti-Zionism,” traces the development of Zionism and its antithesis over the past century.
David E. Kaufman, our presenter for these three sessions, was born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at the Bialik Hebrew Day School and the Yeshiva of Flatbush High School. He holds degrees from Columbia College, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Brandeis University. A PhD in American Jewish History, he has taught at numerous colleges such as Brown University, University of Massachusetts/Amherst, Hebrew Union College/Los Angeles and Hofstra University. In addition to numerous articles on the social, religious, and architectural history of the American synagogue, Dr. Kaufman has authored two books: Shul with a Pool: The Synagogue-Center in American Jewish History (Brandeis, 1999) and Jewhooing the Sixties: American Celebrity and Jewish Identity (Brandeis, 2012). David currently lives on the Upper West Side and is engaged in public education, researching, writing, and teaching the history of the New York Jewish community
Part 1 – Program video
Part 2 – Program video
Part 3 – Program video
Jewish Heritage Across the Balkans: A Journey Through History and Culture
Part 2 – Trieste – Sunday, June 9, 1:00 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Immerse yourself in the captivating history and rich culture of Balkan Jewry with our exclusive series, “Jewish Heritage Across the Balkans: A Journey Through History and Culture.” Starting on May 12th, join us for a virtual exploration through Croatia, Trieste, Slovenia, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Discover the enduring legacy of Jewish communities, from ancient synagogues to modern-day resilience. Witness the unique blend of Sephardic and Ashkenazi traditions, and learn about their significant contributions throughout history.
Part 2 – Trieste – Journey through the enigmatic city of Trieste, a melting pot of cultures at the Slovenian-Italian border. Delve into the rich Jewish history dating back to the 14th century and visit the magnificent Synagogue and the former Jewish Quarter.
Evgenia Kempinski, our guide, is a Russian Jew born and raised in St. Petersburg. Her family was originally from the Pale of Settlement – Poland, Ukraine and Belorussia – and endured the suppression of Judaism in the Soviet Union then the rebirth of Jewish culture and religious life in today’s St. Petersburg. She has been an official St. Petersburg tour guide for over 15 years and is the founder and owner of St. Petersburg Jewish Tours – a company offering Jewish travelers a unique experience of showcasing the best of Russia from a Jewish point of view. She currently lives in Haifa, Israel, still keeping close connections with St. Petersburg and its Jewish community.
Part 2 – Program video
Marc Chagall: Biblical Narratives Reimagined Through Modern Artistry
Thursday, June 6, 3:30 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
Marc Chagall was profoundly inspired by the Bible throughout his career, producing biblical works in a broad array of mediums, from paintings, etchings, mosaics, and tapestries, to stained-glass windows, ceramics, and stage set designs. Discover how memories of his youth in Vitebsk, his 1931 visit to Palestine, the Russian Revolution, the Holocaust, and his admiration for the old masters, informed his imagination to create uniquely modern visual interpretations of the core text of the Jewish people.
Jean Bloch Rosensaft is Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Over the past four decades, she has organized over 150 exhibitions and scores of traveling exhibitions at venues throughout North America and in Jerusalem. A founder and Vice-President of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Vice President of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, she serves on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Education Committee, and chairs the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture’s Panel on Art and Photography.
Ruth: A Play in Four Acts
Sunday, June 2, 7:00 pm EDT
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)
The Book of Ruth tells its story with charm and pathos, and our tradition teaches us that “This scroll [Ruth] tells us nothing either of purity or impurity, of the forbidden or the permitted. For what purpose was it written? To teach how great is the reward of those who do deeds of loving-kindness” (Ruth Rabba 2:14). This quote looks to Ruth as we tend to see her, the generous, sweet, devoted convert who will do anything for her widowed mother-in-law. But that is just one level of the story; one aspect of this most beloved text. Join us as we look at Ruth in a new light, Ruth the woman and Ruth the text.
Dr. Sharon Keller, who served as CSP’s 15th Annual One Month Scholar in residence in January 2016 and who earned her doctorate at New York University (NYU) in the Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies in the area of Bible and the Ancient Near East, is a member of the Classics faculty at Hofstra University. She has been an Assistant Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at The Jewish Theological Seminary and at Hebrew Union College; she has also held appointments at NYU, and New York City’s Hunter College—teaching biblical text courses as well as more general courses in biblical literature and history, as well as the courses in the art and archaeology of the lands of the Bible and the ancient Mediterranean world. She has written and edited numerous scholarly articles and academic books, most of which relate to the interplay between biblical Israel and ancient Egypt. Her most popular book, Jews: A Treasury of Art and Literature was awarded the prestigious National Jewish Book Award. Known for the enthusiasm and humor that she brings to all of her talks that make otherwise esoteric subjects easily accessible, Sharon is an in-demand lecturer and adult education course instructor throughout the United States.
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Explore the Heart of Judaism – Spirit, Ethics and Community
Part 3 – What Do Jews Believe: Wrestling with God – Thursday, June 6, 7:30 pm EDT
Part 4 – Where Do We Go from Here: Next Steps Q & A – Thursday, June 20, 7:30 pm EDT
(online series presented by the Lappin Foundation)
Join the Lappin Foundation for an online series with Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal from Temple Beth Shalom in Melrose and Rabbi Alison Adler from Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly. This series is provided at no cost thanks to generous support from the Morton and Lillian Waldfogel Charitable Foundation and Peter and Maureen Waldfogel.
YAD CHESSED
Yad Chessed helps Jewish individuals and families who struggle with financial hardship pay their bills and buy food. As a social services agency 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. They provide emergency financial assistance, grocery gift cards and compassionate advice for those trying to make ends meet. Hundreds of families and individuals throughout the state rely on Yad Chessed to provide for their essentials, and even at times, a Jewish burial for a loved one. Members of our community, as well as others in the Jewish community, who need assistance may contact Yad Chessed by phone at 781-487-2693 or by Email at intake@yadchessed.org for a confidential conversation. Questions can be directed to info@yadchessed.org.
Support Yad Chessed