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Woodbury
Jewish Center
200 South Woods Road, Woodbury NY, 496-9100
Opening Lecture: October 19,
2009 at 9 PM. (No classes scheduled that day.) Classes begin October
26 running for eight weeks, 7:45 to 8:45 PM preceding each lecture.
Register for one course only. You may use the form
on this website to register by mail or you can register in person
on October 19 th or October 26 th (between 7:30 p.m. and 8:45
p.m.)
Fall Session
Lectures
October 19 –
Prof. Menachem Kellner
Does a Jew Have to Believe in Anything?
Menachem Kellner, Professor of Jewish Thought at the University
of Haifa, is the author of many texts on Jewish Thought including
several on Maimonides such as Must A Jew Believe Anything? He
was co-editor of a special issue of the Israeli philosophy journal
Iyyun devoted to the thought of Leo Strauss and of a special issue
of Jewish History marking the 800th anniversary of the passing
of R. Moses Maimonides. He has, in addition, written over seven
dozen scholarly articles in academic journals and books as well
as many occasional pieces on matters of contemporary Jewish concern.
Kellner's Maimonides' Confrontation with Mysticism, which focuses
on Maimonides' opposition to what Kellner calls "proto-Kabbalah,"
was published in 2006.
October 26 – Jon Entine
Abraham’s Children: The Genetics of the Jewish People
Jon Entine is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
for Public Policy Research in Washington D.C., a columnist for
the British-based international magazine Ethical Corporation and
co-founder of E.S.G. Metrics which advises businesses and NGO’s
on environmental, social and governance issues. Entine has written
5 books including Abraham’s Children: Race, Identify
and the DNA of the Jewish People, which addresses the question
of “Who is a Jew?” Before launching his writing career
fifteen years ago, he spent 20 years as a network news producer,
producing news magazine programs at ABC and CBS. He was Tom Brokaw’s
long time producer at NBC and the two men collaborated to write
and produce a documentary Black Athletes: Fact and Fiction, named
best International Sports Film of 1989, which Jon later turned
into a best selling book Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate
Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About it.
November 2 – Prof. Stan Pugliese
Two Thousand Years of Italian Jewry
Stanislao G. Pugliese is Professor of Modern European History
at Hofstra University. He is a former research fellow at the Italian
Academy for Advanced Studies at Columbia University, the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the University
of Oxford. A specialist on the Italian anti-fascist Resistance
and Italian Jews, he is the author, editor or translator of a
dozen books on Italian and Italian American history. His first
book, Carlo Rosselli: Socialist Heretic and Antifascist Exile
(Harvard University Press, 1999) has been translated into Italian,
Russian and Romanian. Besides his own writing he is also the editor
of Italian Fascism and Antifascism: A Critical Anthology as
well as The Most Ancient of Minorities: The Jews of Italy.
His essays on Italian and Italian-American history and culture
regularly appear in academic and popular journals.
November 9 – Suzanne Braun Levine
Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow
and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights
of Women and Workers, Rallied Against the War and for the Planet
and Shook Up Politics Along the Way
Suzanne Braun Levine is a writer, editor, and nationally recognized
authority on women and family issues, and media. She chronicled
and fostered change in women’s lives as the first editor
of Ms. Magazine and today as a contributing editor of More Magazine.
While at Ms., Levine developed and produced the Peabody-Award
winning television special She’s Nobody’s Baby: A
History of American Women in the 20th Century, narrated by Marlo
Thomas and Alan Alda (HBO. 1981). She was editor of the Columbia
Journalism Review, the prestigious monitor of media matters from
1989 to 1997. Her new book, Fifty is the New Fifty:10 Life
Lessons for Women in Second Adulthood, was published by Viking
in April, 2009. Levine graduated with honors from Harvard and
her papers from her years at Ms. are at the University of Missouri
as part of the National Women and Media Collection.
November 16 – Peninnah Schram
Jewish Oral Tradition: Stories One Generation Tells Another
Peninnah Schram, internationally known storyteller, teacher, author,
and recording artist, is Professor of Speech and Drama at Stern
College of Yeshiva University. She travels across the US and other
countries as a featured presenter at storytelling festivals, conferences,
and as Performing Artist-in-Residence. Vibrantly elegant in her
presentations, Peninnah tells Jewish folktales of wisdom and wit.
Author of 10 books, her latest book is an illustrated anthology,
The Hungry Clothes and Other Jewish Folktales. She has
also recorded a CD, The Minstrel and the Storyteller, with singer/guitarist
Gerard Edery. Peninnah is a recipient of the prestigious Covenant
Award for outstanding Jewish educators and the 2003 National Storytelling
Network’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
November 23 – Rabbi Benjamin Blech
Michelangelo’s Hidden Jewish Messages in the Sistine Chapel
Ceiling.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech, a 10 generation rabbi, is an internationally
recognized educator, religious leader, author, and lecturer. A
recipient of the American Educator of the Year award, he is a
Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and author of twelve
highly acclaimed books, with combined sales of over half million
copies including the 2008 best seller The Sistine Secrets:
Michelangelo’s Forbidden Messages from the Heart of the
Vatican. He has appeared on national television (including
The Oprah Winfrey Show), and writes regularly for major newspapers
and journals. He was recently ranked #16 in a listing of the 50
most influential Jews in America. Born in Zurich, he lives in
Manhattan with his wife Elaine.
November 30 – Dr. Edward Reichman
Stem Cell Research and Jewish Law: Conflict or Consonance?
Edward Reichman is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
and Associate Professor of Philosophy and History of Medicine
at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) of Yeshiva
University, where he teaches Jewish medical ethics. He received
his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological
Seminary of Yeshiva University and writes and lectures widely
in the field of Jewish medical ethics. He is the recipient of
a Kornfeld Foundation Fellowship and the Rubinstein Prize in Medical
Ethics, and is a member of both the board of the Halakhic Organ
Donor Society and the advisory board of the Institute for Genetics
and Public Policy. His research is devoted to the interface of
medical history and Jewish law.
December 7– Kurt F. Stone
The Congressional Minyan: The Jews of Capitol Hill
Kurt F. Stone is an accomplished lecturer, professor, and author
of the critically acclaimed The Congressional Minyan: The
Jews of Capitol Hill. He has appeared on nationwide radio
talk•shows for CSPAN Book Club, FOX Network News and in
Boca Raton, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, San Francisco, San Jose,
Beverly Hills, New York and more. Kurt has also been a "scholar/artist
in residence" in a number of cities. One of his most interesting
lectures, “An Evening With Sholem Aleichem,” received
an enthusiastic reception when he last spoke for us.
December 14 – Klezmer Duo, Sruli Dresdner and Lisa
Mayer Chanukah Cabaret
Multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Sruli and Lisa play the clarinet,
violin, accordion, bass recorder, cello and drum, and perform
and teach Klezmer and Hasidic music and dance all over the country.
They have performed live on Polish National Television and Radio,
were the featured Klezmer performers on PBS-TV's Another Mitzvah,
performed the Klezmer soundtrack for the Showtime Movie The
Devil's Arithmetic, and frequently perform live on National
Public Radio. Sruli and Lisa played sold-out runs of both A Klezmer's
Tale and Kids and Yiddish at the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre with
Zalmen Mlotek which the New York Times called "Warm,
tuneful and sprightly!"
Winter
Session
Temple Beth
Elohim, 926 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage, NY • Phone:
694-4544
Programs at 8 PM starting Monday, January 4th for four weeks
No additional charge for those registered for the Fall Session.
If not registered for the Fall Session: each lecture $10, or $25
for all four
January 4 – Rabbi Reuven Mann, Rinat Yisrael
Christian Zionism: The Danger and the Opportunity
Christian Zionism has emerged as a significant religious and political
movement dedicated to the support of Israel. There is no question
that the Jewish state has many enemies and few friends, therefore
an ally of such potential magnitude should not be easily dismissed.
There are approximately fifty million Christian Zionists who regard
themselves as fully committed to Israel. However, many Jews are
leery of the true character and objectives of this movement. It
is incumbent upon the Jewish community to formulate an intelligent
response to this unanticipated phenomenon. Rabbi Mann will analyze
the Christian Zionist movement from the standpoint of its historical
development, theological principles and psychological motivations.
We will then be in a better position to determine if this is a
serious danger or unique opportunity.
January 11 – Rabbi Perry Raphael Rank, Midway Jewish
Center
Math, Physics and God
One of the most fundamental beliefs among the faithful is that
God is the creator of the universe. Sadly, those academic disciplines
which specifically explore the makeup of our universe, are typically
devoid of God or theology. What happens, though, when we begin
to search for eternal truths in the scientific treatises of Newton
and Maxwell or the mathematical ponderings of Pythagoras and Fibonacci?
Rabbi Rank will offer us some insights on the truths of science
and God, and the interesting ways in which their separate domains
indeed touch and intersect.
January 18, 25 – Naomi Greenspan
January 18 Islam on One Foot: Basic Teachings and Basic Texts
January 25 Muslims and Jews in History: Friends or Foes?
Naomi Greenspan is a graduate of Washington University in St.
Louis where she studied Psychology and Jewish, Islamic & Near
Eastern Studies. For the past three years she has been at the
forefront of promoting peace and interfaith dialogue between people
of different religious backgrounds. She has worked for the Reform
Movement’s Commission on Interreligious Affairs where she
developed curricula for interfaith dialogue and trained emerging
leaders in how to effectively cultivate interreligious cooperation.
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