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SEPTEMBER 2024 PROGRAMS

CHELSEA JEWISH HERITAGE DAY

Sunday, September 22, 1:00 to 5:00 pm EDT (in person at the Walnut Street Synagogue, 145 Walnut Street, Chelsea)

Join us for an afternoon to celebrate the nearly 140 years of the organized Jewish community in Chelsea and the 400th anniversary of the founding of Chelsea in 1624! Tour our historic synagogue that was built in 1909 and was added to the National Register of Historic Place in 1993. Come see our 1,109-seat sanctuary with its painted ceiling and wall frescoes, murals and carved wood Aron Kodesh. Check out our collection of Judaica, artwork, photos, documents, books, posters and plaques that come from
our synagogue, synagogues in Chelsea that have closed along with fraternal, social and educational organizations from Chelsea and elsewhere in Greater Boston. Explore the rich Jewish history of Chelsea and Greater Boston and its immigration story with Dr. David E. Kaufman. Learn about the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center, our Boston-based partner that explores, preserves, and advances the history of Jewish families, institutions, and communities in New England and beyond. Enjoy our nosh and schmooze with community members from Chelsea and beyond! This program is funded in part by a Chelsea Heritage Celebrations Grant from the Chelsea Cultural Council.
Complete details here

ISRAELI MOSAIC FILM SERIES 

The Walnut Street Synagogue is pleased to present our the Israeli Mosaic Film Series.  This series features three films which depict three very different elements of Israeli society and portray its reach diversity. Each film will be available for screening on your own online followed by a live discussion with the filmmaker in Israel.  
Israeli Mosaic Film Series details

 

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!

 

The Hidden Life of J.D. Salinger

Tuesday, September 24, 1:00 pm EDT (online)
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)

Join us for an illuminating book talk with distinguished journalist and author Stephen B. Shepard as he discusses his new book, “Salinger’s Soul.” Discover the hidden life of J.D. Salinger, the renowned author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” as Shepard delves into the lesser-known aspects of Salinger’s Jewish heritage, his exploration of various religions, and the writings he produced during his years of seclusion. As the literary world eagerly anticipates the release of Salinger’s unpublished works, “Salinger’s Soul” provides essential context and a deeper understanding of this enigmatic figure. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the untold stories of one of literature’s most fascinating characters.
Stephen B. Shepard is the Founding Dean Emeritus of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He served as a senior editor at Newsweek, the editor of Saturday Review, and editor-in-chief of Business Week. From 1992 to 1994, he was president of the American Society of Magazine Editors. Before teaching at CUNY, Shepard was a faculty member at the Columbia Journalism School, where he was co-founder and first director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowships, a mid-career program for working journalists. His book about journalism, Deadlines and Disruption: My Turbulent Path from Print to Digital, was published in 2012. His second book, published in 2018, is A Literary Journey to Jewish Identity: Re-Reading, Bellow, Roth, Malamud, Ozick, and Other Great Jewish Writers.  And his most recent book is Second Thoughts, a series of essays published in 2021. A native New Yorker, Shepard graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, then received his bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York and his master’s degree from Columbia University. He is married to Lynn Povich, author of The Good Girls Revolt, published in 2012. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Register here

 

Illuminating the Shem Tov Bible –  A Masterpiece of Medieval Jewish Art and Scholarship

Monday, September 23, 1:00 pm EDT (online)
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)

Join us for an exclusive one-hour CSP online event exploring the extraordinary Shem Tov Bible, an illuminated manuscript recently on auction at Sotheby’s. This remarkable work of art reflects the confluence of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim aesthetic traditions of medieval Iberia. Created by Rabbi Shem Tov Ibn Gaon, a renowned halakhic and kabbalistic scholar, this manuscript not only preserves the biblical text with unparalleled accuracy but also stands as a monument to Jewish scholarship and artistic virtuosity. Our expert guide, Shaul Seidler-Feller, Judaica specialist at Sotheby’s, will lead us through the rich history and cultural significance of the Shem Tov Bible. Shaul, who studied Jewish history at Yeshiva University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has been involved with Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts Department since 2017 and will share insights into the manuscript’s origins, the artistic techniques behind its illustrations, and its unique place in Jewish history. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore one of the most important surviving Hebrew Bibles from the High Middle Ages and the stories it holds.
Program video

 

A Changing Israel in a Changing World

Part 1 – Changing Israel and A Changing West – Tuesday, September 3, 1:00 pm EDT (online)
Part 2 – Changing Israel and the Great Power Competition – Tuesday, September 10, 1:00 pm EDT (online) 
Part 3 – Changing Israel in A Changing Middle East -Tuesday, September 17, 1:00 pm EDT (online)
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)

Join us for the insightful three-part series exploring the evolving dynamics of Israel’s relationships amid global and regional shifts. The series examines the impact of domestic polarization in Western states on responses to the Israel-Hamas war, Israel’s place in the context of great power competition, and the implications of the war for Israeli-Palestinian relations and broader regional politics. Each session provides a comprehensive analysis of how these factors influence Israel’s standing in the world and its internal divisions.
Part 1 – Changing Israel and A Changing West – The responses within Western states, including the United States, to the war that began on October 7, are shaped by growing domestic polarization about their values, identities and role in the world. They are also influenced by the changing nature of Israeli politics and society. This session will ask: how are these longer term trends reshaping Israel’s relationship and standing in both the U.S. and Europe, and what will be the legacy of the Israel-Hamas war? It will assess the anti-Zionism of the radical left; why far right political parties that used to be antisemitic now claim to support Israel; and why in the U.S., support for Israel is no longer bipartisan.
Part 2 – Changing Israel and the Great Power Competition – We live in a world where the relative power of the U.S. is declining and we see rising great power competition. This is not just a struggle over material power, but also over the values, ideas and identities that influence our world. States are pulled between universal values of liberal democracy, and demands to preserve local, regional and even civilizational values and identities. This session looks at how deep identity divides within Israel lead to diverging views about Israel’s place in the world, and how that affects policy responses to events like the Russia-Ukraine war, and the growing power of China.
Part 3 – Changing Israel in A Changing Middle East – The Israel-Hamas war is an irreversible turning point for the Israeli-Palestinian arena and the wider region. Hamas’s actions on October 7 were not just about Gaza but an attempt to reshape the politics of the region, against the backdrop of a trend towards Arab-Israeli normalization. This session takes stock of what has happened and why, what it means going forward for Israel’s relations with the Palestinians, Arab states, and the wider world, and how Israel’s response is shaped by its deep internal divisions.  Dr. Toby Greene is a visiting fellow in the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and a lecturer in the Department for Political Studies at Bar Ilan University. He is a former Marie Curie Fellow at Queen Mary University of London and has held research and teaching positions at Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University. He earned his PhD from UCL for his thesis on British foreign policy in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. Toby’s research and teaching focuses on foreign policy, with a focus on civilizational identity politics in the Middle East and Europe. He publishes and lectures widely for scholarly, professional and general audiences.
Part 1 – Program video
Part 2 – Program video
Part 3 – Program video

 

From Accidental to Intentional Collecting – A History of Jewish Things at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston 

Sunday, September 15, 1:00 pm EDT (online)
(online in partnership with the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program)

Join Simona Di Nepi on a fascinating journey through the history of Judaica at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston. When, and why did the MFA begin to show interest in the field? Where is Judaica exhibited? What is the curator’s dream acquisition? To answer these questions, Simona will highlight landmark moments, individual objects, and visionary donors, while also discussing the museum’s methodology for the display of its Jewish collection. She will share some of her new acquisitions, and offer a virtual tour of her installations in a wide range of galleries- from Renaissance Italy and Golden-Age Netherlands, to Islamic Cultures and China.
Simona Di Nepi is the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Curator of Judaica at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she is responsible for building and displaying the Judaica collection, and for curating Intentional Beauty: Jewish Ritual Art from the Collection gallery. Originally from Rome, before moving to the United States Simona studied and worked in London and Tel Aviv for 25 years. She has filled curatorial roles, in both decorative arts and Old Masters,, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Gallery, and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, where she cared for permanent collections and planned exhibitions. In Israel, she worked as curator at ANU: The Museum of the Jewish People and as Lecturer in Italian Renaissance art at Reichman University, Herzelyia. Simona curated the exhibitions Reunions: Bringing Early Italians Paintings Back Together (2005, The National Gallery, London), and Dreyfus: The Story of a French-Jewish Family (2014, ANU: The Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv), for which she wrote the accompanying catalogues. At the National Gallery, she also authored From Duccio to Leonardo: Renaissance Painting 1250-1500. In Judaica, Simona wrote essays for Jewish Italy: Rediscovered Stories (Vol. 1&2), The Routledge Companion to the Global Renaissance, and The Lives of Jewish Things.

 

 

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.
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